NHL Roundup: Crosby lifts Pens over Bruins, Laine stays hot, Sens shock Canes, and more
Anthony Scultore
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The NHL schedule for Tuesday had 7 games on the docket.
In Washington, the Capitals got their captain Alex Ovechkin back from the COVID list but it wasn’t enough to stop Columbus’ red-hot Patrik Laine. Over in Ottawa, some undisciplined penalties led to a shocking Senators win over the Hurricanes.
However, we start our recaps in Boston, where Sidney Crosby scored career goal 499 for the Penguins in a big win over the Bruins.
Penguins 4, Bruins 2
Pittsburgh scored four unanswered goals, including three in the second period, en route to ending a four-game losing streak by beating host Boston.
“Goaltending picks you up some nights, and it can deflate you,” Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said via NHL.com. “I think we saw both in the second period. I mean, you’re not going to play a perfect game. Their guy made more stops than our guy did. So to me, that’s the bigger story of the game.”
Former Bruins player Danton Heinen scored twice in a 28-second span to turn a two-goal deficit into a tie game before Sidney Crosby tallied the winning goal on the power play for Pittsburgh, which is 7-1-3 in its last 11 games.
Bruins captain Patrice Bergeron, who assisted on the first of two goals by David Pastrnak, hit his head on the boards in a collision with Crosby with less than 12 minutes to play. He didn’t return from the locker room after skating off under his own power.
Golden Knights 4, Oilers 0
Laurent Brossoit made 28 saves to register his first shutout of the season and the third of his career in leading Vegas past host Edmonton.
The 28-year-old Brossoit played his first four seasons with Edmonton. Reilly Smith and William Karlsson each had a goal and an assist, while Alex Pietrangelo and Brett Howden also scored goals for Vegas.
The Golden Knights won their third straight game while also improving to 9-1-1 over their last 11 road games. Mike Smith, activated off the injured reserve list on Monday and making his first start since Jan. 5 due a thumb injury, stopped 24 of 28 shots for the Oilers.
Jets 2, Wild 0
Connor Hellebuyck stopped all 27 shots he saw for his third shutout of the season and the 27th of his career, allowing Winnipeg to down visiting Minnesota.
The Jets won for only the second time in their past nine games (2-5-2), getting a power-play goal from Mark Scheifele and an empty-netter from Nate Schmidt.
The loss snapped a six-game winning streak for Minnesota, which also had its 10-game point streak (9-0-1) come to an end. The Wild were shut out for the first time this season. Minnesota’s Kaapo Kahkonen stopped 27 of 28 shots.
Blue Jackets 5, Capitals 4
Boone Jenner scored the tiebreaker with 44.2 seconds left in regulation and Patrik Laine recorded his third straight two-goal game as the visiting Columbus Blue Jackets rallied for a 5-4 victory over the struggling Washington Capitals on Tuesday.
“We found a way multiple times today,” said Laine. “Proud of our whole group today.”
Jenner scored a little less than two minutes after Washington tied the game on Tom Wilson’s goal with 2:26 left. Adam Boqvist and Jenner each had a goal and an assist, Laine added an assist for his ninth point in four games and Trey Fix-Wolansky scored a goal in his NHL debut for the Blue Jackets, who overcame a 2-0 hole.
Fourth-liner Nic Dowd recorded a goal and an assist and Alex Ovechkin added an assist in his return from COVID-19 protocol for the Capitals, who are 5-8-2 in 2022. Washington’s Garnet Hathaway scored with 2:41 left in the opening period.
Capitals goalie Pheonix Copley was pulled after allowing four goals on 19 shots, and Ilya Samsonov stopped six of seven shots in relief. Elvis Merzlikins made 29 saves for the Blue Jackets.
Canucks 5, Coyotes 1
Conor Garland scored and Oliver Ekman-Larsson had three assists in their first games against their former team as Vancouver defeated visiting Arizona.
Bo Horvat, Elias Pettersson and J.T. Miller each tallied a goal and an assist for the Canucks, Brock Boeser also scored and Noah Juulsen had two assists. All-Star Thatcher Demko made 35 saves.
Lawson Crouse scored for the Coyotes, and Karel Vejmelka stopped 24 of 29 shots.
Devils 7, Canadiens 1
Michael McLeod scored twice for visiting New Jersey, which snapped a seven-game losing streak by cruising past reeling Montreal.
Dawson Mercer, Nico Hischier, Jesper Boqvist, Pavel Zacha and Tomas Tatar all scored for the Devils, who tied a season high in goals after being outscored 30-12 during their losing streak. Jon Gillies made 30 saves in earning his second win of the season.
Brett Kulak scored for the Canadiens, who fell to an NHL-worst 8-30-7 by losing their fifth straight in regulation and seventh straight (0-5-2) overall. The losing streak ties a season high for Montreal, which went 0-6-1 from Nov. 29 through Dec. 14.
Senators 4, Hurricanes 3
Brady Tkachuk scored two goals and Ottawa held on despite allowing three third-period goals, defeating visiting Carolina.
The Senators built a 4-0 lead through two periods and withstood Carolina’s third-period charge, when they were outshot 16-7. Alex Formenton and Chris Tierney also scored for the Senators, who have won three of their last four games. Anton Forsberg, a former Carolina goalie, made 42 saves for Ottawa.
“If we want to be the best team in the world, right from the puck drop you’ve got to have it and you’ve got to play the whole 60,” Hurricanes defenseman Brendan Smith said. “You can’t spot them four (goals) and expect to win the game.”
Andrei Svechnikov, Brendan Smith and Vincent Trocheck scored for the Hurricanes, who entered the game with at least one point in eight of their previous nine games (7-1-1). Antti Raanta made 27 saves in Carolina’s nets, but he was denied in his bid for his 100th NHL victory.
-Field Level Media contributed to this report