Cale Makar scored in the second period to back Scott Wedgewood’s 22-save shutout as the visiting Colorado Avalanche edged the Chicago Blackhawks, 1-0, for their ninth straight victory Sunday night.
Colorado tallied the game’s lone goal at 18:21 of the second period, capitalizing on a rare puck-handling miscue by Chicago goaltender Spencer Knight, which led to a Tristen Nielsen shot from the right circle. Trailing the play, Makar corralled a long rebound in the left circle and beat Knight with a wrist shot.
Wedgewood shined for the Avalanche on the way to his first shutout of the season and Colorado’s second in as many nights. He was especially solid in the first period, making 11 saves while shutting down multiple scoring chances.
Chicago was blanked for the first time this season but stayed afloat behind a 25-save effort from Knight. Ryan Donato and Ryan Greene paced the Blackhawks with four shots on goal each.
Sabres 4, Hurricanes 1
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 29 saves and four different players scored goals as surging Buffalo earned a home victory over Carolina.
Alex Tuch, Jack Quinn, Beck Malenstyn and Tage Thompson each scored a goal to give the Sabres their fourth victory in the past five games. Luukkonen stopped all 24 shots he faced in the second and third periods.
Shayne Gostisbehere was the only Hurricane to sneak a puck past Kuukkonen, burying a shot in the slot late in the first period. Netminder Frederik Andersen recorded just 17 saves as East-leading Carolina saw its five-game point streak come to an end.
Wild 3, Jets 0
Jesper Wallstedt made 32 saves to record his third shutout of the season and fourth in 13 career starts, fueling visiting Minnesota to a victory over Winnipeg for the team’s fifth straight win.
Danila Yurov tallied in the second period for the Wild. Defenseman Brock Faber also scored in the second period, and Kirill Kaprizov added his team co-leading 13th goal of the season in the third. Wallstedt’s shutout was his third of the season and Minnesota’s league-leading fifth.
Eric Comrie turned aside 27 shots and Mark Scheifele played in his 900th career NHL game for the Jets, who have lost six of their last nine games.
Islanders 1, Kraken 0 (shootout)
Kyle Palmieri scored the decisive goal in the shootout for host New York, which edged Seattle in Elmont, N.Y., for its seventh win in nine games.
It was the first NHL game this season to remain scoreless through regulation and overtime. The 1-0 shootout win was the first for the Islanders since a win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Nov. 24, 2014. Bo Horvat also scored in the shootout as David Rittich made 19 saves before stopping one shot in the shootout.
The scoreless tie through 60 minutes was the first in the history of the Kraken, who began play in 2021-22. Freddy Gaudreau opened the shootout with a goal but was the only one to beat Rittich. Joey Daccord recorded 34 saves as Seattle finished 2-1-1 on a four-game road trip.
Sharks 3, Bruins 1
Macklin Celebrini recorded a goal and an assist and Yaroslav Askarov made 34 saves to lead San Jose to a win over visiting Boston.
Celebrini’s goal midway through the second period stood as the eventual game-winner and it extended the 19-year-old’s point streak to five. Shakir Mukhamadullin and Collin Graf also lit the lamp as the Sharks recorded their third victory in the last four games.
Morgan Geekie scored for the Bruins, and Jeremy Swayman stopped 28 shots. Boston had a 35-31 advantage in shots but still fell to 2-4-0 in its last six games.
Flames 5, Canucks 2
Blake Coleman collected one goal and one assist, while Rasmus Andersson recorded three assists to lead visiting Calgary to a victory over slumping Vancouver.
Morgan Frost, Connor Zary, Kevin Bahl and Yegor Sharangovich also scored to help the Flames win three consecutive games for the first time this campaign. Nazem Kadri and Mikael Backlund contributed to the effort with a pair of assists each, while goaltender Dustin Wolf made 28 saves.
Filip Hronek and Quinn Hughes scored for the Canucks, while goalie Kevin Lankinen stopped 16 of 21 shots. Vancouver is now on a three-game skid and is 1-4-2 in its last seven games.
–Field Level Media
