NHL Recaps: Flames fizzle versus Canucks, Wild roll over Wings, and Sens edge Habs
The Daily Goal Horn
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NHL Recaps: December 14, 2022
It was a light night of hockey action on Wednesday night with three games on the calendar.
In Ottawa, the Senators downed the Montreal Canadiens. Meanwhile, an old rivalry was renewed when the Minnesota Wild took on the Detroit Red Wings in a physical confrontation.
However, we start the recaps in Calgary where the Flames failed to win again, this time to the Vancouver Canucks.
NHL Recaps: Flames struggling to win
Canucks 4 vs Flames 3 (SO)
Andrei Kuzmenko scored the shootout winner to give the visiting Vancouver Canucks a 4-3 victory over the struggling Calgary Flames, who have now lost four straight (0-1-3).
Bo Horvat, Conor Garland and Sheldon Dries scored in regulation for the Canucks, who have won four of five games and six consecutive road affairs. Goaltender Spencer Martin made 35 saves.
Mikael Backlund, Andrew Mangiapane and Trevor Lewis tallied for the Flames, who have dropped four straight games, the last three in extra time. Dillon Dube collected two assists and goalie Jacob Markstrom stopped 24 shots as well as collecting one assist.
Kuzmenko buried a perfect shot from the slot with his first career shootout attempt, the lone skater for either team to convert in the shootout. Vancouver’s last five victories have come in extra time.
“You’ve just got to keep your chin up,” Flames forward Nazem Kadri said via NHL.com. “It’s a long season, and getting down on yourself or thinking you’re better than you are is, both sides of the spectrum can be dangerous.”
Wild 4 vs Red Wings 1
Frederick Gaudreau scored two goals and Minnesota won its third straight game by downing visiting Detroit.
Matt Dumba and Mats Zuccarello had the other goals for Minnesota, which has given up just two goals during the streak. Filip Gustavsson made 16 saves while recording his fifth consecutive victory.
“Just lucky. Nice to see it go in,” Zuccarello said. “It was a big goal to go into intermission with [a two-goal lead] instead of one. That was big.”
NHL.com
Magnus Hellberg, making his first Red Wings start this season, stopped 18 shots. Elmer Soderblom scored the lone goal for Detroit, which is winless in its last four games.
Senators 3 vs Canadiens 2
Captain Brady Tkachuk and Drake Batherson each collected a power-play goal and an assist to fuel host Ottawa past Montreal to continue the Senators’ hot streak.
Rookie Shane Pinto also tallied during a three-goal second period and Cam Talbot made 23 saves for Ottawa, which posted its third straight win and improved to 7-2-1 in its last 10 games. Alex DeBrincat notched three assists to extend his point streak to seven games (three goals, seven assists). Batherson has three goals and six assists during his six-game point streak.
Montreal’s Kirby Dach converted Jake Evans’ backhanded pass from behind the goal line to score at 8:05 of the third period and spoil Talbot’s bid for his second shutout in as many games. Dach’s goal was his fifth of the season and first since he tallied twice in a 5-2 victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Nov. 9.
–Field Level Media