(The Sports Xchange) – Highlights of Saturday’s NHL games:
Canadiens 10, Red Wings 1
Paul Byron scored three goals to help the Montreal Canadiens to their fifth straight win, a 10-1 victory over the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday.
Carey Price, who has been in goal for Montreal’s five wins since returning from a lower-body injury, made 21 saves.
Nicolas Deslauriers, Jacob de la Rose, Charles Hudon, Brendan Gallagher, Jordie Benn, Daniel Carr and Andrew Shaw also scored for the Canadiens. Alex Galchenyuk had four assists.
Petr Mrazek gave up five goals on 25 shots for Detroit and was replaced by Jimmy Howard, who gave up five goals on nine shots. Andreas Athanasiou scored his sixth goal of the season for the Red Wings, who lost their seventh straight (0-4-3).
Lightning 5, Sharks 2
Tyler Johnson broke out of a month-long scoring slump with two goals to lead Tampa Bay past San Jose.
Johnson scored twice in the third period to break a tie and end a 15-game goalless drought dating to Oct. 24 at Carolina.
Nikita Kucherov also scored twice to tie Alex Ovechkin for the league lead with 19 as the Lightning swept the two-game season series.
Andrei Vasilevskiy finished with 25 saves for his league-leading 17th victory of the season. Barclay Goodrow and Justin Braun scored for the Sharks, who saw a three-game winning streak come to an end. San Jose was 4-0-2 in its last six games.
Penguins 5, Sabres 1
Five players scored as Pittsburgh won its season-high fourth straight game with a rout of Buffalo.
The Penguins received goals from Evgeni Malkin, Carl Hagelin, Patric Hornqvist, Phil Kessel and Sidney Crosby to produce a 15-game point streak (14-0-1) and eight-game home win streak against Buffalo.
Jason Pominville scored for Buffalo, which has lost four straight — the first three by shutout — and is 1-9-2 in its last 12 games.
Pittsburgh rookie Tristan Jarry, playing on consecutive nights, stopped 32 shots while the Sabres’ Chad Johnson made 24 saves.
Capitals 4, Blue Jackets 3
Alexander Ovechkin scored a tiebreaking power-play goal in the final minute of the second period and Washington defeated Columbus.
The 577th goal of Ovechkin’s career ties him with Mark Recchi for 20th place on the all-time list, while the 218th power-play tally of his career moves Ovechkin into sole possession of 10th place on that list.
Braden Holtby made 32 saves for the Capitals.
Evegny Kuznetsov, Alex Chiasson and Brett Connolly also scored for Washington. Matt Calvert and Artemi Panarin scored and Sergei Bobrovsky made 19 saves for the Blue Jackets.
Stars 3, Blackhawks 2 (SO)
Ben Bishop made 32 saves to lead Dallas over Chicago for its fourth straight victory.
Alexander Radulov and Tyler Seguin each scored in the shootout for the Stars. Bishop stopped Patrick Kanes and Jonathan Toews to help Dallas extend a four-game winning streak.
Radulov and Radek Faksa scored in regulation for the Stars. Faksa has five goals in his last three games.
Cody Franson and Brandon Saad scored, and Anton Forsberg made 33 saves for the Blackhawks.
Predators 3, Ducks 2 (OT)
Kevin Fiala and Kyle Turris scored in the shootout as Nashville edged Anaheim.
Pekka Rinne (33 saves) stoned Corey Perry and Adam Henrique on the Ducks’ shootout offerings as the Predators improved to 10-2-1 at home. Anaheim lost for the sixth time in seven games (1-4-2).
Calle Jarnkrok and Fiala scored in regulation for Nashville. Henrique scored his first goal with Anaheim while Cam Fowler also scored and Ryan Miller stopped 33 shots for the Ducks.
Oilers 7, Flames 5
Jesse Puljujarvi scored twice and Edmonton withstood a third-period charge by Calgary Flames to beat their provincial rival.
The Oilers hung on after leading 6-1 heading into the third period to win their sixth straight against the Flames. Jujhar Khaira, Mark Letestu, Milan Lucic, Pat Maroon and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored for Edmonton. Lucic also had two assists.
Oilers goaltender Laurent Brossoit made 29 saves for his first win in eight games. Sam Bennett (two), Michael Frolik, Micheal Ferland and Johnny Gaudreau scored for Calgary.
Wild 2, Blues 1 (OT)
Matt Dumba scored 39 seconds into overtime to send Minnesota past St Louis.
Dumba poked home a rebound after Charlie Coyle’s initial shot was stopped by goaltender Jake Allen (23 saves).
Ryan Suter added his fourth goal of the season and Devan Dubnyk made 41 saves for the Wild, who avenged a 6-3 loss to the Blues last week.
Patrik Berglund scored his second goal in as many contests for St Louis, who has four of its past five games.
Hurricanes 3, Panthers 2 (OT)
Noah Hanifin scored with two seconds left in overtime and Cam Ward stopped 37 shots to move within one victory of 300 for his career as Carolina defeated Florida.
Jeff Skinner’s team-leading 10th goal of the season midway through the third period gave the Panthers a 2-1 lead and snapped Skinner’s eight-game streak without a goal after he registered nine over a 15-game span. Ward made 37 saves.
Aleksander Barkov scored his ninth of the season with 1:56 left, seconds after Carolina had pulled goaltender James Reimer for an extra attacker. Reimer made 44 saves.
Bruins 3, Flyers 0
Brad Marchand returned from a jolting open-ice hit to score one goal and assist on another to lead Boston over slumping Philadelphia.
Tuukka Rask turned aside all 28 shots he faced for his first shutout of the season and the 38th of his career. Ryan Spooner and David Pastrnak also scored even-strength goals for the Bruins, who won for the sixth time in seven games.
The Flyers lost their 10th straight game (0-5-5) while suffering their sixth shutout of the season. The longest they have ever gone without a win came in the 1998-99 season, when they went 0-8-4. Brian Elliott made 24 saves.
Canucks 2, Maple Leafs 1
Markus Granlund and Alex Edler scored first-period goals as Vancouver hung on to defeat Toronto.
Jacob Markstrom made 35 saves for the Canucks, who won their second straight. Vancouver was outshot 25-9 over the final two periods.
James van Riemsdyk scored for the Maple Leafs, who lost for only the fourth time in 13 games. Frederik Andersen stopped 24 shots for Toronto.
Coyotes 5, Devils 0
Derek Stepan set up a goal in the opening minute before scoring the second goal, and Scott Wedgewood made 26 saves to shut out his former team as Arizona defeated New Jersey.
Jason Demers, Justin Martinook, Alex Goligoski and rookie Dylan Strome also scored for the Coyotes, with Strome getting his first NHL goal in his 12th game. Stepan has 13 goals and 14 assists in 34 career games against the Devils.
Wedgewood has two shutouts in 14 career games. His first came for New Jersey against Pittsburgh in 2016.
(Editing by John O’Brien)
