PITTSBURGH — Lucas Raymond scored the only goal of the shootout and the Detroit Red Wings beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-2 on Friday night.
Filip Zadina and Givani Smith scored in regulation for Detroit, and Calvin Pickard – making his second start of the season – stopped 36 shots through overtime and all three Pittsburgh skaters in the tiebreaker.
Jake Guentzel scored twice for the Penguins, who lost for the second time in two days following a six-game win streak. Pittsburgh is 17-2-2 in its last 21 games dating back to Dec. 4. Casey DeSmith had 30 saves for the Penguins, who have points in eight straight games overall (6-0-2) and 10 consecutive at home.
In the shootout, Raymond beat DeSmith on the Red Wings’ first shot, and Pickard denied Guentzel, Sidney Crosby and Kris Letang as Detroit snapped a three-game skid.
The Red Wings held the Penguins to just two goals 48 hours after an 8-5 loss at home to Chicago. Detroit had allowed 17 goals during its three-game losing streak.
WILD 3, RANGERS 2: Frederick Gaudreau scored the tiebreaking goal early in the third period and Minnesota beat New York following the jersey retirement ceremony for Henrik Lundqvist.
Kevin Fiala and Mats Zuccarella – a former Ranger – each had a goal and an assist to extend their point streaks to 10 games, and Cam Talbot – a backup to Lundqvist for two seasons – stopped 25 shots for the Wild. Minnesota won for the seventh time in eight games (7-0-1).
Chris Kreider got his NHL-leading 31st goal and Barclay Goodrow also scored for New York, which led 2-0 after one period. Igor Shesterkin had 31 saves. The Rangers have lost two straight after winning nine of 12.
On the go-ahead goal, Gaudreau’s shot eluded Shesterkin at the 1:49 mark of the third for his third goal of the season.
CAPITALS 5, STARS 0: Nicklas Backstrom had a goal and two assists and Vitek Vanecek had 30 saves for his second shutout of the season as Washington beat former teammate Braden Holtby and host Dallas.
Trevor van Riemsdyk, Tom Wilson, John Carlson and Connor McMichael also scored for the Capitals, who won in regulation for the first time since Jan. 15. Evgeny Kuznetsov also had two assists.
Holtby allowed all five goals and stopped 22 shots before being replaced after two periods by Jake Oettinger, who made two saves. It was Holtby’s first career game against the Capitals, his former team for the first 10 of his 12 NHL seasons.
AVALANCHE 6, BLACKHAWKS 4: Gabriel Landeskog scored two power-play goals, and Colorado topped Chicago for its ninth straight win.
Western Conference-leading Colorado extended its point streak to 15 games (14-0-1), surviving a wild finish. J.T. Compher and Alex Newhook also scored, and Nazem Kadri and Cale Makar added empty-netters.
The Avalanche played without center Nathan MacKinnon, who missed the first of at least three games because of a concussion and facial fracture.
Patrick Kane and Brandon Hagel each scored twice for the Blackhawks, who trailed 3-0 early in the third period. Dylan Strome had two assists.
NOTES
SABRES: Buffalo is potentially down to its sixth option at goalie after Michael Houser was placed in the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol.
Houser’s unavailability makes it unclear who will start or even serve as Buffalo’s backup on Saturday, when the team opens a three-game western road swing at Arizona.
Season opening starter Craig Anderson and backup Dustin Tokarski are traveling with the team. But they have yet to be cleared to play, leaving open a possibility the Sabres will have to sign another goalie.
Anderson resumed skating with the team this week after missing 32 games with an upper body injury. Tokarski has missed 20 games while recovering from COVID-19.
AVALANCHE: Colorado center Nathan MacKinnon will be sidelined for at least three games because of a concussion and facial fracture, throwing his availability for the All-Star Game into question.
The 26-year-old MacKinnon has nine goals and 34 assists in 31 games. He was named captain of the Central Division for the All-Star Game on Feb. 5 in Las Vegas.
MacKinnon was injured when he was hit by Boston Bruins forward Taylor Hall in the first period of Colorado’s 4-3 overtime win Wednesday that extended its home winning streak to 17 games.
OILERS: Evander Kane knows he will not be universally loved by by fans of the Edmonton Oilers.
Edmonton is the fourth franchise for the 30-year-old forward whose contract was dumped by the San Jose Sharks. There will be questions about his past, from suspensions due to violations of COVID-19 protocols, a bankruptcy and self-confessed gambling problems. Allegations of abuse lodged by his ex-wife were not proven in court.
Kane met with the media Friday for the first time since landing a deal for the rest of the season.
“I want to clear up a lot of the misinformation, a lot of the storylines painting me in a certain light that are completely untrue, inaccurate and false,” Kane said. “I would encourage (fans) to be open-minded, to allow me to do what I do best and get to know me on the ice, off the ice, around the rink, in the community, and see what I bring to the table.
“Every city I’ve been in, I’ve always worked in the community and done what I can to help make that city, that community a better place.”
There is no denying Kane’s talent with 506 points in 769 games. But Kane has continually generated headlines for the wrong reasons.
Last fall, he was suspended 21 games for violating COVID-19 protocols by submitting a fake vaccine card. He was investigated by the league for another alleged violation this season that concluded earlier this week.
Kane declared bankruptcy in 2021, with more than $26 million in debts. He’s publicly admitted he has a gambling issue, but has denied that he bet on or influenced NHL games.
BLACKHAWKS: Chicago captain Jonathan Toews is out indefinitely because of a concussion.
The 33-year-old Toews got hurt during Wednesday night’s 8-5 win at Detroit, but he played through the game. The center reported symptoms to the team’s medical staff on Thursday.
Toews has four goals and 15 assists in 43 games after he missed all of last season with what he described as chronic immune response syndrome.
POSTPONEMENT: The Seattle Kraken at New York Islanders game scheduled for has been postponed due to an impending snow storm in the New York area.
A state of emergency was called by New York Governor Kathy Hochul on Friday, and the game was rescheduled for Wednesday night at UBS Arena.
The Islanders are in sixth place in the Metropolitan Division and trail Boston by 15 points for the second wild card in the Eastern Conference. The expansion Kraken are last in the Pacific Division and ahead of only Arizona in the Western Conference – 14 points out of a wild card spot.
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