By Canadian Press

Pastrnak nets hat trick, Bruins stop Avalanche as Makar falls just short of equaling Orr

Jan 18, 2024 | 9:35 PM

BOSTON (AP) — David Pastrnak scored on the opening shift and added two insurance goals late in the third period as the Boston Bruins beat the Colorado Avalanche 5-2 on Thursday night.

Jake DeBrusk and Jakub Lauko also scored for the Bruins, who won their third straight and improved to 8-1-3 in their last 12 games.

Cale Makar had an assist for the Avalanche but fell one point short of tying Hall of Famer Bobby Orr as the fastest defenseman to reach 300 career points. Orr did it in his 279th game on Dec. 13, 1970. Makar played his 279th game Thursday and now has 299 points.

Nathan MacKinnon and Miles Wood scored for Colorado, which lost for just the fourth time in 14 games.

Jeremy Swayman made 30 saves for Boston. Making his league-leading 37th start, first-time All-Star Alexandar Georgiev stopped 26 shots for the Avalanche.

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CAPITALS 5, BLUES 2

WASHINGTON (AP) — T.J. Oshie had a hat trick against his old team and Washington beat St. Louis for its second consecutive victory.

Oshie’s two goals on the power play and a late empty-netter gave him five goals in his past four games after scoring just two in his first 21 this season. It was Oshie’s sixth career hat trick and first since Oct. 25, 2021.

Dylan Strome also scored his team-leading 16th of the season and had an assist. Alex Ovechkin set up Strome’s goal in his return from a three-game injury absence. Max Pacioretty assisted on Oshie’s first two goals, and Nicolas Aube-Kubel also scored for Washington.

Charlie Lindgren made 18 saves against one of his former teams to improve to 9-4-3 this season.

Nathan Walker had two goals for St. Louis against his old team. The Blues have lost three in a row and four of five.

FLYERS 5, STARS 1

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Owen Tippett scored twice, including a highlight-reel goal late in the third period, Scott Laughton converted a penalty shot and streaking Philadelphia defeated Dallas for its fifth straight victory.

Sean Walker and Cam Atkinson also scored for Philadelphia, which outshot Dallas 43-16. Morgan Frost added two assists and Sam Ersson made 15 saves for the Flyers, who snapped a seven-game losing streak to the Stars.

Tyler Seguin scored for Dallas, which lost for just the second time in six games.

LIGHTNING 7, WILD 3

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Nikita Kucherov had three assists to reach 500 for his career, Anthony Cirelli scored twice and Tampa Bay beat Minnesota.

Kucherov, who leads the league with 75 points, had his fourth game this season with three or more assists. He reached the milestone in his 688th game, the third-fewest among active players behind Connor McDavid (527) and Sidney Crosby (554).

Waltteri Merela, Brayden Point, Steven Stamkos and Michael Eyssimont also scored for the Lightning, and Andrei Vasilevskiy finished with 30 saves.

Jake Middleton had a goal and two assists for the Wild. Joel Eriksson Ek and Marco Rossi had the other goals for Minnesota, which fell to 2-8-1 in its last 11 games.

SABRES 3, BLACKHAWKS 0

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 19 saves for his second consecutive shutout and Buffalo blanked Chicago in a game moved back a day because of snow.

Zemgus Girgensons, JJ Peterka and Rasmus Dahlin scored.

Luukkonen had his third NHL shutout, also beating San Jose 3-0 on Monday. Arvid Soderblom stopped 28 shots for the struggling Blackhawks, who have two wins in their last 11 games.

SENATORS 6, CANADIENS 2

OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — Tim Stutzle had a goal and two assists, Joonas Korpisalo stopped 21 shots and Ottawa beat Montreal.

Brady Tkachuk, Rourke Chartier, Vladimir Tarasenko, Mathieu Joseph and Parker Kelly also scored as the Senators (16-24-0) won for the second time in eight games.

Cole Caufield and Michael Pezzetta scored for the Canadiens (19-19-7), who dropped to 1-8-0 on the tail end of back-to-backs. Cayden Primeau made 32 saves.

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

The Associated Press