Boone Jenner and Patrik Laine each scored two goals and added an assist, Jake Christiansen scored his first career goal and the Columbus Blue Jackets came from behind to beat the New Jersey Devils 4-3 on Tuesday. and thus end a two-game losing streak.
One of Laine’s two goals was particularly spectacular thanks to a skilful feint in front of the opposing defense.
Oliver Bjorkstrand added a goal and Jakub Voracek had two assists for Columbus, which beat New Jersey at home for the seventh straight time since 2018. Elvis Merzlikins stopped 30 shots for his 19th victory.
Jack Hughes, Nico Hischier and Pavel Zacha scored for the Devils, and Nico Daws made 27 saves.
Hughes put the Devils ahead 1-0 after just 54 seconds after a scrum past Merzlikins.
Christiansen, on an AHL emergency call-up and playing his third NHL game, put Columbus on the board with about 7 minutes left in the period on a cross pass from Cole Sillinger. Bjorkstrand then put Columbus ahead with 2:25 left on a one-timer between the circles.
Jenner took advantage of a two-man advantage and put Columbus up 3-1 46 seconds into the second period for his seventh power-play goal and 23rd overall.
Hischier approached the Devils to one goal with 4 minutes left in the second, but Laine added to Columbus’ lead at 4-2 with his 20th goal of the season and 23rd point in the last 14 games.
Zacha made it 4-3 at 7:07 of the third one second after a Columbus penalty expired.
DeBoer signs his 500th NHL victory
Reilly Smith had two goals, Robin Lehner faced just 17 shots, and the Vegas Golden Knights easily beat the San Jose Sharks 3-1.
The Knights thus allowed Peter DeBoer to sign his 500th victory as head coach in the NHL.
Sharks 1 – Golden Knights 3
–
Since joining the Bettman Tour in 2008-09, DeBoer has coached the Florida Panthers, New Jersey Devils and Sharks in addition to Vegas.
In addition to Smith’s double, each time helped by his faithful acolytes Jonathan Marchessault and William Karlsson, Keegan Kolesar also hit the target.
Noah Gregor was California’s lone scorer early in the middle period.
Veteran goalkeeper James Reimer suffered a lower body injury and had to leave the game after 20 minutes. He was replaced by Zach Sawchenko, who stopped 18 of 20 shots he faced.
A victory for Johnson’s 1000th game
Devon Toews had three points against his former club as the Colorado Avalanche beat the New York Islanders 5-3.
Andre Burakovsky scored the game-winning goal for the Avalanche, beating goaltender Ilya Sorokin with just over seven minutes left in the third period.
Islanders 3 – Avalanche 5
–
The Isles thought they had taken a 4-3 lead a few seconds earlier, but defender Sebastian Aho’s shot didn’t completely cross the goal line, although it was a matter of millimeters.
Almost immediately after the video replay overturned the referees’ decision, Colorado took the lead for good.
Veteran defenseman Jack Johnson savored the victory for his 1000th game in the National Hockey League. He finished the game with three hits and two blocked shots.
With his 10th goal of the campaign, Toews, who was acquired from the Isles ahead of the 2020-21 season, set a new career high.
Nathan MacKinnon, Gabriel Landeskog and Erik Johnson – the latter in an empty net – also flashed the red light for Jared Bednar’s squad.
The New Yorkers’ goal production came from Ryan Pulock, Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Kyle Palmieri.
The Avalanche shot Sorokin’s net 43 times, while Darcy Kuemper made 28 saves in the win.
A 1st shutout since 2019 for Koskinen
Mikko Koskinen posted a 39-save shutout for his first in the NHL since 2019 in the Edmonton Oilers’ 3-0 win over the Philadelphia Flyers.
The Oilers goalie hadn’t been perfect in a Bettman Tour game since Nov. 8, 2019, against the New Jersey Devils. This time he had the help of Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid who each had a goal and an assist.
Carter Hart stopped 29 pucks for the Flyers who missed a great five-on-three opportunity in the first period.
Draisaitl joined Auston Matthews with a 37e goal this season. Kailer Yamamoto made the strings vibrate in the middle period and Connor McDavid put the finishing touch in an empty net late in the game.
Raymond overthrows the Canes in overtime
Lucas Raymond ended the game in overtime to give the Detroit Red Wings a 4-3 win over the Carolina Hurricanes.
Hurricanes 3 – Red Wings 4 (Prol.)
–
Raymond pounced on a loose puck at the mouth of the net on the power play to outspeed Antti Raanta with his 16e fillet of the season. The Canes goalkeeper still made 37 saves on 41 shots.
Alex Nedeljkovic held the fort for the Wings with 27 saves in the win. Jordan Staal had provided the controls for the Canes with less than five minutes left in the game, but Dylan Larkin tied the game 3-3 just 38 seconds later.
The Wild did not keep their word
The Calgary Flames defeated the Minnesota Wild 5-1 thanks to the offensive contribution of five players who also had one assist each.
Mikael Backlund, Matthew Tkachuk, Elias Lindholm, Tyler Toffoli and Andrew Mangiapane all had a goal and an assist for the Flames.
Johnny Gaudreau participated in two goals for his team.
Jacob Markstrom made 32 saves in front of the Flames goal. He was also in goal when Calgary beat the Wild 7-3 at home on Saturday. Minnesota coach Dean Evason said his team was “embarrassed” by the loss, but the Wild were unable to respond. His losing streak reached four games, including two straight against the Flames.
The Flames’ power play produced two of three goals as the penalty kill unit shut out the Wild four times.
The Wild’s reply came from Marcus Foligno.
The Wild’s Jared Spurgeon played his 743rd game, tying the team record for a defenseman. He is trailed only by Mikko Koivu (1,028) for the most games in the Wild jersey.
Zegras heroes in the final moments
Trevor Zegras rattled the ropes on the power play with 21.6 seconds left, and the Anaheim Ducks edged the Boston Bruins 4-3.
It was the second goal of the game scored on the Ducks’ massive attack, Rickard Rakell having previously opened the scoring with the advantage of a man.
Anaheim (26-21-9) had three goals against Linus Ullmark in the first period; those of Rakell, Isac Lundestrom and Adam Henrique.
The Boston team then managed to tie the game thanks to goals from Brandon Carlo and David Pastrnak.
But rookie Zegras then dashed any hopes the visiting club had of extending their winning streak to six.
The Bruins (32-18-4) will follow up with two more road games, in Vegas and Columbus, before returning to TD Garden next Monday.
–
