NHL roundup: Thompson’s three-point game helps surging Sabres beat Red Wings 5-3

Elsewhere in the NHL on Saturday:

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FLYERS 7 WILD 5

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Sean Couturier had a hat trick, assisted on the game-winner by Rasmus Ristolainen and the Philadelphia Flyers snapped a six-game losing streak with a 7-5 win over the Minnesota Wild.

The loss was the first in regulation for Minnesota and snapped its seven-game point streak to start the season.

Ristolainen, who is usually a stay-at-home defenceman, crashed the net and jammed home the rebound of Couturier’s shot for his first goal of the season at 17:36 of the third period.

Couturier, who entered the game with a 32-game goal drought, scored the first one of the game a little more than a minute in, added a second goal on a scrum in front of the net in the third period, and finished off the hat trick with an empty-net goal.

Couturier’s first goal was his 500th point in his NHL career.

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KINGS 3 UTAH 2

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Joel Edmundson scored twice and Brandt Clarke had a goal and an assist, helping the Los Angeles Kings edge Utah Hockey Club 3-2.

Signed in free agency to provide more physicality on the blue line, Edmundson showed good offensive skill in his first career multigoal game. He got to the front of the crease to put Anze Kopitar’s pass into an open goal to make it 2-0 in the second period. He sent a shot from the blue line through traffic for a 3-1 lead early in the third.

Darcy Kuemper stopped 23 shots for the win. It was his first start in nearly two weeks after missing time because of a lower-body injury.

Clayton Keller and Logan Cooley scored for Utah in its third straight loss.

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BRUINS 4 MAPLE LEAFS 3 (OT)

BOSTON (AP) — Brad Marchand scored his first goal of the season 2:26 into overtime, and the Boston Bruins beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-3 to snap a three-game losing streak.

David Pastrnak had a power-play goal, and Justin Brazeau and Mark Kastelic scored 36 seconds apart later in the second period for Boston.

Auston Matthews tipped in Mitch Marner’s shot from the point, tying it with 1:17 left in regulation for the Maple Leafs. Matthew Knies and Morgan Rielly also scored for Toronto, which has lost three straight.

It was the teams’ first meeting since Boston knocked out Toronto in Game 7 of the opening round of the playoffs last spring.

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CANADIENS 5 BLUES 2

MONTREAL (AP) — Cole Caufield scored his seventh goal of the season, Kirby Dach scored for the first time since 2023 and the Montreal Canadiens beat the St. Louis Blues 5-2.

Montreal jumped out to a 2-0 lead with goals from Dach and Jake Evans before the Blues tied it with goals from Colton Parayko and Jake Neighbours.

Alex Newhook and Caufield’s goals at the end of the second period and the beginning of the third put the Canadiens in control, and Joel Armia added another into an empty net to put the game out of reach.

Sam Montembeault had 29 saves in the win, while Jordan Binnington let in four goals on 25 Montreal shots.

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LIGHTNING 3 CAPITALS 0

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Andrei Vasilevskiy made 31 saves for his 35th career shutout and the Tampa Bay Lightning ended the Washington Capitals’ five-game winning streak with a 3-0 victory.

Vasilevskiy was at his best in the second period, stopping all 16 shots he faced. He robbed Pierre-Luc Dubois and Dylan Strome late in the period — and got some help from the post on another shot by Dubois. It was the 297th victory of his career and his first shutout against Washington.

Mitchell Chaffee gave the Lightning a 1-0 lead at 5:27 of the second period, deflecting a shot by Nick Paul past Washington goaltender Charlie Lindgren, who finished with 17 saves. Brayden Point made it 2-0 at 2:26 of the third period, and Conor Geekie scored his first NHL goal at 3:10.

Nikita Kucherov extended his season-opening point streak to eight games with the primary assist on Point’s goal.

Washington’s Alex Ovechkin, who has 50 career goals in 82 games against the Lightning, was limited to two shots on goal.

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RANGERS 2 DUCKS 1

NEW YORK (AP) — Ryan Lindgren and Will Cuylle scored in the third period and the New York Rangers edged the Anaheim Ducks 2-1.

Jonathan Quick stopped 30 shots for the Rangers, who bounced back from a loss at home to the defending champion Florida Panthers on Thursday and earned a point for the seventh time in eight games (6-1-1).

Olen Zellweger scored for the Ducks, and Lukas Dostal finished with 30 saves. Anaheim lost for the third time in four games.

Lindgren fired the puck from the slot past Dostal at 4:13 of the third for his first goal of the season to snap a scoreless tie. It was the defenceman’s 11th goal in 336 career games.

Cuylle made it 2-0 on a goalmouth scramble with 8:07 remaining, and Zellweger spoiled Quick’s shutout bid 1:45 later.

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JETS 5 FLAMES 3

CALGARY, Alta. (AP) — Kyle Connor and Mason Appleton each had a goal and assist as the Winnipeg Jets made it eight straight wins to begin the season with a 5-3 victory over the Calgary Flames.

Nikolaj Ehlers, Dylan Samberg and Cole Perfetti also scored for Winnipeg, which has won 16 consecutive regular-season games going back to the end of the 2023-24 season.

It’s a feat that’s only been accomplished three times in league history: 1992-93 Pittsburgh Penguins (17), 2023-24 Edmonton Oilers (16) and 2016-17 Columbus Blue Jackets (16).

Mikael Backlund, Rasmus Andersson and Nazem Kadri scored for Calgary, which has lost consecutive games after opening the season with a franchise-best 5-0-1 mark.

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PANTHERS 6 ISLANDERS 3

NEW YORK (AP) — Matthew Tkachuk scored twice, Sam Bennett got the go-ahead goal in the third period, and the Florida Panthers rallied from three goals down to beat the New York Islanders 6-3.

Sam Reinhart also scored, Mackie Samoskevich got his first NHL goal and Gustav Forsling added an short-handed empty-netter in the closing minutes to seal the Panthers’ win. Dmitry Kulikov and Anton Lundell each had two assists, and Spencer Knight finished with 26 saves as the defending Stanley Cup champions won their second straight.

Dennis Cholowski, Kyle Palmieri and Brock Nelson scored in the first period for New York. Semyon Varlamov finished with 22 saves as the Islanders lost for the second time in three games.

Knight allowed three goals on the first seven shots and then denied the next 22 shot attempts from the Islanders.

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PREDATORS 4 BLUE JACKETS 3 (OT)

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Jonathan Marchessault scored 1:44 into overtime to give the Nashville Predators a 4-3 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Filip Forsberg, Cole Smith and Alexandre Carrier also scored and Scott Wedgewood made 25 saves for Nashville. After losing their first five games of the season, the Predators have won three straight.

Kirill Marchenko, Zachary Aston-Reese and Zach Werenski scored and Daniil Tarasov made 29 saves for the Blue Jackets.

In overtime, Marchessault took the puck from the right boards and drove to the slot, where he beat Tarasov.

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STARS 4 BLACKHAWKS 2

DALLAS (AP) — Matt Duchene scored on a third-period power play and added an empty-netter in the final seconds as the Dallas Stars hung on to beat the Chicago Blackhawks 4-2.

Duchene’s goal at 8:50 followed goals by Evgenii Dadonov in the first period and Jamie Benn in the second for a 3-0 lead. Ryan Donato ended Jake Oettinger’s shutout bid 44 seconds after Duchene’s goal, and Connor Bedard made it a one-goal game at 14:15.

Duchene skated alone for the tap-in with 17.7 seconds left, giving him a team-high six goals this season.

Oettinger made 22 saves for the Stars, who have opened the season with five consecutive home wins for the first time since their 1998-99 Stanley Cup season.

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CANUCKS 4 PENGUINS 3

VANCOUVER, B.C. (AP) — Arshdeep Bains scored the first goal of his NHL career, and the Vancouver Canucks scored four goals in under six minutes for a 4-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Elias Pettersson scored the first of a quick four-goal run midway through the second period after the Penguins built a 2-0 lead.

Kiefer Sherwood and J.T. Miller scored before Bains buried the puck into the back of the net to cap the run. Bains’ goal provided insurance for Vancouver (4-1-2) after Evgeni Malkin scored in the third period.

Malkin also had two assists for the Penguins (3-6-1), while Anthony Beauvillier contributed a goal and an assist. Bryan Rust rounded out the scoring.

Goaltender Kevin Lankinen stopped 21 shots for the Canucks, and Alex Nedeljkovic made 30 saves for Pittsburgh.

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GOLDEN KNIGHTS 7 SHARKS 3

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Brett Howden scored twice, Mark Stone had a goal and two assists and the Vegas Golden Knights knocked off the winless San Jose Sharks 7-3.

William Karlsson, who missed the first eight games with an undisclosed injury, had a goal and an assist in his season debut for Vegas. Tanner Pearson, Jack Eichel and Pavel Dorofeyev also scored for the Golden Knights, and Ilya Samsonov made 24 saves.

Mikael Granlund, Nico Sturm and Luke Kunin scored for San Jose, while Vitek Vanecek made 35 saves.

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HURRICANES 4 KRAKEN 1

SEATTLE (AP) — Seth Jarvis had a goal and an assist, and the Carolina Hurricanes dumped the Seattle Kraken 4-1 for their third consecutive win.

Andrei Svechnikov, Dmitry Orlov and Jack Drury also scored for Carolina, which won for the fifth time in six games overall. Frederik Anderson made 18 saves.

Jarvis gave the Hurricanes a 3-1 lead with 4:22 left, and Orlov closed it out with an empty-netter.

Seattle lost its third consecutive game. Jared McCann scored for the Kraken, and Joey Daccord made 35 stops.

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The Associated Press

by Canadian Press

NHL roundup: Thompson’s three-point game helps surging Sabres beat Red Wings 5-3

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