Valeri Nichushkin was the only one to find the back of the net in the shootout to secure a 4-3 victory for the Colorado Avalanche over the Arizona Coyotes.
Nichushkin was the 14th shooter for both teams to shoot, but the only one to score. He beat goaltender Connor Ingram with a right-left fake before putting the puck in the cage to secure a second straight victory for the Avalanche.
Nichushkin also scored in regular time, his 15th of the season on the power play at 13:11 in the third period to put his club up 3-2. But a little over two minutes later, Clayton Keller tied the game with his 36th of the campaign to allow the Coyotes to snatch a point in the standings.
Keller extended his at least one-point streak to 12, the longest such streak since the club settled in sunny Arizona. He also reached 80 points this season. He is the fourth player in franchise history to achieve this feat.
Arizona suffered a fourth straight loss.
After a scoreless first period, the Avalanche took a two-goal lead in the middle period as Mikko Rantanen approached the 50-goal mark with his 48th of the season.
Bowen Byram added to the visitors’ lead, but the Coyotes refused to be outplayed in front of their fans.
Thus, in the space of 59 seconds halfway through the third, André Tourigny’s men tied the game thanks to goals from Matias Maccelli and Christian Fischer.
In the win, Avalanche goaltender Alexandar Georgiev blocked 27 of 30 shots he faced.
Artturi Lehkonen of the Avalanche missed the game with an upper body injury.
Toronto resists the Preds
The Toronto Maple Leafs held off a late push from the Nashville Predators to tie the game for a 3-2 win.
The Leafs’ win puts them seven points ahead of the Tampa Bay Lightning in second place in the Atlantic Division with 97 points.
John Tavares’ 31st of the season, the first of his two goals, put the Leafs ahead at 18:06 of the first period.
Early in the second period, Alexander Kerfoot added to the visitors’ lead with his ninth.
Maple Leafs goaltender Joseph Woll thought he would sign his first shutout of the season, but Cody Glass put an end to his hopes by beating him on a power play in the third.
Tavares gave Toronto a two-goal lead with less than five minutes left in regulation with his second of the game.
Tyson Barrie gave the Predators hope when he pulled his team one goal closer with 102 seconds left on the board. But his team ran out of time.
Mitch Marner’s 382 career assists in his first 500 career games are the third-highest total among active players after Connor McDavid (472) and Sidney Crosby (453).
In addition, the Marner-Auston Matthews duo teamed up on a 168th goal, which ranks fifth in Maple Leafs history.
Marner also extended his streak to ten games with at least one point.
The Kings win an offensive festival
Viktor Arvidsson had two goals and an assist, Adrian Kempe scored twice and Phillip Danault had three assists in the Los Angeles Kings’ 7-6 win over the Saint Louis Blues.
With the win, the Kings extended their one-game point streak to 12, a team record. Los Angeles is now just two points behind the Vegas Golden Knights for first place in the Pacific Division.
Jordan Kyrou hit the target twice, and Pavel Buchnevich and Justin Faulk each had a goal and an assist for the Blues, who saw their five-game point streak come to an end against the Kings. Despite a 10-minute misconduct penalty in the second, Buchnevich still played for almost 19 minutes.
Joel Hofer allowed five goals on 17 shots before being replaced by Jordan Binnington, who made 12 saves. Brandon Saad and Kaspari Kapanen also found the back of the net.
Trevor Moore, Alex Iafallo and Drew Doughty scored the other goals for the Kings, while Sean Durzi assisted in two goals for the Kings. Pheonix Copley took the win despite a lousy 16 save performance.
Pettersson doesn’t stop in Canucks win
Elias Pettersson scored his 34th and 35th goals of the season in a 4-2 win for the Vancouver Canucks over the Chicago Blackhawks.
The Swede collected at least one point in a 12th straight game, the longest active streak in the NHL at this time. Pettersson has 93 points in 71 games this season.
With an assist, Quinn Hughes now has 69 points on the clock, a new team mark for a Canucks defenseman. He surpasses his own record of 68 set last year.
Phillip Di Giuseppe and Brock Boeser scored the other two goals for the Canucks, who have won three straight and 10 of their last 12 outings. Ethan Bear also stood out with two assists.
For their part, the Hawks suffered a fifth consecutive defeat. Shorthanded Connor Murphy and Lukas Reichel found the back of the net.
Petr Mrazek stopped 27 pucks in the loss. Colin Delia was solid in net for the Canucks stopping 29 of 31 shots he faced.
