Detroit News staff and wires
Former Red Wing Jonatan Berggren scored his first goal for the St. Louis Blues on Thursday.
Claimed off waivers from Detroit on Tuesday, Berggren beat Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin from a sharp angle in a 2-1 overtime loss against New York.
“I just closed my eyes and shoot,” Berggren said. “I was lucky it went in. It was nice to get the first one pretty early.
“I think we’ve been playing hard for sure, this was definitely frustrating. We’ve just got to keep building our game and playing the right way.”
It was Berggren’s second game with the Blues after going scoreless against Winnipeg on Wednesday. He stepped into a third-line role with a goal and four shots in two games.
Prior to being waived, he was scratched for 19 of 34 games with Detroit. He had three goals, four assists, 24 shots and a minus-2 rating in 17 games with the Wings.
J.T. Miller scored 2:21 into overtime, rookie Gabe Perreault scored his first NHL goal for the Rangers, and Shesterkin made 26 saves
More Thursday NHL
Edmonton 3, (at) Boston 1: Connor McDavid scored on a short-handed breakaway and set up Ryan Nugent-Hopkins’ power-play score in the Oilers’ win over the Bruins.
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.
(At) Washington 4, Toronto 0: 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. The Capitals will host the Red Wings on Saturday.
(At) Montreal 4, Chicago 1: 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.
Ex-Wolverine 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.
Minnesota 5, (at) Columbus 2: 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).
L. A. Kings 2, (at) Tampa Bay 1: 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).
(At) Ottawa 4, Pittsburgh 0: 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.
(At) Buffalo 5, Philadelphia 3: 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. Ex-Wings 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.
(At) Calgary 4, Seattle 2: 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.
Dallas 5, (at) San Jose 3: Wyatt Johnston scored twice, 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.
Lucic signs with British team
Former Bruins forward Milan Lucic signed with the Fife Flyers of Britain’s Elite Ice Hockey League, the club announced Thursday, a move that has prompted backlash in Scotland.
The 37-year-old Vancouver native played 1,177 regular-season games in the NHL and won a Stanley Cup with the Bruins in 2011. He also played for the Kings, Oilers and Flames.
Lucic was charged in 2023 in connection with an alleged domestic incident involving his wife, Brittany Carnegie, but prosecutors later dropped the case after she declined to testify.
Scottish media reported Thursday that the signing has drawn criticism from domestic abuse advocates and coincided with the resignations of two Fife Flyers officials.
Local schedules
Friday
▶ Grand Rapids at Iowa, 7
Saturday
▶ Red Wings at Washington, 12:30
Sunday
▶ Washington at Red Wings, 1
▶ Cleveland at Grand Rapids, 4
Tuesday, Dec. 23
▶ Dallas at Red Wings, 6:30
Saturday, Dec. 27
▶ Red Wings at Carolina, 7
▶ Grand Rapids at Milwaukee, 7
▶ Muskegon at NTDP U18, 7
Sunday, Dec. 28
▶ Toronto at Red Wings, 7
▶ Great Lakes Invitational at Grand Rapids
▶ Michigan Tech vs. Miami, 3:37
▶ Michigan State vs. Ferris State, 7
▶ NTDP U17 at Muskegon, 3
▶ NTDP U18 at Bowling Green, 7
Monday, Dec. 29
▶ Great Lakes Invitational at Grand Rapids
▶ MSU vs. Michigan Tech or Miami, TBA
Tuesday, Dec. 30
▶ Utica University at NTDP U18, 7
Wednesday, Dec. 31
▶ Winnipeg at Red Wings, 6:30
▶ Milwaukee at Grand Rapids, 6
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