Jason Robertson scored his 19e goal of the season in the Dallas Stars’ 4-1 win over the St. Louis Blues on Monday.
It’s the 16the Robertson’s straight game with at least one point, extending his lead atop the NHL scoring column, two ahead of Connor McDavid and three ahead of Bo Horvat.
In the third period, the Stars’ No. 21 blocked a shot in the defensive zone before gaining speed and serving a blistering shot that deceived the vigilance of Jordan Binnington.
With that other goal, Robertson joined McDavid with 36 points in 23 games. The captain of the Edmonton Oilers, however, beat him a little later in the evening.
The 23-year-old American’s streak is the longest in franchise history. Since October 27, he has found the back of the net 17 times, in addition to adding 12 assists.
Dave Gagner, during the 1993-1994 season, had obtained at least one point in 13 consecutive games.
Adding the Minnesota North Stars to the calculation would put Robertson ahead of Brian Bellows, who found the scoresheet 20 times in a row in 1985-86.
Stars keeper Scott Wedgewood frustrated Pavel Buchnevich with a sure goal in the first period. He and Torey Krug had outplayed Wedgewood, but the 30-year-old goaltender pulled out the mitt at the last second to keep the stalemate.
It was rookie Wyatt Johnston who broke the tie early in the second period with a good wrist shot from the top of the circles. This is his sixth of the season.
Dallas came back to the charge in the final third, Ty Dellandrea finishing off a superb passing game with Johnston and Jamie Benn to extend the lead for the home side.
The Blues took advantage of a blunder from Wedgewood to register at the end of the third. The keeper missed his throw-in on the boards and Josh Leivo sent the disc between his legs.
Miro Heiskanen scored the fourth goal for the Stars in an empty net.
Marner one game away from the franchise record
For the 17th straight game, Mitchell Marner blackened the scoresheet and helped the Toronto Maple Leafs to their fourth straight win. Sheldon Keefe’s men beat the Detroit Red Wings 4-2.
A Marner goal in the middle period extended his scoring streak to 17, the third-longest streak in the Maple Leafs’ storied history. Marner will have the opportunity to join Darryl Sittler and Eddie Olczyk at the top on Wednesday against the Sharks, if he manages to pick up a point for his 18th straight meeting.
Toronto maintained a record of 10 wins, two losses and five more overtime losses during that streak.
You have to go back to October 24 to find a match in which Marner did not contribute to the celebration. In 24 duels this season, he’s been cleared from the scoresheet only twice.
The match started badly for Toronto. From the first minutes of the opening period, defender Moritz Seider forced Auston Matthews to commit a turnover, allowing Detroit to counterattack. Moments later, Seider pushed a loose puck into the crease in the back of the net to open the scoring.
Matthews, however, redeemed his mistake a few minutes later. He let go of a great wrist shot to tie the game with his 11th goal of the season.
That Matthews goal seemed to open the door for the Leafs, who added several more unanswered goals. Before the end of the first period, William Nylander took advantage of a power play to rattle the ropes and put the Maple Leafs in the driver’s seat.
Then after just 52 seconds into the middle period, Marner put his shoulder to the wheel by scoring with a wrist shot that doubled Toronto’s lead. At the same time, he extended his streak of games with at least one point to 17.
Halfway through the game, Rasmus Sandin added some for the Leafs. He fired a shot from the blue line that made its way into the back of the net for his first goal of the season.
The Red Wings finally came to life in the third period, once again thanks to Seider. The guard was patient with the puck, before unleashing a shot that was deflected by Adam Erne, who closed the gap to 4-2.
The Wings, however, ran out of time to complete a comeback and saw their winning streak come to a halt at four.
John Tavares took advantage of the Maple Leafs victory to collect his 300th point in a Toronto uniform, in his 304th game.
Maple Leafs goaltender Matt Murray kept it strong in the win with a 42-save performance. At the other end of the ice, Ville Husso surrendered four times on 13 shots before being taken out of the game. In relief, Alex Nedeljkovic was perfect on 12 shots.
Detroit will face the Sabers and Golden Knights on Wednesday and Saturday, before hitting the road on a four-game road trip.
Draisaitl gives the win in overtime
Leon Draisailt played heroes in overtime to give the Edmonton Oilers a 4-3 win over the Florida Panthers.
The Oilers managed to tie the game late in the third period as Evan Bouchard scored from the slot with 4 seconds left. Draisailt came to the crowd at Rogers Place after just 22 seconds into overtime. Connor McDavid was an accomplice on the winning goal and, at the same time, recorded his third point of the match.
The Panthers had taken the lead with less than five minutes left in the game. Brandon Montour found the back of the net with a shot from the circles. Oilers head coach Jay Woodcroft had asked the referees to go to replay due to a high stick by Matthew Tkachuk earlier in the stretch, but to no avail.
Spencer Knight stopped 36 pucks while Stuart Skinner stopped 25.
It’s a second straight victory for the Oilers, they are ranked fourth in the Pacific Division.
