John Tavares scored a natural hat trick with three straight goals — two of them 1:10 apart in the second period — and the Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the visiting Buffalo Sabres 5-3 on Sunday night.
It was the 14th career hat trick for Tavares, who scored the final three goals of the game to turn a 3-2 deficit into the two-goal win. He capped the hat trick with an empty-netter with 2:12 left in the game.
Max Domi and Nicholas Robertson each had a goal and assist for the Maple Leafs, who have won three of their last four games. Toronto goaltender Dennis Hildeby made his third career NHL start and stopped 24 shots.
Jack Quinn had two goals and Alex Tuch scored once for the Sabres, who have dropped the first two of a three-game road trip and are winless in their last 10 overall (0-7-3).
Golden Knights 3, Wild 2
Victor Olofsson scored twice, including the go-ahead goal in the third period, to lift Vegas over Minnesota in Saint Paul, Minn.
Shea Theodore notched a goal and an assist for Vegas, which bounced back from a loss in Edmonton one day earlier. Kirill Kaprizov scored twice for Minnesota, which lost for the third time in the past five games.
Vegas goaltender Ilya Samsonov stopped 20 of 22 shots to improve to 7-3-1. Minnesota goaltender Jesper Wallstedt turned aside 24 of 27 shots in his season debut. The Wild promoted Wallstedt from Iowa of the AHL on Saturday.
Blackhawks 5, Islanders 3
Connor Bedard scored the go-ahead goal with 54 seconds remaining and Teuvo Teravainen had a goal and two assists as host Chicago defeated New York.
Bedard added an assist and Alex Vlasic had two assists to help Chicago avenge a 5-4 road loss to the Islanders on Thursday. Chicago, which has surrendered eight third-period goals in its past three games, scored twice in the final minute to earn the win.
With the game tied 3-3, Bedard put the Blackhawks ahead for good, sliding a shot past Islanders goalie Ilya Sorokin with heavy traffic in front of the net, moments after an unsuccessful New York power play.
Blues 3, Rangers 2
Robert Thomas scored a goal and added an assist as St. Louis edged visiting New York.
Pavel Buchnevich and Jordan Kyrou also scored for St. Louis, which is 6-2-2 since Jim Montgomery replaced Drew Bannister as head coach. Joel Hofer made 26 saves to win his fourth straight start for the Blues.
Brett Berard scored and Will Cuylle scored and Jonathan Quick made 21 saves for the Rangers, who have lost 10 of their last 13 games.
Hurricanes 4, Blue Jackets 1
Goaltender Dustin Tokarski returned to the NHL a winner, recording 27 saves in his Carolina debut as the Hurricanes defeated Columbus in Raleigh, N.C.
Appearing with his sixth NHL team, the 35-year-old Tokarski hadn’t won an NHL game since Jan. 10, 2023, when he was with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Jordan Martinook had a goal and an assist to lead the Hurricanes to their third win in their last eight games (3-5-0).
Dmitri Voronkov scored for the Blue Jackets, who have lost four in a row (0-2-2). Elvis Merzlikins, who stopped 24 shots, has just one victory in his last five outings (1-4-0).
–Field Level Media