Connor Hellebuyck made 22 saves for his league-leading fifth shutout of the season as the Winnipeg Jets defeated the visiting Nashville Predators 3-0 on Monday night.

• Gabriel Vilardi had two goals and defenseman Dylan DeMelo also scored for Winnipeg, which tops the NHL with 27 wins and 55 points following its fourth consecutive victory. Nikolaj Ehlers and Kyle Connor each added two assists.

  Juuse Saros stopped 25 shots for Nashville, which has dropped two in a row following a 3-0-1 stretch.

  DeMelo opened the scoring with 2:42 left in the second period, his first goal of the season and first in 42 games dating back to April 11. Vilardi scored twice in a span of 1:02 late in the third, both on the power play.

  Panthers 5, Rangers 3

  Jesper Boqvist scored two goals to lead Florida past New York in Sunrise, Fla.

  Eetu Luostarinen, Mackie Samoskevich and Aleksander Barkov also scored for the Panthers, who had been shut out in each of their previous two games. Sergei Bobrovsky made 33 saves in the win.

  Filip Chytil, Ryan Lindgren and Chris Kreider scored while Igor Shesterkin made 21 saves for the Rangers, who have dropped seven of their past eight games but did end an 0-for-25 drought on the power play on Kreider's goal.

  Kraken 5, Utah 2

  Jaden Schwartz tallied a goal and two assists as Seattle defeated the visiting Utah Hockey Club.

  Yanni Gourde, Andre Burakovsky, Matty Beniers and Jared McCann also scored and Kaapo Kakko had a pair of helpers for the Kraken, who won their second in a row following a five-game skid. Philipp Grubauer made 28 saves.

  Logan Cooley and Alexander Kerfoot tallied for Utah, which lost its fourth consecutive game (0-3-1). Karel Vejmelka stopped 28 of 32 shots.

  --Field Level Media

Colorado forward Jonathan Drouin, who has missed the last 16 games with an upper-body injury, will return for the Avalanche against the visiting Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday.

• Drouin, 29, has played in only five games this season, one on Oct. 9 and four games from Nov. 15-23 -- missing 16 games each stretch because of similar injuries. He has four points (two goals, two assists) and no penalty minutes, and he's averaged 20:40 of ice time.

  "It's been a long year. Kind of play a couple games and get reinjured," Drouin said Monday. "The same kind of thing happened, and kind of redo the whole process of all the rehab and treatment. ... It's very similar, very close to the same one I had to start the year in the first game."

  Drouin is expected to play on the second line with Mikko Rantanen and Ross Colton.

  "He's feeling good, too," Colorado coach Jared Bednar said of Drouin on Monday. "I feel like the last little bit he's really been ramping up, looks good in practice. So, it's going to be nice to get him back. We've been without some of those top-six forwards for the whole season, I guess, and now we finally get him back. Should be a rested player, eager player, and we obviously know what he can provide to our team."

  Drouin scored a career-high 56 points (19 goals, 37 assists) in his first season with the Avalanche in 2023-24.

  Tampa Bay made Drouin the third pick overall in the 2013 NHL Draft. He has 341 career points (98 goals, 243 assists) in 569 games for the Lightning (2014-17), Montreal Canadiens (2017-23) and Avalanche, who signed him as a free agent each of the last two years.

  --Field Level Media

Los Angeles will be the home of the 2025 NHL Draft in June, The Fourth Period and ESPN reported Monday.

• But that doesn't mean all 32 franchises will set up shop in the City of Angels for the week.

  The NHL will join the NFL, NBA and Major League Baseball in moving to a decentralized draft format for the first time.

  Top prospects will still attend the draft at the Peacock Theater and be greeted by commissioner Gary Bettman on stage when he calls their names, but teams' decision-makers will operate from their home bases rather than the draft floor as in years past.

  The draft is scheduled for June 27-28. It was held at the Sphere in Las Vegas last summer.

  --Field Level Media

The NHL issued fines to Philadelphia's Matvei Michkov and Chicago's Patrick Maroon on Monday.

• Michkov's wallet is $2,473.96 lighter after high-sticking Los Angeles forward Quinton Byfield in the Kings' 5-4 win over the Flyers on Sunday.

  Maroon was docked $3,385.42 for elbowing Dallas forward Mavrik Bourque during the Blackhawks' 5-1 loss against the Stars on Sunday.

  Both fines are the maximum allowable under the collective bargaining agreement.

  --Field Level Media

Auston Matthews took part in Toronto Maple Leafs practice for the first time since a Dec. 20 injury but won't play Tuesday at home against the New York Islanders.

• Coach Craig Berube was pleased with Matthews' participation on Monday but said his captain will miss a fifth consecutive game. According to reports, Matthews skated for 30 minutes but didn't take part in power-play drills.

  "He did a good job in practice today, I thought, and I think he feels pretty good," Berube said. "So, we'll go from there."

  The Maple Leafs visit the Islanders on Thursday.

  Matthews has an undisclosed injury that has hampered him since training camp, and he aggravated it 10 days ago in a 6-3 win against the Buffalo Sabres.

  Matthews, 27, missed nine games in November because of the injury.

  In 24 games this season, Matthews has 11 goals and 12 assists. Last season, he scored 69 goals in 81 games to lead the NHL.

  The Maple Leafs are tied with the Florida Panthers atop the Atlantic Division with 46 points.

  --Field Level Media

Patrick Kane reached the 1,300-point mark with a goal and an assist as the host Detroit Red Wings snapped a four-game losing streak with a 4-2 victory over the Washington Capitals on Sunday.

• Todd McLellan recorded his first win in two games as Detroit's head coach. McLellan replaced Derek Lalonde, who was fired on Thursday.

  Kane is the second U.S.-born player to reach 1,300 career points, trailing only Mike Modano's 1,374. Kane is also the fourth active player to reach that milestone, joining Sidney Crosby, Alex Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin.

  As for Ovechkin, he scored for the second consecutive game after missing the previous 16 Capitals contests due to a broken fibula. Ovechkin's 17th goal of the season moved him within 24 goals of tying Wayne Gretzky's NHL record of 894.

  Penguins 3, Islanders 2

  Sidney Crosby passed Hall of Famer Mario Lemieux to claim Pittsburgh's all-time record for assists as the host Penguins split a weekend home-and-home set with New York.

  Michael Bunting, Evgeni Malkin and Anthony Beauvillier each added a goal for Pittsburgh, which lost 6-3 on Saturday. Crosby's assist on Bunting's goal gave him 1,034 career helpers.

  Anders Lee and Bo Horvat scored for the Islanders, who have only two wins in their last six games. Goalie Marcus Hogberg, in his first NHL start since April 28, 2021, while with the Ottawa Senators, stopped 38 shots.

  Golden Knights 3, Flames 0

  Ilya Samsonov turned aside 31 shots for his 14th career shutout and Tanner Pearson had a goal and an assist as host Vegas extended its season-best winning streak to six games with a win over Calgary.

  It was Samsonov's first shutout with the Golden Knights and marked his sixth win in his past seven starts. Pacific Division-leading Vegas improved to an NHL-best 15-3-0 at home. The Golden Knights also moved into a tie with the Winnipeg Jets for the NHL lead in points with 53.

  Dan Vladar stopped 34 of 36 shots for Calgary, which had a five-game point streak (3-0-2) come to an end.

  Ducks 5, Oilers 3

  Ryan Strome scored the go-ahead goal at 17:24 of the third period and Anaheim rallied from a two-goal deficit to hand visiting Edmonton a second straight loss.

  Strome took the puck from behind the net and stuffed it in on the doorstep. It initially appeared that goalie Calvin Pickard kept it out, but a video review confirmed it went over the line.

  Leon Draisaitl scored twice, Evan Bouchard had a goal and an assist, and Connor McDavid had two assists for the Oilers, who have lost consecutive games for the first time since Nov. 16-18. Pickard made 27 saves.

  Stars 5, Blackhawks 1

  Matt Duchene and Jamie Benn each had a goal and two assists to lead six players with multi-point nights and Jake Oettinger made 24 saves to lift Dallas past host Chicago.

  Dallas scored the final five goals of the game to keep Chicago reeling. The Blackhawks have lost four straight and six of nine. Dallas improved to 16-1-1 when leading after two periods.

  Arvid Soderblom stopped 30 shots for Chicago, which grabbed a 1-0 lead at 12:20 of the first period as Connor Bedard scored a power-play goal on a wrist shot from the high slot. Benn scored at 17:12 to begin the comeback.

  Canadiens 5, Lightning 2

  Jake Evans scored in his fifth straight game and Alexandre Carrier had two assists as Montreal beat host Tampa Bay for the Canadiens' fifth win in six games.

  Sam Montembeault stopped 21 shots as Montreal improved to 2-1-0 on its season-long six-game road trip. The Canadiens beat the Panthers 4-0 on Saturday in the first game of their Florida back-to-back.

  Alex Newhook and Christian Dvorak also scored for Montreal, which killed all three Lightning power plays while allowing just one shot.

  Sabres 4, Blues 2

  Jason Zucker and Tage Thompson each had a goal and an assist to lead visiting Buffalo past St. Louis for the Sabres' third straight win.

  Peyton Krebs and Juri Kulich also scored for the Sabres, who endured a 13-game winless stretch before the winning streak. Jack Quinn had two assists for Buffalo and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 35 saves.

  Brayden Schenn and Nathan Walker scored for the Blues and Colton Parayko earned two assists. St. Louis goaltender Jordan Binnington allowed four goals on 16 shots faced.

  Senators 3, Wild 1

  Josh Norris scored the go-ahead goal with 7:18 remaining in the third period and Ottawa held on to beat host Minnesota in Saint Paul, ending the Senators' two-game skid.

  Ridly Greig and Claude Giroux also scored for Ottawa, which improved to 7-2-0 in its past nine contests.

  Senators goaltender Leevi Merilainen stopped 30 of 31 shots to pick up his second career win in his fifth game. The save total marked the second-most in the brief career of the 22-year-old from Finland.

  Kings 5, Flyers 4

  Anze Kopitar scored a pair of third-period goals, Adrian Kempe added a goal and an assist, and host Los Angeles Kings rallied past Philadelphia to run its home winning streak to seven games.

  Kevin Fiala and Warren Foegele added goals and David Rittich made 17 saves for the Kings, who improved to 10-2-2 dating to Nov. 27, with a pair of victories over the Flyers in the stretch. Kopitar moved into a tie with Dave Taylor for third place on the Kings' all-time goals-scored list with 431 in 19 seasons.

  Scott Laughton and Matvei Michkov each scored a goal with an assist for the Flyers, while Tyson Foerster and Joel Farabee also had goals. Aleksei Kolosov made 15 saves for Philadelphia, which lost for the fifth time in its past seven games (2-5-0).

  --Field Level Media

Jakub Dobes made 34 saves in his NHL debut, leading the visiting Montreal Canadiens to a 4-0 win against the Florida Panthers on Saturday afternoon in Sunrise, Fla.

• The 23-year-old Czech, who was selected by the Canadiens in the fifth round of 2020 NHL Draft, is the first Montreal goalie with a shutout in his first NHL game since Yann Danis in a 2-0 victory against Atlanta Thrashers in October 2005.

  Kirby Dach scored two goals, Jake Evans and Cole Caufield also scored and Alex Newhook had two assists for the Canadiens, who have won four of five.

  Spencer Knight made 20 saves for Florida. The Panthers were shut out in back-to-back games for the second time this month.

  Kraken 5, Canucks 4 (OT)

  Vince Dunn scored twice, including the winner on a breakaway at 2:15 of overtime, as Seattle rallied from three goals down to beat host Vancouver.

  Jaden Schwartz also tallied twice for the Kraken, who trailed 4-1 with five minutes remaining in regulation. Matty Beniers also scored, and goaltender Philipp Grubauer made 18 saves as Seattle snapped a five-game losing streak.

  Brock Boeser scored twice, Jake DeBrusk had a goal and assist, Conor Garland also tallied, and J.T. Miller and Carson Soucy had two assists apiece for the Canucks. Thatcher Demko made 24 saves.

  Capitals 5, Maple Leafs 2

  Alex Ovechkin scored into an empty net in his return from a broken fibula and visiting Washington defeated Toronto.

  It was Ovechkin's 869th goal, leaving him just 26 shy of surpassing Wayne Gretzky's NHL record of 894. The Russian superstar missed 16 games with the injury. Andrew Mangiapane and Jakob Chychrun each added a goal and an assist for the Capitals, who have won three of four. Nic Dowd and Tom Wilson also scored and Logan Thompson made 35 saves.

  John Tavares and Bobby McMann scored for the Maple Leafs, who have lost three of four. Matt Murray stopped 27 shots.

  Kings 4, Oilers 3 (OT)

  Quinton Byfield scored twice, including the overtime winner, and had an assist in a win for Los Angeles against visiting Edmonton.

  Warren Foegele had a goal and two assists, Jordan Spence had two assists, and Darcy Kuemper made 24 saves for the Kings, who improved to 11-2-1 at home.

  Kasperi Kapanen, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Viktor Arvidsson scored for the Oilers, who lost for just the fourth time in their past 16 games (12-3-1). Stuart Skinner made 25 saves.

  Lightning 6, Rangers 2

  Brayden Point scored one goal in a three-point night and host Tampa Bay scored four times on special teams en route to pounding reeling New York.

  Nikita Kucherov had a power-play goal and two assists, and Anthony Cirelli and Ryan McDonagh recorded short-handed tallies. Nick Paul notched the final tally, and Cirelli added an assist.

  Goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy made a season-high 42 saves as the Lightning improved to 8-2-0 in December. New York's Artemi Panarin and Vincent Trocheck hit the net, but the Rangers lost for the 14th time in their past 18 matches (4-14-0).

  Bruins 4, Blue Jackets 0

  Justin Brazeau scored 2:29 into the first period, and Boston never looked back in blanking visiting Columbus Blue Jackets in the latter game of the teams' home-and-home series.

  Morgan Geekie had one goal and one assist, while David Pastrnak and Cole Koepke also lit the lamp for Boston, which bounced back from a 6-2 loss in Columbus on Friday and improved to 5-1-1 in its last seven games. Jeremy Swayman stopped all 18 shots he faced en route to his second shutout this season.

  Bruins forward Fabian Lysell made his NHL debut. The 21-year-old former first-round draft pick had a plus-1 rating in 11:32 of ice time. Daniil Tarasov (24 saves) took the loss in his first start since Dec. 5 for the Blue Jackets, who were shut out for only the second time this season and had a four-game point streak (3-0-1) snapped.

  Flyers 3, Ducks 1

  Samuel Ersson put his recent struggles aside and made 32 saves to propel Philadelphia past host Anaheim.

  Noah Cates, Morgan Frost and Joel Farabee scored for Philadelphia, which improved to 1-1-0 to start its six-game road trip. Ersson had allowed at least three goals in each of his previous eight appearances.

  Troy Terry scored the lone goal for Anaheim, which has lost eight of its last 11 games. Lukas Dostal made 22 saves.

  Jets 4, Senators 2

  Gabriel Vilardi and Nikolaj Ehlers scored third-period goals in rapid succession after Winnipeg erased a two-goal deficit and went on to a home victory over Ottawa.

  Ehlers finished with a goal and two assists, while teammates Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor each had a goal and an assist. Connor Hellebuyck made 33 saves for the Jets, who have won three in a row.

  Mads Sogaard turned back 19 shots and Tim Stutzle and Ridly Greig found the back of the net, with the latter's goal a short-handed tally for a 2-0 Ottawa lead.

  Islanders 6, Penguins 3

  Casey Cizikas posted his first two-goal game in more than three years, leading New York to a win over Pittsburgh in the opener of a back-to-back, home-and-home set in Elmont, N.Y.

  Anders Lee also scored twice for the Islanders, who won for the fifth time in 11 games this month (5-5-1). Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Anthony Duclair also scored, and goalie Ilya Sorokin made 22 saves.

  Michael Bunting, Noel Acciari and Richard Rakell scored for the Penguins, who fell to 9-4-1 since late November. Goalie Tristan Jarry recorded 28 saves.

  Hurricanes 5, Devils 2

  Carolina scored twice in less than 90 seconds in the third period to break a tie and defeated New Jersey in Raleigh, N.C.

  Jack Roslovic had two goals and an assist, Sebastian Aho a goal and an assist and Dmitri Orlov and Jackson Blake also scored for Carolina. Seth Jarvis had three assists, Sean Walker added two and Dustin Tokarski stopped 21 shots as the Hurricanes avenged a 4-2 loss to the Devils on Friday night in Newark, N.J.

  Paul Cotter and Ondrej Palat scored for New Jersey, which had its three-game winning streak halted. Jake Allen made 36 saves.

  Flames 3, Sharks 1

  Jonathan Huberdau scored twice to lead visiting Calgary to a victory over struggling San Jose.

  Goaltender Dustin Wolf made 21 saves in the win, including a handful late in regulation when the hosts made a frantic push for the equalizer. Mikael Backlund also scored and Nazem Kadri collected three assists for Calgary.

  Macklin Celebrini replied for the Sharks, who are winless in seven games (0-6-1). Goalie Yaroslav Askarov stopped 30 shots in an outstanding performance.

  --Field Level Media

Mitch Marner notched his third career hat trick with three straight goals within the first two periods and the Toronto Maple Leafs wrecked Todd McLellan's Red Wings coaching debut with a 5-2 victory at Detroit on Friday night.

• Marner scored twice in the first period and added another goal late in the second as the Maple Leafs built a 5-0 lead. He had a career-high four goals against Detroit on Feb. 26, 2022.

  Toronto's David Kampf scored his first goal of the season in his 500th career game. Nicholas Robertson also scored for the Maple Leafs, and John Tavares added two assists. Joseph Woll made 23 saves for the win.

  McLellan, the former San Jose, Edmonton and Los Angeles head coach, was hired on Thursday to replace Derek Lalonde. Lucas Raymond and Simon Edvinsson scored for Detroit, which has lost four straight games. Cam Talbot and Alex Lyon had a combined 18 saves.

  Avalanche 4, Utah Hockey Club 1

  Artturi Lehkonen posted his first career hat trick and Nathan MacKinnon collected three assists to lead Colorado past Utah in Salt Lake City.

  Goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood, on the day the Avalanche announced he signed a five-year, $26.25 million contract extension, made 34 saves to record his fourth win five starts since being traded to Colorado. Mikko Rantanen also scored for the Avalanche, who have won four consecutive games and eight of their last 10.

  Nick Schmaltz logged the lone goal for Utah, which is winless in three outings (0-2-1) and fell to 5-7-4 at home this season. Goalie Karel Vejmelka stopped 33 shots.

  Golden Knights 6, Sharks 3

  Brayden McNabb and Jack Eichel scored short-handed goals 23 seconds apart to highlight a four-goal third-period outburst as visiting Vegas rallied for a victory over San Jose.

  Vegas recorded its league-leading 14th comeback victory of the season and extended its overall winning streak to a season-best five games. Eichel, McNabb, Mark Stone and Brett Howden each finished with a goal and an assist, and Noah Hanifin and Pavel Dorofeyev also scored goals for the Golden Knights.

  Will Smith had a goal and an assist and Shakir Mukhamadullin and Tyler Toffoli also scored for San Jose, which lost its sixth straight game (0-5-1). Fabian Zetterlund added two assists, and Alexandar Georgiev made 30 saves.

  Sabres 6, Blackhawks 2

  Alex Tuch's third career hat trick led Buffalo to a win over visiting Chicago.

  Jack Quinn and Dylan Cozens each had a goal and an assist, Rasmus Dahlin had two assists and Zach Benson scored for Buffalo. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen stopped 15 of 17 shots for his 10th win in 25 starts this season.

  Tyler Bertuzzi and Seth Jones scored for the Blackhawks, who have lost their last three games. Chicago is 1-10-1 in its last 12 away games. Blackhawks starting goalie Petr Mrazek allowed four goals on 11 shots before being removed at the first intermission. Arvid Soderblom stopped 22 of 24 shots over the final two periods.

  Wild 3, Stars 2 (OT)

  Brock Faber scored on a wraparound 35 seconds into overtime to lift visiting Minnesota to a comeback victory over Dallas.

  Jonas Brodin and Marcus Foligno scored in the third period and Filip Gustavsson made 27 saves for the Wild, who had lost four of five entering the Christmas break.

  Wyatt Johnston and Evgenii Dadonov each had a goal and an assist and Jake Oettinger made 15 saves for the Stars, who blew a 2-0 third-period lead but extended their point streak against Minnesota to 12 games (8-0-4).

  Devils 4, Hurricanes 2

  Jacob Markstrom saw his two-game shutout streak end, but the goalie made 29 saves in New Jersey's win over Carolina in Newark, N.J.

  Markstrom, 34, extended his personal win streak to six games and improved to 9-0-1 in his past 10 starts. Luke Hughes recorded a goal and an assist for his third two-point game in his past four contests. Ondrej Palat, Nico Hischier and Dawson Mercer also scored. Hughes was one of five defensemen to record an assist for the Devils, who have won three in a row and six of their past seven.

  Brent Burns had a goal and an assist for Carolina. Eric Robinson also scored. Pyotr Kochetkov stopped 19 shots for the Hurricanes, who have lost three of their past four.

  Blue Jackets 6, Bruins 2

  Columbus used a four-goal second period and went 3-for-3 on the power play to cruise past visiting Boston in the opening half of the teams' back-to-back, home-and-home series.

  Dmitri Voronkov posted two goals and an assist -- all in the middle frame -- while Sean Monahan also scored twice for Columbus, which tallied three times in a 2:47 span to break open what was a 1-1 game through 20 minutes. The Blue Jackets also received a goal and two assists from Kirill Marchenko, Adam Fantilli lit the lamp, and Zach Werenski tied a career high with four assists.

  Elvis Merzlikins made 24 saves as Columbus improved to 3-0-1 in its last four games ahead of the Saturday rematch in Boston. Pavel Zacha and Charlie Coyle each scored, and Joonas Korpisalo (27 saves) took the loss for the Bruins, who had a five-game point streak (4-0-1) snapped.

  Blues 7, Predators 4

  Robert Thomas and Zack Bolduc scored on St. Louis' first two shots, and Thomas added another goal in pulling away to defeat visiting Nashville.

  The quick tallies helped St. Louis, which never trailed but didn't shake Nashville until late, earn its second straight win following a 1-3-2 rut. Cam Fowler added a goal and two assists, Jordan Kyrou had a goal and an assist, Philip Broberg and Colton Parayko also scored, and Dylan Holloway had two assists. Joel Hofer made 26 saves.

  Jonathan Marchessault and Steven Stamkos each had a goal with an assist for the Predators, and Nick Blankenburg and Mark Jankowski also scored. Juuse Saros was pulled late in the second period after yielding five goals on 15 shots faced. Justus Annunen stopped 12 of 13 shots in relief.

  --Field Level Media

The Toronto Maple Leafs will be without captain Auston Matthews for at least the next two games as the star center continues to nurse an upper-body injury, NHL.com reported Friday.

• Matthews, 27, has missed Toronto's last two games and will sit out Friday's contest at Detroit and Saturday's home showdown against Washington.

  Maple Leafs coach Craig Berube told reporters Friday that Matthews "is doing better" but did not give any further details about his injury. Berube said the team will have another update on Saturday.

  Matthews last played in Toronto's 6-3 win at Buffalo last Friday, scoring a goal in 19:18 of ice time. He finished the game despite taking a pair of big hits, including a cross check by Sabres defenseman Dennis Gilbert.

  Injuries have sidelined Matthews for 11 of the Maple Leafs' 35 games so far this season. He missed nine contests in November due to another upper-body issue. Berbue indicated Matthews' current injury is slightly related to the previous one.

  Matthews has tallied 23 points (11 goals, 12 assists) this season, good for fourth on the team. He led the NHL with a career-high 69 goals last season and is hunting his sixth straight 40-goal campaign.

  The ninth-year veteran has scored the most goals in the league (379) since being drafted first overall by Toronto in 2016.

  The Maple Leafs won seven of their nine games without Matthews earlier this season and are 42-22-2 all-time in his absence.

  --Field Level Media

Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin skated with his regular linemates in practice Friday and could return to the ice for Saturday's visit to the Toronto Maple Leafs, according to ESPN.

• Ovechkin, who fractured his left fibula in a collision with Utah forward Jack McBain on Nov. 18, reportedly practiced with center Dylan Strome and winger Aliaksei Protas and participated in power play drills during practice Friday.

  A final decision is not expected to be made until Saturday. Caps coach Spencer Carbery said he wants to see how Ovechkin reacts to a full practice but added that the 39-year-old captain is "trending the right way."

  The Capitals entered Friday in second place in the Eastern Conference, having won 10 of the 15 games Ovechkin has missed -- the longest layoff of his career. The longest he sat out previously was six games with an upper-body injury from Nov. 4-14, 2009.

  Ovechkin was on a hot streak before the leg injury. He scored two goals in the Utah game before going down and has 13 goals in his past 11. At the time, Ovechkin led the league with 15 goals in 18 games.

  His pursuit of history was postponed as well. With 868 goals in his career, the Russian veteran needs 27 to break Wayne Gretzky's all-time mark of 894.

  Ovechkin already has the NHL records for career power-play goals (316) and shots on goal (6,690) in his 1,444 games. The three-time Hart Trophy winner has only missed 50 games because of injury in 20 NHL seasons.

  --Field Level Media

The Colorado Avalanche announced a five-year extension for goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood on Friday.

• Terms were not disclosed but multiple reports pegged the deal at $5.25 million per season through 2029-30.

  Acquired from the San Jose Sharks on his 28th birthday on Dec. 9, Blackwood is 3-1-0 with a 2.03 goals-against average and a .931 save percentage since joining the Avalanche.

  "When we acquired Mackenzie a few weeks ago, we wanted to let him get to Denver, get acclimated to his new team, new city and then in due time we'd reach out to him and his representatives," Avs general manager Chris MacFarland said. "We are thrilled to get this deal done now.

  "... As I said when we acquired him, we feel like Mackenzie has just gotten better and better every year and he has come in and done a great job with us in his first few starts. He's a big body, athletic goaltender who is still young and still growing as a goaltender. Stylistically, he has fit really well with how we play and has been a perfect fit in our dressing room as well."

  Blackwood was 6-9-3 with a 3.00 GAA, a .909 save percentage and one shutout with the Sharks this season before the trade.

  He is 84-92-25 with a 3.05 GAA, a .905 save percentage and 11 shutouts in 219 career games with the New Jersey Devils (2018-23), Sharks (2023-24) and Avalanche.

  The Devils drafted the Thunder Bay, Ontario, native in the second round in 2015.

  --Field Level Media

The Detroit Red Wings fired Derek Lalonde and named Todd McLellan their new head coach on Thursday.

• Lalonde, 52, is 13-17-4 in his third season on the bench and 89-86-23 overall. Detroit is seventh in the Atlantic Division and on pace to miss the playoffs for the ninth straight season.

  McLellan, 57, was fired as head coach of the Los Angeles Kings last February after compiling a 164-130-44 record over four-plus seasons. He has a career record of 598-412-134 with the San Jose Sharks (2008-15), Edmonton Oilers (2015-18) and Kings (2019-24).

  McLellan has guided his teams to the Stanley Cup Playoffs nine times. His Sharks reached the Western Conference finals in 2010 and 2011.

  The Red Wings have been outscored 13-4 during a three-game losing streak, including a 4-0 home loss against the St. Louis Blues in their most recent game on Monday. They return to the ice Friday against the visiting Toronto Maple Leafs.

  Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman also relieved associate coach Bob Boughner of his duties and hired Trent Yawney as an assistant coach.

  --Field Level Media

Beck Malenstyn scored just 2:07 into the game Monday night for the visiting Buffalo Sabres, who never trailed as they snapped a 13-game losing streak by routing the New York Islanders 7-1 in Elmont, N.Y.

• Jiri Kulich posted his first career two-goal game while Rasmus Dahlin collected a career-high four assists for the Sabres, who set a season high for goals while winning for the first time since Nov. 23 -- five days before Thanksgiving.

  The Sabres, who were outscored 54-28 during their 13-game skid (0-10-3), scored the first six goals Monday as they posted their most lopsided win since a 7-0 blanking of the Los Angeles Kings on Feb. 13 last season.

  The four assists by Dahlin snapped his previous single-game best of three, set three times previously. Goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 27 saves in the win.

  Lightning 4, Panthers 0

  Nikita Kucherov netted the game-winner before being ejected and Tampa Bay split its home-and-home set against Florida by blanking the Stanley Cup champions in Sunrise, Fla.

  Lightning backup goaltender Jonas Johansson stopped 36 shots for his first shutout since October 2023.

  Kucherov scored early but was assessed a game misconduct late in the first period after a kneeing incident on Matthew Tkachuk, who had to be helped to the dressing room but later returned.

  Canucks 4, Sharks 3

  Elias Pettersson scored twice and Quinn Hughes added two assists as Vancouver edged visiting San Jose.

  Brock Boeser and Kiefer Sherwood also scored for the Canucks, who snapped a three-game skid (0-1-2) and won for the second time in six outings (2-2-2). Thatcher Demko made 26 saves to improve to 12-0-0 against the Sharks in his career.

  William Eklund, Cody Ceci and Luke Kunin tallied for San Jose, which has lost five straight (0-4-1). Rookie Macklin Celebrini, a Vancouver native, picked up two assists in the loss. Yaroslav Askarov stopped 20 shots while opposing the Canucks for the first time.

  Golden Knights 3, Ducks 1

  Tomas Hertl scored the go-ahead goal midway through the third period and also had an assist as Vegas completed a four-game regular-season series sweep of Anaheim in Las Vegas.

  The victory was the 119th for coach Bruce Cassidy with the Golden Knights, passing Gerard Gallant for the most in franchise history. Cassidy is 119-59-20 with the club. Gallant went 118-75-20. Tanner Pearson had a short-handed goal and Keegan Kolesar added a goal and an assist for Vegas, which won its fourth straight game and prevailed for the eighth time in nine games. Adin Hill made 31 saves for his 50th career win with Pacific Division-leading Vegas, which improved to 14-3-0 at home this season.

  Mason McTavish scored a goal and Lukas Dostal, who entered the game with 2:28 to go in the first period after starting goaltender John Gibson was injured, finished with 19 saves for Anaheim. Gibson stopped all 11 shots he faced before Vegas center Tanner Laczynski, spinning around to race back up ice, inadvertently caught the goalie in the right eye with his stick. Laczynski earned an interference penalty.

  Wild 4, Blackhawks 3

  Brock Faber scored the go-ahead goal early in the third period and Minnesota held on for a win over Chicago in Saint Paul, Minn.

  Faber put the Wild on top 3-2 with 17:17 remaining in the third period. Kirill Kaprizov, Jared Spurgeon and Marcus Foligno each added one goal for Minnesota, which snapped a four-game losing streak. The Wild improved to 13-0-1 in their past 14 games against the Blackhawks.

  Connor Bedard, Nick Foligno and Jason Dickinson each scored for Chicago. The Blackhawks lost their second straight game after winning the previous three in a row.

  Stars 3, Utah Hockey Club 2

  Casey DeSmith made 24 saves in his first start since Dec. 2, helping Dallas end a two-game skid with a win against Utah in Salt Lake City.

  DeSmith's previous start also came at Utah, where he made 36 saves in a 2-1 win. Jake Oettinger started the next eight games, with DeSmith making one 18-minute relief appearance against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday.

  Colin Blackwell, Roope Hintz and Jamie Benn scored for Dallas. Kevin Stenlund and Barrett Hayton scored and Karel Vejmelka made 26 saves for Utah, which had its eight-game point streak (6-0-2) snapped.

  Penguins 7, Flyers 3

  Sidney Crosby had a goal and three assists to match the Pittsburgh career record held by Hall of Famer Mario Lemieux as the host Penguins beat Philadelphia. Crosby and Lemieux each have 1,033 assists, tied for 12th in NHL history.

  Michael Bunting scored twice, Rickard Rakell had a goal and two assists, Bryan Rust added a goal and an assist and Philip Tomasino and Blake Lizotte also scored for Pittsburgh. Evgeni Malkin and Erik Karlsson had two assists apiece, and Tristan Jarry made 24 saves for the victory.

  Egor Zamula, Noah Cates and Sean Couturier scored for Philadelphia. Scott Laughton had two assists. Samuel Ersson stopped nine shots and surrendered five goals before being replaced by Aleksei Kolosov, who made six saves on seven shots.

  Devils 5, Rangers 0

  Jack Hughes scored twice and collected an assist as New Jersey scored three power-play goals and rolled to a victory over sliding New York in Newark, N.J.

  Hughes scored twice on goaltender Jonathan Quick three weeks after scoring twice on Igor Shesterkin in the Devils' 5-1 rout of New York on Dec. 2. Timo Meier also scored a power-play goal while Stefan Noesen and Dawson Mercer scored in a span of 4:35 in the third for New Jersey.

  Quick allowed five goals on 29 shots. The Rangers are 4-13-0 in their past 17 games.

  Bruins 4, Capitals 1

  Elias Lindholm and Charlie Coyle scored third-period goals within a span of 2:18 as Boston surged past visiting Washington.

  Brad Marchand's two goals and an assist led the Bruins, who will carry their first five-game point streak of the season (4-0-1) into the holiday break. The Boston captain now has points in 10 consecutive games for the third time in his career.

  Jakub Vrana scored his third goal in as many games for Washington, which took only its fourth loss in a 14-game span (10-3-1). The Bruins played about half of the game without star winger David Pastrnak, who was hurt on a neutral-ice hit in the second period and was not on the team's bench to start the third.

  Blues 4, Red Wings 0

  Dylan Holloway notched his first career hat trick and St. Louis Blues ended a three-game losing streak with a win at Detroit.

  Jordan Binnington made 19 saves for his second shutout this season and the 17th of his career. Alexandre Texier also scored for the Blues, who had scored just one goal in each of their previous three games.

  Cam Talbot made 17 saves for the Red Wings, who have lost three straight games.

  Jets 5, Maple Leafs 2

  Mark Scheifele had three goals and an assist as visiting Winnipeg defeated Toronto.

  Kyle Connor added two goals and two assists, Gabriel Vilardi piled up three assists and Josh Morrissey had two assists for the Jets, who have won two games in a row. Connor Hellebuyck stopped 23 shots.

  John Tavares scored twice for Toronto, notching his 200th goal as a Maple Leaf in the process. Including his time with the New York Islanders, Tavares has 473 career goals and is the fifth player in NHL history with 200 or more goals for two franchises.

  Blue Jackets 5, Canadiens 4

  Dmitri Voronkov lit the lamp twice and Kirill Marchenko scored the game winner with just over two minutes remaining to help host Columbus outlast Montreal.

  Marchenko finished with a goal and two assists while Sean Monahan and Zach Werenski tallied three assists apiece.

  Patrik Laine's return to Columbus as a member of the Canadiens was cut short after he left the game following the end of the first period with an upper-body injury.

  Predators 5, Hurricanes 2

  Jonathan Marchessault had two goals and an assist and Nashville won back-to-back games for the first time since October by defeating visiting Carolina.

  Steven Stamkos, Ryan O'Reilly and Mark Jankowski also had goals for the Predators, who have won four of their past six games. Filip Forsberg provided three assists, and Juuse Saros made 25 saves.

  Jordan Staal and Sebastian Aho scored for the Hurricanes, who have lost two of the past three. Dustin Tokarski yielded four goals on 24 shots in his second appearance for Carolina.

  --Field Level Media

Boston Bruins star forward David Pastrnak was deemed "unlikely to return" to Monday's game against the visiting Washington Capitals due to an upper-body injury.

• It was unclear when or how Pastrnak was hurt. Pastrnak did not see the ice for much of the second period and did not return from the locker room for the third period before the team's announcement. The game was knotted 1-1 through two periods.

  Pastrnak leads the Bruins in points (35) and assists (23) through the first 35 games of the season. The four-time All-Star won the 2019-20 Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy (shared with Washington's Alex Ovechkin) for leading the league in goals with 48.

  Pastrnak has totaled 762 points (360 goals, 402 assists) through 710 career games since Boston selected him in the first round of the 2014 draft.

  --Field Level Media

Florida Panthers star forward Matthew Tkachuk exited with a lower-body injury after a knee-on-knee collision with Tampa Bay Lightning star forward Nikita Kucherov on Monday night in Sunrise, Fla.

• With 3:09 remaining in the first period and Florida trailing 3-0 on the back end of a home-and-home series, Tkachuk reached out for the puck and was struck by Kucherov and fell to the ice in pain.

  Tkachuk had to be helped off the ice and into the dressing room by training staff. The Scottsdale, Ariz., native returned to the ice at 2:19 of the second period during a stoppage in play, coming down the tunnel and taking the ice.

  Kucherov, who scored the game's first goal, was assessed a major penalty and a game misconduct on the hit. Playing in his 30th game of the season, the 31-year-old Russian native is among the NHL scoring leaders with 50 points (15 goals, 35 assists).

  A key spark plug in the Panthers' Stanley Cup championship run last season, the 27-year-old Tkachuk entered Monday with 35 points (13 goals, 22 assists) in 31 games.

  --Field Level Media

Zach Hyman extended his goal streak to six games and Stuart Skinner made 20 saves as the Edmonton Oilers moved into second place in the Pacific Division with a 3-1 victory over the visiting Ottawa Senators on Sunday night.

• Hyman's go-ahead goal in the second period enabled him to match his career-high goal streak. Viktor Arvidsson had a goal and an assist and Adam Henrique also scored for Edmonton, which won for the 11th time in its last 13 games and leapfrogged the Los Angeles Kings into second place, three points behind the first-place Vegas Golden Knights.

  Nick Cousins scored for Ottawa, which had a six-game win streak -- its longest since March of 2017 -- snapped.

  Linus Ullmark, who entered the contest with a personal seven-game win streak for the Senators, departed at the end of the first period with an upper-body injury after making six saves. Leevi Merilainen, who picked up his first NHL win on Saturday at Vancouver, finished up and stopped 12 of 14 shots.

  Capitals 3, Kings 1

  Aliaksei Protas scored twice for Washington in a win against visiting Los Angeles.

  Jakub Vrana scored the eventual game-winning goal, Pierre-Luc Dubois had two assists and Logan Thompson made 25 saves for the Capitals, who have won 10 of their past 13 (10-2-1).

  Kevin Fiala scored for the Kings, who have lost two straight for the first time since Nov. 11-13. David Rittich made 18 saves.

  Avalanche 5, Kraken 2

  Joel Kiviranta notched his first hat trick, Cale Makar had a goal and two assists and Colorado beat Seattle in Denver.

  Valeri Nichushkin also scored, Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen had two assists each and Mackenzie Blackwood stopped 17 shots for Colorado, which has won three straight and four of its last five heading into the holiday break.

  Jared McCann scored, Kaapo Kakko got his first goal with Seattle and Joey Daccord made 24 saves.

  Hurricanes 3, Rangers 1

  Jack Roslovic scored the tiebreaking goal with 5:28 remaining in the second period during the waning seconds of a four-minute power play as Carolina ended a five-game road losing streak with a win at New York.

  Roslovic, who scored three goals in 19 games for the Rangers last season after being acquired from the Columbus Blue Jackets, drew the double-minor when he was high-sticked in the mouth by Alexis Lafreniere to draw blood. After getting his teeth fixed during most of the power play, Roslovic returned and scored with three seconds left in the advantage.

  The Hurricanes won their first road game since Nov. 20, ending an 0-4-1 road skid. Carolina goalie Pyotr Kochetkov made 22 saves and tallied a pair of assists. Igor Shesterkin stopped 28 shots for the Rangers, who lost for the 12th time in 16 games (4-12-0) and fell to 2-6-0 in their past eight.

  Ducks 5, Utah 4 (SO)

  Robby Fabbri scored two goals to help visiting Anaheim from down three goals for a shootout victory against the Utah Hockey Club in Salt Lake City.

  Isac Lundestrom and Brett Leason also scored in regulation, Mason McTavish scored the lone goal in the shootout, and Lukas Dostal made 21 saves for the Ducks, who rallied from a 4-1 deficit to win for the third time in four games.

  Clayton Keller had two goals and two assists, Barrett Hayton had a goal and an assist, and Jaxson Stauber made 26 saves in his third start of the season for Utah, which saw its four-game winning streak end but extended its point streak to eight games (6-0-2).

  Panthers 4, Lightning 2

  A.J. Greer and Eetu Luostarinen tallied short-handed goals on the same penalty kill as Florida opened a home-and-home series with three special-teams scores to beat host Tampa Bay.

  Sam Reinhart scored twice, giving him 18 tallies in 32 career games against the Lightning, as the Panthers won their fourth straight game and took the NHL lead with 40 special-teams markers. Including April's playoffs, the Panthers topped Tampa Bay for the ninth time in 11 games (9-2-0) and improved to 14-0-0 when leading after two periods.

  Tampa Bay's Brayden Point notched his team-leading 22nd goal, and Nick Paul found the back of the net, but the Lightning's four-game winning streak came to an end. They lost for just the fourth time in 12 games (8-4-0) and fell to 0-4-0 against their Atlantic Division opponents.

  --Field Level Media

Owen Tippett scored 3:30 into overtime as the host Philadelphia Flyers staged a series of third-period rallies before nipping the Columbus Blue Jackets 5-4 on Saturday.

• Morgan Frost scored twice and Tippett added three assists for Philadelphia, which tallied four goals in the third period, including Tyson Foerster's equalizer with less than two minutes to go.

  Foerster and Noah Cates each had a goal and an assist for Philadelphia, and Travis Konecny logged three assists. Samuel Ersson made 21 saves in the win.

  Kirill Marchenko, Jake Christiansen, Mikael Pyyhtia and Mathieu Olivier scored for Columbus, which has lost nine of its last 11 games (2-6-3). Dmitri Voronkov had two assists, and Merzlikins stopped 25 shots.

  Jets 5, Wild 0

  Cole Perfetti had a goal and two assists, Connor Hellebuyck produced a 19-save shutout and Winnipeg beat visiting Minnesota for the eighth straight time.

  The NHL-leading Jets moved five points ahead of the Wild for the top spot in the Central Division. Winnipeg earned its third win in four games, while Minnesota took its fourth straight loss.

  Neal Pionk registered a goal and an assist, and Nikolaj Ehlers, Morgan Barron and Vladislav Namestnikov also tallied for Winnipeg. Jesper Wallstedt made 19 saves for Minnesota.

  Senators 5, Canucks 4 (OT)

  Jake Sanderson scored the winner 15 seconds into overtime as visiting Ottawa extended its winning streak to six games with a thrilling victory over Vancouver.

  Ottawa won the opening faceoff of the overtime and Sanderson raced down the left wing and tucked the puck between the legs of Canucks goalie Kevin Lankinen. Senators rookie goaltender Leevi Merilainen, making his first NHL appearance in a year and a half, made 21 saves for his first career win. Shane Pinto had two goals and an assist and Claude Giroux had a goal and an assist for the Senators.

  Quinn Hughes had a goal and two assists, Brock Boeser scored twice and Jake DeBrusk added a goal for the Canucks, who have lost three in a row (0-1-2). Phillip Di Giuseppe had two assists, and Lankinen finished with 17 saves.

  Predators 3, Kings 2 (OT)

  Nick Blankenburg scored at 1:03 of overtime as Nashville edged visiting Los Angeles. Filip Forsberg won a puck battle and took it to the right circle before feeding the defenseman, who was at the goal line to sweep in a backhand with goalie Darcy Kuemper at the top of the crease.

  Zachary L'Heureux and Jonathan Marchessault scored, and Justus Annunen made 22 saves for the Predators, who are 3-0-2 in their past five games.

  Quinton Byfield and Alex Laferriere scored for the Kings, who have lost two of three. Kuemper made 23 saves.

  Flames 6, Blackhawks 4

  Calgary scored three goals in the second period and held off a late rally to defeat visiting Chicago.

  Trailing 5-3, Ilya Mikheyev's goal for the Blackhawks on a rebound with 1:08 remaining, with their goalie pulled for the extra attacker, brought Chicago to within 5-4 after facing a 5-1 deficit to begin the third period. But Michael Backlund's empty-net goal with 23 seconds remaining clinched the win for the Flames, who had lost their previous two games.

  Jonathan Huberdeau, Connor Zary, Blake Coleman and Matt Coronato had a goal and an assist each and Nazim Kadri added a goal for Calgary. Dustin Wolf made 24 saves. Tyler Bertuzzi collected two goals with an assist and Connor Bedard produced a goal and two assists for Chicago. Taylor Hall had two assists and Petr Mrazek stopped 24 shots for the Blackhawks.

  Bruins 3, Sabres 1

  Morgan Geekie scored a power-play goal with 1:45 remaining in regulation to propel Boston past visiting Buffalo.

  Charlie Coyle and Brad Marchand also scored goals and David Pastrnak finished with two assists to help Boston run its point streak to four games (3-0-1). Joonas Korpisalo made 19 saves in the victory.

  JJ Peterka scored the lone goal for Buffalo, which is on a 13-game winless streak (0-10-3). James Reimer finished with 16 stops.

  Golden Knights 6, Kraken 2

  Mark Stone had a goal and two assists and Keegan Kolesar and Brett Howden each added a goal and an assist as Vegas beat Seattle in Las Vegas for its third straight win.

  Nicolas Hague, William Karlsson and Noah Hanifin also scored goals and Jack Eichel dished off a pair of assists for the Golden Knights, who won for the 13th time in 16 home games. Ilya Samsonov made 21 saves for the victory.

  Vince Dunn and Jaden Schwartz scored goals and Chandler Stephenson had two assists for the Kraken, who dropped their fourth straight game. Philipp Grubauer finished with 28 saves.

  Oilers 3, Sharks 2 (OT)

  Mattias Ekholm tied the game with 18 seconds left in regulation before teammate Leon Draisaitl scored 18 seconds into overtime to lift Edmonton to the win over visiting San Jose.

  Zach Hyman also scored, Connor McDavid had three assists and Calvin Pickard made 20 saves for the Oilers, who have won seven of their last eight games.

  Yaroslav Askarov made 39 saves in his third start of the season for the Sharks and fifth of his NHL career. Askarov, 22, the 11th overall pick by the Nashville Predators in the 2020 NHL Draft, made 23 saves in the second period, the second most in a period in team history behind 24 by Wade Flaherty in 1996. Luke Kunin and Jan Rutta scored for San Jose, which has lost four in a row despite leading in the third period of all four games.

  Islanders 6, Maple Leafs 3

  Bo Horvat scored his 250th career goal and had two assists as visiting New York defeated Toronto.

  Maxim Tsyplakov, Jean-Gabriel Pageau, Isaiah George, Noah Dobson and Mathew Barzal also scored for the Islanders, who had lost their two previous games. Alexander Romanov, Simon Holmstrom and Anders Lee each added two assists. Ilya Sorokin stopped 27 shots.

  William Nylander scored twice for the Maple Leafs, who had a three-game winning streak snapped. Joseph Woll made 28 saves. Toronto was without star center Auston Matthews (upper-body injury).

  Devils 3, Penguins 0

  Nico Hischier collected a goal and two assists and Jacob Markstrom made 12 saves to lift New Jersey past Pittsburgh in Newark, N.J.

  Timo Meier scored and set up a goal and Stefan Noesen added his career-high 15th goal of the season for the Devils, who won for the fourth time in five games.

  Tristan Jarry finished with 25 saves for the Penguins, who saw their four-game point streak (3-0-1) come to a halt after being shut out for the third time this season.

  Canadiens 5, Red Wings 1

  Patrik Laine scored his eighth power-play goal of the season and Nick Suzuki topped the 200 career assist mark with a pair of them as host Montreal completed a back-to-back sweep over Detroit.

  Each of Laine's goals in nine games since making his long-awaited Montreal debut Dec. 3 have come on the power play. Montreal's Jake Evans and Emil Heineman also scored for a second straight night, while Juraj Slafkovsky and Brendan Gallagher each had a goal. Suzuki, meanwhile, notched career assists 200 and 201 in the first and Sam Montembeault made 20 saves.

  Joe Veleno also scored in a second straight game for Detroit, which got 19 saves on 24 shots faced from Alex Lyon. The Red Wings have allowed 41 goals during their current 3-6-2 stretch.

  --Field Level Media

The NHL suspended New York Rangers forward Matt Rempe eight games Sunday for elbowing and boarding Dallas Stars defenseman Miro Heiskanen.

• The longest suspension of the 2024-25 regular season was handed down after Rempe had an in-person hearing via video conference call with the NHL Department of Player Safety earlier Sunday.

  Rempe, 22, is considered a repeat offender after being suspended four games for elbowing Jonas Siegenthaler of the New Jersey Devils in the head last March. That was taken into consideration when the department landed on the eight-game ban.

  During the Rangers' 3-1 win at Dallas on Friday, Rempe elbowed Heiskanen in the back of the neck and sent him into the boards at 7:10 of the third period.

  Rempe received a major penalty and a game misconduct. Rempe and Stars center Roope Hintz also received roughing penalties during the incident.

  "It is important to note that for an extended period of time and during the entire leadup to this hit, Rempe sees nothing but Heiskanen's back," a Department of Player Safety official said in an explanation video.

  "Rempe is in complete control of how this play develops, and it is Rempe's responsibility in this situation to avoid the contact, change the angle such that he does not hit a defenseless player directly from behind, or at very least to minimize the force of an imminent collision. Instead, Rempe chooses to not only finish this check into the back of his opponent, but also to raise his forearm and elbow recklessly."

  In his second NHL season, Rempe has more career ejections (three) than points (two). He has appeared in 22 total games while being suspended for a total of 12.

  The suspension began Sunday with New York's 3-1 home loss to the Carolina Hurricanes. He will not be eligible to return until Jan. 9 when the Rangers host New Jersey.

  Rempe has no points, 24 penalty minutes and 12 hits in five games this season. Listed at 6-foot-9 and 255 pounds, he played in 17 games last season with New York and totaled one goal, one assist, 71 penalty minutes and 50 hits.

  The Rangers selected Rempe in the sixth round of the 2020 NHL Draft.

  --Field Level Media

Washington Capitals placed Lars Eller on injured reserve due to illness on Saturday and have recalled fellow forward Henrik Rybinski from Hershey of the American Hockey League.

• The move to injured reserve is retroactive to Dec. 17. The Capitals acquired Eller from the Pittsburgh Penguins on Nov. 12 in exchange for a fifth-round draft pick in 2025 and a third-round selection in 2027.

  Eller, 35, has two goals and four assists in 16 games for the Capitals this season after totaling four and three, respectively, over 17 games with the Penguins.

  He has 184 goals and 231 assists in 1,069 career games with St. Louis (2019-10), Montreal (2010-16), Washington (2016-23, 2024-present), Colorado (2023) and Pittsburgh (2024). The Blues made the Denmark native the 13th overall pick of the 2007 NHL Draft.

  Eller won the Stanley Cup with Washington in 2018.

  Rybinski, 23, was selected by the Florida Panthers in the fifth round of the 2019 NHL Draft. He has 20 points (six goals, 14 assists) in 28 games this season with Hershey.

  --Field Level Media

With the New York Rangers in dire need of a win, Igor Shesterkin turned in a spectacular performance on Friday. The goalie made 41 saves to end his team's three-game losing streak in a 3-1 victory against the host Dallas Stars.

• Vincent Trocheck had a goal and an assist while Reilly Smith and Chris Kreider also scored for New York.

  Shesterkin, the Rangers' top goalie, entered play having lost three of his past four starts. The win marked the first time he allowed one or fewer goals since a 2-1 victory over the Ottawa Senators on Nov. 1.

  Roope Hintz scored and Jake Oettinger stopped 27 shots for the Stars, who took their second consecutive loss to finish 3-3-0 on their homestand.

  Panthers 2, Blues 1 (OT)

  Aleksander Barkov scored with 17 seconds left in overtime to lift Florida past St. Louis in Sunrise, Fla.

  Uvis Balinskis also scored for the Panthers, who have gone 9-2-1 in their past 12 games. Florida goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky made 26 saves, including two on Dylan Holloway in overtime.

  Oskar Sundqvist scored and Joel Hofer made 25 saves for the Blues, who have won just one of their past six games.

  Maple Leafs 6, Sabres 3

  William Nylander scored and added two assists as Toronto doubled up host Buffalo.

  Bobby McMann, Max Domi and Nicholas Robertson each scored a goal and made an assist. Auston Matthews and Max Pacioretty also scored for the Leafs, who have won three straight. Matt Murray, making his first NHL start in 628 days after being recalled from the AHL's Toronto Marlies, stopped 24 shots.

  JJ Peterka, Mattias Samuelsson and Owen Power scored for Buffalo, which has lost 12 straight (0-9-3). Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen allowed four goals on 13 shots before being replaced by James Reimer, who stopped 14 of 15 shots.

  Canadiens 4, Red Wings 3

  Patrik Laine scored a tiebreaking power-play goal with 7:58 remaining as Montreal won at Detroit.

  The Canadiens' Jake Evans scored a short-handed goal and added an assist in his 300th career game. Emil Heineman also had a goal and an assist, Arber Xhekaj scored his first goal of the season and Sam Montembeault made 25 saves in the win.

  Patrick Kane, Joe Veleno and Tyler Motte scored for the Red Wings, and Michael Rasmussen had two assists. Cam Talbot made 29 saves. The teams will complete the home-and-home set in Montreal on Saturday night.

  Capitals 3, Hurricanes 1

  Charlie Lindgren stopped 24 shots and host Washington benefitted from goals late in the first two periods to defeat Carolina in a matchup of two of the top teams in the Metropolitan Division.

  Aliaksei Protas, Jakub Vrana and Connor McMichael scored for the Capitals, who ended a two-game slide. Lindgren, who earned his 10th victory of the season, joined teammate Logan Thompson (12) with a double-digit win total.

  Seth Jarvis scored for the Hurricanes, and Pyotr Kochetkov made 19 saves.

  Utah 2, Wild 1

  Dylan Guenther scored a pair of goals to lift the Utah Hockey Club to a win over Minnesota in Saint Paul, Minn.

  Goaltender Karel Vejmelka stopped 28 of 29 shots for Utah, which notched a season high with its fourth victory in a row.

  Mats Zuccarello scored the lone goal for Minnesota, which lost for the third straight game and fell for the fifth time in seven games. Marc-Andre Fleury gave up two goals on 18 shots.

  Avalanche 4, Ducks 2

  Nathan MacKinnon had two assists and an empty-net goal in Colorado's road win over Anaheim.

  Scott Wedgewood stopped 30 of 32 shots to improve to 4-2 since being acquired from Nashville on Nov. 30. Valeri Nichushkin and Cale Makar each had a goal and an assist, and Mikko Rantanen had two assists as Colorado won its second straight game.

  Leo Carlsson and Alex Killorn scored for the Ducks, who had won their last two games. John Gibson stopped 19 of 22 shots, including a save on a Samuel Girard penalty shot late in the third period.

  --Field Level Media

Buffalo Sabres captain Rasmus Dahlin will return from a seven-game absence due to back spasms when his struggling team hosts the Toronto Maple Leafs on Friday.

• "Dahlin is good to go," Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff said of the defenseman after an optional morning skate Friday.

  The Sabres surely could use Dahlin while mired in an 11-game winless skid (0-8-3). Their last win was a 4-2 decision at the San Jose Sharks on Nov. 23.

  Dahlin, 24, has 19 points (six goals, 13 assists) and has averaged 24:42 of ice time in 25 games this season.

  Signed to an eight-year, $88 million contract, Dahlin has totaled 311 points (72 goals, 239 assists) since being selected by the Sabres with the top overall pick of the 2018 NHL Draft.

  --Field Level Media

Mattias Ekholm scored at 1:04 of overtime as the Edmonton Oilers completed a two-goal comeback to defeat the visiting Boston Bruins 3-2 on Thursday night.

• Ekholm snapped off the deciding goal as the trailer on the rush. He received a feed from Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, who picked the puck off Boston goaltender Jeremy Swayman's pads and dished a pass back.

  The Oilers, who have won six of their last seven games, erased a 2-0 deficit with goals in the second and third periods. Zach Hyman had a goal and an assist, scoring Edmonton's first before setting up Connor McDavid's tying tally with 2:21 left. Leon Draisaitl had three assists and Stuart Skinner made 24 saves for the Oilers. Draisaitl and McDavid have seven-game point streaks.

  Boston had a 2-0 lead after one period, as Elias Lindholm scored 1:07 in and Mark Kastelic doubled the score with 2:25 left before intermission. Swayman stopped 23 shots for the Bruins, who completed a 2-2-1 road trip against Western Conference teams.

  Avalanche 4, Sharks 2

  Joel Kiviranta scored two third-period goals to help visiting Colorado come back to beat San Jose.

  Valeri Nichushkin scored the first of Colorado's three goals in the final period. Mikko Rantanen also scored, Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar had two assists each and Mackenzie Blackwood made 32 saves for Colorado, which has won five of seven.

  Carl Grundstrom and William Eklund scored second-period goals, Luke Kunin assisted on both markers and Alexandar Georgiev made 27 saves for the Sharks, who have dropped six of their past seven. Georgiev was traded from the Avalanche to the Sharks on Dec. 9 in exchange for Blackwood.

  Penguins 5, Predators 4 (OT)

  Bryan Rust scored his second goal of the night 1:07 into overtime to cap a four-point night, Sidney Crosby had a goal with three assists, and Pittsburgh edged host Nashville.

  The OT tally gave the Penguins their first lead and their eighth win in 11 games (8-2-1). Rickard Rakell and Erik Karlsson each had a goal and an assist for Pittsburgh, which has played three straight overtime contests, winning twice.

  Brady Skjei had a goal and an assist and Filip Forsberg added two assists for Nashville, which has five points in four games following its 0-5-3 slide.

  Lightning 3, Blues 1

  Nikita Kucherov extended his points streak to nine games, Gage Goncalves scored his first goal and Tampa Bay earned a season-high fourth straight win by beating visiting St. Louis.

  Kucherov posted two second-period assists to give him 20 points (three goals, 17 assists) in nine outings. Goncalves notched his first goal in his 20th NHL game. Anthony Cirelli and Nick Perbix tallied as the Lightning won for the sixth time in seven December games (6-1-0). Andrei Vasilevskiy denied 31 shots.

  St. Louis' Pavel Buchnevich scored, giving him points in 10 of his past 11 games (four goals, six assists). Jordan Binnington surrendered three goals on 11 shots before being lifted. Joel Hofer stopped all seven shots in relief.

  Kings 7, Flyers 3

  Anze Kopitar and Kevin Fiala each scored twice and Los Angeles tallied four goals in the third period in a victory over host Philadelphia.

  Warren Foegele added a goal and an assist for Los Angeles, which improved to 3-1-1 on its season-long seven-game road trip. Tanner Jeannott and Quinton Byfield also scored, and Alex Laferriere, Vladislav Gavrikov and Jordan Spence each chipped in a pair of assists.

  Tyson Foerster notched two goals and an assist for Philadelphia, which has dropped six of its last eight games (2-5-1). Aleksei Kolosov surrendered six goals on 26 shots for the Flyers, while Kings goaltender Darcy Kuemper made 23 saves.

  Blackhawks 3, Kraken 1

  Ilya Mikheyev scored twice and Teuvo Teravainen had two assists to back a 27-save effort from Arvid Soderblom as Chicago topped visiting Seattle for a season-best third win in a row.

  Nolan Allan also scored for Chicago. Mikheyev has scored four goals in the past three games after notching just two in the first 28 games.

  Ryker Evans scored for Seattle, and Joey Daccord stopped 21 shots. Kaapo Kakko made his Seattle debut after he arrived via a trade Wednesday with the New York Rangers. He had two shots on goal in 13:15 of ice time.

  Blue Jackets 4, Devils 2

  Elvis Merzlikins made 40 saves as Columbus doubled up visiting New Jersey to snap a five-game losing streak (0-3-2).

  Sean Monahan had two goals and an assist, Ivan Provorov and Zach Werenski added goals, and Kirill Marchenko had two assists for the Blue Jackets.

  Luke Hughes had a goal and an assist and Timo Meier also scored as the Devils tried to come back from a 3-0 deficit but fell short. Jake Allen made 16 saves for New Jersey, which had won three straight.

  Senators 3, Flames 2 (OT)

  Brady Tkachuk scored 55 seconds into overtime and visiting Ottawa edged Calgary for its fifth straight win.

  The game ended with a series of end-to-end rushes. After Senators goalie Linus Ullmark made a save on Jonathan Huberdeau, he sent an outlet pass to Tim Stutzle. Dan Vladar made the save, but Tkachuk knocked in the rebound for his 16th goal of the season and Ullmark's first assist of the campaign.

  Nick Cousins and Ridly Greig also scored for the Senators, who own the NHL's longest current winning streak. Ullmark made 29 saves. Blake Coleman and Huberdeau scored for the Flames, who have lost three of four (1-2-2). Matt Coronato had two assists, and Vladar made 26 saves.

  Golden Knights 3, Canucks 1

  William Karlsson netted the go-ahead goal early in the third period and Vegas scored three consecutive times to pull out the win over Vancouver in Las Vegas.

  It was the third game-winning goal of the season for Karlsson. Brett Howden had a goal and an assist and Alex Pietrangelo also scored for Vegas, which improved to 6-1-0 in December and 17-3-2 against Western Conference opponents. Adin Hill made 19 saves.

  Teddy Blueger scored for Vancouver, which lost its second straight game (0-1-1) and fell for the fifth time in seven games (2-3-2). Kevin Lankinen, making his first start since Dec. 12 after missing three games with the flu, finished with 18 saves.

  --Field Level Media

The Chicago Blackhawks activated goaltender Petr Mrazek off injured reserve on Thursday.

• In a related move, Chicago assigned goalie Drew Commesso to AHL affiliate Rockford.

  The Blackhawks will start Arvid Soderblom in net on Thursday night when the Seattle Kraken visit, but Mrazek will back him up.

  Mrazek, 32, had missed five games with a left groin injury suffered Dec. 7. Soderblom has carried the team since then, as the Blackhawks went 3-2 in that time following a five-game losing streak.

  "It's a relief that it wasn't anything serious," Mrazek told reporters Thursday. "I felt I was just being more careful with it. In the past you stay in the net and you get it worse. Dealing with that and then with the flu, everything in one, was the thing. Just get through it and get back on track."

  Mrazek has gone 7-11-1 this season with a 2.83 goals-against average and a .906 save percentage.

  In 13 NHL seasons with the Detroit Red Wings (2012-18), Philadelphia Flyers (2018), Carolina Hurricanes (2018-21), Toronto Maple Leafs (2021-22) and Chicago, he has gone 175-166-39 with a 2.80 goals-against average and a .907 save percentage.

  The Blackhawks (11-19-2, 24 points) are tied with Central Division rival Nashville for the fewest points in the NHL entering Thursday's play.

  --Field Level Media

Mikhail Sergachev scored with 11.4 seconds left in overtime for the Utah Hockey Club, who scored three unanswered goals to rally for a 3-2 victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Wednesday night in Salt Lake City.

• Sergachev backhanded a crossing pass from Logan Cooley under the pads of Thatcher Demko at the end of a two-on-one break for his second overtime winner of the season.

  Clayton Keller had a goal and an assist and Dylan Guenther also scored for Utah, which won its third straight game. Cooley added a pair of assists and Karel Vejmelka finished with 24 saves as Utah extended its point streak to a season-best six games (5-0-1).

  Danton Heinen and Dakota Joshua scored goals, Quinn Hughes had two assists and Demko made 28 saves for Vancouver. It was the ninth multi-assist game of the season for Hughes, the reigning Norris Trophy winner who leads all NHL defensemen with 30 assists.

  Maple Leafs 5, Stars 3

  William Nylander scored two goals and Joseph Woll made 36 saves to fuel Toronto's victory over host Dallas for its fourth win in five games.

  Toronto's Nicholas Robertson, who collected a goal and an assist, was playing against his brother Jason with their parents in attendance. Max Domi and Bobby McMann also tallied for the Maple Leafs, who prevailed despite being outshot by a 39-19 margin.

  Evgenii Dadonov logged a goal and an assist and Sam Steel and Colin Blackwell also scored for the Stars, who have lost seven straight decisions to Toronto. Jake Oettinger yielded four goals on 12 shots before being relieved after the second period by Casey DeSmith, who made six saves.

  Panthers 6, Wild 1

  Matthew Tkachuk scored a pair of goals, and Florida pulled away for a win over Minnesota in Saint Paul, Minn.

  Aaron Ekblad had a goal and two assists for the Panthers, who won back-to-back games to complete a 3-2 road trip. Mackie Samoskevich finished with a goal and an assist. Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 26 of 27 shots to improve to 15-6-1.

  Marco Rossi scored the lone goal for Minnesota, which lost for the fourth time in the past six games. Wild goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury gave up six goals on 33 shots and fell to 6-2-1.

  Ducks 3, Jets 2

  Troy Terry scored with 26 seconds left in regulation to give Anaheim a victory over visiting Winnipeg.

  With the puck deep in Winnipeg's zone, defenseman Neal Pionk tried a clearance attempt, but Anaheim's Frank Vatrano deflected it. The loose puck went to Terry, who was open in front of the net, for the game-winning goal. Vatrano had two goals and an assist, and Radko Gudas had two assists. Lukas Dostal stopped 21 of 23 shots.

  Mark Scheifele and Gabriel Vilardi scored for the Jets, and Kyle Connor had two assists. Winnipeg goaltender Eric Comrie stopped 28 of 31 shots. Comrie had to be very sharp early, as Anaheim outshot Winnipeg 12-4 during a scoreless first period.

  Red Wings 6, Flyers 4

  Patrick Kane scored the go-ahead goal at 7:22 of the third period and host Detroit held on to defeat Philadelphia.

  J.T. Compher and Lucas Raymond each added a goal and an assist, while Alex DeBrincat, Michael Rasmussen and Joe Veleno supplied the other goals. Dylan Larkin notched two assists for Detroit, which has won three of its last four games. Alex Lyon, playing in his first game since Nov. 25, stopped 15 shots.

  Travis Konecny, Noah Cates, Ryan Poehling and Owen Tippett scored for the Flyers, who are 2-4-1 in their last seven. Samuel Ersson made 18 saves.

  -Field Level Media

The Seattle Kraken obtained forward Kaapo Kakko, a former second overall draft pick, from the New York Rangers on Wednesday for defenseman Will Borgen and third- and sixth-round picks in the 2025 NHL Draft.

• Kakko, 23, has four goals, 10 assists, 14 penalty minutes and a plus-9 rating in 30 games this season. He averages 13:17 minutes of ice time and was a healthy scratch in a 3-2 loss to the St. Louis Blues on Sunday before playing Tuesday in a 3-0 defeat to Nashville.

  The Rangers picked Kakko, a native of Finland, second overall in the 2019 NHL Draft. He has 61 goals, 70 assists, 80 penalty minutes and a plus-13 rating in 330 regular-season games since the 2019-20 season.

  Kakko has totaled nine points (four goals, five assists) with a minus-3 rating in 44 playoff games.

  Borgen, who turns 28 on Thursday, has one goal, one assist, nine penalty minutes, 48 hits and 37 blocked shots in 33 games this season.

  The Buffalo Sabres had selected him in the fourth round of the 2015 draft. He has played for the Sabres (14 games in the 2018-19 and 2020-21 seasons) and Seattle, which took him in the 2021 expansion draft.

  Borgen has nine goals, 46 assists, 153 penalty minutes, a minus-15 rating, 577 hits and 287 blocked shots in 247 regular-season games.

  --Field Level Media