Connor Hellebuyck recorded 35 saves to post back-to-back shutouts for the first time in his career, Gabriel Vilardi scored 66 seconds into the game and the Winnipeg Jets posted a 1-0 victory over the visiting Colorado Avalanche on Thursday.
Two days after Hellebuyck stopped 21 shots in a 3-0 home victory over Utah, the two-time Vezina Trophy winner was even better. The 10-year veteran was at his best in the third, when he made 17 saves and helped stave off an Avalanche six-on-four advantage in the final 70 seconds.
He recorded his 40th career shutout — and third of the season — while pacing the Jets to a fifth consecutive victory and a 13-1-0 start. The Jets join the 2007-08 Ottawa Senators as the only teams to record 26 points through the first 14 games.
Meanwhile, Colorado’s Alexandar Georgiev, who entered with a 4.62 goals-against average and was making his first start since Oct. 28, was exceptional with 27 saves.
Bruins 4, Flames 3 (OT)
Brad Marchand scored a backhand game-winning goal with 20 seconds remaining in overtime as Boston defeated visiting Calgary. Marchand has 21 OT goals, the third-highest total in NHL history.
Pavel Zacha registered one goal and one assist to lead the Bruins’ offense. Hampus Lindholm and Cole Koepke also scored for the Bruins, who have won three of four. David Pastrnak dished out two assists, and Joonas Korpisalo made 34 saves.
Tyson Barrie, Yegor Sharangovich and Nazem Kadri scored Calgary’s goals. Dustin Wolf stopped 34 shots as the Flames were unable to post consecutive overtime wins.
Islanders 4, Senators 2
Anders Lee, Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Oliver Wahlstrom scored over a span of less than seven minutes bridging the final two periods for visiting New York, which fended off a late comeback by Ottawa to earn the victory.
Bo Horvat, who also had two assists, scored an empty-netter in the final minute for the Islanders, who have won two straight for the first time this season. Semyon Varlamov made 28 saves.
Nick Jensen and Drake Batherson scored in the third period for the Senators, who have lost five of seven (2-5-0). Goalie Anton Forsberg recorded 21 saves.
Panthers 6, Predators 2
Carter Verhaeghe and Aleksander Barkov produced three points apiece as Florida won its sixth straight game, defeating Nashville in Sunrise, Fla.
Verhaeghe scored two goals and dished one assist. Barkov pocketed three assists. Sam Reinhart scored in his fifth consecutive game, and the Panthers also got goals from Matthew Tkachuk, Evan Rodrigues and Tomas Nosek. Sergei Bobrovsky made 16 saves for the victory.
Steven Stamkos and Juuso Parssinen scored and Scott Wedgewood made 28 saves for the Predators, who have lost three games in a row.
Sabres 6, Rangers 1
Tage Thompson and Jordan Greenway scored 30 seconds apart during a four-goal barrage in the second period as Buffalo rolled past host New York.
Rasmus Dahlin, Dylan Cozens, Sam Lafferty and Zach Benson added goals for the Sabres, who scored at least five goals for the fifth time this season. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 25 saves.
Will Cuylle scored for the Rangers, who took their most lopsided of the season. New York goalie Igor Shesterkin was pulled after allowing five goals on 12 shots and was replaced by Jonathan Quick, who stopped 9 of 10 shots.
Devils 5, Canadiens 3
Jesper Bratt collected two goals and an assist and Jack Hughes also recorded a three-point performance, fueling New Jersey past Montreal in Newark, N.J.
Hughes joined Ondrej Palat and defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler in scoring one goal and Jacob Markstrom made 21 saves to propel the Devils to their fourth win in their past five games.
Montreal’s Alex Newhook scored twice to double his season goal total and Brendan Gallagher also tallied. Sam Montembeault turned aside 22 shots for the Canadiens, who have lost five in a row and nine of their past 11 games (2-7-2). Montreal has surrendered at least four goals in eight of 14 games this season.
Flyers 2, Lightning 1 (SO)
Owen Tippett scored a tying goal late in regulation and tallied the game-deciding goal in a shootout as Philadelphia broke a two-game losing streak by edging host Tampa Bay.
Travis Konecny and Tippett put shots past Andrei Vasilevskiy (30 saves) in the shootout, which ended 2-0 for the Flyers.
Philadelphia goaltender Ivan Fedotov, 27, made 22 saves and recorded his first NHL win in his first career shootout by stopping Gage Goncalves and Victor Hedman. Nikita Kucherov scored in regulation for the Lightning.
Utah 4, Blues 2
Dylan Guenther had a goal and an assist to lead the visiting Utah Hockey Club past St. Louis.
Matias Maccelli, Michael Kesselring and Jack McBain also scored for Utah, which won for just the second time in its past eight games (2-4-2). Connor Ingram had to make just 13 saves to earn the victory.
Colton Parayko and Jordan Kyrou scored and Pavel Buchnevich earned two assists for the Blues, who lost for the fourth time in their past six games. Joel Hofer stopped 27 saves in defeat.
Hurricanes 5, Penguins 1
Jack Roslovic provided two goals and an assist as Carolina won its eighth game in a row, beating Pittsburgh in Raleigh, N.C.
Jordan Martinook, Jaccob Slavin and Eric Robinson also scored for the Hurricanes. Jalen Chatfield posted three assists, and Sebastian Aho had two assists.
Blake Lizotte scored with 14:52 remaining for the Penguins, who trailed 5-0 at the time. Pittsburgh goalie Alex Nedeljkovic, who formerly played for Carolina, stopped 13 shots.
Stars 3, Blackhawks 1
Jake Oettinger made 25 saves to lead host Dallas past Chicago, helping the Stars end a two-game losing streak.
Sam Steel and Logan Stankoven each had a goal and an assist, and Tyler Seguin also scored for the Stars.
Tyler Bertuzzi scored and Arvid Soderblom made 37 saves for the Blackhawks, who were playing the second game of a back-to-back set after losing to the visiting Detroit Red Wings 4-1 on Wednesday.
Canucks 4, Kings 2
Quinn Hughes collected a goal and an assist to lead visiting Vancouver to a victory over Los Angeles.
Conor Garland, Jake DeBrusk and J.T. Miller also scored for the Canucks, who completed a sweep of the three California teams during their road trip. Goaltender Kevin Lankinen made 26 saves. Darcy Kuemper stopped 20 shots and Quinton Byfield and Vladislav Gavrikov scored for the Kings, who had their two-game winning streak end.
Kings forward Tanner Jeannot was assessed a major for a head hit on Canucks forward Brock Boeser. Having received a match penalty for his hit on Boeser, who did not return, Jeannot will have his infraction automatically reviewed by the league.
Wild 5, Sharks 2
Matt Boldy scored twice and Kirill Kaprizov had three assists as visiting Minnesota beat San Jose.
The Wild are 6-1-1 on the road with a league-leading 13 away points. Zach Bogosian, Mats Zuccarello and Jonas Brodin had the other goals for the Wild, who have won four of their past five games.
Macklin Celebrini scored both of the Sharks’ goals while Henry Thrun and Mikael Granlund each had two assists. It was the first career multi-goal game for the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 draft, who has three goals in his three NHL games.
-Field Level Media