MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Jordan Kyrou had two goals and two assists in a five-goal second period for St. Louis, and the Blues cruised through the coldest outdoor game in NHL history to beat the Minnesota Wild 6-4 in the Winter Classic on Saturday night.
The official faceoff temperature was minus-5.7 degrees, the first of 33 outdoor games the league has played with a temperature below zero.
David Perron got the Blues on the board in the first period. Vladimir Tarasenko, Ivan Barbashev and Torey Krug joined Kyrou by scoring in the second, and Robert Thomas pitched in with two assists. Jordan Binnington made 29 saves for the Blues. They are 11-1-2 in their last 14 games against the rival Wild.
Kirill Kaprizov had a goal and two assists and Ryan Hartman had a goal and an assist for the Wild. They trailed 6-2 at the second intermission and benched goalie Cam Talbot after 22 saves in two periods in favor of Kaapo Kahkonen.
Rem Pitlick and Kevin Fiala also scored for the Wild, who pulled to 6-4 on Fiala’s 6-on-5 goal with 5:38 remaining after Kahkonen was pulled for the extra skater.
Due to virus outbreaks on other teams, the Wild had four games postponed over the last three weeks and had not played in 12 days. They have allowed 22 goals in their last four games.
The Blues were naturally the sharper team, having beaten Edmonton 4-2 on Wednesday behind a goal and two assists from Kyrou in his return from a four-game absence due to an upper-body injury.
ISLANDERS 3, OILERS 2, OT
NEW YORK (AP) — Noah Dobson scored 3:52 into overtime to lift New York past slumping Edmonton.
Anders Lee and Anthony Beauvillier also scored for the Islanders. They got their first win beyond regulation this season after losing the first six.
Ilya Sorokin stopped 17 shots to help New York improve to 3-0-1 in the last four games overall, and 4-0-1 at home after losing the first seven (0-5-2) at the new UBS Arena.
Leon Draisaitl had his NHL-leading 25th goal and Darnell Nurse also scored for Edmonton. The Oilers lost in overtime for the second straight day and fell to 2-7-2 in their last 11 after starting the season 16-5-0.
MAPLE LEAFS 6, SENATORS 0
TORONTO (AP) — Justin Holl and Ilya Mikheyev scored on the same first-period penalty kill for their first goals of the season and Toronto routed Ottawa at fan-less Scotiabank Arena.
The Maple Leafs and Senators returned to action for the first time since the NHL’s expanded schedule pause over the holidays.
The game was played without fans after the Ontario government announced Thursday that attendance at indoor events, including arenas, would be capped at 1,000 spectators or 50%, whichever is smaller, because of COVID-19.
Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, which also owns the NBA’s Toronto Raptors, subsequently said it would operate without sold tickets for games, save for league and team requirements, for the next three weeks.
Jack Campbell made 23 saves for Toronto for his fourth shutout of the season and eighth overall. Mikheyev added another goal in the the third period, William Nylander also scored twice, and T.J. Brodie had a goal and two assists.
BRUINS 4, SABRES 3, OT
BOSTON (AP) — Charlie Coyle scored on a wrist shot from the slot 34 seconds into overtime and Boston completed a comeback victory over Buffalo in the Bruins’ first game in 16 days.
Playing for the first time since Dec. 16 after six games were postponed due to the NHL’s COVID-19 protocols and a league shutdown, the Bruins erased a 3-1 deficit when Nick Foligno and Taylor Hall scored early in the third period. Craig Smith also scored for Boston, and Linus Ullmark stopped 21 shots.
Jeff Skinner and Vinnie Hinostroza both returned from COVID-19 protocols and each had a goal for Buffalo. Alex Tuch added a power-play goal.
PREDATORS 6, BLACKHAWKS 1
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tanner Jeannot scored twice, Filip Forsberg and Ryan Johansen each had a goal and assist in Nashville’s victory over Chicago.
Nick Cousins and Roman Josi also scored, Mattias Ekholm had three assists and Juuse Saros made 37 saves to help Nashville snapped a two-game losing streak.
Philipp Kurashev scored for Chicago in its first game since Dec. 18.
HURRICANES 7, BLUE JACKETS 4
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Brady Skjei and Steven Lorentz each scored twice and Carolina had the last seven goals to beat Columbus.
The Hurricanes scored four times in a 3:57 span of the third to overcome a 4-2 deficit. They had five goals in the period. Ethan Bear scored at 10:50 of the third make it 5-4 and Lorentz made it 6-4 at 11:59 as part of the spurt. Andrei Svechnikov scored into an empty net at 17:30 for the final score.
Nino Niederreiter also scored, and Seth Jarvis and Vincent Trocheck had two assists for the Hurricanes.
Gustav Nyquist in his 600th NHL game scored shorthanded and had an assist for the Blue Jackets (15-14-1). Alexandre Texier had a goal and an assist and defensemen Zach Werenski and Adam Boqvist also scored.
PANTHERS 5, CANADIENS 2
SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Sam Bennett scored twice, Sergei Bobrovsky made 29 saves and Florida beat Montreal for its third straight victory.
Aleksander Barkov, Frank Vatrano and Mason Marchment also scored and Jonathan Huberdeau had three assists. Jonathan Drouin and Nick Suzuki scored for Montreal.
CANUCKS 5, KRAKEN 2
SEATTLE (AP) — Vasily Podkolzin and Nils Hoglander scored goals in the first period, Tyler Motte and Conor Garland scored in the third and Vancouver beat Seattle.
Vancouver improved to 8-0-1 since Bruce Boudreau took over as coach.
Tanner Pearson added an empty-net goal in the closing minutes. Thatcher Demko finished with 30 saves.
The Kraken lost their fifth straight and eighth in the past nine games. Calle Jarnkrok and Will Borgen scored for Seattle, and Philipp Grubauer made 30 saves.
KINGS 6, FLYERS 3
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Viktor Arvidsson had two goals and two assists, Todd McLellan earned his 500th win as an NHL coach and Los Angeles defeated Philadelphia.
McLellan is the 27th coach in league history to reach 500 wins. He is in his third season behind the Kings’ bench after previous stops in Edmonton and San Jose.
Trevor Moore had a career-high four points with a goal and three assists. Phillip Danault had a goal and two assists, and Brendan Lemieux and Adrian Kempe added goals for the Kings. Jonathan Quick made 33 saves for his sixth win in his last seven games, and Drew Doughty added two assists.
Joel Farabee, Kevin Hayes and Ivan Provorov scored for Philadelphia, which had gone 5-0-2 entering the game.
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