NHL roundup: Bunting nets three points as Predators pounce on Flames 4-2

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Michael Bunting had a goal and two assists, and the Nashville Predators beat the Calgary Flames 4-2 on Saturday.

Matthew Wood had a goal and an assist for the Predators, who snapped a three-game losing streak. Jonathan Marchessault and Filip Forsberg also scored, and Juuse Saros made 33 saves.

Jonathan Huberdeau and Joel Farabee scored for Calgary in its third consecutive loss. Dustin Wolf and Devin Cooley combined to make 20 saves.

Bunting scored the game’s first goal 10:29 into the first on a wrist shot from the top of the right circle that beat Wolf on the glove side.

Wood made it 2-0 at 11:18 when he wired a wrist shot from the right circle just underneath the crossbar on the far side. Wood scored his first NHL goal Thursday in Philadelphia.

Elsewhere in the NHL on Saturday:

BRUINS 2 HURRICANES 1

BOSTON (AP) — Casey Mittelstadt and Viktor Arvidsson scored third-period goals as Boston extended it’s winning streak to three games with a 2-1 victory over Carolina.

The Bruins opened the season with three consecutive wins, then lost six in a row and have now won four of five overall.

Mittelstadt opened the scoring at 1:27 of the third when he got his fourth of the season off a pass from Charlie McAvoy.

JETS 5 PENGUINS 2

WINNIPEG, Man. (AP) — Rookie forward Brad Lambert scored his first NHL goal and backup goalie Eric Comrie made 28 saves as Winnipeg beat Pittsburgh.

Kyle Connor scored twice, including an empty-net goal, and Gabriel Valardi and Vladislav Namestnikov also scored for Winnipeg (9-3-0).

Sidney Crosby and Blake Lizotte scored for Pittsburgh (8-3-2). Arturs Silovs made 29 saves.

SHARKS 3 AVALANCHE 2 (OT)

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Philipp Kurashev scored his second goal of the game 1:48 into overtime, and San Jose beat Colorado.

Kurashev took a pass at the Colorado blue line, skated to the right circle and beat Mackenzie Blackwood with a wrister over the left shoulder.

San Jose’s 19-year-old star Macklin Celebrini scored his seventh goal of the season and Yaroslav Askarov stopped 36 shots.

Blackwood made 20 saves in his season debut for the Avalanche. He missed the first 12 games after having off-season surgery on a lower-body injury and didn’t face his first shot until midway through the first period.

Colorado remained winless in five games decided after regulation despite outshooting the Sharks 38-23.

Martin Necas and Nathan MacKinnon scored for the Avalanche, who earned three of a possible four points in their second back-to-back set of the season.

PANTHERS 4 STARS 3 (SO)

SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Brad Marchand capped an emotional night by getting what became the winning goal in a shootout, and Florida beat Dallas.

Marchand got a tribute score, Sam Reinhart got a milestone one and Sam Bennett also scored for the Panthers. Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 20 shots, six of them in overtime — and five in the final 61 seconds of the extra period.

Marchand scored in his first game back after returning to his native Nova Scotia to pay tribute to a friend’s 10-year-old daughter who lost her battle with cancer, and Reinhart got the 300th goal of his career.

Mikko Rantanen scored with 2:42 left in regulation to tie the game for Dallas, which got three assists from Sam Steel — who had two points all season entering Saturday, then had the first three-assist game of his career.

Justin Kyrckowian got his first NHL goal and Wyatt Johnston also scored for Dallas, both of those tallies coming 14 seconds apart during what was to be a 4-minute power play in the second period.

CANADIENS 4 SENATORS 3 (OT)

MONTREAL (AP) — Alex Newhook scored 1:40 into overtime and Montreal beat Ottawa.

Cole Caulfield, Juraj Slafkovsky and Ivan Demidov scored in regulation for Montreal, whicn won its third straight. Nick Suzuki had two assists to extend his point streak to a career-high 11 games, and Samuel Montembeault had 14 saves.

Drake Batherson, Tim Stützle and Michael Amadio scored for Ottawa, and Linus Ullmark finished with 23 saves.

SABRES 4 CAPITALS 3 (SO)

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Bowen Byram scored the deciding goal in the shootout to give Buffalo a win over Washington.

Alex Ovechkin was held without a goal for the fourth straight game and remains one shy of 900 for the Capitals who have lost four in a row. Byram’s first career shootout goal was the only one in the five-round shootout. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen stopped all five Capitals, including Ovechkin, and made 31 saves.

Dylan Strome, Aliaksei Protas and Sonny Milano each scored, and Charlie Lindgren made 21 saves for Washington.

Tage Thompson, Alex Tuch and Isak Rosen each had a goal for Buffalo who have points in six straight games and eight of nine. 

MAPLE LEAFS 5 FLYERS 2

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Austin Matthews scored a goal, John Tavares assisted on two others, and Toronto beat Philadelphia.

Matthews netted his sixth goal of the season with a snap shot from the left circle at 6:16 of the first period to tie the score 1-1.

Matthews has at least one point in 12 straight games against Philadelphia dating to December 2019.

Tavares assisted on goals by Nicholas Robertson and Easton Cowan as the Maple Leafs won for the third time in four games.

Cowan’s goal was his first in the NHL. Anthony Stolarz made 31 saves to earn the win over the franchise that drafted him. Stolarz was a second-round pick by the Flyers in the 2012 NHL Draft. Jake McCabe and Calle Jarnkrok also scored for Toronto.

Christian Dvorak and Tyson Foerster scored for Philadelphia, which had its three-game winning streak snapped. Dan Vladar, who had not allowed more than two goals in any of his first six starts for the Flyers, allowed four goals on 19 shots. He was pulled after Cowan’s goal in the third period and replaced by Aleksei Kolosov.

BLUE JACKETS 3 BLUES 2

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Zach Werenski had a goal and an assist, Sean Monahan scored for his 600th NHL point, and Columbus beat the St. Louis for their fourth straight win.

Charlie Coyle also scored for his fifth point in the last two games and Jet Greaves made 37 saves, including 17 in the final period. The Blue Jackets have won six of their last seven games.

Justin Faulk and Nick Bjugstad scored in the Blues’ seventh straight loss. Joel Hofer finished with 32 saves.

WILD 5 CANUCKS 2

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Marco Rossi scored the go-ahead goal in the second period and Vladimir Tarasenko had a goal and two assists, helping Minnesota stop a five-game losing streak with a victory over Vancouver.

Vinnie Hinostroza and Jonas Brodin padded the lead with goals in the third period, and Ryan Hartman added an empty-netter for the Wild (4-6-3), who notched their first regulation win in seven games on home ice this season.

Joel Eriksson Ek had two assists and Filip Gustavsson made 26 saves for the Wild, who were superb on special teams.

Tarasenko’s backhander off a slick pass from Eriksson Ek came during a power play in the first period, and the Wild’s penalty kill was 3 for 3 in keeping the Canucks out of the net with their man advantages after going just 1 for 5 over the first four games of this homestand.

Drew O’Connor scored twice and Aatu Raty had two assists for the banged-up Canucks (6-7-0), who have lost five of their last seven games and have only three regulation wins.

DEVILS 4 KINGS 1

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Brian Halonen scored his first NHL goal and Dawson Mercer got two short-handed goals in the third period of New Jersey’s victory over Los Angeles.

Jacob Markstrom celebrated his two-year contract extension with 42 saves, and Nico Hischier also scored in a strong bounce-back effort by the Devils. New Jersey had lost two straight while allowing 13 goals following its early eight-game winning streak.

Mercer got his team-leading seventh goal during a Los Angeles power play. He put a second short-handed goal into an empty net with 3:48 to play, shooting the puck from deep in the New Jersey end to secure his second straight two-goal game.

OILERS 3 BLACKHAWKS 2 (OT)

EDMONTON, Alta. (AP) — Evan Bouchard scored 2:43 into overtime and Edmonton beat Chicago.

Leon Draisaitl had a goal and an assist, Jack Roslovic also scored and Connor McDavid had three assists for the Oilers, who have won two of their last three games. Stuart Skinner finished with 27 saves.

Tyler Bertuzzi and Andre Burakovsky scored for the Blackhawks in their second straight loss and third in the last four. Spencer Knight had 27 saves.

In the extra period, Bouchard scored on his own rebound for the win.

RANGERS 3 KRAKEN 2 (OT)

SEATTLE (AP) — Will Cuylle scored at 2:42 of overtime and New York beat Seattle.

Vladislav Gavrikov and Noah Laba each scored in the opening period for New York, and Igor Shesterkin finished with 11 saves. Cuylle also an assist for the fourth straight game.

In the extra period, Cuylle scored from the right circle on a snap shot to give the Rangers their third consecutive win to end the road trip.

Chandler Stephenson and Bradon Montour both scored for Seattle, which dropped its second straight overtime loss. It was the Kraken’s sixth overtime game this season.

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