Washington Capitals defenceman John Carlson (74) celebrates with teammates after scoring a goal on Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Dennis Hildeby (35) during the third period of their win at Capital One Arena on Thursday.Geoff Burke/Reuters
Logan Thompson earned his second shutout of the season, Jakob Chychrun scored twice and the Washington Capitals rebounded from a pair of ugly losses, beating the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-0 on Thursday night.
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.
Sonny Milano hit the post in the first period for Washington, and Protas opened the scoring with his 11th goal of the season. Justin Sourdif did plenty to earn an assist on the play, controlling the puck in front, then stickhandling around goalie Dennis Hildeby and sliding it in front for a tap-in by Protas.
Chychrun scored with Hildeby out of position when the puck caromed to him off the end boards.
Chychrun’s second goal came seconds after a bit of a gaffe by the Capitals defenceman. He passed the puck toward the right point, apparently thinking a teammate would be there, but the only person nearby was an official.
After the puck came out of the zone, three Toronto players went off for a change, and Chychrun was able to cruise back in with the puck and beat Hildeby from the left circle.
Up next
Maple Leafs: At Nashville on Saturday night.
Capitals: Host Detroit on Saturday.
– The Associated Press
Canadiens ride Hutson’s three-point night to win over Blackhawks
Zachary Bolduc scored twice and Lane Hutson produced three assists as the Montreal Canadiens defeated the Chicago Blackhawks 4-1 on Thursday night.
Noah Dobson also scored for Montreal (18-12-4), while Jakub Dobes stopped 14 shots. Nick Suzuki added an empty-net goal and one assist.
Frank Nazar scored the lone goal for Chicago (13-15-6) in the team’s second game without injured star centre Connor Bedard.
Montreal Canadiens forward Zack Bolduc (76) celebrates with teammates including defenceman Lane Hutson (48) after scoring a goal against the Chicago Blackhawks during the third period at the Bell Centre.Eric Bolte/Reuters
Spencer Knight made 32 saves as the Blackhawks lost for the fourth straight game.
Nazar opened the scoring on Chicago’s first shot, redirecting a pass behind Dobes after a Canadiens defensive breakdown at 7:27 in the first period.
Bolduc cranked a one-timer from the slot off a Cole Caufield feed to tie the game at 14:23 with his eighth of the season, and first at the Bell Centre.
The 22-year-old Bolduc from Trois-Rivieres, Que., added his second of the night with a deflection 20 seconds into the third period, before Dobson made it 3-1 at the 10-minute mark after chasing down a rebound.
It was a successful night for coach’s challenges. The Canadiens had two goals overturned for offside, and one Blackhawks goal was brought back for goalie interference.
Takeaways
Canadiens: Dominated the shots 35-15 in a game that wasn’t as tightly contested as the score indicated much of the night. Hutson led the team with 26:19 of ice time in its second straight game without injured defenceman Mike Matheson (upper body).
Blackhawks: Nazar pretended to throw a monkey off his back after ending a 21-game goalless drought. Knight kept the Blackhawks alive for much of the game while the Canadiens drove the play.
Key moment
Bolduc – acquired from St. Louis last summer – let out a huge cheer and pumped his fists as the crowd erupted after his first goal in the Canadiens’ home jersey.
Key stat
With his assist on Bolduc’s first goal, Hutson became the first defenceman in Canadiens history to record 60 in a calendar year.
Up next
Canadiens: Host the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday.
Blackhawks: Visit the Ottawa Senators on Saturday.
– The Canadian Press
Ullmark earns first shutout of the season as Sens down Pens
Linus Ullmark’s 24-save outing gave him his first shutout of the season in a 4-0 Ottawa Senators victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday night.
The Penguins (14-10-9) have now lost seven straight (0-3-4), with their last win coming on Dec. 4.
With just over six minutes remaining in the third and trailing 3-0, Pittsburgh goalie Arturs Silovs left the net, despite Ottawa (16-13-4) having possession, allowing Brady Tkachuk to score an empty-net goal for his second of the game.
Ottawa took a 3-0 lead after 40 minutes with a pair of quick second-period goals.
Ottawa Senators goaltender Linus Ullmark (35) reaches for the puck during first period play against the Pittsburgh Penguins in Ottawa on Thursday.PATRICK DOYLE/The Canadian Press
In the opening minutes of the second, David Perron redirected Jordan Spence’s shot from the goal line for a 2-0 lead, recording the 800th point of his NHL career.
Just over three minutes later, Claude Giroux took a pass in front, spun and beat Silovs, who stopped 22 shots.
Tim Stützle, playing in his 400th career game, had an assist on Tkachuk’s opening goal.
Ottawa opened the scoring on the power play with Stützle finding Drake Batherson down low, who had the backdoor feed to Tkachuk at the side of the net for his third of the season.
Takeaways
Senators: After taking a 3-0 second-period lead, the Senators kept the Penguins to the outside.
Penguins: Despite having lost their previous six entering Thursday’s contest, the Penguins didn’t play with an expected sense of desperation.
Key stat
Stützle’s 360 points in 400 games with the Senators are the fourth most across such a span, behind only Jason Spezza (416), Alexei Yashin (376) and Dany Heatley (362).
Key moment
With the Senators leading 1-0 Ullmark made a great save on Danton Heinen on what looked like a surefire goal.
Up next
Senators: Host the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday.
Penguins: Visit the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday.
– The Canadian Press
Oilers lose goaltender Jarry in win over Bruins
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.
Edmonton Oilers goaltender Calvin Pickard (30) celebrates with Connor McDavid (97) after defeating the Boston Bruins on Thursday in Boston.Charles Krupa/The Associated Press
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.
Entering with the NHL’s top ranked power play, the Oilers scored on their first opportunity when McDavid made a perfect feed to Nugent-Hopkins from behind the net to the right circle, where he one-timed a shot past Swayman with 6:22 left in the first.
McDavid had two goals and two assists in a victory over Pittsburgh in the previous game.
Up next
Oilers: Close a five-game trip Saturday at Minnesota.
Bruins: Host Vancouver on Saturday night.
– The Associated Press
Andersson assists on three goals for Flames in 4-2 win over KrakenOpen this photo in gallery:
Calgary Flames’ Matt Coronato, left, celebrates his goal with teammates Rasmus Andersson, centre, and Jonathan Huberdeau during third period.Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press
Rasmus Andersson assisted on three goals for the Calgary Flames in a 4-2 win over the visiting Seattle Kraken on Thursday.
Mikael Backlund scored twice, including an empty-netter, and Matt Coronato and Nazem Kadri also scored for Calgary (14-17-4).
Goalie Dustin Wolf made 21 saves for the Flames, who improved to 6-1-1 at home in their last eight games.
His Kraken counterpart Joey Daccord stopped 42 shots for Seattle (12-14-6). Chandler Stephenson and Kaapo Kakko scored for the visitors who fell to 1-7-0 in December.
Coronato scored the winning goal at 11:19 of the third period. Andersson sent the puck up to Coronato in the neutral zone for the latter to beat Daccord high glove side.
Jonathan Huberdeau collected his 800th career point with the first assist on Coronato’s goal.
Kadri drew the Flames even with a power-play goal at 9:56. He wired a one-timer over Daccord’s stick.
Seattle led 2-1 at 17:16 of the second period when Kaapo redirected a Ryker Evans pass by Wolf for a power-play goal.
Andersson earned his 200th career assist banking a pass off Backlund driving the net at 10:20 to tie it 1-1.
The Kraken converted a Coronato turnover in the neutral zone into the first goal of the game at 7:52 of the second.
Stephenson went forehand to backhand on Wolf on a feed from Eeli Tolvanen.
Takeaways
Flames: Head coach Ryan Huska said defenceman Jake Bean will undergo surgery and is out indefinitely. “He’s been dealing with something for quite awhile now.” Six-foot-seven forward Adam Klapka got power-play time as Calgary’s net-front player on the first unit.
Kraken: Stephenson extended his point streak to seven games with four goals and three assists. Seattle was minus defenceman Brandon Montour after he was injured Tuesday in a game against Colorado. Daccord weathered a first-period storm when Seattle was outshot 18-6.
Key moment
Coronato, who hit the post in the opening minutes of the game and couldn’t convert a golden open-net chance in the second, rifled the winner over Daccord’s glove in the third.
Key stat
Kadri’s power-play goal in the third period ended an 0-for-13 drought for Calgary with a man advantage.
Up next:
Flames: Host the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday.
Kraken: Visit the San Jose Sharks on Saturday.
The Canadian Press