NHL Recaps: Rangers end Leafs streaks, Kings edge Bruins, Tage Thompson scores again, and more
The Daily Goal Horn
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NHL Recaps: December 15, 2022
The action on the ice for Thursday night was plenty as a dozen games were on the docket.
In Dallas, Alex Ovechkin was held scoreless as he looks to surpass Gordie Howe in historic climb up the NHL all-time goal list. Over in Boston, the Bruins suffered only their second loss at home this season when the Los Angeles Kings edged them in a shootout. The B’s still remain unbeaten at home in regulation this season.
We start our recaps at the World’s Most Famous Arena where the New York Rangers won their fifth in a row by knocking off the Toronto Maple Leafs. They also stopped the Leafs point streak at 15 games and ended Mitch Marner’s franchise point streak at 23.
Let’s dive in.
NHL Recaps: Rangers end Leafs streaks
Rangers 3 vs Maple Leafs 1
Igor Shesterkin made 22 saves Thursday night and the New York Rangers recorded a 3-1 victory over the visiting Toronto Maple Leafs, who suffered their first regulation loss in more than a month.
Shesterkin helped the Rangers get their season-high fifth straight win by stopping red-hot Mitchell Marner three times. Marner saw his team-record 23-game points streak come to an end.
“It was cool,” Marner said via NHL.com. “It was a cool accomplishment to have your name with some great legends, hold something special to this team. It wouldn’t be possible without the guys in this room.”
After scoring the game-winning overtime goal to beat New Jersey Monday, Filip Chytil scored an early power-play goal in the first period and Jimmy Vesey netted the tiebreaking goal early in the second. Vesey also added an empty-net tally in the third to seal the win while Vincent Trocheck collected two assists.
“They’ve been rolling and it’s definitely a quote-unquote measuring stick game,” Vesey said via NHL.com. “We were feeling good about ourselves too. I think it’s a big win for us knowing how we have to play to win those big games.”
Michael Bunting scored for Toronto, which took its first regulation loss since a 4-2 setback at Pittsburgh on Nov. 11. The Maple Leafs were 12-0-3 since their previous regulation loss and missed a chance at matching the 2003-04 team record for the longest points streak in team history.
Penguins 4 vs Panthers 2
Kris Letang and Evgeni Malkin each scored a goal and dished an assist, leading Pittsburgh to its seventh straight win, defeating Florida in Sunrise, Fla.
Malkin scored his goal when Crosby’s blistering wrist shot went in off his right leg to give the Penguins a 3-1 lead with 11:55 left in the game. Malkin crumpled to the ice and was helped to the locker room.
The Penguins, who are on a 14-2-2 run, also got two goals from Jake Guentzel, including an empty-netter. Sidney Crosby added two assists and Tristan Jarry made 32 saves. Florida got goals from Ryan Lomberg and Sam Reinhart, and Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky had 35 saves.
Flyers 2 vs Devils 1
Carter Hart made 48 saves to help visiting Philadelphia rally for a win against rival New Jersey in Newark, N.J.
Scott Laughton and Travis Konecny scored and Noah Cates had two assists for the Flyers, who snapped a four-game losing streak (0-2-2).
Jack Hughes scored and Vitek Vanecek made 22 saves for the Devils, who have lost consecutive games in regulation for the first time dropping their first two of the season. New Jersey is 0-3-1 in its past four.
Lightning 4 vs Blue Jackets 1
Brandon Hagel had two goals and an assist as Tampa Bay closed out its longest homestand of the season with a win over Columbus.
Scoring in his career-high-tying fifth straight game, Brayden Point notched the game-winning goal in the third period. Hagel put the game away with a pair of markers in the frame — the second into an empty net — for the Lightning as they won for the fifth time of the six-game homestand.
The Blue Jackets’ Kirill Marchenko scored a goal, and backup goalie Daniil Tarasov made 25 saves as Columbus lost its second straight game.
Stars 2 vs Capitals 1
Jake Oettinger made 45 saves, and Jamie Benn and Colin Miller each scored within a 79-second span to give Dallas a road win over Washington.
With Dallas trailing 1-0 after the second intermission, it took Benn just 48 seconds into the third period to equalize, pouncing on a loose puck to score a power-play goal.
Miller then put the Stars ahead at the 2:07 mark. Alex Ovechkin was scoreless on five shots. With 800 career goals, Ovechkin is still one goal away from tying Gordie Howe for second place on the NHL’s all-time scoring list.
Hurricanes 3 vs Kraken 2
Pyotr Kochetkov won again for Carolina, although his shutout streak ended during the victory against Seattle at Raleigh, N.C.
Kochetkov was coming off back-to-back shutouts and went a total of 151 minutes, 26 seconds without allowing a goal. He made 15 saves.
Andrei Svechnikov and Derek Stepan scored in the first period and Stefan Noesen tallied on a penalty shot in the second as the Hurricanes won for the seventh time in eight games. Ryan Donato and Daniel Sprong posted Seattle’s goals.
NHL Recaps: Kings beat Bruins in Boston
Kings 3 vs Bruins 2 (SO)
Trevor Moore scored in the seventh round of the shootout to lift visiting Los Angeles past Boston.
After each team’s first two shootout attempts were successful, there was not another goal until Moore flicked the deciding tally over Bruins goalie Linus Ullmark’s glove to help the Kings finish 3-2-1 on their six-game road trip.
Adrian Kempe scored both Kings goals in regulation, including tying the score with 2:10 remaining in regulation. Taylor Hall and Brad Marchand scored goals for Boston.
“At the end of the day, that third period, I don’t know if they wanted it more, whatever it was, but you’re up 2-0 on home ice. It’s got to be a win,” Hall said via NHL.com.
Ducks 5 vs Canadiens 2
John Klingberg scored two goals for visiting Anaheim in a win against Montreal.
Adam Henrique and Frank Vatrano each had a goal and an assist, Troy Terry also scored, and Lukas Dostal made 23 saves for the Ducks, who came in on a three-game skid in which they were outscored 16-1. Anaheim had just one win in regulation entering this game, and had lost their past nine road games (0-6-3).
Cole Caufield scored two third-period goals, and Jake Allen made 27 saves for the Canadiens, who are 2-4-2 in their past eight games with one win in regulation.
Jets 2 vs Predators 1 (OT)
Kyle Connor scored in overtime and host Winnipeg defeated Nashville.
Connor scored at 3:31 of overtime, when his shot slipped through Juuse Saros and just creeped over the goal line for his 12th goal. It was the only mistake, if you could even call it that, for Saros. The Predators goalie made 39 saves on 41 shots, including 19 in the second period.
Connor Hellebuyck made 25 saves on 26 shots in the win for Winnipeg. He wasn’t nearly as busy as Saros but had to be just as efficient. Filip Forsberg scored for Nashville, while Dylan DeMelo also scored for Winnipeg. The Predators have lost five straight (0-3-2).
Golden Knights 4 vs Blackhawks 1
Reilly Smith scored twice and Logan Thompson made 23 saves to boost visiting Vegas to a victory against Chicago.
Vegas secured a sweep of a two-game road trip against Central Division opponents while sending the Blackhawks to their fifth consecutive defeat, being outscored 20-5 during that span. Chicago fell to 1-12-1 in its past 14 games.
Taylor Raddysh’s goal at 16:06 of the third period helped the Blackhawks avoid their third shutout in the past five games. The tally wasn’t enough, though, as Vegas controlled the tempo and scored in every period.
Sabres 4 vs Avalanche 2
Tage Thompson and Rasmus Dahlin each had a goal and an assist, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen turned away 39 shots, and Buffalo beat Colorado in Denver.
Alex Tuch and Dylan Cozens also scored and Tyson Jost had an assist against his former team. The Sabres won four of their past six games.
Mikko Rantanen had a goal, Evan Rodrigues scored in his return after missing nine games, Valeri Nichushkin had two assists and Alexandar Georgiev had 17 saves for the Avalanche.
Blues 4 vs Oilers 3 (SO)
Jordan Kyrou had a goal, two assists and the shootout winner as visiting St. Louis rallied past Edmonton.
The Blues tied the game 3-3 with a short-handed goal with 20 seconds left in regulation. With goaltender Jordan Binnington pulled for an extra attacker, the Blues scored 5-on-5 when Kyrou set up Vladimir Tarasenko in front of the net.
Robert Thomas also scored and Binnington made 24 saves for the Blues, who won for just the fourth time in their last 12 games. Zach Hyman, Connor McDavid and Kailer Yamamoto scored for the Oilers, while Tyson Barrie had three assists.
–Field Level Media
–The Daily Goal Horn contributed to this article