Toronto Maple Leafs' Jake McCabe (22) is punched by New York Rangers' Mika Zibanejad, center, during the third period of an NHL hockey game, Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2023, in New York. Zibanejad was penalized for the fight. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) – Connor McDavid had two assists and the streaking Edmonton Oilers overcame an early goal by rookie Connor Bedard to beat the Chicago Blackhawks 4-1 on Tuesday night in the first NHL matchup between the young stars.
Sam Gagner had a goal and an assist in the highly anticipated Clash of the Connors, helping the Oilers (13-12-1) win their eighth game in a row. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Leon Draisaitl and Zach Hyman also scored for Edmonton, and defenseman Evan Bouchard added a pair of assists.
Bedard gave the banged-up Blackhawks (9-18-1) a 1-0 lead with his 12th goal 3:21 into the first period, but Chicago lost its seventh consecutive road game.
McDavid was the No. 1 overall draft pick in 2015, and Bedard was selected first this past summer.
RED WINGS 6, BLUES 4
ST. LOUIS (AP) – Lucas Raymond and Robby Fabbri scored in the third period to lift Detroit over scuffling St. Louis.
Soon after their season-worst fourth straight loss, the Blues (13-14-1) fired coach Craig Berube, who guided them to their only Stanley Cup championship in 2019.
The 57-year-old Berube, in his sixth season with St. Louis, had a record of 206-131-44. Drew Bannister, coach of the Springfield Thunderbirds of the American Hockey League, takes over as interim coach.
Moritz Seider, Jake Walman, Jonatan Berggren and Michael Rasmussen also had goals for the Red Wings, who were 0-2-1 in their previous three games.
Ville Husso (9-4-2) stopped 33 shots in his first game against the Blues since they traded him to Detroit in July 2022.
Kevin Hayes scored twice for the Blues, who also got goals from Marco Scandella and Brandon Saad. St. Louis has lost five of six overall.
Jordan Binnington made 26 saves and fell to 8-9-1.
MAPLE LEAFS 7, RANGERS 3
NEW YORK (AP) – Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner each scored twice, and veteran Martin Jones made 28 saves in his first start for Toronto as the surging Maple Leafs beat New York.
Matthews added two assists and the Maple Leafs also got goals from Conor Timmins, Calle Jarnkrok and David Kampf in improving to 5-0-2 in their last seven games.
Toronto led 4-1 after 20 minutes but New York scored twice late in the second period to narrow the deficit to one. Marner got his second of the night on a power play early in the third, and the Maple Leafs put it away with two late goals.
Blake Wheeler scored twice and Mika Zibanejad had a power-play goal for the Rangers, who lost for the third time in four games.
PENGUINS 4, COYOTES 2
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Jeff Carter and Jake Guentzel both scored twice and Pittsburgh’s beleaguered power play finally broke through against Arizona.
The Penguins scored twice with the man advantage while ending an 0-for-37 drought that stretched over a month.
Guentzel scored the team’s first power-play goal in 31 days when he beat Carter Ingram just over a minute into the game. Guentzel added an empty-netter from his belly to seal it.
Carter deflected Kris Letang’s point shot past Ingram 4:32 into the third to give Pittsburgh the lead for good as the Penguins ended a four-game losing streak. Carter, relegated to the fourth line in his 19th season, scored the 20th short-handed goal of his career in the first period.
Tristan Jarry made 19 saves as the Penguins pulled away from the Coyotes, playing for the third time in four nights on the road.
Lawson Crouse scored his 13th of the season for Arizona and added an assist on Matias Maccelli’s power-play goal. Ingram stopped 40 shots but the Coyotes lost their 11th consecutive game to Pittsburgh.
HURRICANES 4, SENATORS 1
OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) – Sebastian Aho had two goals and an assist to lead Carolina over Ottawa.
Matin Necas and Seth Jarvis also scored for Carolina. Pyotr Kochetkov made 31 saves as the Hurricanes snapped a four-game skid.
Josh Norris scored for the Senators, who had won three in a row. Joonas Korpisalo stopped 24 shots.
PREDATORS 3, FLYERS 2, OT
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – Filip Forsberg scored 18 seconds into overtime and Juuse Saros made 38 saves in his fifth consecutive victory as Nashville defeated Philadelphia.
Gustav Nyquist and Michael McCarron also scored for the Predators, who have won five of six.
Sean Couturier and Travis Sanheim scored for the Flyers, who had won four straight. Samuel Ersson made 18 saves as Philadelphia fell to 4-0-2 in its last six games.
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