Marc-André Fleury had 40 saves, Alex DeBrincat had a goal and two assists, and the Chicago Blackhawks beat the Edmonton Oilers 4-1 on Wednesday night.
While Fleury frustrated the Oilers’ big guns, Mike Smith gave up four times on 30 shots, including twice in the first three minutes of the game, ahead of DeBrincat and Brandon Hagel.
DeBrincat’s net, on the Hawks’ first shot of the game, marked the 29th time in their last 35 games that the Oilers allowed the first goal.
Dylan Strome and Kirby Dach also scored for the Hawks, who were playing their first game since returning from the All-Star Game break.
In DeBrincat’s case, it was the 16th career NHL game of three or more points.
Only Leon Draisaitl managed to deceive the vigilance of “Flower”, with his 33rd goal of the campaign, at 6:02 of the second period.
Edmonton (23-18-3) lost its first two games after the break.
In an ominous moment late in the first period, Oilers defenseman Duncan Keith hit the boards hard and appeared to momentarily lose consciousness.
He had to be escorted off the ice and did not return to play.
The Flames win ahead of Vegas
The Calgary Flames were far more successful than the Edmonton Oilers the day before as they crushed the Vegas Golden Knights 6-0.
Golden Knights 0 – Flames 6
The Vegas team came in with a 4-0 victory over the other Alberta team, but the Flames presented a different type of opposition.
Johnny Gaudreau continued his excellent momentum this season by opening the scoring in the fifth minute of play. Mikael Backlund added to the lead of his team and the latter added three assists to his harvest of the evening.
Andrew Mangiapane scored twice, Elias Lindholm and Matthew Tkachuk also beat Robin Lehner who gave up six times on 33 shots. Jacob Markstrom recorded his seventh shutout already this season by saving 28 pucks.
The Isles score 5 times in the 1st period in Vancouver
Anders Lee and Casey Cizikas each had a goal and an assist in the New York Islanders’ first game since the All-Star Game break. An explosive comeback for the Islanders who won 6-3 over the Canucks in Vancouver.
Matt Martin, Matthew Barzal, Brock Nelson and Zach Parise completed the scoring for the Islanders (17-17-6). Cal Clutterbuck contributed to the offensive festival with two assists.
Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Elias Petterson and Luke Schenn replied for the Canucks (21-21-6).
Canucks goalie veteran Jaroslav Halak was retired midway through the first period after allowing five goals on just 12 shots. Thatcher Demko came in relief and stopped 14 of the 15 shots he faced.
Illya Sorokin made 34 saves for the winners who were playing their first game since February 2.
The Canucks, who had won 5-1 over the Coyotes the day before, came out flat early in the game. The Islanders were already leading 3-0 before the fourth minute of play.
The Stars hold their ground against the Preds
Luke Glendening scored three minutes into the third period, helping the Dallas Stars defeat the Nashville Predators 4-3.
Glendening took advantage of a turnover at the Dallas blue line to come downfield two-on-one with Michael Raffl, who served him a nice pass.
He thus restored the lead with a goal to his club for the third time in the clash, and this time the visitors were unable to set the record straight.
Jason Robertson scored twice for the Stars, while Roope Hintz also hit the target, at the expense of compatriot Juuse Saros.
Eeli Tolvanen, Matt Duchene and Yakov Trenin served as the response for Nashville. Captain Roman Josi provided two assists.
Jake Oettinger earned the win by making 20 saves on 23 shots.
Forward Filip Forsberg picked up one assist, but his four-game two-point streak came to an end. Never has a Predators player managed to get two points in five straight games.
Larkin sets the table for Wings victory
Dylan Larkin set the tone with a 24th goal and the Detroit Red Wings iNFLicted a 6-3 loss to the Detroit Red Wings.
Larkin scored the first goal of the game on the power play, 2:43 after the initial face-off. Travis Sanheim had retained.
Pius Suter, Robby Fabbri, Lucas Raymond, Givani Smith and Vladislav Namestnikov were the other scorers for the winners.
Alex Nedeljkovic made 21 saves for the Wings, who host the Flyers on Saturday.
Isaac Ratcliffe – his first in the National League, Sanheim and Scott Laughton collected the goals for the Flyers. Carter Hart blocked 28 shots.
A 22-year-old Ontarian, Ratcliffe was a second-round pick in 2017.
Galchenyuk lets the Coyotes breathe
The Arizona Coyotes got the better of the Seattle Kraken with a 5-2 win.
Arizona took the lead 2-0 thanks to goals from Phil Kessel and Nick Schmaltz. Colin Blackwell pulled one back early in the third period, but Anton Stralman restored his team’s two-goal lead.
After a net from Calle Jarnkrok, Alex Galchenyuk flashed the red light to provide a cushion for his side. It was the striker’s third goal this season. Schmaltz completed the game with his second goal of the game.
