All posts by The Associated Press

DeBrincat nets team-high 26th in OT as Red Wings beat Senators 4-3

DETROIT (AP) — Alex DeBrincat scored 36 seconds into overtime to give the surging Detroit Red Wings a 4-3 win over the Ottawa Senators on Sunday.

Axel Sandin-Pellikka, Lucas Raymond and James van Riemsdyk also scored for Detroit. Patrick Kane assisted on Sandin-Pellikka’ goal, moving him two points shy of Mike Modano’s record of 1,374 career points by a U.S.-born player.

John Gibson made 19 saves for his 15th victory in his last 17 games. The Red Wings improved to 9-4 in overtime games.

Drake Batherson had a goal and an assist for Ottawa. Dylan Cozens and Shane Pinto also scored, and James Reimer made 30 saves.

DeBrincat’s team-high 26th goal was set up by Andrew Copp as Detroit kept pace with Tampa Bay atop the Atlantic Division standings. The Red Wings have won six of their last seven games.

LIGHTNING 4, STARS 1

DALLAS (AP) — Brandon Hagel’s tiebreaking goal midway through the second period proved to be the winner, and Andrei Vasilevskiy finished with 19 saves on 20 shots as Tampa Bay beat Dallas.

Rookie Dominic James and Jake Guentzel each had a goal and an assist, and Pontus Holmberg added a late empty-net score for the Lightning, who bounced back from a shootout loss at St. Louis on Friday that ended a franchise record-tying 11-game winning streak. Tampa Bay has a 13-game points streak and they are tied with Carolina atop of the Eastern Conference with 64 points, second overall to Colorado (74).

Hagel took a pass at the goal line to the left side of Dallas goaltender Jake Oettinger, playing off the line, and muscled the puck through the stick of Stars defenseman Esa Lindell for a 2-1 lead. It was Hagel’s sixth winning goal this season, tied for second in the NHL behind Nashville’s Steven Stamkos, who has seven.

Tampa Bay is a league-best 18-4-4 on the road and 20-1-0 when leading after two periods.

Vasilevskiy has 10 straight 20-win seasons and is 17-4-3 in his career against Dallas.

Oskar Back scored for the struggling Stars, who came off a 2-3-1 road trip and have lost three straight in regulation, scoring one goal in each game. Oettinger, tied for eighth in the NHL with 17 wins, stopped 22 shots and is 1-4-2 in his last seven starts.

OILERS 5, BLUES 0

EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Zach Hyman had two goals and an assist, Connor Ingram made 27 saves for his first shutout of the season, and Edmonton beat St. Louis.

Vasily Podkolzin had a goal and an assist and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Andrew Mangiapane also scored for the Oilers, who have gone 5-1-2 in their last eight games.

Nugent-Hopkins played in his 1,000th regular-season contest, becoming just the 63rd player in history to record a goal in his milestone match. Connor McDavid and Mattias Ekholm each had a pair of assists.

Edmonton is now 21-1-4 when scoring first this season.

Jordan Binnington had 23 saves for St. Louis, who snapped a two-game win streak.

Capitals visit the Avalanche after Chychrun's 2-goal game

Washington Capitals (24-19-6, in the Metropolitan Division) vs. Colorado Avalanche (33-5-8, in the Central Division)

Denver; Monday, 4 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: The Washington Capitals visit the Colorado Avalanche after Jakob Chychrun's two-goal game against the Florida Panthers in the Capitals' 5-2 loss.

Colorado has a 19-1-3 record in home games and a 33-5-8 record overall. The Avalanche have gone 19-3-5 in games they serve fewer penalty minutes than their opponents.

Washington is 24-19-6 overall and 10-9-3 in road games. The Capitals are 8-3-0 when they commit fewer penalties than their opponent.

Monday's game is the first time these teams square off this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Martin Necas has 22 goals and 35 assists for the Avalanche. Brock Nelson has 10 goals and five assists over the last 10 games.

Alexander Ovechkin has 20 goals and 21 assists for the Capitals. Ethen Frank has four goals and one assist over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Avalanche: 6-3-1, averaging 4.2 goals, 7.6 assists, 2.9 penalties and 6.4 penalty minutes while giving up 2.7 goals per game.

Capitals: 4-5-1, averaging 3.3 goals, 5.9 assists, 4.2 penalties and 11 penalty minutes while giving up 2.8 goals per game.

INJURIES: Avalanche: None listed.

Capitals: None listed.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

Zibanejad's hat trick and record-breaking power-play goal lead Rangers to victory over Flyers

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Mika Zibanejad became the Rangers’ all-time leader in power-play goals and his three-goal performance tied the team record for most career hat tricks in New York’s 6-3 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday.

The 32-year-old Swede scored with a man advantage at 5:38 of the second period, giving him 117 power-play goals and moving him past Camille Henry and Chris Kreider, who each had 116 for New York.

Zibanejad’s first-period goal at 7:26 put the Rangers ahead to stay at 2-1 and he completed his scoring at 8:25 of the second, matching Bill Cook with nine career hat tricks with the Rangers.

Artemi Panarin added two goals and an assist, and Brennan Othmann also scored for the Rangers, who snapped a five-game skid. The Rangers, whose last victory came January 2 against Florida, had lost eight of their last nine games. J.T. Miller, Alexis Lafreniere and Vincent Trocheck each had two assists. Spencer Martin made 25 saves and earned his first win of the season.

Rangers coach Mike Sullivan earned his 500th coaching win. Sullivan was a two-time Stanley Cup winner in his 10-year tenure with the Penguins. He parted ways with Pittsburgh after missing the playoffs for a third straight season and was hired by New York in May, after Peter Laviolette was fired.

Travis Konecny, Travis Sanheim and Trevor Zegras each had a goal and an assist for the Flyers, who lost their sixth straight game. Samuel Ersson made 22 stops.

WILD 5, SABRES 4, OT

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Mats Zuccarello scored 1:47 into overtime to lead Minnesota Wild to a win over Buffalo.

Zuccarello’s winning goal came on the power play after a pass from Kirill Kaprizov, who finished with three assists to help end the Wild’s three-game winless streak.

Marcus Foligno, Ryan Hartman, Vladimir Tarasenko and Quinn Hughes also scored, and Filip Gustavsson made 20 saves for the Wild.

Ryan McLeod, Peyton Krebs, Jack Quinn and Alex Tuch scored for the Sabres, who lost for only the third time in 18 games. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 20 saves.

Foligno gave the Wild a 1-0 lead at 9:19 of the first period but McLeod tied it 46 seconds later.

Hartman made it 2-1 with eight seconds left in the first when he tapped home a cross-crease pass from Hughes. Tarasenko gave the Wild a 3-1 lead at 1:08 of the second period.

Krebs cut the lead to 3-2 when he tipped a pass from Mattias Samuelsson past Gustavsson with 9:53 left and Quinn tied it up 1:27 later. Tuch’s power-play goal with 3:53 to go gave them a 4-3 lead.

Hughes’ slap shot goal with 2:56 to go in the second made it 4-4.

FLAMES 4, ISLANDERS 2

CALGARY, Alberta (AP) — Adam Klapka had a goal and an assist for his first multi-point game of the season as Calgary beat New York.

Yegor Sharangovich, Justin Kirkland and Yan Kuznetsov also scored for Calgary, which has won three of its last four. Kevin Bahl had his first multi-point game since Dec. 5, 2023, finishing with two assists. Dustin Wolf had 28 stops and snapped his five-game losing streak.

Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Anders Lee scored for New York, which is 2-2-1 with two games left in its seven-game trip, it’s longest of the season. David Rittich made 15 saves in the loss and slipped to 11-6-3.

Up 2-0 midway through the second period, the Flames doubled their lead when Kirkland and Kuznetsov scored two minutes apart.

In four games since sliding into Blake Coleman’s spot on a line with Mikael Backlund and Matt Coronato, Sharangovich has five points (two goals, three assists) for the Flames. Coleman (upper body) remains on injured reserve. While Backlund had his three-game point streak (2-3-5) snapped, Connor Zary extended his to a career-high five games.

Calgary’s Rasmus Andersson had an assist and became the seventh defenseman in Flames history to record five straight 20-assist seasons. He joins Al MacInnis, Gary Suter, Mark Giordano, TJ Brodie, Derek Morris, and Randy Manery.

MAMMOTH 6, KRAKEN 3

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Nate Schmidt scored two goals and assisted on two others to lead Utah to a victory over Seattle.

Lawson Crouse added a goal and two assists to help Utah win its third straight and for the sixth time in seven games. Kevin Stenlund, Nick Schmaltz and Barrett Hayton also scored for the Mammoth and Karel Vejmelka made 18 stops.

Jordan Eberle, Matty Beniers, and Chandler Stephenson scored goals for the Kraken, who lost their third straight and are 1-3-2 over their last six. Philipp Grubauer had 24 saves.

Schmidt snapped the puck past Ryker Evans’ stick and Grubauer’s glove with 5:30 left in the third after the Kraken had erased a two-goal deficit late in the second period to tie it at 3.

Eberle boosted his season tally to 17 goals only 69 seconds into the game, squeezing a backhand shot over Vejmelka’s shoulder to put Seattle up 1-0.

HURRICANES 4, DEVILS 1

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Andrei Svechnikov had a hat trick and Frederik Andersen made 28 saves as Carolina beat New Jersey.

Jackson Blake also scored for the Hurricanes, who improved to 6-1-1 in their last eight games. Sebastian Aho had three assists as Carolina won a night after routing the defending champion Florida Panthers 9-1 at home.

Timo Meier scored for New Jersey, which had its two-game winning streak snapped. The Devils are 4-8-1 since Dec. 19 when they won 2-1 at Utah.

Svechnikov broke a scoreless tie at 13:12 of the second, whipping a shot past Devils goaltender Jacob Markstrom, who had 29 saves. The 25-year-old Russian forward scored again 57 seconds later to make it 2-0 after two.

Aho leads the Hurricanes with 50 points, including 17 goals. Svechnikov is second on the team with 40 points. The 36-year-old Andersen improved 7-10-3 this season.

PANTHERS 5, CAPITALS 2

WASHINGTON (AP) — Sam Bennett had a goal and two assists, and Florida rebounded from a lopsided loss at Carolina with a victory over Washington.

A.J. Greer, Uvis Balinskis, Anton Lundell and Carter Verhaeghe also scored for two-time defending champion Florida, which lost 9-1 to the Hurricanes before traveling to Washington for the second game of a back-to-back. Jacob Chychrun scored twice to give the Capitals a 2-1 lead in the second, but Florida went back ahead before the period was over.

Washington is 6-10-3 in its last 19 games, and now the Capitals head west for a six-game trip.

Sergei Bobrovsky, who allowed all nine goals against Carolina, had the night off in favor of Daniil Tarasov in net. The Capitals had a goal overturned on an offside review in the first period, and then Florida quickly opened the scoring when Bennett tried to stuff the puck past goalie Logan Thompson and Greer put in the rebound.

Chychrun scored twice in the second, once from the left circle and once from just inside the blue line. Bennett tied it at 2, and after a penalty to Alex Ovechkin for putting the puck over the glass, Balinskis’ shot from just beyond the right circle found its way through.

Lundell and Verhaeghe had empty-netters in the third.

BLUE JACKETS 4, PENGUINS 3

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Charlie Coyle scored the deciding goal in the shootout and Columbus beat Pittsburgh.

Kent Johnson also scored in the shootout for the Blue Jackets, who won their fourth straight game. It was the third consecutive win under new coach Rick Bowness. Bowness is the third coach in team history to win his first three games with the team.

Kirill Marchenko scored to continue a four-game point. Danton Heinen scored his first goal with Columbus since he was traded from Pittsburgh last month, and Zach Aston-Reese, another former Penguin, also scored.

Zach Werenski continued his four-game point streak with an assist.

Elvis Merzlikins made 29 saves for the Blue Jackets, who matched their longest winning streak of the season.

Sidney Crosby had a goal and an assist for the Penguins. He recorded his 511th multipoint game, tying Gordie Howe for fifth place in NHL history.

Connor Clifton and Rickard Rakell also scored for the Penguins.

Arturs Silovs stopped 22 shots for the Penguins, who have lost four of their last five.

MAPLE LEAFS 4, JETS 3, OT

WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) — Max Domi scored at 3:08 of overtime on a 2-on-1 with Auston Matthews to lift Toronto past Winnipeg.

Domi also had an assist, Matthews scored his 24th goal of the season and Oliver Ekman-Larsson had a goal and two assists. Bobby McMann tied it in the third, and Morgan Rielly added two assists.

Dennis Hildeby stopped 27 shots as Toronto closed a four-game trip 2-1-1.

Alex Iafallo, Kyle Connor and Nino Niederreiter scored Winnipeg, and Connor Hellebuyck made 33 saves. The Jets had won four in a row.

The Jets led 3-1early in the third period. Ekman-Larsson scored at 5:58, and McMann’ tied it with 4:27 remaining.

CANADIENS 6, SENATORS 5, OT

OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — Montreal scored three straight goals, including Cole Caufield’s second of the game 33 seconds into overtime, to give the Canadiens a come-from-behind win over Ottawa.

Trailing 5-3 late in the third period, Montreal pulled goaltender Samuel Montembeault and got within one with 4:24 remaining when Juraj Slafkovsky tipped a Lane Hutson shot for his second goal of the game. Alexandre Carrier tied it 65 seconds later when he beat Leevi Merilainen glove side. Josh Anderson also had a goal and an assist for the Canadiens.

Jake Sanderson, who also had three assists, had given the Senators what appeared to be insurance when he scored his 10th at 7:55 of the third, beating Montembeault short side to give the Senators a 5-3 lead.

Brady Tkachuk, Tim Stutzle, Dylan Cozens and David Perron also scored for the Senators. Merilainen stopped 13 shots.

BRUINS 5, BLACKHAWKS 2

CHICAGO (AP) — Mason Lohrei scored two goals and Boston beat Chicago to extend its winning streak to six games.

Charlie McAvoy, Viktor Arvidsson and Marat Khusnutdinov also scored goals while Joonas Korpisalo made 22 saves for the Bruins, who have won eight of their last 11 games.

David Pastrnak and Casey Mittelstadt had two assists each for Boston.

The Bruins rallied from a 2-0 deficit after one period with three second-period goals. McAvoy skated in from the point and beat Arvid Soderblom from 20 feet to cut Chicago’s lead in half at 1:58.

Lohrei converted Hampus Lindholm’s feed into the tying goal from the right circle at 14:51, and Arvidsson beat Soderblom for a 3-2 lead with 46 seconds left in the period.

Lohrei added his second goal 9:01 into the third, with Khusnutdinov redirecting David Pastrnak’s pass into a half-open net 2:01 later.

Soderblom stopped 18 shots.

Golden Knights host the Predators after Dorofeyev's 2-goal game

Nashville Predators (23-20-4, in the Central Division) vs. Vegas Golden Knights (23-11-12, in the Pacific Division)

Paradise, Nevada; Saturday, 10 p.m. EST

BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Golden Knights -267, Predators +216; over/under is 6

BOTTOM LINE: The Vegas Golden Knights host the Nashville Predators after Pavel Dorofeyev's two-goal game against the Toronto Maple Leafs in the Golden Knights' 6-5 overtime win.

Vegas has an 11-6-6 record at home and a 23-11-12 record overall. The Golden Knights have allowed 138 goals while scoring 152 for a +14 scoring differential.

Nashville has a 10-10-2 record in road games and a 23-20-4 record overall. The Predators are 11-3-4 in games decided by one goal.

The matchup Saturday is the second time these teams meet this season. The Predators won 4-2 in the last meeting.

TOP PERFORMERS: Jack Eichel has 17 goals and 38 assists for the Golden Knights. Mark Stone has nine goals and eight assists over the last 10 games.

Steven Stamkos has 21 goals and 12 assists for the Predators. Ryan O'Reilly has five goals and six assists over the past 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Golden Knights: 6-3-1, averaging 3.8 goals, 6.5 assists, 2.5 penalties and 7.5 penalty minutes while giving up 3.3 goals per game.

Predators: 7-3-0, averaging three goals, five assists, 3.8 penalties and 9.3 penalty minutes while giving up 2.8 goals per game.

INJURIES: Golden Knights: None listed.

Predators: None listed.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

Florida visits Washington in Eastern Conference action

Florida Panthers (24-19-3, in the Atlantic Division) vs. Washington Capitals (24-18-6, in the Metropolitan Division)

Washington; Saturday, 7 p.m. EST

BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Capitals -141, Panthers +118; over/under is 5.5

BOTTOM LINE: The Washington Capitals and the Florida Panthers hit the ice in Eastern Conference play.

Washington has gone 14-9-3 in home games and 24-18-6 overall. The Capitals have a 10-11-6 record in games their opponents serve fewer penalty minutes.

Florida has gone 10-10-0 in road games and 24-19-3 overall. The Panthers have a -15 scoring differential, with 138 total goals scored and 153 given up.

The teams play Saturday for the third time this season. The Panthers won the last meeting 5-3. Sam Reinhart scored two goals in the win.

TOP PERFORMERS: Dylan Strome has 11 goals and 25 assists for the Capitals. Justin Sourdif has six goals and four assists over the last 10 games.

Reinhart has 24 goals and 21 assists for the Panthers. Sam Bennett has three goals and six assists over the past 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Capitals: 4-5-1, averaging 3.4 goals, 6.1 assists, 4.5 penalties and 11.6 penalty minutes while giving up 2.9 goals per game.

Panthers: 4-5-1, averaging 2.3 goals, 3.5 assists, 6.3 penalties and 16.6 penalty minutes while giving up 3.6 goals per game.

INJURIES: Capitals: None listed.

Panthers: None listed.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

Larkin scores go-ahead goal as Red Wings beat Sharks 4-2

DETROIT (AP) — Dylan Larkin scored the go-ahead goal early in the third period and the surging Detroit Red Wings beat the San Jose Sharks 4-2 on Friday night.

Marco Kasper scored his first goal in 37 games and added an assist to help Detroit win for the fifth time in six games. Alex DeBrincat scored his team-high 25th goal and J.T. Compher had the other goal for the Red Wings.

Lucas Raymond had three assists and James van Riemsdyk added two. John Gibson made 20 saves.

Will Smith scored for San Jose in his return from an upper-body injury that cost him 13 games. Collin Graf had the other Sharks goal and Macklin Celebrini, the NHL’s third-leading scorer with 72 points, added an assist. Celebrini has 32 points in his last 18 games.

Yaroslav Askarov stopped 21 shots for the Sharks, who had won seven of nine.

Detroit converted on its first power play when Raymond set up DeBrincat, who ripped a one-timer from the left circle into the net.

Smith tied it midway through the first period after Celebrini’s shot from the high slot tumbled over Gibson and rolled toward the goal line. Smith tucked the puck into the net.

Graf tipped in a pass from Nick Leddy at 1:58 of the second to give the Sharks the lead. Kasper’s pass through the legs of a defender set up Compher’s goal five minutes later, tying it 2-all.

Larkin jammed the puck between the post and Askarov’s pad at 4:41 of the third to give the Red Wings a 3-2 advantage. Kasper ended his scoring drought on an empty-netter with 1:32 remaining.

HURRICANES 9, PANTHERS 1

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Nikolaj Ehlers had three goals for his sixth career hat trick and first with Carolina, and the Hurricanes scored six times in the third period to cruise past Florida.

Ehlers, who signed with Carolina in the offseason after playing 10 years with Winnipeg, also had an assist. Taylor Hall had two goals and Mark Jankowski had a goal and two assists. Alexander Nikishin and Andrei Svechnikov had a goal and an assist and Eric Robinson also scored.

Brandon Bussi made 16 saves for the Hurricanes, who had four power-play goals and improved to 5-1-1 in their last seven games.

Uvis Balinskis had the lone goal for the Panthers, who gave up eight unanswered goals and had their two-game winning streak stopped. Sergei Bobrovsky allowed all nine of Carolina’s goals while stopping just 26 shots.

Ehlers gave the Hurricanes a 1-0 lead with 1:25 left in the first period. Balinskis tied it at 1:19 of the second — but it was all Carolina after that.

Jankowski put the Hurricanes up 2-1 at 13:10 of the second and Nikishin made it 3-1 with a power-play goal three minutes later.

Svechnikov, Ehlers and Hall also scored power-play goals in the third as Carolina pulled away.

BLUES 3, LIGHTNING 2

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Jordan Kyrou scored the only goal in a shootout and St. Louis beat Tampa Bay to snap its franchise record-tying 11-game winning streak.

Kyrou’s backhand shot beat Andrei Vasilevskiy.

Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov had a chance to extend the shootout but was stopped by Joel Hofer, who made 34 saves in regulation and overtime before delivering three more in the tiebreaker.

It was the Blues’ first win in overtime or a shootout this season. They had been 0-8.

The Blues took 2-0 lead late in the first period with goals just 30 seconds apart.

Jake Neighbors got the first with 2:57 to play in the period and Nick Bjugstad scored when he was left alone in the slot with 2:27 left.

Tampa Bay tied it with a pair of power-play goals 62 seconds apart in the second.

Kucherov scored at 9:59 when the Lightning had a two-man advantage. He then assisted on Oliver Bjorkstrand’s goal 1:02 later. Darren Raddysh assisted on both goals.

Vasilevskiy made 19 saves.

PREDATORS 7, AVALANCHE 3

DENVER (AP) — Ryan O’Reilly scored three goals for his seventh career hat trick and added an assist as Nashville beat Colorado, handing the Avalanche their first home loss in regulation this season.

Filip Forsberg had a goal and two assists for Nashville. Juuse Saros made 39 saves.

It was O’Reilly’s first hat trick since Jan. 4, 2025, versus Calgary, and second against his former team. O’Reilly spent his first six seasons with the Avalanche before being traded to Buffalo before the 2015-16 campaign.

Brock Nelson had two goals, Martin Necas also scored and Mackenzie Blackwood stopped 23 shots in his return to the lineup for Colorado. Blackwood had not played since Dec. 31 due to a lower-body injury.

He couldn’t prevent the Avalanche (33-5-8) from losing a second consecutive game at home, where they are 19-1-3.

O’Reilly scored his first goal 30 seconds into the game and got his second when he sent the puck from the goal line to the front of the net, where it deflected in off the stick of Colorado defenseman Sam Girard at 7:32.

Nelson answered those goals with two of his own, one when he cleaned up a rebound 54 seconds after O’Reilly’s first and later in the first period when he deflected Josh Manson’s shot.

Thompson’s 4-goal game helps Sabres weaken Devils’ playoff hopes

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Tage Thompson’s scored four times, including the go-ahead goal with 4:34 remaining, and the Buffalo Sabres beat the Devils 5-2 on Friday night to put a dent in New Jersey’s late-season playoff push.

Thompson’s natural hat trick rallied Buffalo from a 2-0 deficit, and he capped the outing with an empty-netter with 6 seconds left.

The loss left the Devils five points behind the Washington Capitals, who hold the Eastern Conference’s eighth and final playoff spot. New Jersey lost for just the third time this season — 16-2-1 — when leading after one period.

Buffalo, meanwhile, stayed mathematically in the race by moving into 12th in the East, a point a ahead of Pittsburgh, and six behind the Capitals.

JJ Peterka, with his fifth goal in four games, also scored an empty-net goal. Alex Tuch had two assists to extend his point streak to seven games, in which he’s combined for a goal and nine assists. Devon Levi stopped 28 shots.

Max Willman and Jesper Bratt scored for the Devils, who blew a chance to win three straight for just the fifth time this season. Jake Allen stopped 31 shots in dropping to 4-3 since being acquired in a trade with Montreal.

After scoring twice in the second period, Thompson completed his sixth-career three-or-more-goal outing by batting down Rasmus Dahlin’s shot from the left point. The puck dribbled under Allen, and Thompson used his lengthy reach to sweep the puck in behind the goalie.

Thompson’s surge began after Willman deflected in Luke Hughes’ point shot and Bratt had a shot deflect in off Peterka’s stick to stake the Devils to a 2-0 lead 10:31 into the first period.

Thompson responded by scoring 28 seconds into the second period off Timo Meier’s turnover in the neutral zone. He then tied it with 2:31 left into the period after being set up in the middle by Tuch, who forced John Marino to cough up the puck at the left boards.

Hughes’ assist on Willman’s goal was the rookie defenseman’s 41st point of the season. He now ranks third on the team’s rookie list, one point ahead of Scott Niedermayer, and one behind Viacheslav Fetisov. Will Butcher holds the record with 44 points in 2017-18.

UP NEXT

Devils: Host the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday night.

Sabres: Host the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday night.

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

Copyright © 2024 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Lawsuit: North America’s major junior hockey system violates U.S. antitrust law

A class-action suit was filed Wednesday in federal court in New York arguing that the major junior hockey system in North America violates U.S. antitrust law.

The lawsuit, brought by divisions of the World Association of Icehockey Players Unions and two individual former major junior players, takes aim at the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League, Ontario Hockey League and Western Hockey that make up the Canadian Hockey League, as well as the NHL. The plaintiffs allege the leagues exploit teenagers in the sport by restricting their ability to pick where to play and, as a result, limiting their compensation.

The NHL is named as a defendant for its role in supporting and financing the CHL. Lawyers allege in the complaint that the NHL and its teams “exert substantial influence and control over major junior defendants, thereby facilitating major junior defendants’ conspiracy.”

The lawyers call the system “a cartel (that) artificially suppresses and standardizes compensation by denying players their freedom of choice, freedom of movement and freedom to play for the club of their choice.”

The CHL had no immediate comment on the complaint.

“We have just been made aware of the complaint, filed by WAIPU, an organization that has not been certified to represent any CHL players,” the league said in a statement sent to The Associated Press. “Until we can thoroughly review the document, we are unable to provide comment as to the legitimacy of its contents.”

Representatives for the CHL and NHL were not given advance notice and did not receive the complaint until Wednesday morning after it was filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan.

Eight of the CHL’s 60 teams are based in the U.S.: Five in Washington state, two in Michigan and one in Pennsylvania. The rest are in Canada, but one expert in sports labor law does not think that is a problem, given that many antitrust situations extend beyond the U.S.

“They’re doing business in the United States, and the end users of the most successful products are going to be, presumably, NHL hockey players both in the U.S. and Canada,” said Michael LeRoy, a University of Illinois labor law professor. “I don’t think that’s a problem.”

Each U.S. state and Canadian province is assigned to one of the three leagues — the QMJHL, OHL or WHL — and players from them who want to play in the CHL cannot choose among them. They are then drafted, and the team owns each player’s rights for his entire junior-age career.

Junior hockey players have not had a union for collective bargaining with leagues. This move is similar to efforts in recent years by minor league baseball players to unionize, which led to a deal with Major League Baseball in 2022.

LeRoy also compared the situation to yearslong fights against the NCAA by college athletes for name, image and likeness rights and changes to make transferring easier — which junior hockey players don’t have.

“Ironically (the suit) points out that the NCAA has a much freer system of athletic labor than is involved here,” LeRoy said.

The lawsuit seeks an injunction declaring the geographical draft restrictions, contracts and agreements in place unenforceable, along with damages for players for compensation and from league profits. Plaintiffs are asking for a jury trial.

The two individual former major junior players who are part of the suit are Isaiah DiLaura and Tanner Gould. DiLaura, 23, is from Lakeville, Minnesota, and Gould, 19, is from Calgary, Alberta.

“Teenage players continue to be treated like disposable objects, just like I was,” DiLaura said in a news release. “I am hoping this lawsuit will put an end to that.”

Copyright © 2024 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Nylander’s 4-point night powers Maple Leafs past Islanders

TORONTO (AP) — William Nylander had two goals and two assists as the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the slumping New York Islanders 5-2 on Monday night.

John Tavares had a goal and an assist, Calle Jarnkrok and Auston Matthews also scored and Justin Holl had two assists for Toronto, which is 3-0-1 in its last four and 6-2-1 in its last nine. Ilya Samsonov had 31 saves.

Anders Lee scored twice for New York in its ninth loss in 10 games (1-6-3). Ilya Sorokin had 33 saves.

Trailing 2-1 in the second period, Toronto it on a power play at 7:53 when Samsonov caught the Islanders on a long change with a stretch pass. Nylander quickly fed Tavares, who moved in alone and backhanded his 21st goal of the season upstairs against his former team.

The Leafs, who lost 3-2 in overtime to the Islanders here on Nov. 21, then took their first lead 1:40 later when Nylander used a delicate flip pass to send Jarnkrok in alone to score his 11th.

Sorokin stopped Michael Bunting’s penalty shot later in the period, but Nylander buried his second of the night and 26th overall with 3:28 left in the middle period after stealing the puck from Scott Mayfield in the offensive zone.

Matthews sealed the win with his 25th at 7:44 of the third on a breakaway off a pass from Holl.

New York opened the scoring with 22.2 seconds left in the first when Lee swatted home a loose puck in the crease for his 16th after Brock Nelson’s shot glanced off Samsonov’s shoulder and hit the post.

The Toronto goaltender was sharp on a number of chances earlier in the period, including a terrific blocker stop at full stretch on Casey Cizikas.

Toronto coach Sheldon Keefe tweaked his top-6 forward group during the first intermission, reuniting Tavares and Nylander, and slotting Mitch Marner alongside Matthews.

Toronto tied it at 5:07 of the second when Nylander scored off the rush after a nice play from Tavares.

Lee put New York back ahead 1:10 later on a one-timer that fooled Samsonov for his 17th.

SAMSONOV ON A RUN

Samsonov made his third straight start and fourth straight appearance. Samsonov came in 14-4-2 record and a .919 save percentage, while Matt Murray was 11-5-0 with a .911 save percentage as part of Toronto’s goaltending tandem.

BRODIE NEARING RETURN

Maple Leafs D T.J. Brodie took part in his first on-ice session with teammates since suffering a rib injury earlier this month. Keefe said the defenseman won’t be available until at least Friday when Toronto hosts Ottawa. Brodie has been limited to just 28 games in 2022-23 after also suffering an oblique injury in the fall.

DEBUTS AND RETURNS

New York D Samuel Bolduc made his NHL debut. The 22-year-old from Quebec had eight goals and 26 points in 40 AHL games this season. ... Also, Islanders F Kyle Palmieri and D Adam Pelech returned to the lineup after long injury absences.

UP NEXT

Islanders: At Ottawa on Wednesday night to wrap up a two-game trip.

Maple Leafs: Host the New York Rangers on Wednesday night in the second of a five-game trip.

___

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Stars shut out Golden Knights to open Western Conference Final

EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Two days after they and the Vegas Golden Knights each won a hard-fought Game 7 to move on, the Dallas Stars figured there might be an emotional letdown at the start of the Western Conference final.

They filled that void with hit after hit, got one early goal, and played the trademark lockdown style that made them one of the best defensive teams in the NHL during the regular season. The result was a hard-hitting 1-0 victory in Game 1 on Sunday night that served notice to Vegas that a spot in the Stanley Cup Final won’t come easily.

“We were skating, we were on top of them, we were creating a lot of offense from good play, good defensive structure all over the ice,” coach Rick Bowness said. “That’s Dallas Stars hockey.”

That brand of hockey worked especially well after John Klingberg scored on the Stars’ first shot 2:36 in and with goaltender Anton Khudobin locked in. Khudobin’s rebound control was excellent in stopping all 25 Vegas shots he faced on the way to his first shutout in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

“It always goes to your career record,” said Khudobin, who entered this year without a postseason start on that record. “At the same time, most of it, I’m happy with the win.”

The recipe for this win was a barrage of hits. In true Stars fashion, the game had almost double the amount of total hits (96) than shots on goal (50).

With physicality the focus, Dallas took it to top-seeded Vegas, which has the size to bang bodies but couldn’t match the Stars’ jump from the drop of the puck.

“It took us a while to get our legs going,” Golden Knights defenseman Nate Schmidt said. “We didn’t come out to play from the start of the game.”

The Stars came out hitting and got the boost they needed when it looked like surprise Vegas starter Marc-Andre Fleury didn’t get reset after Dallas captain Jamie Benn’s shot attempt was blocked, and Klingberg fired the loose puck past him into the net.

Playing with a lead allowed Dallas players to throw their bodies around. If the Golden Knights didn’t know what to expect from the Stars, they do now, and the competition level will be higher than the first two rounds.

“This is going to be a different series,” Vegas coach Peter DeBoer said. “They’re a heavy, veteran team and you’ve got to work to get inside and you’ve got to work for pucks and puck battles. They’re not going to hand you offense, and you’ve got to be willing to compete for pucks.”

After having the play dictated to them for the first two periods, the Golden Knights dominated the third but couldn’t crack Khudobin, who has been thrust into the No. 1 role with Ben Bishop injured. As good as Khudobin was, Fleury matched him almost save for save, stopping 23 after allowing the goal to Klingberg.

“He was fresh. He’s played well against Dallas, and he gave us a great game,” DeBoer said. “I thought he was our best player.”

But Fleury couldn’t help his teammates generate offense, and they were shut out for the second time in three games. Credit on that goes to the Stars, who took advantage of suspended Golden Knights forward Ryan Reaves′ absence to set a more physical tone to begin this series.

“It was a good effort,” Benn said. “We played on our toes tonight, found a way to get one early there, and I thought (Khudobin) made a lot of great saves, especially in the third period, and we found a way to squeak it out.”

NOTES: This was the Stars’ first 1-0 regulation playoff win since 2000, the year after they won the Cup. ... Nick Cousins replaced Reaves in the lineup and delivered a big hit early. ... Mattias Janmark played for Dallas after leaving Game 7 against Colorado with injury. ... Bishop and defenseman Stephen Johns remained unfit to play for the Stars. ... Forward Andrew Cogliano was a healthy scratch so Dallas could keep Game 7 hero Joel Kiviranta in. ... Fleury started for just the fourth time in the postseason. Robin Lehner played the other 12.

UP NEXT

Game 2 is Tuesday after the Tampa Bay Lightning and New York Islanders open the East final Monday.

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