With the All-Star break in the rear view mirror, the NHL had a busy lineup on Tuesday, but even with all that other action, the expansion Golden Knights managed to stand out. They were behind 2-1 against Calgary going into the third period, but the Golden Knights scored three unanswered goals in the final two minutes of the contest to earn another two points.
Vegas improved to 33-12-4, which puts them in a tie with Anaheim and Florida for the most wins from a first-year expansion team. Keep in mind, we’re still just in January so Vegas is likely to shatter that record.
Meanwhile, things are looking troubling for the Flames. After winning seven consecutive contests, Calgary has now lost five straight games. The good news is that Calgary did pick up a point in four of those contests, but their 25-17-8 record wouldn’t be good enough for a playoff spot if the season ended today. There is a fierce race for positioning in the Pacific Division as just one point separates San Jose, Los Angeles, Anaheim, and Calgary, so the Flames have a lot of room to move up in the standings if they bounce back from their recent string of near misses.
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ANAHEIM 3 BOSTON 1
This brought an end to the Bruins’ point streak at 18 games. The streak is tied for the second longest in the franchise’s history.
While Anaheim got the win, it was far from an ideal night for them. Starting goaltender John Gibson left the game early in the third period after absorbing a hard shot from Patrice Bergeron that seemed to injure him. Gibson stopped the 25 shots he faced prior to his exit. Ryan Miller stepped in and saved five of six shots.
Anton Khudobin kicked out 24 of 26 Ducks shots. He’s 10-3-4 with a 2.36 GAA and .924 save percentage in 18 contests this season.
Ryan Spooner scored Boston’s only goal. It was his eighth marker and 19th point in 28 games.
Adam Henrique scored a pair of goals for Anaheim. That extended his point streak to six contests.
Rickard Rakell assisted on two of the Ducks’ three markers. He has 18 goals and 38 points in 46 games.
NEW JERSEY 3 BUFFALO 1
Jake McCabe was the only member of the Sabres with a goal. He has three goals and 12 points in 50 games in 2017-18.
Keith Kinkaid was otherwise perfect, turning aside 27 of 28 shots. He improved to 8-4-2 with a 3.11 GAA and .897 save percentage in 15 contests.
Kyle Palmieri scored a goal and registered an assist Tuesday night. He’s up to nine goals and 18 points in 30 games.
Taylor Hall returned from a thumb injury and netted the game-winning goal. He has 18 markers and 49 points in 44 games.
Robin Lehner kicked out 25 of 27 Devils shots. He has a 11-19-6 record, 2.85 GAA, and .912 save percentage in 38 contests.
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FLORIDA 4 NY ISLANDERS 1
Evgenii Dadonov accounted for the game-winning goal. It was his 11th goal and 30th point in 40 games this season.
Vincent Trocheck assisted on two of Florida’s four goals. That gives him 18 markers and 46 points in 48 games.
Adam Pelech scored the Islanders’ lone goal. He has two goals and 13 points in 47 contests.
Jaroslav Halak stopped 36 of 39 shots Tuesday night. He has a 15-15-3 record, 3.16 GAA, and .909 save percentage in 34 contests.
Harri Sateri stopped 32 of 33 Islanders shots to earn his first NHL win. He got the start because Roberto Luongo and James Reimer are both injured.
PITTSBURGH 5 SAN JOSE 2
Evgeni Malkin led the charge for the Penguins with a hat trick. He improved to 26 goals and 55 points in 48 games this season.
Bryan Rust scored the Penguins’ other two goals and registered an assist. That gives him six goals and 22 points in 41 contests.
Matt Murray made his first start since leaving the Penguins temporarily due to the death of his father. Murray was another major factor for the Penguins, stopping 40 of 42 shots.
Logan Couture found the back of the net for the Sharks. He’s on a three-game goal scoring streak and is up to 21 goals and 37 points in 45 contests.
Martin Jones kicked out 26 of 30 shots last night. He has a 14-12-4 record, 2.73 GAA, and .908 save percentage in 32 starts.
CAROLINA 2 OTTAWA 1
Ottawa struck first in this one as Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored late in the second period. It was his seventh goal and 16th point in 44 games.
Sebastian Aho, who was making his return from a concussion, tied the contest early in the third frame though. He has 17 goals and 38 points in 46 contests.
Victor Rask netted the game-winning goal at 11:32 of the final frame. That gives him 12 goals and 19 points in 48 games.
Cam Ward turned aside 29 of 30 Senators shots. He has a 14-6-2 record, 2.78 GAA, and .907 save percentage in 24 games.
Craig Anderson kicked out 37 of 39 shots, but still suffered his fourth straight defeat. He fell to 12-17-5 with a 3.17 GAA and .903 save percentage in 36 contests.
MINNESOTA 3 COLUMBUS 2 (SO)
Devan Dubnyk turned aside 28 of 30 shots in regulation time. He then held the Blues Jackets to a single goal in four shootout rounds.
Sergei Bobrovsky saved 41 of a staggering 43 shots prior to the skills competition. He fell short of the extra point by allowing two goals over four shootout rounds.
Jason Zucker found the back of the net in the second period. It was his 20th goal of 2017-18, making this the third time in the span of four campaigns that he’s reached that milestone.
Charlie Coyle accounted for the Wild’s other non-shootout goal. He has five goals and 20 points in 34 games this season.
Artemi Panarin scored a goal and registered an assist for the Blue Jackets. He also found the back of the net during the shootout, though his efforts there were ultimately in vain.
ST. LOUIS 3 MONTREAL 1
Carter Hutton stopped 33 of 34 Canadiens shots. He’s allowed just two goals over his last three starts, which has led to St. Louis winning all of those contests. He’s now 13-4-1 with a 1.70 GAA and .945 save percentage in 22 contests.
At the other end of the ice, Carey Price saved 28 of 30 shots. It was a solid start for him, but unfortunately this hasn’t been a great season for Price as he has a 14-18-4 record, 3.00 GAA, and .905 save percentage in 36 starts.
Charles Hudon scored Montreal’s only goal. It was his seventh marker and 20th point in 47 games this season.
Patrik Berglund netted the game-winning goal. He has seven goals and 11 points in 28 games.
Alexander Steen also found the back of the net for St. Louis. That gives him 11 goals and 31 points in 46 contests.
CHICAGO 2 NASHVILLE 1
Anton Forsberg was the difference in this one by turning aside 42 of 43 shots. He has a 5-7-3 record, 2.86 GAA, and .915 save percentage in 18 games.
Vinnie Hinostroza scored the game-winning goal and registered an assist. The 23-year-old forward is up to five goals and 13 points in 20 games.
David Kampf netted Chicago’s other goal. He has two markers and six points in 15 games.
Kyle Turris found the back of the net for Nashville. It was his ninth goal and 30th point in 44 contests.
Juuse Saros kicked out 29 of 31 Blackhawks shots. He has a 5-4-4 record, 2.33 GAA, and .927 save percentage in 14 games this season.
WINNIPEG 3 TAMPA BAY 1
Michael Hutchinson made his season debut and stopped 23 of 24 shots. It’s been a busy couple days for him as he was also part of the AHL’s All-Star Game on Monday.
At the other end of the ice, Louis Domingue kicked out 34 of 37 Jets shots. He has a 2-7-0 record, 3.80 GAA, and .880 save percentage in 10 contests.
Matthew Peca accounted for Tampa Bay’s goal. He has a goal and an assist in four games this season.
Blake Wheeler assisted on two of the Jets’ three markers. He has 14 goals and 56 points in 51 games.
Kyle Connor scored the game-winning goal. It was his 16th marker and 30th point in 45 games.
LOS ANGELES 3 DALLAS 0
Darcy Kuemper picked up his second shutout of the season by making 28 saves. He’s been an outstanding backup for Los Angeles this season with his 7-1-3 record, 1.90 GAA, and .939 save percentage in 14 contests.
Alexander Radulov tied for the Stars’ team-high with five shots on Kuemper. Radulov has 20 goals on 128 shots for a 15.6% success rate.
Ben Bishop turned aside 39 of 42 Kings shots last night. He has a 21-14-3 record, 2.48 GAA, and .917 save percentage in 40 games.
Paul LaDue scored the Kings’ first and therefore game-winning goal. It was also his first career NHL goal in 24 games.
Drew Doughty also found the back of the net for Los Angeles. He has eight goals and 36 points in 50 contests.
VEGAS 4 CALGARY 2
Matthew Tkachuk scored a goal late in the second period to give the Flames a 2-1 lead going into the final frame. It was his 17th goal and 35th point in 48 games.
Vegas fought back with three unanswered goals late in the third though. Jonathan Marchessault accounted for the game-winner after registering an assist in the first period. He has 18 goals and 48 points in 46 games.
Reilly Smith also had a goal and an assist for Vegas. That gives him 13 goals and 38 points in 49 contests.
Marc-Andre Fleury turned aside 31 of 33 shots last night. He has a 13-4-2 record, 1.78 GAA, and .942 save percentage in 19 starts.
Mike Smith stopped 31 of 34 shots in his fourth straight loss. He dropped to 20-14-6 with a 2.41 GAA and .925 save percentage in 42 starts.
VANCOUVER 4 COLORADO 3 (OT)
Sven Baertschi scored the overtime winner. It was his 11th goal and 22nd point in 39 games this season.
Christopher Tanev assisted on three of Vancouver’s four goals. That gives him two markers and 11 points in 34 contests.
Jacob Markstrom kicked out 27 of 30 Avalanche shots. He has a 14-16-5 record, 2.75 GAA, and .908 save percentage in 37 contests.
Gabriel Landeskog scored a pair of goals for Colorado. He has 19 goals and 38 points in 45 games.
Jonathan Bernier stopped 22 of 26 shots last night. He had enjoyed a really good stretch, but more recently Bernier has surrendered at least three goals in each of his last three starts.
