Gustafsson, Kuemper lead Capitals past Blue Jackets 1-0

WASHINGTON (AP) — Nicklas Backstrom and Tom Wilson made their season debuts and the Washington Capitals beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 1-0 on Sunday.

Erik Gustafsson scored 2:43 into the game and Darcy Kuemper stopped 37 shots for his fourth shutout of the season and second in five games.

Elvis Merzlikins had 18 saves for Columbus, which has lost 10 of its last 12 games.

Backstrom and Wilson took the ice at Capital One Arena for the first time since the first round of the 2022 Stanley Cup playoffs in May. Both underwent major procedures in the offseason — Backstrom had hip resurfacing surgery and Wilson had ACL surgery.

BLUES 3, WILD 0

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Brandon Saad extended his goal streak to a career-best four straight games, Brayden Schenn scored twice, and Thomas Greiss made 36 saves for his first shutout of the season to lead St. Louis.

Saad also set up Schenn’s insurance goal for the Blues in the third period, just after a power play expired for the Wild. Schenn added an empty netter in the closing seconds.

Filip Gustavsson had 21 saves for the Wild.

BLACKHAWKS 4, FLAMES 3, OT

CHICAGO (AP) — Maxi Domi scored at 1:04 of overtime and had an assist as Chicago got its second straight win.

Lukas Reichel batted in his his first NHL goal and had two assists, and Philipp Kurashev and Colin Blackwell also scored for the last-place Blackhawks, who are 3-13-0 in their last 16 games. Alex Stalock made 44 saves in his third straight start.

Elias Lindholm had a power play goal and an assist, and Nazem Kadri and Jonathan Huberdeau also scored for Calgary. Tyler Toffoli added two assists as the Flames came back from a two-goal deficit to tie it after coach Darryl Sutter replaced starting goalie Jacob Markstrom with Dan Vladar just 35 seconds into the second period. Markstrom allowed three goals on 11 shots and Vladar stopped 13 of 14 shots.

STARS 5, PANTHERS 1

DALLAS (AP) — Jason Robertson scored two goals and Jake Oettinger made 27 saves to lead Dallas past Florida.

Defensemen Nils Lundkvist, Esa Lindell and Miro Heiskanen also scored for the Stars, who snapped a two-game losing streak that matched their longest of the season.

Carter Verhaeghe scored and Spencer Knight stopped 29 shots for the Panthers, who had won two straight to match their longest winning streak of the season.

JETS 7, CANUCKS 4

WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) — Kyle Connor had a hat trick and Winnipeg extended its winning streak to a season-best five games with a win over Vancouver.

Nikolaj Ehlers had a goal and two assists, Axel Jonsson-Fjallby had a goal and assist, and Morgan Barron and Dylan DeMelo, who scored short-handed, added goals. Pierre-Luc Dubois finished with four assists and Brenden Dillon had a pair. David Rittich stopped 34 shots.

Bo Horvat scored his 29th of the season and J.T. Miller had a goal and two assists for the Canucks (17-19-3), who have one win in their last five games. Jack Studnicka and Sheldon Dries also scored.

Collin Delia started the game in net for Vancouver, but was replaced at 5:34 of the second period after giving up four goals on 13 shots. Spencer Martin made 11 saves in relief.

PENGUINS 4, COYOTES 1

TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) — Jake Guentzel scored two goals, Casey DeSmith stopped 23 shots and Pittsburgh ended a six-game losing streak.

The Penguins fell into an early hole on Barrett Hayton’s first-period goal, but Guentzel scored twice in a little over three minutes in the second. Jason Zucker also scored, Jeff Carter added an empty-net goal and Sidney Crosby had two assists in Pittsburgh’s first win since Dec. 20.

Karel Vejmelka had 24 saves for Arizona, which has lost five straight.

MAPLE LEAFS 6, FLYERS 2

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — John Tavares had a goal and two assists, Mitchell Marner added three assists and Toronto beat Philadelphia.

Auston Matthews, Calle Jarnkrok, Conor Timmins, Zach Aston-Reese and Timothy Liljegren also scored for the Maple Leafs, who swept their three-game season series with the Flyers.

Marner, selected Thursday to the NHL All-Star Game, upped his team-leading points total to 49. Matthews trails Marner by two points after getting his 20th goal. Matt Murray made 34 saves.

Nick Deslauriers and Travis Konecny scored for the Flyers, who entered on a season-high four-game winning streak. Carter Hart had 29 saves.

BRUINS 7, DUCKS 1

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — David Pastrnak had three goals and an assist, Hampus Lindholm scored a goal in his Anaheim homecoming, and Boston completed a perfect three-game road trip.

David Krejci had a goal and two assists before Brad Marchand, Lindholm and Charlie Coyle added third-period goals for the first-place Bruins. Boston has won four straight overall after trouncing California’s three NHL teams by a combined 16-5 over the past four days.

Jeremy Swayman made 28 saves to back Pastrnak, who has 32 goals in 40 games this season after securing his 13th career hat trick.

Trevor Zegras scored and John Gibson stopped 35 shots for the Ducks, who failed to secure their first three-game winning streak since November 2021.

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