Mats Zuccarello scored a hat trick and added an assist in the Minnesota Wild’s 4-1 victory over the poor Chicago Blackhawks on Friday night.
For Zuccarello, it was his second career hat trick, after his first on October 30, 2015. The forward now has at least one point in his ninth straight game. During that streak, the Norwegian scored five goals and added seven assists.
His linemate Kirill Kaprizov also had a strong game with a goal and two assists. The Russian has now scored at least one point in 11 straight home games, which is the second-highest total in franchise history.
The trio have combined for 19 goals since Sam Steel, 24, was linked with the pair of Kaprizov and Zuccarello 13 games ago. Steel added two assists. The Wild are 10-3-0 in that span.
The Wild earned their fourth straight victory, while the Blackhawks, who are languishing in last place in the overall NHL standings, suffered a second straight loss. During that streak, they scored a meager total of six goals.
Jonathan Toews was his team’s lone scorer with his 10th goal of the season. Petr Mrazek made 18 saves for the Blackhawks, including a spectacular save to deny Zuccarello another goal.
Chicago forward Tyler Johnson, who returned to the team on Tuesday after missing 20 games with an ankle injury, sat out the game.
The Flames go out again
The Flames’ season continues to take a worrying turn after a fifth straight game without a win (0-2-3). Calgary (13-12-6) suffered a 5-2 loss to the St. Louis Blues in front of home fans.
In the win, Jordan Kyrou scored twice and linemates Brayden Schenn and Robert Thomas had two assists each.
Thomas Greiss made 40 saves to win his fourth game in his last five starts for the Blues.
The second line from St. Louis also stood out. Ivan Barbashev and Pavel Buchnevich both had a goal and an assist. Brandon Saad also hit the target.
Connor Mackey scored both goals for the Flames, who were booed by the home crowd ahead of the game. The defenseman had previously found the back of the net only once in 16 games during his NHL career. His only other goal came in the final game of the 2020-21 season in an empty Saddledome due to COVID-19 restrictions.
Dillon Dube and Elias Lindholm were accomplices on both goals.
Keller hurts Romanov and Islanders badly
Travis Boyd broke the tie in the third period and Clayton Keller added an insurance goal that proved to be the difference maker in a 5-4 Arizona Coyotes win over the New Islanders. York.
The Islanders were unlucky on Keller’s goal as his shot hit Alexander Romanov directly in the family jewels before ending up in the net.
It was the second goal of the game for Keller, who has five in his last three games.
Shayne Gostisbehere and Nick Bjugstad were the other scorers for the Coyotes, who have won their last four home games — three since the end of a 14-game, 33-day road trip.
Karel Vejmelka made 30 saves.
Sebastian Aho, Mathew Barzal, Noah Dobson and Anthony Beauvillier scored for the Islanders.
