NHL roundup: Laine hat trick powers Canadiens to 6-1 win over slumping Sabres

By The Associated Press on December 17, 2024.

MONTREAL (AP) – Patrik Laine scored his first hat trick with Montreal and the Canadiens extended the Buffalo Sabres’ winless streak to 11 games with a 6-1 victory on Tuesday night.

Juraj Slafkovsky, Joel Armia and Josh Anderson also scored for Montreal while Cole Caufield, Nick Suzuki and Lane Hutson provided two assists each and Sam Montembeault stopped 20 shots.

Dylan Cozens scored for struggling Buffalo and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 15 saves on 21 shots. Backup James Reimer stopped all six shots that he faced after entering to start the third.

The loss came a day after Sabres owner Terry Pegula flew to Montreal for a team meeting.

Armia scored only 19 seconds into the game, capitalizing on a wide-open net after Sabres defenceman Owen Power mishandled the puck off the end boards.

Laine scored three goals for the 11th time in his career, bringing the winger’s season total to six in seven games since returning from a knee injury.

Elsewhere in the NHL on Tuesday:

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PENGUINS 3 KINGS 2 (OT)

PITTSBURGH (AP) – Rickard Rakell scored at 1:44 of overtime and Pittsburgh rallied to beat Los Angeles.

Rakell deflected Erik Karlsson’s point shot behind Darcy Kuemper for the game-winner.

Evgeni Malkin scored, while Matt Grzelcyk forced overtime with 5:35 left in the third period with his first goal as a Penguin. Michael Bunting had two assists in his 300th NHL game.

Alex Nedeljkovic made 29 saves.

Adrian Kempe scored 33 seconds into the game for Los Angeles, and Alex Turcotte also scored. Vladislav Gavrikov added two assists.

Kuemper stopped 28 shots.

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LIGHTNING 5 BLUE JACKETS 3

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) – Nick Paul had a goal and two assists to lead Tampa Bay to a victory over Columbus.

Jake Guentzel, Luke Glendening, Brayden Point and Mitchell Chaffee also scored for Tampa Bay, which has won five of six. Andrei Vasilevskiy finished with 28 saves.

Adam Fantilli, Cole Sillinger and Mikael Pyyhtia scored for the Blue Jackets. Jet Greaves made 27 saves for Columbus, which has one win in its past nine games.

The Lightning pulled away in the second period, scoring three times, including on a five-minute power play with Sillinger serving 17 minutes for instigating a fight.

Trailing 4-0, the Blue Jackets scored twice in 43 seconds in the third period. Sillinger scored on a power play with 5:49 left to make it close before Point converted an empty-netter with 2:09 remaining.

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HURRICANES 4 ISLANDERS 0

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) – Pyotr Kochetkov made 32 saves for his first shutout of the season and Carolina beat New York.

Sebastian Aho had a goal and an assist, while Andrei Svechnikov, Jordan Martinook and Tyson Jost also scored. Shayne Gostisbehere provided two assists.

The Hurricanes won back-to-back games for the first time since Nov. 25 and 27.

With the loss, the Islanders have their second three-game stretch of the season without a point. Goalie Ilya Sorokin was pulled after allowing four goals on 23 shots through two periods, with Marcus Hogberg finishing with six saves in the third.

Kochetkov stopped 13 first-period shots, but faced only nine in the third to pick up his ninth career shutout. Carolina needed only one penalty kill in the team’s second shutout of the season.

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DEVILS 4 BLUES 1

ST. LOUIS (AP) – Ondrej Palat and Stefan Noesen scored and New Jersey beat St. Louis.

Brenden Dillon also scored and Jesper Bratt added an empty-net goal for the Devils, who won their third straight game and fifth out of their last seven. Jacob Markstrom made 19 saves.

Jordan Kyrou scored and Jordan Binnington made 24 saves for the Blues.

Palat gave New Jersey the lead with 4:47 left in the first period with a slap shot off a banked entry pass from Luke Hughes. Palat has three goals in his last four games.

Noesen, playing in his 400th career game, made it 2-0 with a power-play goal with 6:51 left in the second period. Dillon’s unassisted goal early in the third extended the New Jersey lead.

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PREDATORS 2 RANGERS 0

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – Jonathan Marchessault and Adam Wilsby scored and Juuse Saros made 25 saves to lead Nashville to a victory over New York.

The Predators have won two of three following a franchise record-tying eight-game losing streak.

Igor Shesterkin made 30 saves for the struggling Rangers, losers of three straight.

The shutout was the third of the season and 26th of Saros’ career. Steven Stamkos and Filip Forsberg each had two assists.

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BLACKHAWKS 3 CAPITALS 2

CHICAGO (AP) – Ryan Donato scored his team-leading 11th goal with 2:18 left in regulation to cap Chicago’s three-goal, third-period rally and lift the them to a win over Washington.

Donato skated out of the right corner and stuffed a shot past Logan Thompson to hand Washington a second straight loss for only the second time this season.

TJ Brodie connected with 5:53 left in the third period to tie it at 2-2. Ilya Mikheyev scored Chicago’s first short-handed goal of the season, connecting 51 seconds into the third to start the Blackhawks’ comeback from a two-goal deficit.

Teuvo Teravainen had three assists for Chicago, which won its second straight by scoring on three of five shots in the third.

Pierre-Luc Dubois and Andrew Mangiapane scored for Washington in the first period. The Capitals couldn’t hold on following a 3-1 loss in Dallas on Monday night that snapped their team-record 10-game road winning streak.

Arvid Soderblom made 20 saves and Thompson blocked 20 shots.

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