Jesper Bratt scored the winning goal in addition to collecting an assist and the New Jersey Devils scored four unanswered goals on Thursday to end a three-game losing streak by beating the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-2.
The Devils had to make do without forwards Timo Meier, Nico Hischier and Jack Hughes, but they still recorded a sixth straight victory against their rivals from Pennsylvania. It was their second win in five games since missing Hughes with an upper-body injury.
Curtis Lazar also had a goal and an assist while Erik Haula and Luke Hughes had two assists each. Nathan Bastian, Alexander Holtz and Tyler Toffoli also scored for the Devils and Vitek Vanecek made 24 saves.
Bryan Rust scored both goals for the Penguins, giving them leads of 1-0 and 2-1.
Rust opened the scoring in the first with his eighth goal of the season before seeing Curtis Lazar tie the game a few minutes later.
Rust came back to attack at the start of the second, but Bastian took just 38 seconds to respond.
Bratt, with his eighth, broke the tie 2:35 into the third. Holtz and Toffoli then allowed the Devils to take off by scoring 20 seconds apart with just over eight minutes on the clock. Toffoli is the Devils’ top scorer with nine goals since the start of the season.
Tristan Jarry stopped 26 shots in front of the Penguins net, who suffered their first loss in November.
Dubois injured in Kings victory
Kevin Fiala and Anze Kopitar scored to lead the Los Angeles Kings to a 2-1 victory over the Florida Panthers.
Pierre-Luc Dubois left the game in the third. Dubois’ left leg hit the post as he came at high speed to make a breakthrough at the net. He was unable to put any weight on his left leg and immediately left for the locker room.
The Kings, undefeated in seven away games, won in Los Angeles after losing two games in a row in front of their fans.
Cam Talbot stopped 30 shots in the victory.
Sam Reinhart, with his 13th of the season, scored the only goal for the Panthers, who saw their winning streak stop at five.
Double by Mike Hoffman; the Sharks crush the Blues for a rare victory
Mike Hoffman scored two goals, Kaapo Kahkonen made 44 saves and the San Jose Sharks surprised the St. Louis Blues with a score of 5-1.
The Sharks (3-13-1), worst team in the NHL, end a three-game losing streak. This is just their third win in 17 games this season.
The Blues had however won their last three games, including the last two against NHL powers: the Colorado Avalanche and the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Hoffman opened the scoring just 2:02 minutes into the game with the only goal of the first period and did it again in the second to make it 5-0 Sharks. These are his second and third goals of the season.
The Sharks took control of the game in the second by scoring four goals, including three in the first four minutes of the period. William Eklund scored just 17 seconds into the second, Givani Smith added with his first goal of the season at 2:39 of the period and Luke Kunin made it 4-0 at 3:25.
Pavel Buchnevich denied Kahkonen his first shutout of the season by scoring his fifth goal of the season with 6:05 remaining in the third.
Yamamoto and the Kraken inflict another setback on the Islanders
Kailer Yamamoto scored the decisive goal in the eighth round of the shootout and the Seattle Kraken defeated the New York Islanders 4-3.
The Islanders have lost their last seven games (0-4-3).
Oliver Bjorkstrand and Jordan Eberle also scored in the shootout for the Kraken, as did Bo Horvat and Oliver Wahlstrom for the visitors.
Yamamoto also forced an extra period with a goal in the third period. He totaled two points in the game.
Matthew Beniers and Alex Wennberg also scored for the Kraken, who ended a three-game losing streak. Philipp Grubauer made 21 saves.
Anders Lee, Casey Cizikas and Noah Dobson scored for the Islanders, who suffered a seventh straight loss.
Semyon Varlamov blocked 29 of the 32 pucks aimed at him in front of the Islanders cage.
Cooley hits target, Coyotes overthrow poor Jackets
Logan Cooley and Lawson Crouse scored 28 seconds apart in the third period and the Arizona Coyotes came from behind to defeat the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-2.
The Coyotes have collected at least one point in their last three games, all played on opposing ice (2-0-1). The Blue Jackets have lost their last seven games.
Barrett Hayton also scored for Arizona and Connor Ingram stopped 39 shots to remain undefeated in three games against Columbus.
Damon Severson scored two goals and Elvis Merzlikins made 29 saves for the Blue Jackets, who have lost their last three home games and are losing a sixth straight game after holding the lead.
After a scoreless first period, Severson opened the scoring for Columbus 1:44 into the second with a shot from the right circle for his second goal of the season. Ivan Provorov had an assist, his 10th, making him the team’s top scorer.
Hayton tied the game for the Coyotes with a shot while kneeling in front of Merzlikins’ net at 6:19. Hayton has four points in his last five games.
The score remained tied until the third, when Cooley gave Arizona the lead on the power play. He scored his second goal of the season with a wrist shot from the left circle midway through the period. Crouse made it 3-1 28 seconds later.
Severson completed his double with 1:57 remaining while Merzlikins was benched for the Blue Jackets in favor of a sixth skater.
