Colorado Avalanche left wing Joel Kiviranta, second from right, celebrates with right wingers Nikolai Kovalenko, right, and Logan O'Connor (25) after scoring during the third period of an NHL hockey game against the Buffalo Sabres in Buffalo, N.Y., Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Adrian Kraus)
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) – Artturi Lehkonen scored with 4:22 left, and the Colorado Avalanche overcame a four-goal deficit in a 5-4 win over the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday night.
Nathan MacKinnon scored twice and added an assist as the Avalanche scored four third-period goals. Joel Kiviranta and Logan O’Connor also scored. Backup goalie Scott Wedgewood stopped all 22 shots he faced taking over after starter Alexander Georgiev allowed four goals on eight shots in the first 11:49.
It was Wedgewood’s debut for Colorado after being acquired in a trade of backup goalies with Nashville last weekend.
The Avalanche overcame a four-or-more goal deficit for the fourth time in team history, and first since rallying from four goals in a 5-4 OT win over Pittsburgh in March.
Tage Thompson scored twice for Buffalo, which is 0-3-1 in its last four. JJ Peterka and Beck Malenstyn also scored and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen allowed five goals on 43 shots.
Lehkonen’s winner came after Luukkonen stopped Calvin de Haan’s shot from the left point. Parked in front, Lehkonen scored the rebound through the goalie’s legs.
Elsewhere in the NHL on Tuesday:
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SHARKS 2 CAPITALS 1 (OT)
WASHINGTON (AP) – William Eklund scored 39 seconds into overtime, Mackenzie Blackwood made 27 saves and San Jose ended Washington’s winning streak at four by beating them 2-1.
The Capitals fell to 4-2-1 since captain and leading goal-scorer Alex Ovechkin was sidelined by a broken left fibula. They fell behind early and failed to make it five comeback victories in a row, despite Logan Thompson making 29 saves and Nic Dowd scoring his seventh goal of the season.
Blackwood was dominant at the other end, turning aside quality chances and keeping Washington off the scoreboard on three power plays. Tyler Toffoli scored with one minute left in the first period, and the Sharks won their third in a row.
Rookie Macklin Celebrini picked up the secondary assist on Eklund’s OT winner to extend his point streak to five games. The top pick in the draft has four goals and four assists during this stretch.
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CANADIENS 2 ISLANDERS 1 (OT)
MONTREAL (AP) – Patrik Laine scored in his highly anticipated Montreal debut, Nick Suzuki scored in overtime, and they beat New York 2-1.
Laine, playing his first regular-season game in nearly a year, opened the scoring on the power play 7:23 into the second period.
Suzuki scored at 2:39 of overtime, following up his own rebound. Sam Montembeault stopped 30 shots.
Anders Lee scored for New York, which lost for the fourth time in its last five games. Ilya Sorokin made 25 saves.
Laine missed the first 24 games of the regular season after sustaining a left knee sprain during pre-season play against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Sept. 28.
Laine, who the Canadiens acquired before the season, hadn’t played since last Dec. 14 with the Columbus Blue Jackets.
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KRAKEN 4 HURRICANES 2
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) – Yanni Gourde and Jaden Schwartz had a goal and an assist each and Seattle snapped a three-game skid, beating Carolina 4-2.
Gourde’s wrist shot at 10:48 in the third period broke a 2-2 tie. Brandon Tanev and Eeli Tolvanen also scored for Seattle and Matty Beniers added two assists. Joey Daccord stopped 15 shots.
Eric Robinson and Martin Necas scored for the Hurricanes, who lost their third straight. Necas added an assist to improve his team-leading point total to 39. The Hurricanes finished with a season-low 16 shots.
Pyotr Kochetkov made 24 saves in his first start after missing four games with a concussion.
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PENGUINS 5 PANTHERS 4 (OT)
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Bryan Rust scored 1:31 into overtime and Pittsburgh avoided another late collapse by beating Florida 5-4.
The Penguins let a three-goal third-period lead evaporate when Florida’s Sam Bennett, Adam Boqvist and Matthew Tkachuk scored within a 4:32 span to pull the Panthers even at 4.
Rust, however, extended Pittsburgh’s winning streak to four by flipping a wrist shot from the right by Spencer Knight for his eighth goal of the season.
Rookie defenceman Owen Pickering scored the first goal of his career for the Penguins, and Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang and Marcus Pettersson also scored for Pittsburgh. Tristan Jarry made 37 saves on a night the Penguins spent mostly pinned in their own end.
Tkahuck scored twice for Florida, but the Panthers saw their three-game winning streak snapped as Knight stopped just 11 of the 16 shots he faced.
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BRUINS 3 RED WINGS 2 (OT)
BOSTON (AP) – Pavel Zacha scored 2:15 into overtime and Boston rallied to beat Detroit 3-2.
Zacha one-timed a pass from David Pastrnak past Ville Husso for the winner. Justin Brazeau and Nikita Zadorov also scored for the Bruins, and Joonas Korpisalo finished with 25 saves.
Lucas Raymond scored twice for Detroit and surpassed 200 career points. Simon Edvinsson had a pair of assists and Husso stopped 32 shots as the Red Wings lost their third straight.
The Red Wings lost a possible go-ahead goal to a review in the second period before regaining the lead in the third when Raymond fired a wrist shot past Korpisalo 1:19 in.
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BLUES 4 JETS 1
WINNIPEG, Man. (AP) – Jordan Kyrou scored twice and Dylan Holloway had a goal and assist to help lift St. Louis to a victory over Winnipeg.
Robert Thomas also had an empty-net goal for the Blues, who are on a four-game point streak.
Kyrou and Holloway gave the Blues a 2-0 lead and scored 39 seconds apart during four-on-four play in the second period. Kyrou scored with 1:56 left in the period after his rebound went off Mark Scheifele’s skate, and Holloway notched his eighth goal of the season when he put in his own rebound past Connor Hellebuyck with 1:17 remaining.
Kyrou made it 3-0 at 6:38 of the third when Holloway, who was sitting on the ice, sent him a pass in the high slot.
Holloway extended his point streak to four games (four goals and three assists).
Joel Hofer made 22 saves for St. Louis, and Hellebuyck stopped 28 of the 31 shots he faced for the Jets.
Scheifele was the lone goal-scorer for the Jets, who have lost four consecutive games and are 1-5-0 in their past six.
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WILD 3 CANUCKS 2 (OT)
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – Kirill Kaprizov scored with 23.4 seconds left in overtime and Minnesota rallied to beat Vancouver for their sixth victory in eight games.
Frederick Gaudreau and Jake Middleton also scored for Minnesota, and Filip Gustavsson made 30 saves. The Wild improved to 17-4-4, giving them an NHL-best 38 points.
Brock Boeser nearly won it for Vancouver on a two-on-none break, but his shot hit the right post. A lively bounce went out to Marco Rossi, who carried the puck into the Canucks zone and fed Kaprizov for a one-timer at the end of a lengthy shift. His 16th goal of the season was his ninth career OT winner.
Quinn Hughes and Jake DeBrusk scored for Vancouver, and Elias Pettersson had two assists. Kevin Lankinen made 26 saves but lost for the first time in 11 road starts.
DeBrusk scored with 41 seconds left in the second period for a 2-1 lead, but Middleton tied it less than two minutes into the third.
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FLAMES 3 BLUE JACKETS 0
CALGARY, Alta. (AP) – Rasmus Andersson and Kevin Bahl scored power-play goals and Calgary beat Columbus after they honoured the late Johnny Gaudreau with a pre-game tribute.
Dan Vladar had a 16-save shutout, Yegor Sharangovich scored into an empty net and Mikael Backlund had two assists for Calgary.
Columbus goalie Elvis Merzlikins stopped 19 of 21 shots.
Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau were honoured before the game with the Gaudreau family in attendance. Players on both teams had the name Gaudreau and Johnny’s No. 13 on their pre-game jerseys.
The brothers were struck by a vehicle and killed while cycling together Aug. 29 in New Jersey.
Johnny Gaudreau played eight seasons with the Flames before playing two seasons with Columbus. His father, Gus, skated with the Flames on Monday and Tuesday.
The Saddledome chanted “Johnny” during the tribute and “Johnny Hockey” after the Flames took a 2-0 lead late in the third.
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GOLDEN KNIGHTS 1 OILERS 0
LAS VEGAS (AP) – Ivan Barbashev scored on a rush midway through the second period and Adin Hill made 28 saves as Vegas shut out Edmonton to end the their three-game win streak.
Leon Draisaitl’s backward pass went right to Barbashev to initiate the breakaway. He attempted to pass to teammate Jack Eichel on a two-on-one rush when the puck bounced off Oilers defenceman Evan Bouchard right back to Barbashev, who then scored.
Hill recorded his second shutout this season and the ninth of his career. The Oilers are 5-0-1 in their last six games, and Hill has started all of them.
Stuart Skinner stopped 15 shots for the Oilers, who were shut out for the fourth time this season.
