Anders Lee scored twice Tuesday night for the visiting New York Islanders, who snapped an 11-game losing streak and earned their first win in more than a month by beating the Ottawa Senators 5–3.
The Islanders had gone 0–8–3 dating back to Nov. 7, a span in which they were ravaged by injuries and a COVID-19 outbreak. The losing streak was the longest for New York since a 14-game skid (0–11–3) in 2010.
Oliver Wahlstrom scored 27 seconds before Lee’s second goal in the middle period—a tally that gave the Islanders their first multi-goal lead since their previous win, a 2–0 victory over the Winnipeg Jets on Nov. 6.
Blues 4, Panthers 3 (OT)
Pavel Buchnevich scored the winning goal as short-handed St. Louis edged visiting Florida in overtime.Vladimir Tarasenko, Brayden Schenn, and Brandon Saad also scored for the Blues, who dressed just 17 skaters due to injuries, COVID-19 protocols and salary-cap issues. During the game, they lost Ville Husso and defenseman Jake Walman to injuries.
Rangers 6, Blackhawks 2
Artemi Panarin logged two goals and two assists as visiting New York topped Chicago to extend its winning streak to seven games.New York’s Chris Kreider scored a go-ahead, power-play goal early in the third period and added an assist. Jacob Trouba and Kevin Rooney both had a goal and an assist, and Barclay Goodrow also scored. New York’s Adam Fox, Ryan Reaves and Mika Zibanejad notched two assists apiece.
Wild 4, Oilers 1
Joel Eriksson Ek had a goal and an assist, Cam Talbot made 38 saves and Minnesota notched its seventh win in a row, against host Edmonton.Marcus Foligno, Victor Rask, and Dmitry Kulikov also scored for the red-hot Wild, who have earned at least one point in eight straight games and have not lost in regulation since Nov. 20.
Sharks 5, Flames 3
Tomas Hertl notched a hat trick as host San Jose erased a two-goal deficit with four unanswered goals against Calgary.Logan Couture added one goal and two assists while Erik Karlsson collected one goal and one helper for the Sharks, who snapped a two-game losing skid by claiming the opener of a seven-game homestand. San Jose’s Adin Hill made 40 saves, and Brent Burns and Alexander Barabanov both produced two assists.
Ducks 2, Sabres 0
Trevor Zegras and Sonny Milano teamed up for one of the most unique goals in NHL history and visiting Anaheim held on for a shutout win against Buffalo.Zegras was behind the Buffalo goal when he lifted the puck with the blade of his stick and then flipped it over the back of the net. Milano was positioned in front of the crease, and he slapped the puck into the net for a 1–0 lead at 5:14 of the second period. Anthony Stolarz made 25 saves for his second shutout in his past three starts for Anaheim.
Hurricanes 4, Jets 2
Carolina scored two goals on power plays and beat host Winnipeg to open a five-game trip.Jaccob Slavin, Sebastian Aho, Martin Necas and Vincent Trocheck scored for Carolina, which has won back-to-back games following a six-game stretch with just one victory. Frederik Andersen, who hadn’t played in the past two games, made 16 saves for the Hurricanes.
Predators 5, Red Wings 2
Ryan Johansen, Roman Josi and Dante Fabbro each had a goal and two assists and visiting Nashville snapped Detroit’s five-game winning streak.Eeli Tolvanen and Nick Cousins also scored for Nashville, while David Rittich made 14 saves.
Lightning 3, Canadiens 2
Ondrej Palat notched the winning goal with 38 seconds to play as visiting Tampa Bay scored twice late to beat injury-riddled Montreal.Pat Maroon also tallied for the Lightning, who won their fourth straight and improved to 8–2–2 on the road. Vasilevskiy made 21 saves to improve to 12–1–2 in his career against the Canadiens.
Maple Leafs 5, Blue Jackets 4
Auston Matthews had two goals and an assist, Morgan Rielly matched his career best with four assists and Toronto defeated visiting Columbus.Matthews has scored in seven straight games (10 goals) for the second time in his career. William Nylander added a goal and an assist while Nick Ritchie and John Tavares each scored once for the Maple Leafs, who had lost their two previous games.
Oliver Bjorkstrand scored twice for Columbus and Sean Kuraly and Max Domi each scored once.