Jordan Staal netted the go-ahead goal and had a pair of assists to lead the visiting Carolina Hurricanes to a wild 6-5 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Sunday afternoon.
Vincent Trocheck, Dougie Hamilton and Brett Pesce all collected one goal and one assist for the Hurricanes, who received a 17-save performance from goaltender James Reimer and benefited from a blown goal call in the comeback win.
With the score tied 4-4 in a back-and-forth affair, Staal’s deflection to convert a power play put the Hurricanes ahead for good 5:33 into the third period.
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Hamilton’s tally, just past the midway point of the final frame, ended up the game-winner. The clubs meet again on Monday and will have an entertaining affair to top.
Flyers 7, Capitals 4
Scott Laughton posted his first career hat trick, leading visiting Philadelphia to a come-from behind victory over Washington.
The victory snapped a two-goal losing streak for the Flyers and extended Washington’s slide to three. Philadelphia scored three goals apiece in the second and third periods after the Caps took a 2-0 lead.
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Sean Couturier added two goals and one assist after missing three weeks with a rib injury, giving the Flyers a lift as they were outshot 37-22.
Golden Knights 4, Kings 3
Chandler Stephenson scored two goals, including the game-winner early in the third period, and Robin Lehner had 29 saves as Vegas moved into a tie for first place in the West Division with a victory over visiting Los Angeles.
It was the second career two-goal game for Stephenson. Reilly Smith and Zach Whitecloud also scored goals and Alex Tuch had two assists for Vegas, which improved to 6-0-1 at T-Mobile Arena, the best home start in team history. The Golden Knights also moved into a three-way tie for first place with idle Colorado and St. Louis with 15 points.
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Anze Kopitar, Adrian Kempe and Jaret Anderson-Dolan scored goals for Los Angeles, which lost its fourth straight game. Calvin Petersen had 29 saves.
Blackhawks 2, Stars 1 (OT)
Alex DeBrincat scored two goals, including the game-winner in overtime, and goaltender Malcolm Subban made 30 saves as visiting Chicago beat Dallas to pick up its first road win of the season.
DeBrincat corralled a slick pass from Patrick Kane to beat goaltender Jake Oettinger at 2:56 of OT, handing Dallas its first home loss of the campaign.
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Chicago outshot Dallas 35-31 and the Stars were 0-for-3 on the power-play. DeBrincat scored off the power play at 12:29 in the second for a 1-0 lead. Dallas’ tied it at 9:31 of the third on Jason Robertson’s first NHL goal.
Red Wings 4, Panthers 1
Thomas Greiss stopped 36 shots, and Givani Smith had one goal and one assist as visiting Detroit broke an eight-game winless streak with the victory over Florida.
The Panthers, who got a goal from Alex Wennberg, had their season-opening points streak stopped at eight games (6-0-2). It was Florida’s first loss in regulation since Aug. 7, 2020.
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Marc Staal, Robby Fabbri and Vladislav Namestnikov also scored for the Red Wings, who had not won a game since Jan. 19. Since then, they went 0-6-2 before Sunday’s breakthrough.
–Field Level Media