NHL Recaps: Kevin Fiala stays hot, Juuse Saros posts shutout, and more
The Daily Goal Horn
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NHL Recaps: January 9, 2023
It was a light schedule in the National Hockey League with only four games to watch.
Three of those four contests ended with goaltenders pitching a shutout. Seattle’s Martin Jones, Philadelphia’s Sam Ersson, and Nashville’s Juuse Saros all blanked their opponents to lead their teams to victories.
Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Kings strong season continues as they double up the Edmonton Oilers thanks to the red-hot scoring of Kevin Fiala. They are now two points behind the Vegas Golden Knights for first place in the Pacific Division.
NHL Recaps: Kevin Fiala stays hot
Kings 6 vs Oilers 3
Kevin Fiala scored twice as part of a four-point game and Adrian Kempe netted two goals and tallied an assist as the host Los Angeles Kings scored four times on the power play en route to a 6-3 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Monday.
The winger recorded a hat trick in his last contest, a Kings win over the Golden Knights.
“I’m just trying to play hockey,” Fiala said via NHL.com. “I had a lot of chances before that, it’s not as though I wasn’t playing good or anything like that. Right now, the last two games especially, they went in and it’s nice to see that.”
Viktor Arvidsson collected one goal and one assist, while Alex Iafallo scored once, Drew Doughty collected two assists and goaltender Pheonix Copley made 28 saves for the Kings, who have won three of four games and are on a 9-2-1 roll.
Captain Anze Kopitar collected an assist on the goal for his 1,100th career point.
Kailer Yamamoto, Ryan McLeod and Connor McDavid replied for the Oilers, who are in a 1-3-1 skid. Starting goalie Stuart Skinner surrendered three goals on 24 shots before being pulled early in the second period. Jack Campbell stopped 11 shots and was tagged with the loss.
Flyers 4 vs Sabres 0
Joel Farabee had one goal and one assist to lift Philadelphia past host Buffalo.
Flyers goaltender Sam Ersson stopped all 28 shots he faced for his first career shutout in just his fifth start. Zack MacEwen, Noah Cates and Wade Allison each added one goal for the Flyers. Travis Konecny contributed two assists and extended his point streak to nine games.
The Sabres, who had won eight of nine heading into Monday’s contest, were blanked for the first time this season. Buffalo goaltender Craig Anderson made 34 saves.
NHL Recaps: Juuse Saros blanks Sens
Predators 3 vs Senators 0
Filip Forsberg collected one goal and one assist and goaltender Juuse Saros posted his first shutout of the season as Nashville won at Ottawa.
“I felt good out there,” Saros said. “I’m just trying to see the puck and read the plays.”
Roman Josi and Jeremy Lauzon also scored for the Predators, who are on a four-game winning streak and a 5-0-1 run that’s pulled them into the playoff race. Saros, in his first game since his incredible 64-save performance against the Carolina Hurricanes last Thursday, made 38 saves — 16 of them in the third period — for his 19th career shutout.
Cam Talbot stopped 33 shots for the Senators, who have dropped two straight games and were blanked for the first time this season.
Kraken 4 vs Canadiens 0
Matty Beniers, Vince Dunn and Eeli Tolvanen each had a goal and an assist, and Martin Jones needed to make just 21 saves for his second shutout of the season as the visiting Seattle Kraken won their fifth in a row, defeating the Montreal Canadiens 4-0 on Monday night.
Daniel Sprong recorded his 13th goal and Yanni Gourde posted two assists for the Kraken, who have outscored their opponents 26-8 while winning all five January contests, including the first four — all in Canada — of a season-high seven-game road stretch.
Jones, among the NHL leaders with 19 wins, was not tested often thanks to some stellar defensive play in front. He was solid nonetheless in allowing two or fewer goals for the fourth time in five starts and posting his 27th career shutout. Jones’ other shutout this season came in a 4-0 victory at Minnesota on Nov. 3.
Sam Montembeault stopped 37 shots for the Canadiens, who were unable to build on Saturday’s 5-4 victory over St. Louis that snapped their 0-6-1 slide. Montreal, which has just two wins and five points in its last 13 contests, failed to record double-digit shots in any period while being shut out for the third time this season.
–Field Level Media
–The Daily Goal Horn contributed to this article