Read reports from Friday’s NHL games.
The Bruins have the upper hand on the Devils
David Pastrnak scored two of the team’s four goals in the second period as the Boston Bruins beat the New Jersey Devils 4-3 on Friday.
Patrice Bergeron and Jake DeBrusk also scored for the Bruins, while Linus Ullmark stopped 36 for 19and victory over his record, an NHL record. David Krejci and Pavel Zacha each had two assists.
The Bruins won their fourth straight game.
Jack Hughes, Tomas Tatar and Yegor Sharangovich answered for the devils. Mackenzie Blackwood made 14 saves before being forced out of the net after two periods.
The Devils have lost seven of their last eight games (1-6-1) and fell to 3-6-2 in December.
The Bruins improved to 9-4-1 when they allowed their first goal this season. A three-goal drive in the first 10 minutes of the second period helped them gain control of the game.
Pat Pickens, Associated Press
Four-point night for Bo Horvat in the Canucks 5-2 win
Bo Horvat provided two goals and two assists Friday to help the Vancouver Canucks win 5-2 at the expense of the Edmonton Oilers.
JT Miller also scored a brace for the visitors.
The Canucks’ other goal came from Ilya Mikheyev, as Collin Delia made 31 saves.
In the other clan, Connor McDavid signed a 30and goals and Derek Ryan a fifth.
McDavid has scored at least one point in his last 15 games.
Stuart Skinner stopped 25 shots for the Oilers, who have lost four of their last five games.
The ceremonial handing over of the puck was made by soccer star Alphonso Davies, an Edmonton native.
Shane Jones, The Canadian Press
First win in nine games for the Hawks, 5-2 against Columbus
Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane each had one goal and two assists on Friday as the Chicago Blackhawks prevailed 5-2 over the Columbus Blue Jackets.
The Hawks were ending an eight-game losing streak.
The club had lost their last 11 home games.
Max Domi, Andreas Athanasiou and Taylor Raddysh were the winners’ other goalscorers.
Alex Stalock made 27 saves for Chicago, returning from a concussion.
The Jackets’ losing streak is now six games. During this period, the team scored only nine times.
Marcus Bjork and Kirill Marchenko were their goalscorers on Friday.
Daniil Tarasov allowed four goals from 20 shots before making way for Joonas Korpisalo. The latter had not played in six games, with a lower body injury.
Matt Carlson, Associated Press
Girard gives the Avs the victory by scoring at 4:17 into overtime
Samuel Girard scored with 4:17 into overtime and the Colorado Avalanche defeated the Nashville Predators 3-2 on Friday.
The 24-year-old defender converted Evan Rodrigues’ pass into a two-on-one. He scored his second goal this season.
Mikko Rantanen scored one goal and one assist. In 20 career games against Nashville, he has 10 goals and 21 points.
JT Compher also scored for Colorado, who deserved their third straight win.
Alexandar Georgiev made 37 saves.
Ryan Johansen and Matt Duchene scored the goals for the Preds, while Juuse Saros blocked 43 shots.
Jim Diamond, Associated Press
Aatu Raty scores in his first NHL game
Aatu Raty scored in his first National League game on Friday, helping the New York Islanders to a 5-1 victory over the Florida Panthers.
Raty caught a pass from Anders Lee and hit target with a wrist shot from the left circle at 7:10 into the third period.
The 20-year-old Finn was called up earlier in the day by Bridgeport, AHL.
Anthony Beauvillier completed a brace into an empty net.
Ryan Pulock and Zach Parise also scored for the Islanders, backing up a 22 save from Ilya Sorokin.
The Islanders had lost their last five games to the Panthers.
Matthew Tkachuk scored for the Panthers, who lost for the third straight game. Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 38 shots.
Florida will not play again until December 29; the Montreal Canadiens will then meet at Sunrise.
Allan Kreda, Associated Press
Eighth consecutive win for the Hurricanes, 6-5 against the Flyers
Jesper Fast scored twice in Friday’s first period to lead the Carolina Hurricanes to a 6-5 win over the Philadelphia Flyers.
Carolina is undefeated in eight games; the club also set an organizational record with 14 consecutive games with at least one point.
Stefan Noesen, Andrei Svechnikov, Jordan Martinook and Jesperi Kotkaniemi were the Hurricanes’ other goalscorers.
Jordan Staal was instrumental in three goals.
Martinook, Martin Necas and Brett Pesce each provided two assists, while Antti Raanta made 27 saves.
Sebastian Aho returned after missing seven games with a lower body injury.
He is the third scorer on the team, with 11 goals and 16 assists.
Travis Sanheim, Tony DeAngelo, Nick Seeler, Scott Laughton and Travis Konecny scored for the Flyers.
Philadelphia has just one win in four games.
Bob Sutton, Associated Press