The losing streak is officially over as the Vancouver Canucks defeated the Washington Capitals 4-3 on Wednesday night. Brock Boeser, Evander Kane and Drew O'Connor found the back of the net while Filip Hronek's third of the season served as the game-winner. In net, Kevin Lankinen was strong as he stopped 29 of the 32 shots he faced for his first win of 2026.

Yes, you read that right, the Canucks have finally snapped their 11-game winning streak. After giving up two in the first, Vancouver fought back and was able to pick up their first win since December 29, 2025. The Canucks even earned a standing ovation as the Rogers Arena crowd cheered as the final seconds ticked off the clock. 

One of the major differences from Wednesday compared to other games on this losing streak is that Vancouver was able to play with a lead. Not only did the Canucks have a strong defensive outing, but they were persistent on the forecheck all night. Post-game, Head Coach Adam Foote spoke about the victory and mentioned a few players he felt stepped up in a big way. 

"We got down early, as you saw, and they were resilient," said Foote. "I think the best part about it was how our bench was after being down two nothing. It was really calm. And you've got to give a lot of credit to the guys for not getting rattled. It was really, you know, TJ, the ref came up to us after the first, and he said he missed that call. It was a really odd call, though. I could see why he missed it. You don't see that happen too often in the game, but when they got the high stick on the play, here you go, here we go. Really, is this happening right now? But maybe it was meant to be. To give a test to our guys. It was, were one of the best games I saw Garley (Conor Garland) and Boeser play. Not just because Boes got points. He was competing, and he was matched against Wilson. Real tough matchup, and he defended.

Boeser did have a strong game overall as he scored and recorded an assist in 16:20 of ice time. After a long goalless drought, he is starting to find his form and now has two in his last four games. Post-game, Boeser spoke to the media about his goal and how his overall recent play. 

"Just as of late, I'm just trying to shoot the puck more and get back to myself," said Boeser." And you know, I think when I shoot the puck, I feed off that. And you know, I feel better as the game goes on. So definitely something I am trying to do."

In a season that has gone after the rails, Wednesday was a positive that Canucks fans should celebrate. Vancouver fought hard and found a way to snap one of the longest losing streaks in franchise history. Overall, it was a good night for the fans at Rogers Arena as they had the chance to celebrate a Canucks win at home for the first time since December 6, 2025. 

Stats and Facts

- Brock Boeser records his 98th career multi-point game

- Jake DeBrusk records his sixth multi-point game with Vancouver

- Kevin Lankinen picks up his 77th career win

- David Kämpf records career assists numbers 98 and 99 

Scoring Summary:

1st Period:

8:25- WSH: Dylan Strome (12) from Tom Wilson and John Carlson (PPG)
9:43- WSH: Justin Sourdif (10) from Dylan Strome and Alex Ovechkin (PPG)
13:32- VAN: Brock Boeser (11) from David Kämpf
18:22- VAN: Evander Kane (9) from Jake DeBrusk 

2nd Period:

8:58- VAN: Drew O'Connor (12) from David Kämpf and Brock Boeser
11:43- VAN: Filip Hronek (4) from Jake DeBrusk and Tom Willander 

3rd Period:

16:37- WSH: Dylan Strome (13) from Justin Sourdif and Jakob Chychrun

Up Next:

The Canucks homestand continues on Friday when the New Jersey Devils visit Rogers Arena. Vancouver picked up the win the last time these two teams met earlier this season. Game time is set for 7:00 pm PT. 

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SEATTLE — Throughout a trip that everyone in the organization seemed to agree was the longest of their careers, the Islanders had done an excellent job of not letting the extended time on the road get to them.

The operative word in that sentence: had.

Because on Wednesday night in the seventh and last game of this two-week odyssey, the Islanders looked like they couldn’t wait to get on the plane and get home.

They had been playing survive-and-advance hockey most of the trip, and finally, that wasn’t enough against the Kraken in a 4-1 defeat at Climate Pledge Arena.

They finished the trip 3-3-1, a record that simultaneously feels disappointing given the Islanders beat the two best teams they played — Edmonton and Minnesota — while perhaps being more than they deserved given that they may not have decisively been the better team in any of the seven games.

“We gotta find ways to take care of the puck,” a sullen Casey Cizikas told The Post. “It’s happening too many times right now. Turn a puck over, giving them chances, odd-man chances. It’s just those turnovers are killing us, and we gotta find a way to limit those.”

Truth be told, Cizikas admitted, the problem didn’t start Wednesday.

“There’s gonna be turnovers in games, it’s inevitable, it’s gonna happen. The game’s fast, guys are on you quick,” he said. “But it’s the dumb ones.

“I think I can agree that we have gotten away with it a bit but weren’t able to come back this time or get away with it. Just frustrating.”

As for Wednesday, the high point of the game came less than three minutes in, when Anthony Duclair wired a puck in off Cal Ritchie’s feed on the power play to open the scoring.

After that, it was all Kraken.

The Islanders were beaten to too many pucks, couldn’t sustain any offense and their power play — which looked great zipping around the puck before Duclair’s goal — went ice cold.

The latter point proved particularly important as Seattle handed the Islanders seven power plays, but New York could only capitalize on the first.

They finished the night with just seven shots in 10:22 at five-on-four.

“I think we just need to move the puck faster,” coach Patrick Roy said, adding that the Islanders had passed up on too many shots. “Make quicker decisions and move it up, throw more pucks at the net.”

It was the Kraken who instead made the most of the man advantage, scoring at five-on-three on Matty Beniers’ tip at 10:40 of the first, and again just two seconds after Duclair’s tripping penalty — which had negated an Islanders power play — expired.

That goal, scored by former Ranger Kaapo Kakko on a searing wrister from the right circle to make it 3-1 at 16:28 of the second, technically wasn’t on the power play, but might as well have been.

On both that and Vince Dunn’s goal off an odd-man rush that caught Mathew Barzal’s line up ice to break a 1-1 tie in the second, Roy took issue with his team’s poor backchecking.

“We gave two goals where we should have backchecked better,” he said. “I wasn’t happy the way we backchecked on those plays.”

• CHECK OUT THE LATEST NHL STANDINGS AND ISLANDERS STATS

When Roy emptied his net with a little over four minutes to go in regulation, Jared McCann promptly obliged with an empty-netter to make it 4-1 and seal the game.

All told, the Islanders didn’t look like they had much in the tank, and Patrick Roy’s search for the right line combinations appears set to continue.

Aside from Barzal’s line, which at least generated some chances, he didn’t get much from any of his forward trios on Wednesday.

If Bo Horvat is ready to return when the Islanders are next in action on Saturday afternoon at home against Buffalo, it would do this team a world of good.

Otherwise, the Islanders will need to hope that this performance was about being at the end of the line after a long road trip, though that reasoning didn’t go far in the postgame dressing room.

“That just can’t be an excuse,” Cizikas said. “You gotta find ways to dig deep and gut these ones out. That’s what top teams in this league do. That’s what playoff teams in this league do.

“It’s a good learning experience for our team that we gotta play a full 60. We gotta have each other’s backs. But we gotta take care of the puck. We have to take care of the puck.”

TORONTO (AP) — Dylan Larkin scored at 3:07 of overtime as the Detroit Red Wings downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 2-1 on Wednesday night.

Simon Edvinsson also scored for Detroit. John Gibson made 30 saves. Larkin added an assist for a two-point performance.

Scott Laughton scored for Toronto, and Joseph Woll stopped 39 shots.

The Red Wings improved to 7-1-0 over their last eight games. The Maple Leafs fell to 1-2-2 across their last five contests following an 8-0-2 run.

Laughton opened the scoring at 4:46 of the first period before Edvinsson replied with 17.7 seconds remaining on the clock, moments after Woll made a huge pad save during a scramble.

Larkin won it in the extra period after Detroit defenseman Moritz Seider stole the puck from Maple Leafs winger Easton Cowan.

MAMMOTH 5, FLYERS 4, OT

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Clayton Keller scored two twice to help Utah rally from a three-goal deficit and beat Philadelphia Flyers in overtime.

Keller forced overtime when he scored on an unassisted backhand shot with 34.2 seconds left in regulation. He followed with the winner 2:01 into overtime, snapping in the puck off a feed from Dylan Guenther.

JJ Peterka, Lawson Crouse and Barrett Hayton also scored for Utah, which won its fourth straight. Karel Vejmelka made 25 saves for the Mammoth.

Christian Dvorak had two goals and an assist another to lead the Flyers. Cam York and Bobby Brink also scored. Samuel Ersson made 22 stops for Philadelphia, which lost for the seventh time in eight games.

Philadelphia scored twice in the first five minutes. York put the Flyers on the board 29 seconds into the game when Dvorak tapped the puck out to him and he blasted a one-timer home. Dvorak extended the lead on his first goal at 4:36, attacking Vejmelka and threading a wrist shot around his skate.

DUCKS 2, AVALANCHE 1, SO

DENVER (AP) — Mikael Granlund and Cutter Gauthier scored in the shootout and Lukas Dostal stopped 40 shots as Anaheim defeated NHL-leading Colorado for its fifth straight win.

Jeffrey Viel scored in his second straight game as the Ducks opened a six-game road trip.

Artturi Lehkonen scored for Colorado, and Scott Wedgewood made 16 saves.

Alex Killorn played in his 1,000th career NHL game. He spent 11 years with Tampa Bay, winning the Stanley Cup twice, before signing with Anaheim as a free agent in 2023.

Colorado forward Valeri Nichushkin returned after missing Monday night’s win over the Washington Capitals. He was involved in a car accident on his way to the rink and was held out as a precaution.

The Avalanche played without Gabriel Landeskog (upper body), defenseman Devon Toews (upper) and forward Joel Kiviranta (lower body). Forward Logan O’Connor has yet to play this season as he recovers from offseason hip surgery.

PENGUINS 4, FLAMES 1

CALGARY, Alberta (AP) — Tommy Novak and Evgeni Malkin each had a goal and an assist as Pittsburgh beat Calgary.

Yegor Chinakhov and Bryan Rust also scored for Pittsburgh (24-14-11). The Penguins have points in five straight games (3-0-2) and are 9-2-2 in their last 13 games. Stuart Skinner made 18 saves in his sixth win in seven starts and improved to 17-12-4. Skinner is 6-2-1 against the Flames in his career.

Penguins captain Sidney Crosby had an assist and extended his point streak to four games (two goals, five assists).

Yegor Sharangovich scored for Calgary (21-24-5). Dustin Wolf had 21 stops in losing for the sixth time in seven games. He fell to 15-20-2.

The Flames have been limited to two goals in two games since Sunday’s trade that sent defenseman Rasmus Andersson to the Vegas Golden Knights. At the time, Andersson was third on the team in scoring.

KRAKEN 4, ISLANDERS 1

SEATTLE (AP) — Vince Dunn and Jared McCann had a goal and an assist each and Seattle snapped a four-game skid with a win over New York.

Matty Beniers and Kaapo Kakko also scored goals for Seattle, while Philipp Grubauer had 24 saves and the secondary assist on McCann’s empty-net goal late in the third period.

Anthony Duclair scored on the power play just 2:38 into the game for the Islanders, who wrapped up a seven-game road trip with a 3-3-1 record.

It was the seventh time in their last eight games that the Kraken gave up the first goal.

Ilya Sorokin, who had won four of his previous five starts in goal for the Islanders, made 21 saves and fell to 16-12-2 overall.

After Duclair gave the Islanders the early lead with his fifth goal in his last five games, Beniers deflected in a shot by Dunn while on a five-on-three power play with 9:20 to play in the first period to make it 1-1. The teams combined for six penalties in the first.

Dunn gave the Kraken the lead for good with his seventh goal on the season with 6:23 to play in the second. He scored on a wrist shot with Ryan Winterton and Ben Meyers each getting an assist on the goal.

CANUCKS 4, CAPITALS 3

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Brock Boeser had a goal and an assist as Vancouver erased an early-two goal deficit and held on to end its 11-game losing streak with a win over Washington.

Drew O’Connor, Evander Kane and Filip Hronek also scored goals while Jake DeBrusk and David Kampf added two assists each for the Canucks, who won for the first time since Dec. 29 and won at home for the first time since Dec. 6.

Kevin Lankinen made 29 stops.

Dylan Strome and Justin Sourdif scored power-play goals a little over a minute apart in the first period to give Washington a 2-0 lead. But Boeser and Kane knotted it at 2 after one.

Strome scored his second of the game with 3:23 to play to make it 4-3. He and Sourdif also had assists while Logan Thompson had 21 saves for the Capitals, who have lost four games in a row and five of their last six.

O’Connor and Hronek scored in the second period as Vancouver scored four unanswered.

Vince Dunn and Jared McCann had a goal and an assist each and the Seattle Kraken snapped a four-game skid with a 4-1 win over the New York Islanders on Wednesday night.

Matty Beniers and Kaapo Kakko also scored goals for Seattle, while Philipp Grubauer had 24 saves and the secondary assist on McCann’s empty-net goal late in the third period.

Anthony Duclair scored on the power play just 2:38 into the game for the Islanders, who wrapped up a seven-game road trip with a 3-3-1 record.

It was the seventh time in their last eight games that the Kraken gave up the first goal.

Ilya Sorokin, who had won four of his previous five starts in goal for the Islanders, made 21 saves and fell to 16-12-2 overall.

After Duclair gave the Islanders the early lead with his fifth goal in his last five games, Beniers deflected in a shot by Dunn while on a five-on-three power play with 9:20 to play in the first period to make it 1-1. The teams combined for six penalties in the first.

Dunn gave the Kraken the lead for good with his seventh goal on the season with 6:23 to play in the second. He scored on a wrist shot with Ryan Winterton and Ben Meyers each getting an assist on the goal.

McCann has now scored a point in 17 of the 25 games he has played this season.

Up next

Islanders: Return home to face Buffalo on Saturday.

Kraken: Host Anaheim in game 3 of a six-game homestand on Friday night.

DENVER — One goaltender decided the outcome at Ball Arena on Wednesday night, and he wasn’t wearing an Avalanche sweater. 

The Colorado Avalanche dictated long stretches of play, limited chances at the other end, and still walked away with just a single point as Lukáš Dostál stood on his head and the Anaheim Ducks escaped with a 2–1 shootout victory, extending their winning streak to five games. 

The Avalanche trailed until 3:39 remained in regulation, when Artturi Lehkonen one-timed a Brock Nelson feed past Dostál to force overtime. Five scoreless minutes followed, and in the shootout, Anaheim was incredible. Mikael Granlund and Cutter Gauthier both beat Scott Wedgewood to seal the win. Wedgewood finished the night with 16 saves. 

“I thought we were pretty all over it,” Nelson said. “Didn’t really give them a whole lot. They maybe had one or two little flurries, but I thought we had a fair share of good looks. Just couldn’t get one earlier to kind of crack it and get momentum.”

Jeffrey Viel scored Anaheim’s lone regulation goal, while Radko Gudas and Gauthier each recorded an assist. The Avalanche didn't look like itself, but the defining factor in Colorado's muted night was the play of Dostál, who authored one of the best performances of his career with a brilliant 40-save effort. 

Anaheim acquired the 28-year-old Viel from the Boston Bruins on Friday in exchange for a fourth-round pick. Known primarily as an energy player willing to drop the gloves, Viel had recorded just three goals in 64 NHL games prior to the trade. However, he has already found the back of the net twice in his first three games with the Ducks.

TIE GAME! 🤩

Artturi Lehkonen has tied it up for the @Avalanche! pic.twitter.com/P1Lc9Iumpn

— NHL (@NHL) January 22, 2026

First Period 

Colorado earned an early opportunity to set the tone when Ducks forward Ross Johnston was whistled for tripping Brock Nelson just 2:45 into the opening period. The Avalanche generated quality looks on the ensuing power play. Cale Makar split Anaheim’s defense to test Dostál, Victor Olofsson fanned on a prime chance, and Nathan MacKinnon attempted to create offense from a sharp angle, only to miss the net. 

Momentum stalled when Jack Drury was assessed a holding minor against Anaheim forward Jansen Harkins at the 7:10 mark. The call appeared marginal and left Drury visibly frustrated, though the officials remained unmoved. Colorado’s penalty kill responded effectively, shutting down Anaheim’s first power-play opportunity of the night. 

Second Period 

Anaheim broke the deadlock midway through the second following a costly Colorado offensive-zone turnover by Sam Malinski. Gauthier jump-started the counterattack, carrying the puck deep before sliding a pass to Jeffrey Viel at the left circle. Viel waited patiently as Gauthier drifted through the slot to provide a moving screen, then snapped a wrist shot past Wedgewood to give the Ducks a 1–0 lead. 

An odd sequence followed moments later when Bennett Sennecke collided with Wedgewood and dislodged the net from its moorings. Under normal circumstances, play is immediately blown dead. Instead, officials inexplicably allowed play to continue — a decision emblematic of an increasingly concerning trend in league-wide officiating this season. 

Late in the period, Ross Colton nearly tied the game after firing a shot from the slot off a perfectly timed feed from Gavin Brindley, but Dostál came up with a stellar save. Anaheim was penalized on the play, as Drew Helleson was sent off for holding, giving Colorado its second power play of the evening. For Colton, it was another near miss in a recent stretch defined by quality chances and better goaltending at the other end. 

Third Period 

Colorado continued to push in the final frame. Lehkonen attempted to connect with Nelson on a rush opportunity at the right doorstep, but Dostál shut the door once again. A follow-up bid on the rebound was denied by the Ducks goaltender’s stick — emblematic of a night in which every Avalanche surge was met with just enough resistance to keep the puck out. 

Finally, in the closing stages of the game, Lehkonen and Nelson connected. And contrary to recent team history, there was no challenge for goaltender interference or offsides as the tying goal stood. 

Takeaways

Here’s a smooth, normal edit that tightens things up and avoids repetition while keeping the same message:

"I think at the end of the day, their goalie had a big night, and we had a tough time with some of our execution early in the game."

Coach Jared Bednar | Full presser ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/0ftHOohmc2

— DNVR Avalanche (@DNVR_Avalanche) January 22, 2026

Jared Bednar was insightful in Wednesday’s postgame press conference. From a defensive standpoint, Colorado played a strong game, though Dostál—who has been hot and cold at times this season—was simply playing out of his depth. Bednar wasn’t pleased with the team’s puck movement in the opening period, but that improved as the game went on. Even so, for much of the night, the Avalanche couldn’t find a way to get a puck past him. Dostál made highlight-reel saves throughout the evening. Sometimes, that’s just hockey.

Colorado finished the night 0/2 on the power play and remained without the services of captain Gabe Landeskog, Devon Toews, and Joel Kiviranta, who remain injured. The Avs recalled Jack Ahcan and Taylor Makar for this game.

On the other side of the ice, Anaheim was missing two of its top young talents. Leading scorer Leo Carlsson has been sidelined since Jan. 10 with a thigh injury that could prevent the 21-year-old Swedish star from competing in the 2026 Winter Olympics. Carlsson underwent a procedure to repair the injury last week. Meanwhile, Mason McTavish was a late scratch just before puck drop due to an upper-body injury.

As the home stand begins to wrap-up, the Colorado Avalanche hosted the Anaheim Ducks at Ball Arena. Much like the previous meeting in November, it was a hard-fought game but goals were tough to come by. Both Scott Wedgewood and Lucas Dostal put on a show but the Ducks got the 2-1 win in a shootout.

The Game

It was a slow to start to the contest by both teams as they traded unsuccessful power plays and saw the first period end in a scoreless tie. Colorado did craft a 9-4 shot advantage at least.

Despite holding Anaheim to just five shots on goal through the midpoint of the game, it was the Ducks who got on the board first on a rush into the Avalanche zone. The sniper was none other than Jeff Viel, who was once an Avalanche rookie camp invite most known for fighting Josh Anderson to conclude the second to last ever Burgundy and White scrimmage game in 2016.

With 20 shots on goal through the second frame the Avalanche were a degree of snake-bit, most notably with Zakhar Bardakov getting a glorious chance on a loose puck at the net front and Ross Colton on a breakaway hoping to pot his first goal since November, but neither could get the puck over Lukas Dostal’s left leg pad.

A late power play could have changed fortunes for the Avalanche but they came up empty yet again and the second period concluded with a 1-0 Ducks lead.

Colorado came out with purposed energy in the third period but Dostal continued to stand on his head. The Ducks almost escaped with a shutout but as the clock counted down to nearly three minutes to go, Artturi Lehkonen took a cross-ice pass and buried the puck to tie the game 1-1. There was a tense moment when Scott Wedgewood had to dive back to swat a puck off the goal line minutes later but the score remained the same and the game needed overtime to resolve.

In the extra frame both goaltenders put on a show. Dostal stopped multiple point blank chances but Wedgewood faced several uncontested rushes and made the saves needed. So, on to the shootout it went.

Mikael Granlund scored right away for Anaheim then all three of Brock Nelson, Beckett Sennecke and Martin Nečas were stopped. Cutter Gauthier netted the second shootout goal for Anaheim and they sealed the 2-1 victory.

Takeaways

It was nice to see Gavin Brindley off the fourth line and he made good on the promotion setting up Colton several times. However at the end of the night he still played less than seven minutes, which isn’t going to have an impact for the Avalanche. With analytics of 80% Corsi For and 97% expected goals in this game you’d hope he’d see a little more opportunity.

Lucas Dostal made 40 saves and stopped both Colorado shootout attempts, he certainly earned his win and first star of the game. It was fun to watch Wedgewood match him save-for-save at the end of the game, which unfortunately had to be settled in a shootout. Considering the Avalanche are now 1-5 in the skills competition this season, it’s a position they hope not to be in much down the stretch.

Upcoming

One final game at home when the Philadelphia Flyers come to town on Friday, January 23rd at 7 p.m. MT. Colorado will also celebrate the 2001 Stanley Cup team.

SEATTLE -- The New York Islanders were unable to end their seven-game road trip on a positive note, falling 4-1 to the Seattle Kraken on Wednesday night.

They return home with a 3-3-1 record. 

Ilya Sorokin made 22 saves. Philipp Grubauer made 23 saves. 

The Islanders went 1-for-7 on the power play, with just seven shots. One of the power plays lasted eight seconds, but they did play 10:22 with the man advantage, including a 5-on-3 power play for six seconds. 

Here's how the game unfolded.

The Islanders scored first in this one, courtesy of Anthony Duclair on the power play from the bumper spot off a feed from Calum Ritchie at 2:38 of the first period:

A Ritchie pass and Duclair finishes. The #Isles take a 1-0 lead. Sounds familiar - if you are an Isles fan.

Stick with it!!! 8 goals in 8 games for Anthony Duclair. pic.twitter.com/Uv5wMiKJgG

— The Elmonters (@TheElmonters) January 22, 2026

That was Duclair's fifth goal in four games, scoring eight in his last game. Ritchie extended his point streak to four games (4A) -- a career high -- while Mathew Barzal recorded his third point in two games (3A). 

The Islanders found themselves on a 5-on-3 power play, but weren't able to execute. 

Unfortunately for the Islanders, Seattle got their chance at a 5-on-3 and made Patrick Roy's squad pay when Matty Beniers deflected a Vince Dunn shot blocker side at 10:40 of the first. 

There were 9:02 minutes of collective power play time in the opening period, with the Islanders going 1-for-4 and Seattle going 1-for-2. 

The ice tilted right then and there, as Seattle went on to score another two to head into the third period up 3-1.

Dunn scored on a 2-on-1 rush at 13:37. Then it was Jaden Schwartz who Scott Mayfield to a loose puck behind the Islanders' net before he found former New York Rangers forward Kappo Kaako in the low slot at 16:28 of the second.

The Islanders had another two power-play opportunities in the middle frame, but one only lasted eight seconds after Duclair negated it. 

Jared McCann added an empty-netter at 16:32 of the third for a 4-1 final. 

With the loss and the Pittsburgh Penguins' win, the Islanders end the night sitting in third place in the Metropolitan Division. 

UP NEXT: The Islanders host the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday at 1 PM ET. 

Pregame

Kris Letang can’t go in this game due to an upper-body injury so go ahead and just don’t look at this blueline group tonight.

First period

Pittsburgh gets the first power play, Ryan Shea is out there with all the big guns. He looks nervous and loses the puck over his stick twice for no reason. They do get a few chances down to the net a little after that.

Shea looks a lot more comfortable at 5v5, feathering a shot in that Evgeni Malkin can deflect. Dustin Wolf overplayed the angle and gets caught leaning a little while the puck trickles on in to the far side. 1-0 Pens thanks to Malkin’s 11th goal of the season, 7:49 in.

Rest of the period scoots on along. Calgary is a nothin’ happenin’ team to start things off, generating only five shots on goal. Pittsburgh gets 11 and carries a 1-0 lead

Second period

Connor Dewar comes close to scoring a couple of times but can’t keep his hot hand going.

The second line comes through again, Malkin enters the zone and passes across the middle for Tommy Novak. Novak touches a pass over for Egor Chinakhov who pulls the puck back to change the angle catches Wolf with a hard shot, even though his body momentum is falling back from the net he still gets a lot of velocity on his seventh goal of the season. Pittsburgh pushes their lead to 2-0.

The Flames find a way to get a goal back juuust before the final buzzer. Zach Whitecloud takes a point shot that doesn’t look like much trouble until Yegor Sharangovich makes his way to the middle of the ice and puts a deflection on it. Ends up in the net with 2.7 seconds on the clock.

It was almost all systems under control, right up until the very last bit. Calgary gives themselves more of a chance and something to believe in heading into the third. Shots in the second were 9-8 in favor of CGY but Skinner was making it looks easy right up until a shock out of no where beat the buzzer.

Third period

Pittsburgh comes out the gates strong and responds to Calgary’s late-period goal. Bryan Rust gets down low and throws the puck to the net. Sidney Crosby is right out in front and hacks at a puck that leaks through Wolf and to the back of the net. 3-1 game 50 seconds into the third.

Dewar trips a Flame on the following shift to allow the first Calgary power play of the night, his teammates take care of business and keep the PK going strong.

Calgary has a great chance a little later when Pittsburgh’s defensive structure breaks down a little and an unmarked player in the middle of the ice takes a big shot. Skinner makes a great save with the glove that he can’t control but that ends up working out just as well. Jack St. Ivany plays the puck up for Novak and the Pens have a 2-on-1. The defender completely ignores Novak to take away the pass, so Novak skates the puck all the way in makes a slick backhand deke and casually flips the puck top shelf on Wolf. Pretty stuff for Novak’s ninth goal of the season and extend the lead to 4-1.

That capped off most of the notable moments. Calgary beat Skinner but glanced a shot off the post and from there it was just about riding the game out until the clock reached 0:00.

Some thoughts

• The Malkin line with Chinakhov and Novak are a super-fun watch. There’s obviously the production element on a night like tonight where each member of the line scored a goal. Even beyond those contributions they are playing exciting hockey, working off one another very well and growing in chemistry in the offensive zone as they get more time together. All have some speed on the puck all can handle the puck and are unafraid to carry it in and through opponents when they drive up the ice.
• Sidney Crosby took a Bryan Rust centering pass to what looked like the side of the leg above the knee on the first shift of the game. Looks like the worst was avoided save for a moment of pain that had the captain instantly doubled over and smarting for a bit. That’s all the Pens needed at this point when key players have been dropping like flies lately.
• Our key to the game for the Pens from the preview was out-scoring the expectations to improve over where they stumbled against Calgary two weeks ago in a 2-1 loss. Chinakhov’s second period goal (to make the score 2-0) on 1.04 total expected goals from Moneypuck. It was looking good at that point and continued from there. Crosby’s early third period goal extended that race to 3 actual goals vs 1.52 expected. In the end it shook out to be four goals on just over two expected, which is precisely what was needed. In the last Pens/Flames matchup the Pens weren’t getting the finishes. They had it tonight, leading to a fairly drama-free game of being out in front for most of the contest. That’s a good way to live.
• The developing story of the day for the Pens was breaking the goalie rotation to play Skinner again. Turned out to work very well, Skinner only saw 19 shots but did more than his part in allowing only one goal on 1.77 expected from the Flames.
• Another angle was that bare bones blueline for the evening. Gotta factor in quality of opponent (low!), also gotta tip a cap to those guys for a great effort. It was shades of the 2017 playoff run with an undermanned crew stepping up and doing what it takes to get the job done. Wotherspoon was breaking up plays all over the ice. Connor Clifton, as always, made his presence known with some big hits. Shea pitched in as he could on the one power play of the night. Even Ryan Graves blocked three shots. Forwards, especially centers like Ben Kindel and Blake Lizotte, were drifting way back defensively and appearing mindful to make themselves available as options for quick bail outs.
• One of the few times the Pens got trapped in their defensive zone for a long shift happened during the second period. Wotherspoon was almost 2:30 into his shift and still had enough vinegar in the tank to put Morgan Frost on his wallet twice. I don’t know if you want to call Wotherspoon the most improved player or maybe just the one who has had the opportunity to emerge this season and show his stuff, but my goodness he’s impressed at every turn. What a solid player he is.
• Speaking of that blueline, Kris Letang was only briefly on the ice for the morning skate, taking basically a quick lap around the rink and then leaving. That doesn’t sound like it bodes well for his chances to play tomorrow night against Edmonton. Erik Karlsson has been on the ice much more in recent days, though he couldn’t go today he did make a comment yesterday about not being a “mascot” for this road trip. Wouldn’t expect him to rush into a return three weeks prior to the start Olympics yet it would be a massive benefit if Karlsson can answer the bell tomorrow or at least on Sunday in Vancouver.

So that’s that, another impressive win in the books. Now the Pens move on quickly to Edmonton and get ready to take on an Oiler team that has been quite the boogeymen for them in recent years.