NHL roundup: Bryan Rust, Yegor Chinakhov lead streaking Penguins past Red Wings 4-1

By Canadian Press on January 3, 2026.

DETROIT (AP) — Bryan Rust and Yegor Chinakhov scored first-period goals and the Pittsburgh Penguins topped the Detroit Red Wings 4-1 on Saturday for the second time in three days.

Rickard Rakell and Connor Dewar added empty-net goals to clinch Pittsburgh’s fourth consecutive victory. Kris Letang’s overtime goal gave the Penguins a 3-2 win over Detroit in Pittsburgh on Thursday.

Sidney Crosby extended his point streak to six games with two assists. Crosby, who scored two goals on Thursday, has four goals and six assists during that stretch and 53 points in 40 career games against the Red Wings.

Elsewhere in the NHL on Saturday:

BLUE JACKETS 5 SABRES 1

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The Columbus Blue Jackets scored three times in the first period, including once short-handed, and beat Buffalo, snapping the Sabres’ league-leading 10-game win streak.

Denton Mateychuk, Brendan Gaunce and Dmitri Voronkov scored in the first, while Mathieu Olivier added a second-period goal, and Cole Sillinger contributed a third-period empty-netter.

Damon Severson and Zach Werenski each had two assists, Mateychuk also added a helper, and Jet Greaves stopped 32 shots.

The Blue Jackets have won four of the last five games in the series.

Josh Doan scored, and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen stopped 30 shots for Buffalo, which lost for the first time since Dec. 8. It was the third time in the team’s 56-year history that it had a win streak snapped at 10 games.

Mateychuk extended his point streak to six games and put Columbus ahead at three minutes, burying the second Blue Jackets shot of the game from outside the right circle. Werenski returned after missing four games with a lower-body injury and provided the secondary assist, giving him a point in his last 13 home games.

DEVILS 4 MAMMOTH 1

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Jesper Bratt had a goal and an assist to lead New Jersey to a win over Utah.

Timo Meier, Nico Hischier and Dougie Hamilton scored for New Jersey. Brett Pesce finished with two assists and five blocked shots.

New Jersey’s Jack Hughes assisted on two goals. It was his first two-point game since returning five games ago after being sidelined for 18 contests due to a hand injury.

Michael Carcone scored in the third period for Utah (19-20-3). Barrett Hayton and Sean Durzi assisted as the Mammoth lost for the fourth time in six games.

FLYERS 5 OILERS 2

EDMONTON, Alta. (AP) — Owen Tippett and Nick Seeler each had a goal and an assist to lead Philadelphia to a win over Edmonton.

Denver Barkey, Travis Sanheim and Bobby Brink also scored for the Flyers (21-12-7), who have won four of their last six games. Philadelphia went 3-2 on its five-game trip.

Connor McDavid and Evan Bouchard scored for the Oilers (20-16-6), who have lost three of their last four.

Dan Vladar stopped 22 shots for the Flyers and set a career high for victories in a season with 15 wins in 24 starts.

Calvin Pickard made 24 saves for Edmonton.

BLUES 2 CANADIENS 0

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Jordan Binnington made 25 saves for his first shutout of the season, Jonatan Berggren and Robert Thomas scored and St. Louis beat Montreal.

Binnington has 19 career shutouts. The Canadian Olympian allowed three goals or more in seven of his previous nine starts — six against Colorado in his last start.

Montreal’s Jacob Fowler stopped 17 shots.

LIGHTNING 7 SHARKS 3

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Nikita Kucherov scored his 20th goal of the season on a second-period power play and added four assists, Darren Raddysh had a hat trick and Tampa Bay beat San Jose.

Brayden Point, Dominic James and Brandon Hagel also scored for Tampa Bay, and Oliver Bjorkstrand and Jake Guentzel each had two assists. Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 19 shots.

The Lightning raced to a three-goal lead in the first seven minutes. Point opened the scoring at 2:37, Raddysh followed at 4:08, and Hagel scored his 19th goal of the season on a power play at 6:46 to chase goalie Yaroslav Askarov.

Pavol Regenda had a hat trick for the Sharks, and Timothy Liljegren and Jeff Skinner each had two assists. Macklin Celebrini added an assist to extend his points streak to 10 games. Askarov made seven saves. Alex Nedeljkovic stopped 12 shots in relief.

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The Associated Press

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