All posts by The Associated Press

Crawford, Blackhawks shut out Kings

CHICAGO - Corey Crawford made 32 saves, Jonathan Toews and Marian Hossa each had a power-play goal and the Chicago Blackhawks beat the Los Angeles Kings 3-0 on Sunday night.

Artem Anisimov also scored to extend his career-best point streak to seven games. He has six goals and five assists during the run.

Toews got his first goal of the season - the Chicago captain had just three assists in the Blackhawks' first eight games. Hossa scored into an empty net with 1:10 remaining.

Hossa was honored in a pregame ceremony for becoming the 44th player with 500 goals, a milestone he reached on Oct. 18.

The Blackhawks killed both of Los Angeles' power plays and for the first time in nine games didn't allow a power-play goal.

Crawford earned his 20th shutout, and the Kings were blanked for the second straight game. Los Angeles concluded a two-game Midwest swing after losing 1-0 in regulation at St. Louis on Saturday.

Los Angeles' Peter Budaj made 26 saves.

Crawford wasn't heavily tested in this one, but stopped Kyle Clifford point blank with 2:35 left following a turnover. Tyler Toffoli had two good chances in the third.

Kings coach Darryl Sutter remained stuck on 599 wins. Sutter launched his coaching career with the Blackhawks following eight seasons with them as a forward and ranks 14th in NHL coaching victories and fifth among active coaches.

Sutter has more than 100 wins with each of the four teams he's coached - Los Angeles, Chicago, San Jose and Calgary.

The Blackhawks had four power-play chances in the first period and Toews connected on the first one at 6:54 to give Chicago a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes.

Toews' wrist shot from the top of the right circle beat Budaj on the glove side while Kings defensemen Jake Muzzin and Tom Gilbert screened Budaj.

Anisimov made it 2-0 from the left edge of the crease with 6:30 left in the second, set up after Hossa threaded a pass across the crease. Anisimov didn't quite handle the feed cleanly but controlled the puck with a quick move and chipped it over Budaj.

NOTES: Hossa held his daughter Zoja while being honored and got a big reaction from the crowd when the 2-year-old pinched his nose and then waved while the scoreboard camera zoomed in. ... Los Angeles D Brayden McNabb, who suffered an upper body injury in Saturday's 1-0 loss in St. Louis, sat out Sunday. Kings D Matt Greene, a healthy scratch since the second game of the season, was in the lineup. ... Blackhawks rookie D Gustav Forsling missed his second game with an upper body injury. ... Chicago rookie C Vincent Hinostroza, a scratch for the last four games, returned. ... Blackhawks F Andrew Desjardins, out since blocking a shot in Chicago's exhibition finale on Oct. 8, has resumed skating.

UP NEXT:

Kings: Host Anaheim on Tuesday to start a three-game homestand.

Blackhawks: Host Calgary at the United Center for the second time in eight days.

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Islanders dump struggling Maple Leafs

NEW YORK - Brock Nelson and Shane Prince each had a goal and an assist, Thomas Greiss stopped 33 shots, and the New York Islanders beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-1 Sunday night.

Travis Hamonic, Casey Cizikas, and Josh Bailey also scored, and Nikolay Kulemin, Nick Leddy, and Dennis Seidenberg each had two assists to help the Islanders snap a two-game skid.

Jake Gardiner scored for the Maple Leafs and Jhonas Enroth finished with 30 saves. Toronto lost its sixth straight on the road (0-3-3).

After Gardiner scored 50 seconds into the third to pull the Maple Leafs to 2-1, Prince and Bailey scored 2:39 apart to stretch new York's lead to three.

The Islanders honored former fan-favorite Matt Martin with a video tribute during a stoppage in the opening period. It was the first time Martin played against them since signing with Toronto in the offseason.

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Carey Price dominant in win over Maple Leafs

MONTREAL - Shea Weber blasted in another power-play goal, Carey Price had another strong start and the Montreal Canadiens kept on winning.

Weber broke a tie in the third period and Price made 37 saves, lifting Montreal over the Toronto Maple Leafs 2-1 on Saturday night for its seventh straight victory.

''We struggled early in the game but we just seemed to come up with the timely one again,'' said Weber, who has four goals in his first nine games as a Canadien, three of them by using his booming shot from the point on the power play.

''You want to score big goals and tonight we were fortunate to do that.''

Alex Galchenyuk also scored for Montreal, which is 8-0-1 and the only NHL club without a regulation loss this season. The Canadiens are one point short of their 9-0-0 start last season, which ended with a 5-1 loss in Vancouver. Their next game is at home Wednesday night against the Canucks.

Price has won all five of his starts this season with a 1.40 goals-against average and .954 save percentage.

''He is so positionally sound and reads the game so well, he makes it look easy,'' Weber said.

Nazem Kadri scored for the Leafs, who were coming off a 3-2 win Thursday over Florida.

Frederik Andersen had 29 stops for the Leafs. Montreal has won 11 straight over Toronto, which last beat the Canadiens on Jan. 18, 2014.

The Canadiens were on a 4-on-3 power play when Alexander Radulov slid a pass to Weber for a blast from about 35 feet out that went inside the right post.

''I didn't like the four-on-three goal,'' Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock said. ''That's on the coaches. We shouldn't have let Weber hammer away there. But we had good chances. Carey made some good saves. Our goaltender made some good saves. It was a good hockey game.''

The Canadiens had the better scoring chances early on and got the first goal 2:06 into the second frame.

Radulov collected the puck behind the Toronto defense and fed the trailing Galchenyuk for a high shot into an open side that left no chance for Andersen.

Price then had to be at his best as the Leafs poured on pressure. He stopped William Nylander in alone midway through the second and then made two sharp saves in traffic.

''Toronto played a good game,'' said Montreal coach Michel Therrien. ''They have a lot of speed.

''We played five games in eight nights and we didn't have a lot of energy. But Price was outstanding. He stole the game.''

Radulov was off for hooking when Kadri redirected Nylander's shot from the right point along the ice past Price 4:18 into the third period.

NOTES: Montreal coach Michel Therrien juggled his lines, moving Radulov onto the top unit with Galchenyuk and Brendan Gallagher. Radulov had two assists.

UP NEXT

Maple Leafs: At the New York Islanders on Sunday night to complete a back-to-back.

Canadiens: Host Vancouver on Wednesday night.

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Malkin’s 300th stands as game winner vs. Flyers

PHILADELPHIA - Evgeni Malkin scored twice, including the tiebreaker in the third period, and Sidney Crosby also had two goals to lead the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 5-4 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday night.

Matt Cullen also scored for the Penguins, who scored three times in a 55-second span in the first period while opening a four-game road trip with their fourth win in the last five. Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 38 shots while making his ninth straight start (6-2-1).

Malkin's game-winner was his 300th career goal.

Jakub Voracek scored twice for the Flyers, and Claude Giroux and Wayne Simmonds each had one for Philadelphia. Steve Mason started and gave up three goals on 13 shots in the first period. Michal Neuvirth replaced him to start the second and finished with 12 saves on 14 shots.

Matt Murray, who led the Penguins to the Stanley Cup last season, was available as Fleury's backup. Murray, recovering from a broken hand, hasn't played this season.

Malkin put the Penguins ahead for good at 8:33 of the third with his milestone goal. Olli Maatta threw the puck toward the net. It bounced off the leg of Philadelphia's Brandon Manning and to the back post, where a wide-open Malkin shot past Neuvirth.

Crosby, who missed the first six games due to a concussion, has four goals and five points in three games since returning.

Trailing 2-0, the Penguins scored three goals during an electrifying 55 seconds late in the first period.

Crosby beat Mason short side from a bad angle with a top shelf wrist shot with 4:16 left in the period. Forty-three seconds later, Crosby netted a power-play goal after one-timing a pass from Patric Hornqvist in the slot that whizzed by Mason. And Cullen ended the onslaught with a wraparound tally with 3:21 remaining.

The only other time Philadelphia allowed three goals in 55 seconds or less was Nov. 23, 1991, when the Devils tallied three in 42 seconds in the second period of a 5-5 tie.

Pittsburgh capitalized on a turnover by Sean Couturier to take a 4-2 lead on Malkin's goal midway through the second period.

The Flyers got back within one goal on Giroux's power-play tally with 6:44 remaining in the period. Radko Gudas made a stellar play to keep the puck in the offensive zone before Wayne Simmonds fed Giroux for a one-timer from the slot that beat Fleury on the glove side.

The play was upheld after a lengthy review to determine whether Philadelphia was offside on the play.

And the Flyers tied it 2:12 later on Voracek's penalty shot, which was awarded after the Flyers' right wing was pulled down by Brian Dumoulin on a breakaway attempt.

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Rask, Bruins shut out Red Wings

DETROIT - Tuukka Rask made 23 saves for his 31st career shutout to lead the Boston Bruins to a 1-0 win over the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday night.

Tim Schaller scored for the Bruins, who snapped a three-game losing streak and ended Detroit's six-game winning streak.

It was Rask's first game back after missing the previous three with a lower-body injury.

Jimmy Howard stopped 35 shots for the Red Wings, who lost at home for the first time.

Schaller scored with 2:11 left in the second period as his shot from along the goal line in the right corner went in off of Howard's left hip. It was Schaller's first goal of the season.

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McDavid, Talbot help Oilers to 7th win in 8 games

VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Connor McDavid scored on a breakaway in the second period and Cam Talbot made 26 saves for his 13th career shutout to lead the Edmonton Oilers to their fifth straight win, 2-0 over the Vancouver Canucks on Friday night.

Milan Lucic added an empty-netter to help Western Conference-leading Edmonton, off to its best start since 1985, improve to 7-1-0.

Talbot, who has started all eight games this season, recorded his second shutout in three games.

Ryan Miller had 25 saves for Vancouver, which was shut out for the second straight game and has lost four straight (0-3-1) after starting the season with four wins. The Canucks haven't scored since the third period against Anaheim on Sunday.

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Hamilton’s 3 points leads Flames past Senators

CALGARY, Alberta - Dougie Hamilton scored his first two goals and added an assist to lead the Calgary Flames to a 5-2 victory over the Ottawa Senators on Friday night for their third straight win.

Sam Bennett, Sean Monahan and Michael Frolik also scored for Calgary, and Brian Elliott stopped 31 shots.

Erik Karlsson and Kyle Turris scored for Ottawa. Andrew Hammond started in goal and had three saves on four shots before leaving with a lower-body injury after one period. Chris Dreidger replaced him and gave up four goals on 15 shots.

With the score tied 2-2 halfway through the second, Hamilton retrieved the puck from the sideboards, spun and whipped a shot from a bad angle over the Dreidger's shoulder.

Calgary put the game away on goals by Monahan and Frolik 2:46 apart midway through the third.

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Hutchinson shines as Jets blank Avalanche

DENVER - Shawn Matthias scored in the second period against his former team, Michael Hutchinson stopped 37 shots for his third career NHL shutout and the Winnipeg Jets beat the Colorado Avalanche 1-0 on Friday night.

The Jets were more energetic despite playing their third game in four days, including a 4-1 win over Dallas the night before. Colorado looked a bit rusty after a week off and couldn't to solve Hutchinson. It was Hutchinson's first shutout since Jan. 15, 2015, against Columbus.

The Avalanche pulled Semyon Varlamov with around 1:22 remaining, but the Avalanche couldn't capitalize.

Varlamov stopped 20 shots, his only mistake not sliding over in time to stop Matthias' wrist shot.

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Penguins’ Letang nearing return

PHILADELPHIA - Pittsburgh won three of its four games without defenseman Kris Letang in the lineup and there is a chance the Norris Trophy candidate could be back in uniform when the Penguins renew their rivalry with the Flyers in Philadelphia on Saturday night.

Sidelined by an upper-body injury suffered on Oct. 18 in Montreal, Letang was examined by a doctor on Friday before boarding the team's flight to Philadelphia.

"He's getting closer for sure," Penguins coach Mike Sullivan told the team's website. "Obviously, he's a big part of our team and we're a better team when he's a part of our lineup."

The same can be said of captain Sidney Crosby, who has two goals and one assist in two games since returning from his third concussion in six years.

Pittsburgh is 2-0 with its captain in the lineup and if history is any indication, Crosby will get an earful when he steps on the ice at the Wells Fargo Center. Crosby has scored more goals against the Flyers (33 in 55 games) than he has against any other NHL team.

While the Penguins (5-2-1) are coming off Tuesday night's 4-2 home win over the New York Islanders, the Flyers (3-4-1) are coming off a 5-4 loss to the Arizona Coyotes, whose only two wins of the season have come against Philadelphia.

Slow starts have been an Achilles' heel for the Flyers, who surrendered the first goal in each of their four home games and have been outscored 8-1 in first periods this season, including 2-0 against Arizona on Tuesday.

"The first period was not pretty and we know that," Flyers captain Claude Giroux said. "We need to find a way to come out stronger."

"We did some good things sporadically," Flyers coach Dave Hakstol said. "But you don't win games by doing a few good things sporadically throughout the game. You have to be good from start to finish, individually, collectively and that's how you win games."

Giroux is still seeking his first goal of the season but leads the NHL with nine assists. He is on a seven-game point streak, which ties the second-longest of his career. He also recorded a seven-game streak from Jan.14-25, 2011 and posted a nine-game streak from Dec. 11-30, 2013.

Flyers right wing Jake Voracek leads the team and ranks third in the NHL with 33 shots this season. He has three goals.

Philadelphia defenseman Andrew MacDonald (1 goal, 1 assist, minus-3) could be a healthy scratch for the first time this season in favor of Nick Schultz on Saturday.

Sullivan said Marc-Andre Fleury (5-2-1, 2.97 GAA) will be between the pipes for the Penguins on Saturday.

Flyers coach Dave Hakstol has a tougher decision. Both Steve Mason (2-4-1, 3.15 GAA) and 1-0-0, 4.47) have struggled. Neuvirth was pulled from each of his first two starts.

Penguins forward Carl Hagelin, who is struggling with one goal in eight games, was checked into the boards from behind against the Islanders but practiced on Friday and is expected to play, despite sporting stitches and a black left eye.

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Pacioretty propels Canadiens to 6th straight win

MONTREAL - Max Pacioretty scored the tie-breaking goal in Montreal's three-goal third period as the Canadiens beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-1 Thursday night for their sixth straight win.

Alex Galchenyuk and Torrey Mitchell also scored to help Montreal improve to 7-0-1. Carey Price made 29 saves to win for the fourth time in four starts this season.

Alex Killorn scored the lone goal for the Lightning, who lost against an Eastern-Conference opponent for the first time this season. Ben Bishop stopped 23 shots.

With the scored tied 1-1, Pacioretty got the go-ahead goal at 10:23 by beating Bishop glove-side. Blown coverage by the Lightning left the Canadiens' captain all alone on the edge of the face-off circle, and Bishop couldn't see the shot with Andrew Shaw posted firmly in front of goal.

Montreal, coming off a 3-2 win at the New York Islanders the previous night, remained the only NHL team still undefeated in regulation.

Price beat Tampa Bay for the first time in his last eight starts (1-5-2). His previous win against the Lightning was on Dec. 28, 2013.

Price wasn't tested much in the early stages of the game as Tampa Bay didn't get its first shot until 12:14 had elapsed - Killorn from an extremely difficult angle.

After just a four-shot first period, the Lightning were more threatening in the second.

Killorn beat Price for the game's first goal with 3:52 left in the middle period by deflecting home a slap pass from Victor Hedman. Killorn snuck in behind defenseman Alexei Emelin, put himself in a good position just outside the crease and got enough of the puck for his team-leading sixth goal of the season.

The 27-year-old Killorn has scored in six of Tampa's seven games this season.

It was just the second time this season Montreal gave up the first goal of the game.

Price did his best to keep Montreal in the game at the start of the third period, robbing Ondrej Palat from close range with his toe.

Just minutes later, Galchenyuk beat Bishop for his second goal of the season to tie it at 6:12. With the Canadiens on the power play, Andrei Markov fooled the Lightning with a cross-ice pass instead of taking a shot on net. Galchenyuk made no mistake with the one-timer just above Bishop's glove. Jeff Petry got the play started with a spin move at the blue line.

Mitchell added the empty-netter in the game's final minute.

NOTES: Tampa Bay's Nikita Kucherov fell awkwardly into the boards in the first period, left the game and did not return. ... Canadiens D Mikhail Sergachev was a healthy scratch for the fourth consecutive game. ... Shea Weber saw his four-game point streak come to an end. ... Montreal leads the league with 25 points from its defensemen.

UP NEXT

Lightning: At New Jersey on Saturday night in the fourth game of a six-game trip.

Canadiens: Host Toronto on Saturday night.

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