Georgiev makes 33 saves, Rangers shut out Devils 4-0
![AP Image](data:image/svg+xml,<svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 800 514"></svg>)
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Alexandar Georgiev stopped 33 shots for his third career shutout, leading the surging New York Rangers to a 4-0 win over the short-handed New Jersey Devils on Saturday.
New York improved to 4-0-1 in its last five games. Mika Zibanejad had a goal and an assist, and Jesper Fast, Adam Fox and Brady Skjei also scored.
Georgiev had 11 saves in the first, 10 in the second and 12 in the third to get New York’s first shutout of the season.
Mackenzie Blackwood had 19 saves for New Jersey, which went 0 for 8 on the power play while giving up two short-handed goals. It lost for the fourth time in six games.
FLYERS 4, CANADIENS 3, OT
MONTREAL (AP) — Ivan Provorov scored 31 seconds into overtime, and Philadelphia earned its fourth straight victory.
Oskar Lindblom, Kevin Hayes and Travis Konecny also scored for the Flyers (15-7-5), who were coming off a 6-1 win over Detroit on Friday. Brian Elliott made 39 saves.
The Canadiens (11-9-6) dropped their seventh consecutive game. Tomas Tatar had two goals, and Joel Armia also scored. Keith Kinkaid stopped 25 shots.
Provorov used a nifty move to get around Max Domi before beating Kinkaid for his sixth of the season.
MAPLE LEAFS 2, SABRES 1, OT
TORONTO (AP) — John Tavares scored at 1:45 of overtime and picked up his 400th NHL assist as Toronto split a home-andhome series with Buffalo.
Tavares’ 10th goal of the season helped Toronto improve to 4-1-0 in its last five games. William Nylander also scored for the Maple Leafs (13-11-4). Frederik Andersen made 29 saves in victory.
Rasmus Ristolainen scored for Buffalo (12-10-5). Carter Hutton made 41 saves in defeat and fell to 0-5-3 in his last eight games.
The game marked the home-coaching debut for Sheldon Keefe. The former NHLer from Brampton was named head coach of the Maple Leafs on Nov. 20 after the team dismissed Mike Babcock.
FLAMES 3, SENATORS 1
CALGARY, Alberta (AP) — Elias Lindholm scored the deciding goal late in the third period and added an empty-netter, leading Calgary past Ottawa.
New Flames coach Geoff Ward won for the second time in as many games. He was also a winner on Wednesday night, when Calgary beat Buffalo 3-2 in overtime.
Calgary head coach Bill Peters resigned on Friday amid allegations of racial slurs and physical abuse of players in previous jobs. Peters' resignation came after a lengthy process that included investigations by the Flames and the NHL.
Dillon Dube also scored for Calgary (13-12-4). The Flames improved to 3-0-1 in their last four games.
Jean-Gabriel Pageau had his team-leading 14th goal for Ottawa (11-15-1), which lost its fourth straight. David Rittich made 26 saves and improved to 12-7-4.
Marcus Hogberg had 24 saves for Ottawa in his first start of the season and the fifth of his career.
HURRICANES 3, LIGHTNING 2
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — James Reimer made 36 saves, Sebastian Aho and Jaccob Slavin each had a goal and an assist, and Carolina beat Tampa Bay.
Carolina also got a goal from Jordan Martinook. Dougie Hamilton had two assists.
Brayden Point and Tyler Johnson scored for the Lightning, who have lost three straight (0-2-1). Curtis McElhinney stopped 21 shots.
ISLANDERS 2, BLUE JACKETS 0
NEW YORK (AP) — Mathew Barzal had a goal and an assist, Semyon Varlamov got his second shutout of the season, and New York beat Columbus.
Anders Lee also scored to help the Islanders get a win in the return from an 0-2-1 California trip that ended their franchise-record 17-game point streak. Thomas Greiss started and made nine saves before leaving with 5:54 left in the first period. Varlamov came on and stopped all 30 shots he faced to earn his 27th career shutout.
Elvis Merzlikins finished with 25 saves as the 25-year-old Latvian fell to 0-3-3 in his rookie season for the Blue Jackets.
PANTHERS 3, PREDATORS 0
SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Chris Driedger posted a shutout in his first career start, Anton Stralman scored his first two goals of the season and Florida beat Nashville.
Driedger stopped 27 shots in his first appearance with Florida. The 25-year-old appeared in three games for Ottawa between 2014-17 but had never started in the NHL.
Aleksander Barkov added his eighth goal as the Panthers won for the first time in four games. It was the Predators' first loss in regulation in the past five games.
Juuse Saros stopped 24 shots for Nashville.
CAPITALS 5, RED WINGS 2
DETROIT (AP) — Alex Ovechkin completed a hat trick with two empty-net goals and Washington dealt Detroit its ninth straight loss.
Ovechkin reached 20 goals for the 15th consecutive season to start his career, a feat previously achieved by Marcel Dionne, Mike Gartner, Jaromir Jagr and Mats Sundin. The 34-year-old Ovechkin also had an assist.
T.J. Oshie had a goal and an assist, Tom Wilson also scored and Evgeny Kuznetsov had three assists for the Capitals. Ilya Samsonov stopped 25 shots.
Robby Fabbri and Luke Glendening scored for Detroit, which has been outscored 24-4 in its last five games. Jonathan Bernier made 29 saves.
BLUES 4, PENGUINS 1
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Justin Faulk and Nathan Walker each scored for the first time with the Blues, and St. Louis beat Pittsburgh.
Jaden Schwartz had a goal and an assist and Ivan Barbashev and Mackenzie MacEachern also scored for the Blues, who won their third straight game and have points in their last four. Jordan Binnington made 28 saves and improved to 13-4-4.
Sam Lafferty and Kris Letang scored for the Penguins, who lost their second straight game. Matt Murray, playing for the first time since Nov. 7, made 22 saves.
SHARKS 4, COYOTES 2
GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Logan Couture scored twice and San Jose got four unanswered goals to rally past Arizona for ITS 11th win in 13 games.
Couture bookended San Jose’s comeback, starting it midway through the first period and completing it with an empty-netter. He has five goals and 14 points in his past 10 games.
Dylan Gambrell and Timo Meier also scored for San Jose.
The Sharks extended their NHL record by winning their 45th consecutive game in which they have allowed fewer than three goals. They broke the mark in a 4-1 victory over the Los Angeles Kings on Friday.
Nick Schmaltz and Derek Stepan scored on the Coyotes’ first two shots, but Martin Jones stymied the Coyotes the rest of the way. Jones made 21 saves while starting on back-to-back days for the first time this season.
AVALANCHE 7, BLACKHAWKS 3
DENVER (AP) — Mikko Rantanen had a goal and three assists in his return to Colorado’s lineup after missing 16 games due to injury, and Nazem Kadri and Joonas Donskoi each scored twice in the win over Chicago.
Nathan MacKinnon added a goal and two assists and Tyson Jost also scored to help Colorado sweep the two-game set.
Robin Lehner had nine saves before being replaced by Corey Crawford, who didn’t do much better.
Patrick Kane scored his 14th goal late in the third to extend his points streak to 15 games, the longest of the season in the NHL. Brandon Saab and Dominik Kubalik also scored. Crawford stopped 13 shots.
Modified 21 Dec 2019, 01:12 IST