McDavid scores, assists as Oilers beat Bruins 3-1

BOSTON (AP) — Connor McDavid scored on a short-handed breakaway and set up Ryan Nugent-Hopkins’ power-play score, helping the Edmonton Oilers beat the Boston Bruins 3-1 on Thursday night.

Former Boston University player Quinn Hutson added his first NHL goal as the Oilers won for the sixth time in eight games.

Edmonton goalie Tristan Jarry left with an apparent injury with 3:52 left in the second period after he slid quickly from his left to right trying to make a save. He stopped 12 shots in 13 chances, and Calvin Pickard made 12 saves in relief.

Pavel Zacha had a power-play score for Boston, which had won five of its last six. Jeremy Swayman made 22 saves.

Hutson scored off a rebound of Max Jones’ shot, pushing Edmonton ahead 2-1 at with 5:22 left in the second period after Swayman made a glove stop but couldn’t handle the puck.

McDavid collected a pass from Nugent-Hopkins, skated down the middle, shifted to his backhand and tucked the puck inside the right post, making it 3-1 just under two minutes into the third.

CAPITALS 4, MAPLE LEAFS 0

WASHINGTON (AP) — Logan Thompson earned his second shutout of the season, Jakob Chychrun scored twice and Washington rebounded from a pair of ugly losses, beating Toronto.

The Capitals lost at Winnipeg and Minnesota by a combined 10-1, but Aliaksei Protas and Chychrun scored in the first period against Toronto. Thompson made the early lead stand up, finishing with 22 saves for his eighth career shutout.

Chychrun made it 3-0 with a third-period goal, his 14th of the season, which tied him with Alex Ovechkin for second on the team behind Tom Wilson’s 17. Chychrun nearly completed the hat trick, hitting the post with about 3 1/2 minutes to play.

John Carlson also scored in the final period.

CANADIENS 4, BLACKHAWKS 1

MONTREAL (AP) — Zachary Bolduc scored twice and Lane Hutson had three assists as Montreal beat Chicago.

Noah Dobson also scored for Montreal, Nick Suzuki had an empty-net goal and an assist, and Jakub Dobes stopped 14 shots.

Frank Nazar scored for Chicago in the team’s second game without injured star Connor Bedard. Spencer Knight made 32 saves as the Blackhawks lost their fourth straight.

Nazar opened the scoring on Chicago’s first shot, redirecting a pass behind Dobes after a Canadiens defensive breakdown at 7:27 of the first period.

Bolduc cranked a one-timer from the slot off a feed from Cole Caufield feed to tie it later in the period with his eighth of the season, and first at home, prompting a huge ovation from the Bell Centre crowd.

The 22-year-old Bolduc added his second of the night with a deflection 20 seconds into the third period. Dobson made it 3-1 at the 10-minute mark after chasing down a rebound.

WILD 5, BLUE JACKETS 2

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Kirill Kaprizov and Matt Boldy each had a goal and two assists, and Minnesota beat Columbus for its sixth straight win.

Joel Eriksson Ek had a goal and an assist, and Ryan Hartman and Vladimir Tarasenko also scored for Minnesota. Yakov Trenin had two assists and Jesper Wallstedt stopped 27 shots.

Zach Werenski scored twice for Columbus, and Jet Greaves finished with 23 saves. The Blue Jackets have lost six of their last seven (1-5-1).

The Wild have allowed just nine goals during their win streak, giving up no more than two goals in any game with one shutout.

Eriksson Ek put the Wild ahead 3-2 with 8:10 remaining, jamming at the puck on the left side after Greaves stopped his initial attempt.

Kaprizov had an empty-netter with 1:52 left for his 22nd goal of the season, and Boldy added one 38 seconds later.

KINGS 2, LIGHTNING 1

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Adrian Kempe scored twice in the second period, and Los Angeles beat Tampa Bay.

Anton forsberg stopped 31 shots to help the Kings snap a four-game skid (0-2-2) and get just their third win in nine games (3-4-2).

Oliver Bjorkstrand scored for the Lightning and Andrei Vasilevskiy finished with 18 saves. Tampa Bay has lost three straight (0-2-1) and seven of its last nine (2-6-1).

The Lightning outshot the Kings 13-3 in the third period, but couldn’t get the tying goal past Forsberg.

Bjorkstrand gave the Lightning a 1-0 lead with 7:06 remaining in the first period with a power-play goal, knocking in the rebound through Forsberg’s pads after the goalie stopped his initial attempt.

Kempe then scored twice 10 1/2 minutes apart in the second to put the Kings ahead. First, he beat Vasilevskiy from between the circles at 5:21 to tie it. Then, he put a backhander past the goalie from the right side on a breakaway with 4:02 remaining in the period with his team-leading 13th for a 2-1 lead with 4:02 left in the period.

SENATORS 4, PENGUINS 0

OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — Linus Ullmark made 24 saves for his first shutout of the season, Brady Tkachuk scored twice and Ottawa beat Pittsburgh to extend its losing streak to seven.

David Perron and Claude Giroux also scored, with Perron reaching 800 career points.

Arturs Silovs made 22 saves for Pittsburgh. The Penguins are 0-3-4 on the seven-game streak. They last won on Dec. 4.

Early in the second period, Perron redirected Jordan Spence’s shot from the goal line for a 2–0 lead. Just over three minutes later, Giroux took a pass in front, spun and beat Silovs.

Ottawa opened the scoring on the power play with Tim Stutzle finding Drake Batherson down low for a backdoor feed to Tkachuk at the side of the net. Tkachuk also scored in the third.

SABRES 5, FLYERS 3

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Tage Thompson and Noah Ostlund scored 2:36 apart in the closing minutes of the second period, and Buffalo beat Philadelphia for its fourth straight win.

Josh Norris, Jack Quinn and Ryan McLeod also scored for the Sabres in their first game since Jarmo Kekalainen took over as general manager on Monday. In replacing Kevyn Adams, Kekalainen placed an emphasis on players showing character and the team consistency — two qualities lacking during the franchise’s NHL-record 14-year playoff drought.

Alex Lyon made 24 saves in accounting for all four wins during Buffalo’s season-best run.

Travis Konecny, Cam York and Noah Cates scored for the Flyers, who lost in regulation for the first time in six outings (2-1-3). Samuel Ersson stopped 23 shots.

RANGERS 2, BLUES 1, OT

ST. LOUIS (AP) — J.T. Miller scored 2:21 into overtime and New York beat St. Louis.

Rookie Gabe Perrault scored his first NHL goal for the Rangers, and Igor Shesterkin had 26 saves. New York had lost two straight and five of six (1-3-2).

Jonatan Berggren, claimed off waivers from Detroit earlier this week, scored for St. Louis, which has lost four of six. (2-3-1). Jordan Binnington finished with 28 saves.

Miller was open in the slot and delivered the decisive goal as New York snapped a five-game losing streak in St. Louis.

Shesterkin ended a 12-game stretch in which he had allowed multiple goals in each game. His last game allowing only one goal came Nov. 15 in a shootout victory against Columbus.

FLAMES 4, KRAKEN 2

CALGARY, Alberta (AP) — Mikael Backlund had two goals, and Calgary scored three times in the third period to beat Seattle.

Matt Coronato and Nazem Kadri also scored for the Flames, and Rasmus Andersson had three assists. Dustin Wolf had 21 saves to help Calgary improve to 6-1-1 in their last eight home games.

Chandler Stephenson and Kaapo Kakko scored for the Kraken, who have lost seven of eight (1-7-0) in December. Joey Daccord stopped 42 shots.

Kadri’s power-play one-timer at 9:56 of the third tied the score 2-2.

Coronato gave the Flames the lead with 8:41 remaining as he got a pass from Andersson in the neutral zone and skated up and beat Daccord high on the glove side. Jonathan Huberdeau had an assist on the play for his 800th career point.

Backlund added an empty-netter with 8 seconds to go.

STARS 5, SHARKS 3

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Wyatt Johnston scored twice and Dallas beat San Jose.

Roope Hintz had a goal and an assist, and Justin Hryckowian and Jamie Benn also scored for Dallas. Esa Lindell and Mikko Rantanen each had two assists, and Jake Oettinger stopped 30 shots.

Colin Graf had two goals, and Shakir Mukhamadullin also scored for the Sharks, who snapped a three-game win streak. Macklin Celebrini had two assists and Alex Nedeljkovic finished with 25 saves.

Hintz opened the scoring for Dallas with 7:35 left in the first period for his 10th goal of the season, and Johnston made it 2-0 with 2:22 remaining.

Mukhamadullin put the Sharks on the board at 1:43 of the second period with his second goal of the year.

Johnston answered at 8:40 with his second of the game and 19th of the season, moving him one behind Jason Robertson for the team lead. Rantanen got his second assist of the night and 32nd of the season on the play.

Graf cut the deficit again with 3:16 remining in the middle period, but Dallas responded quickly as Hryckowian made it 4-2 with 43 seconds left.

Graf completed his two-goal night at 4:32 of the third period, with Celebrini getting his 35th assist.