Jason Robertson scored a hat trick, extending his lead as the NHL’s leading scorers on Thursday night in a resounding Dallas Stars 5-0 win over the Anaheim Ducks.
The young No. 21 of the Stars shows no intention of slowing down, he who displays a streak of 17 games with at least one point.
In the combined history of the Minnesota Stars and North Stars, only Brian Bellows has done better, with a 20-game streak in the 1985-86 season.
Just named employee of the month in the Bettman circuit, Robertson continued his irresistible momentum, adding his 20th, 21st and 22nd goals of the campaign, in his 24th game.
By completing the third hat-trick of his career early in the final period, the prolific 23-year-old scorer gave himself a three-goal lead over Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers, who also scored on Thursday.
Jake Oettinger stopped 31 shots for the Ducks (6-16-2) to sign his second shutout of the 2022-2023 season, and the fourth of his young career.
It was Oettinger’s 50th win since joining the NHL on the shortened 2020-21 schedule.
Miro Heiskanen added three assists to his record, while Roope Hintz, a few hours after signing an eight-year contract extension, assisted in two of his linemate Robertson’s three goals.
Joel Kiviranta and rookie Wyatt Johnson were the other scorers for the Peter DeBoer-led squad.
The game against the Ducks was the first of a five-game home streak for Dallas (14-6-4), which leads by three points over Winnipeg (14-6-1) at the top of the West Division standings.
The Predators steal the game from the Devils
The New Jersey Devils expected to become the first NHL team to reach 20 wins this season, but the Nashville Predators tied the game with nine seconds left before winning in overtime on the count. from 4 to 3.
Mikael Granlund jumped on a rebound in the slot with just nine seconds left in regulation, before Ryan Johansen made the difference in extra time.
Johansen finished the game with two goals and an assist.
Jack Hughes and Erik Haula each had two assists, and Vitek Vanecek had 20 saves for the Devils (19-4-1), who lost for the second time in their last 18 games (16-1-1) .
Johansen gave Nashville a 1-0 lead 11 seconds into the game. That goal tied David Legwand’s (April 5, 2007) goal for the fastest opening goal in Predators history.
Colton Sissons made it 2-0 on a wrist shot before the end of the first period.
New Jersey used 11 forwards and seven defensemen after forward Miles Wood was scratched with an undisclosed injury.
Kaprizov got the better of the Oilers heavyweights
Kirill Kaprizov had three points, and the Minnesota Wild scored four straight to defeat the Edmonton Oilers 5-3.
Kaprizov thus reached the plateau of 30 points (14-16) in his 22e game of the season. Surprisingly, it was his first goal against Edmonton, in his third year in the NHL.
The Wild’s star winger has had at least one point in each of his last ten outings.
After Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl combined for the second time of the night early in the second period, Minnesota took control of the matchup.
With his 19 goals, the Oilers captain finds himself three goals behind Jason Robertson, of the Dallas Stars, who scored a hat trick at the same time.
From halfway through the game, Kaprizov, Frédérick Gaudreau, Sam Steel and Mats Zuccarello took turns outsmarting Jack Campbell, whose struggles continued into his first season in an Edmonton uniform.
Despite their victory the day before in Chicago, the Albertans allowed nine goals to their opponents in the space of 24 hours.
Kapanen helps Pittsburgh complete comeback
Jake Guentzel and Kasperi Kapanen scored within two minutes of the third period and the Pittsburgh Penguins came from behind to beat the Vegas Golden Knights 4-3 on Thursday night.
Guentzel’s power play goal tied the game at 3-3 as 112 seconds later Kapanen scored for the first time in nearly two months.
Kapanen had been left out by head coach Mike Sullivan in the previous seven games.
Tristan Jarry finished the game with 34 saves for the Penguins, who won their first game since defenseman Kris Letang suffered a stroke on Monday.
Brock McGinn and Rickard Rakell also threaded the needle for the Penguins, who suffered only the Golden Knights’ second road loss this season.
Shea Theodore, Jack Eichel and Reilly Smith hit the mark for the Golden Knights.
Logan Thompson, the NHL’s Rookie of the Month for November, has stopped 43 pucks and lost just the third time in his last 13 starts.
Everything collapses in 64 seconds for the Blues
The Carolina Hurricanes scored three goals in the space of 64 seconds in the second period, and eventually defeated the St. Louis Blues 6-4.
Jordan Martinook scored his second NHL hat trick by confirming the Canes’ victory at 19:51 of the third period.
The veteran Carolina winger was one of three scorers who helped the visitors turn the tide early in the middle.
While the score was 2-0 in favor of the Blues, Brent Burns, Martinook and Seth Jarvis then deceived the vigilance of Jordan Binnington between 5:24 and 6:28.
Despite a net from Torey Krug on the power play that brought the two teams tied, the Canes managed to distance the Blues during the last 20 minutes.
It was Martinook who took charge of breaking the tie, giving his team a 4-3 lead, while the clock showed 4:35 in the third.
After a goal from Canes captain Jordan Staal into a gaping cage, Blues’ ‘C’-wearer Ryan O’Reilly cut the lead to one goal at 19:18, but that left too little time to Craig Berube’s troupe.
