DALLAS (AP) — Jake Oettinger made 22 saves to lead the Dallas Stars to a 2-0 win over the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday night, just two days after being pulled after allowing a season-high six goals.
It’s Oettinger’s fourth shutout this season and first since Oct. 17. Oettinger posted shutouts in three of Dallas’ first six games — including a 4-0 win against Buffalo on Oct. 8 — but had allowed 14 goals in his past three starts, including six in an 8-3 loss to Winnipeg on Thursday.
Stars captain Jamie Benn snapped a scoreless game late in the second period with a goal for the 1,000th point of his 18-year career to give Dallas a 1-0 lead.
Wyatt Johnston took an assist from Mikko Rantanen and Roope Hintz and scored on a power play with 40 seconds remaining for the final score.
Oettinger and the Stars’ defense held off the Sabres during a furious five-on-four power play midway through the third period. Moments later, Oettinger splayed his right leg out to stop a breakaway shot from point-blank range by Jack Quinn. Seconds later, Quinn had another chance to pull Buffalo even, but Oettinger was there for the save.
The Stars had three penalty kills in the first period, but still held a 10 to 6 shots-on-goal advantage in the opening frame. The Sabres killed two Stars power plays in the period. Dallas had five penalty kills in the game and outshot Buffalo 30-22.
Up next
The Stars host the Florida Panthers on Sunday.
The Sabres play the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday night.
After their 2-0 loss against the Dallas Stars Saturday night in Dallas, the Buffalo Sabres find themselves on a four-game losing streak after that includes a 3-2 loss to the lowly Chicago Blackhawks, and an 8-3 blowout defeat at the hands of the Tampa Bay Lightning. And Buffalo’s record after Saturday’s loss is a thoroughly-unimpressive 8-8-4.
The string of losses is putting the Sabres in the same troublingly-familiar position as the one they were in last season: By November 13 last year, Buffalo was in the midst of a five-game losing skid, and they had a record of 5-8-4. And it took the Sabres to get to the first week of December – when they had a record of 11-14-4 – before they suddenly changed their competitive trajectory and stunningly went 39-9-5 the rest of the way.
You never know what can happen with any team, but it doesn’t feel like this particular Sabres team has it in them to flip the script. And one of the reasons this writer feels that way is because Buffalo is getting sub-par performances from their goaltenders.
To be sure, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen has a 5-4-3 record, an .867 save percentage (worst of any Sabres goalie this year), and a 3.51 goals-against average. Meanwhile, ostensible backup Colten Ellis has a 3-3-0 record, an .873 SP and a 3.39 GAA. And veteran Alex Lyon – who had missed the entire season thus far before he started against the Blackhawks – put up a 2.87 GAA and an .880 SP in his first game back. And Sabres management gave Lyon a second straight start against the Stars, but he allowed two goals on 30 Dallas shots – a solid performance, but the Sabres still lost after they couldn't produce a single goal.
Obviously, this can’t continue if Buffalo intends on being a Stanley Cup playoff team, let alone a true Cup frontrunner.
The Hawks loss in particular has to be a huge red flag for Sabres GM Jarmo Kekalainen. Although Buffalo sits sixth in the Atlantic Division and Eastern Conference standings, there’s plenty of cause for concern in Western New York. And that’s in part because the NHL schedule-maker has put many solid squads in front of them in approximately the next two weeks.
For instance, after their next game a tilt Tuesday against the brutal Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday, but after that, the Sabres’ next opponent will be the Washington Capitals (who have already beaten Buffalo once this year), followed by the Florida Panthers, Lightning, and the surprisingly-solid New York Rangers. And on Dec. 1, they get a road game against the high-octane Edmonton Oilers. So it’s no exaggeration to say that the Sabres’ record by December could be exactly where it was last season.
Kekalainen can’t let that happen. He’s not likely to fire coach Lindy Ruff, but it says here that he should be doing whatever is necessary to improve his team’s chances of getting into the post-season and do some serious damage once they get there.
The Sabres have $3-million in salary cap space to work with right now, and that number balloons to $11 million by this year’s NHL trade deadline, which comes on March 1. But Kekalainen has all three of his first-round draft picks in the next three drafts, as well as two second-rounders and five third-rounders. Buffalo is long past the point where they have to keep all their first-rounders, and given how valuable first-rounders are these days, Kekalainen should be demanding a difference-making forward or goaltender if he’s going to give an opposing team one of his first-rounders.
Thus, you can see why Sabres fans are antsy to change up the chemistry with this Buffalo squad. Their goals-for average ranks 22nd thus far this season, and their goals-against average ranks 27th. If either of those rankings were on the right track, you could forgive the Sabres and put some stock in them turning things around.
However, this current stretch of the schedule is being squandered by Buffalo. Sure, there were tough opponents in the Vegas Golden Knights and Lightning, but they lost those games by a combined score of 12-4 – and in their current four-game losing skid, they’ve been outscored by a combined total of 16-6. That’s a very bad harbinger of what’s to come, and it’s now on Kekalainen to shake the trees in the GM community and find a player or players to provide the jolt this Sabres team Obviously needs.
If he can’t do that, Kekalainen is going to find himself on the hot seat, trying to justify his existence. And in the end, he may fail in that regard as well.
Reilly was the subject of several healthy scratches before being placed on waivers by the Hurricanes on Saturday. This is because his most recent appearance for Carolina was on Oct. 18. Thus, with this and Jordan Staal returning for the Hurricanes, it is understandable that the former Canadiens blueliner has been waived by Carolina.
Teams looking for more experienced blueline depth could consider claiming Reilly off waivers from the Hurricanes. If he passes through waivers unclaimed, the Hurricanes would then be able to assign him to their AHL affiliate, the Chicago Wolves.
Reilly has played in eight games this season with the Hurricanes, where he has recorded two assists, 15 hits, and a plus-4 rating.
Reilly played three seasons with the Canadiens from 2017-18 to 2019-20. In 90 games as a member of the Canadiens, the left-shot defenseman recorded three goals, 20 assists, 23 points, 77 hits, and 85 blocks.
Reilly's time with the Canadiens ended when he was traded to the Ottawa Seantors in January of the 2019-20 campaign.
MONTREAL, CANADA- NOVEMBER 14: Brock Nelson #11 of the Colorado Avalanche celebrates after scoring a goal during the first period of the NHL regular season game between the Montreal Canadiens and the Colorado Avalanche at the Bell Centre on November 14, 2026 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. (Photo by Arianne Bergeron/NHLI via Getty Images) | NHLI via Getty Images
To finish out their eastern Canadian swing, the Colorado Avalanche visited the Montreal Canadiens in what is always a spirited affair. News broke earlier in the day that they’d have to tackle this game shorthanded with both Cale Makar and Nathan MacKinnon out with injury. It was a classic win by committee through adversity as the Avalanche found themselves with a 4-1 victory.
Life sans superstars started off on a positive note as Fedor Svechkov got the scoring started and gave the Avalanche an early lead on a puck that was chipped over Montreal netminder Jakub Dobes. Brock Nelson doubled the score on a slick feed from Artturi Lehkonen. Montreal found the 10-5 shot advantage but Colorado had the 2-0 lead on the scoreboard.
In the second period the two teams traded a pair of power plays each but neither team could convert. Montreal did get on the board with a goal from Nick Suzuki after he took advantage of some very lax Avalanche defense. The score at the second intermission was 2-1 Colorado.
With the benefit of another power play to open the third period, Colorado added to their lead with Artturi Lehkonen’s 15th goal of the season doing what he does best cleaning up the garbage at the net front. At one point it seemed Montreal would make it a game again when Alex Newhook tipped a puck past Mackenzie Blackwood but after a lengthy review it was determined he touched the puck with a high stick and the goal was wiped out. Montreal pulled the goalie with several minutes left and in the dying seconds Nic Roy found the back of the net to give Colorado a 4-1-victory.
Takeaways
If Colorado is going to survive the era with MacKinnon and Makar on the shelf they are really going to need to accept help from the non-veteran players in their lineup. It was disappointing to see Fedor Svechkov score on the opening minutes of the game and yet finished with the team-low 10 minutes of ice time with a 82% share of the expected goals while he was on the ice. He will be wasted on the fourth line in a healthy lineup and with one aching for useful depth guys like Svechkov will be key to keeping this team afloat.
Rookie defenseman Alex Gagne made his NHL debut and played nearly 12 minutes. He did well enough in a third pair role with Brent Burns. It remains to be seen if Gagne gets the opportunity throughout Makar’s full absence or if there will be trading out players especially as Colorado has a very light schedule over the next couple of weeks.
Upcoming
A couple days rest and then a big Central division matchup at the Utah Mammoth to begin yet another back-to-back on Wednesday, November 18th at 8 p.m. MT.
MONTREAL (AP) — Artturi Lehkonen had a goal and an assist and the short-handed Colorado Avalanche beat the Montreal Canadiens 4-1 on Saturday night without injured stars Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar.
MacKinnon and Makar both sustained lower-body injuries Thursday night in a 4-3 overtime loss in Ottawa. Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said MacKinnon will be out at least a month, while Makar is expected to miss two weeks.
Fedor Svechkov, Brock Nelson and Nicolas Roy also scored for Colorado (12-6-3). Mackenzie Blackwood stopped 25 shots.
Nick Suzuki replied with a highlight-reel goal for Montreal (12-4-4), which had gone 12 consecutive games without losing in regulation (9-0-3).
Jakub Dobes made 22 saves in his first start in nine days.
Colorado defenseman Brent Burns became the 14th player in NHL history — and only active player — to play in 1,600 games. The 41-year-old defender has suited up in 1,028 consecutive contests dating to Nov. 21, 2013. Phil Kessel holds the NHL’s “Ironman” record at 1,064 straight games, a number Burns could pass Feb. 15.
Up next
Avalanche: At Utah on Wednesday night.
Canadiens: Host the New York Rangers on Monday night.
TORONTO (AP) — Connor McDavid extended his season-opening points streak to 21 games with an assist, Devon Levi made 19 saves for his first NHL shutout and the Edmonton Oilers beat Toronto 1-0 on Saturday night to hand the Maple Leafs their sixth straight home loss.
Defenseman Evan Bouchard scored his 12th goal of the season for Edmonton (15-3-3). The Oilers are 7-1-1 in their last nine games.
McDavid picked up an assist to give him 50 points (11 goals, 39 assists) and add to his NHL lead.
Oilers coach Mike Babcock faced his former team in Toronto for the first time since being fired in November 2019.
Anthony Stolarz stopped 22 shots for Toronto (8-12-2), which suffered its sixth consecutive regulation loss to complete a disastrous six-game stretch at Scotiabank Arena.
The goaltender started consecutive games for the first time this season with Sergei Bobrovsky struggling to find traction after signing with the Maple Leafs in free agency on July 1.
Michael Amadio had a goal and an assist to lead the Senators to a 4-1 win in Pittsburgh on Saturday night. The Senators have taken 9 of a possible 10 points in the past five games and now share the Atlantic lead with 28.
Linus Ullmark made 16 saves for the Sens, who outshot the Penguins 34-17 and got goals from Claude Giroux, Tim Stutzle and Thomas Chabot.
The Penguins appeared to open the scoring at 7:01 of the first period when Tommy Novak was credited with a bizarre goal that featured a couple of strange bounces. However, video review determined that Pittsburgh's Egor Chinakhov was offside before the goal, wiping it off the board.
The Penguins did get on the board with just six seconds remaining in the first, thanks to a defensive breakdown by Thomas Chabot and Carter Yakemchuk, who put on a clinic in how not to defend a two-on-two.
Chinakhov lifted Chabot's stick as the Senators defenceman pinched and attempted to intercept a pass. As Chinakhov glided past Chabot, Yakemchuk veered toward him, and the Penguins forward slid the puck over to Novak, who had about two-thirds of the net to shoot at. He made no mistake, giving Pittsburgh a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes.
The Senators tied the game at 8:04 of the second period following a terrible Penguins giveaway, reminiscent of Shane Pinto's overtime winner against Colorado on Thursday night. Michael Amadio made a good read to intercept a careless pass to the middle and beat the goaltender with a wrist shot.
With four minutes remaining in the second, Claude Giroux put the Sens ahead with his fourth goal of the season.
With the Penguins in the middle of a line change, Pittsburgh forward Ben Kindel committed the ultimate sin, failing to get the puck deep while his teammates were heading to the bench. Kindel tried to dump it in, but instead fired the puck off Yakemchuk's skate.
The puck caromed out to centre ice, where Giroux found himself on a breakaway. The veteran did a fantastic job of outwaiting Penguins goaltender Sergei Murashov before tucking a backhand upstairs to give the Senators a 2-1 lead after 40 minutes.
In the third, with just over five minutes to play, Tim Stutzle put the game out of reach with a quick wrist shot from his knees that Murashov didn't seem ready for.
Chabot put it away with an empty-netter.
The win leaves the Senators with a record of 13-6-2, and with losses by Tampa and Montreal, the three clubs are suddenly tied for first place in the Atlantic with 28 points, one up on Boston, which also lost on Saturday. It should be noted that the Habs and Lightning do have a game in hand.
The Sens are back at it on Tuesday night in Winnipeg against the Jets, who've won six in a row.
The Detroit Red Wings badly needed to stop the bleeding after they'd dropped five straight games, the most recent of which was a nightmare 5-4 loss to the Florida Panthers after they initially enjoyed a 4-1 lead.
Thanks to goaltender Daniil Tarasov, they did just that against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Tarasov stopped all 31 shots the Lightning fired his way, picking up his second shutout of the campaign in a 2-0 victory at Benchmark International Arena.
Following a scoreless opening 20 minutes of play, it would be the Red Wings breaking the ice thanks to a breakaway goal from Lucas Raymond, who picked up his eighth goal of the season and his second in as many games.
It was also the 350th point of his NHL career.
While the Lightning continued to press for the tying marker, Tarasov denied them at every turn; he stopped four attempts from Brandon Hagel and five attempts from Nikita Kucherov.
With goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy on the bench for an extra attacker, forward Michael Brandsegg-Nygård took a feed from Raymond and buried his fourth tally of the season, sealing Detroit's win.
Vasilevskiy made 20 saves for the Lightning, who were unsuccessful on both of their power play opportunities; the Red Wings never got a chance with the man advantage.
The Red Wings, having concluded their four-game road swing, return home to face another divisional rival, the Boston Bruins, on Wednesday evening at Little Caesars Arena; they'll play six of their next seven games in Detroit.
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DALLAS (AP) — Dallas captain Jamie Benn scored a second-period goal during Saturday night’s game against the Buffalo Sabres for his 1,000th career NHL point, all with the Stars.
Benn, 37, and in his 18th NHL season, is second to Hall of Famer Mike Modano (1,359) in career points for the franchise that began as the Minnesota North Stars in 1967 and moved to Texas in 1993.
The Stars’ bench emptied to celebrate the moment when the longest-tenured captain in Stars history snapped a scoreless tie with his goal.
Benn — a native of Victoria, British Columbia — was drafted in the fifth round in 2007 and made the Stars’ opening night roster in 2009, recording his first league point on an assist in his second game.
He won the league’s 2014-15 Art Ross Trophy for leading the NHL with 87 points (35 goals, 52 assists).
He scored a career-high 41 goals the following season, when he was selected for the second of his two All-Star teams.
Benn’s 1,272 career regular-season games played are the most of any Stars skater since the team relocated to Dallas and ranks second in franchise history behind Modano’s 1,459.
Benn missed the first 20 games last season when he had surgery for a collapsed lung on the eve of the opener. He was re-signed to a one-year contract in July.
The Colorado Avalanche (12-6-3) showed they have plenty of firepower to go around Saturday night, earning a convincing 4-1 victory over the Montreal Canadiens (12-4-4) at the Bell Centre. Playing without two of their biggest stars, Colorado got goals from four different players to hand Montreal its first regulation loss in a month.
Fedor Svechkov and Brock Nelson provided the early offense, while former Canadien Artturi Lehkonen continued his impressive season with his team-leading 15th goal. Nicolas Roy added an empty-netter late in the third period, and Mackenzie Blackwood stopped 22 shots to help Colorado secure the road win.
Nick Suzuki scored the lone goal for the Canadiens and Jakub Dobeš made 23 saves in a valiant effort.
Blackwood in a recent interview.
First Period: Avalanche Strike Twice
Colorado made the most of its opportunities in the opening period, scoring twice despite being outshot 10-5 by Montreal.
Fedor Svechkov opened the scoring after beating Jakub Dobes on a two-on-one rush, with Adam Engstrom unable to get across in time to disrupt the play.
The Avalanche doubled their advantage on a delayed penalty call when Brock Nelson found the back of the net, extending his goal-scoring streak against Montreal to four consecutive games.
Despite being outshot, Colorado took a 2-0 lead into the first intermission, while Mackenzie Blackwood stopped all 10 shots he faced.
Second Period: Suzuki Gets Montreal on the Board
The Canadiens responded in the second period, with captain Nick Suzuki providing the offensive spark.
After Juraj Slafkovsky helped create several opportunities, including chances on the power play, Suzuki delivered a highlight-reel goal. The Montreal captain pulled off a spectacular spin-o-rama in front of the net before beating Blackwood with a backhand to cut Colorado's lead to 2-1.
Suzuki continued his strong history against the Avalanche, recording his 12th point in his last eight games against Colorado.
Both goaltenders made important saves as the period progressed, but the Avalanche maintained their one-goal advantage heading into the third period. Montreal outshot Colorado 18-15 through 40 minutes.
Third Period: Lehkonen Extends the Lead
After Blackwood helped Colorado weather Montreal's push, the Avalanche delivered a crucial insurance goal.
Nazem Kadri got the initial shot off from the low slot, and former Canadien Artturi Lehkonen was in the right place to capitalize on the rebound, batting the puck past Dobes for his 15th goal of the season. Lehkonen's tally extended his team lead in goals and gave Colorado a 3-1 advantage.
Montreal appeared to have an opportunity to get back within one when Alex Newhook redirected the puck into the net. However, following a lengthy video review, the goal was waved off after officials determined the deflection was made with a high stick.
Colorado continued to hold off the Canadiens before Nicolas Roy sealed the victory with an empty-net goal with just 13 seconds remaining.
The 4-1 win extended the Avalanche's remarkable streak to 52 consecutive victories when leading after two periods.
Final Thoughts
It wasn't a perfect performance from Colorado, particularly after being outshot in the opening two periods, but the Avalanche demonstrated their ability to capitalize on scoring opportunities and protect a lead.
Playing without MacKinnon and Makar, Colorado received contributions throughout the lineup. Svechkov and Nelson provided the early offense, Lehkonen continued his outstanding goal-scoring season, and Roy put the finishing touches on the victory.
Blackwood was also a key factor, making 22 saves as the Avalanche handed Montreal its first regulation loss in a month.
Colorado leaves Montreal with a 4-1 road victory and another strong team performance to build on.
CHICAGO - Since their horrific road trip through the southeastern United States ended, the Chicago Blackhawks have been making all sorts of changes on and off the ice. When they took on the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday, it was assumed that there would be a much better effort.
The Blackhawks ended up winning that match 3-2 in overtime after entering the third period down a goal. There is a lot of time left for them to keep working on their game, but it's not going to happen overnight.
On Saturday, the Winnipeg Jets were in town for a daytime match against the Blackhawks. Winners of 5 straight games following a stretch of 8 losses out of 9, the Jets are a difficult team to predict.
The game's opening period went about as well as the Blackhawks could have hoped. The play was rather even, but the Blackhawks held a 3-0 lead at the first intermission. Their first goal came after Connor Bedard's nice zone entry led to Oliver Moore making a perfect pass to Tyler Bertuzzi, who made a nice move and shot to score.
Their second goal was the result of hard work on the forecheck by Ryan Donato. He allowed the puck to find Teuvo Teravainen, who made a great centering pass for Anton Frondell to tip into the net.
Late in the period, the Blackhawks were given a power play, and they took advantage. Patrick Kane won a puck battle behind the net and then fed Connor Bedard for a one-timer, and he beat Stuart Skinner.
In the second period, the Blackhawks made it 4-0 at 14:44 when Frank Nazar tipped home a Teuvo Teravainen shot on the power play. From there, the Hawks appeared to be in control of the game.
Nothing is certain in the NHL, and Winnipeg planted the seed of doubt before the middle frame was over. Mark Scheifele got the Jets on the board after putting one in the net off a great feed from Josh Morrissey. On that goal, Scheifele became the all-time leading scorer in the history of the Winnipeg Jets with 930 career points.
MARK SCHEIFELE SETS THE FRANCHISE RECORD IN POINTS (again)
While the Blackhawks were announcing the goal and congratulating Scheifele on that accomplishment, he made it 931 by assisting on a goal scored by Kyle Connor. Spencer Knight went to play the puck behind the net, and his stick got caught in the boards. Scheifele took advantage of the situation and fed the puck in front to Connor, who beat Knight back to the net.
The 4-2 lead in favor of Chicago made it back to the locker room for the second intermission. Going into the third period, the Blackhawks knew they were going to get an intense push from the Jets.
Early in the final frame, the Jets found themselves on the power play 20 seconds in. Cole Perfetti scored to get them within 1. At that point, the Blackhawks were in trouble as the Jets came all the way back to make it a hockey game.
With the extra attacker, the Jets found a way to tie the game. It felt like it was coming in the moments leading up to it, and they did. Nobody scored in overtime, and the Jets won in the shootout to complete the comeback.
That will go down as one of Chicago's most disappointing losses of the season, which is saying something for a team that's now 5-13-2. It wasn't the standard meltdown, as some fluky plays led to the Jets getting it tied up, but not closing out a game when they were up 4-0 is a meltdown nonetheless - a step backwards after taking the slightest step forward.
The Chicago Blackhawks will be back at home on Tuesday night. It is their final Centennial Celebration, which will take place against the Toronto Maple Leafs. This game will be played on the 100th anniversary of their first game in franchise history, which was against the Toronto St. Pats on November 17th, 1926.
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Brandon Buhr suited up for the Abbotsford Canucks for the first time on November 10. The Metro Vancouver native was acquired, along with Jacob Quillan, during the Aatu Räty trade to the Toronto Maple Leafs on October 15. Before making the jump to the AHL, Buhr played six games in the ECHL with the Kalamazoo Wings, where he recorded two goals and two assists.
Buhr made his Abbotsford debut on home ice, where he recorded his first point, which came via an assist. When asked about his thoughts on joining his hometown franchise, Buhr responded with a smile, saying, "It's a dream come true, honestly. I've been a Canucks fan my whole life, so when I found out I was traded here, I was beyond ecstatic."
Even though Abbotsford fought hard to come back and tie the game, the Colorado Eagles won in a shootout. After the game, Buhr said, "Obviously, feel good about the point, but not too great about the result on the scoreboard."
With a few games now under his belt, Buhr has his sights set on joining the Highway 1 Wall. This wall serves as motivation for the players, as it features everyone who has made their way through the organization from the AHL to the NHL. When asked about one day seeing his name on the wall, Buhr said, "That's the ultimate goal. But just gotta stay where my feet are right now and just take it one day at a time."
Buhr seems to fit perfectly in the Canucks locker room. This group stands up for each other, celebrates individual wins, and strives to move the whole team forward. Buhr’s humble demeanour and ambition to help the team as much as he can are two characteristics that should help him thrive in Abbotsford.
"It's a great group of guys. I've had a lot of fun since being here, and hopefully I can stick around."
On November 11, the Canucks celebrated the franchise's 200th win. It was also a special night for Buhr, as he scored his first career AHL goal.
"It was a huge relief. I don't know how to explain the feeling, but it's very lifting.”
Size has always been a big part of Buhr's game. He is listed at 6'2, 204 lbs and uses his body as an advantage in his game. When asked about the physicality in his game, Buhr said, "I get hard on the forecheck, but I also have the ability to score goals, shoot the puck hard, and skate fast."
Buhr now has three points in two games with Abbotsford. As he explained, getting on the scoresheet early has helped him settle into the AHL. "Definitely was a little confidence boost, but I was trying to stick to my same game. You know, just be physical, fast, and when I have a chance, shoot it. But obviously, didn't really need to shoot for that goal today."
As a BC kid, Buhr is enjoying his first few games with the Canucks. What used to be a childhood dream is now his reality. Ultimately, Buhr understands the responsibility of wearing the Abbotsford crest and is focused on doing whatever it takes to represent the organization with pride.
Brandon Buhr of the Abbotsford Canucks (Photo Credit: @abbycanucks on "X")
Make sure you bookmark THN's Vancouver Canucks site and add us to your favourites on Google News for the latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns, and so much more. Also, don't forget to leave a comment at the bottom of the page and engage with other passionate fans through our forum. This article originally appeared on The Hockey News.
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CHICAGO (AP) — Mark Scheifele had a goal and three assists, Kyle Connor scored a goal in regulation and had the deciding shootout goal, and the Winnipeg Jets rallied from a four-goal deficit to beat the Chicago Blackhawks 5-4 on Saturday.
The Jets’ sixth straight win was their second comeback from four goals down this season. They scored four times in 2:07 to beat Montreal 5-4 in overtime on Nov. 3.
Gabriel Vilardi’s shot from the right slot tied the game 4-all with 1:13 left in regulation and goalie Nico Daws pulled for an extra attacker.
Scheifele also scored in the shootout. Daws stopped Roman Kantserov to lock up the victory.
Spencer Knight, who made 27 saves, lost his bid for the Blackhawks’ first shutout since March when Scheifele ripped a 15-foot shot past his glove side with 3:55 to play in the second period to make it 4-1. Scheifele’s goal made him the Jets’ points leader for the second time. He finished the game with 933 points.
Scheifele had held the mark until the original Jets’ records were consolidated before this season, making the late Dale Hawerchuk, who played for the team that eventually moved to Phoenix, the points leader.
Only 1:56 later, Scheifele set up Kyle Connor for his 700th career point to cut the lead to 4-2. In the first minute of the third period, Cole Perfetti’s power-play score brought the Jets within a goal.
Daws made 12 saves in relief for Winnipeg.
The Blackhawks chased Winnipeg starting goalie Stuart Skinner from the crease after 20 minutes, scoring three times on eight shots in the first period. Tyler Bertuzzi, Anton Frondell and Connor Bedard scored the goals. The Blackhawks took a 4-0 lead on Frank Nazar’s tip with 5:16 left in the second and Daws in the net.
Up Next
Winnipeg: Hosts Ottawa on Tuesday night.
Chicago: Hosts Toronto on Tuesday night, on the 100th anniversary of the Blackhawks’ first game.
Rick Tocchet’s club needed to start coming through in tight games.
On Saturday night, it did.
The Flyers edged the Blue Jackets, 4-3, at Nationwide Arena.
Denver Barkey put up the first multi-goal game of his NHL career. His second marker snapped a 3-3 tie with 8:06 minutes left in the third period.
Trevor Zegras and Matvei Michkov provided the Flyers’ other goals.
All in all, considering some of the drama and tough finishes, the Flyers (6-10-6) had a respectable road trip by picking up at least a point in four of the five games. They went 2-1-2 and it could have been even better.
But on Saturday night, the Flyers overcame an early 2-0 deficit and found a way to win a game decided by one goal. They improved to 2-4-6 in such games.
Tocchet’s club has gone 6-5-4 in its last 15 games.
The Flyers had lost their previous six matchups with Columbus (0-3-3). They’re 1-0-1 against the Blue Jackets (7-11-0) this season and face them two more times.
• Joseph Woll was real solid, converting 28 saves on 31 shots.
He had some timely stops, including one on Damon Severson with three seconds left.
After Columbus struck twice just 4:19 minutes into the game, Woll surrendered just one goal the rest of the way.
Dmitri Voronkov and Matthew Knies handed the Flyers the 2-0 deficit. The Flyers responded with three straight goals to take a 3-2 lead in the second period. Zegras started the Flyers’ comeback with a first-period goal.
After the Flyers went in front, Adam Fantilli tied it back up for the Blue Jackets during the middle frame.
Columbus netminder Jet Greaves stopped 17 of the Flyers’ 21 shots.
Michkov tied the game at 2-2 just 1:19 minutes into the second period with a silky breakaway move. He stripped Fantilli to spring himself the other way.
It was Michkov’s 11th goal of the season. He has 14 points (nine goals, five assists) over the last 14 games.
• Barkey gave the Flyers their first lead, as well. That goal came on the man advantage.
The Flyers’ power play has been significantly better over the last 13 games. It has produced 11 goals.
Owen Tippett gave the Flyers their power play opportunity on Barkey’s goal. He hit Kent Johnson and then drew a roughing penalty on Dante Fabbro by dropping the gloves with the Blue Jackets’ defenseman.
• The Flyers are right back at it Sunday when they return home to face Connor McDavid and the Oilers for the second time in five days (7:30 p.m. ET/NBCSP).
The Winnipeg Jets staged another furious rally from a 4-0 deficit, and the 5-4 victory was aided by the flukiest of fluke goals.
Chicago Blackhawks goaltender Spencer Knight skated behind his net to make a routine play on a dump-in on Saturday, Nov. 14. But he wasn't able to play the puck because his stick got wedged into a small gap in the boards.
Jets forward Mark Scheifele swooped in, grabbed the puck and passed it to Kyle Connor. Knight desperately tried to get to the front of the net, but Connor scored to cut the Blackhawks' lead to 4-2 at 18:01 of the second period.
Knight skated behind the net and pulled out the stick, which was still standing upright, as Jets players celebrated.
"It was stuck and you really don't know what to do," he told reporters after the game. "It was a kind of weird thing. Maybe you can see if they can make it a little tighter of a hole. I don't know."
Jets goal: Kyle Connor scores after Knight's stick got stuck in the boards behind the net... pic.twitter.com/SHRgOvlCrQ
Mark Scheifele sets Winnipeg Jets team scoring record
The play happened while the public address announcer at United Center was acknowledging that Scheifele had become the Jets' all-time leading scorer with his goal earlier in the second period.
The goal gave Scheifele 930 career points with the franchise. The late Dale Hawerchuk had 929 with the Jets during his Hall of Fame career. Scheifele had played junior hockey for Hawerchuk on the Barrie Colts.
"Dale was an incredible human, an incredible mentor, teacher, everything to me," Scheifele told Sportsnet after the game. "Honestly, I'm just so humbled and honored to be in the same stratosphere as Dale is."
The statistics of the first version of the Winnipeg Jets (1980-1996) were recently incorporated into the stats of the current version (2012 to present).
"Dale would be so proud," Hawerchuk's family said in a statement. "He saw something special in Mark from the beginning and cherished his relationship as coach, mentor and friend. We know there is no one Dale would be more honored to see break his points record."
Scheifele would finish the game with a goal and three assists to push his career total to 933 as the Jets forced overtime.
He and Connor scored in the shootout for a 5-4 victory and another major comeback.
"It's a 60-minute game, not a 20-minute game," Knight said of the Blackhawks' blown lead.
Earlier this month, the Jets overcame a 4-0 deficit in the final 2:31 of regulation against the Montreal Canadiens to win 5-4 in overtime. It was the latest 4-0 comeback in league history, according to the NHL.
That Nov. 3 victory ended Winnipeg's nine-game losing streak and the Jets have won six in a row since then.
