Ice Breaker: Leafs drop seven on Edmonton, Batherson buries New York
Twelve games, three overtime winners, a Kochetkov shutout and a Utah comeback that left Tampa staring at a blown two-goal lead.
Toronto went into Edmonton and scored seven, and Connor McDavid still didn't have a bad night on the score sheet. The Oilers have the best player alive and a goals-against problem nobody can assist their way out of.
Maple Leafs 7, Oilers 2
Jack Roslovic got credit for the opener, then Auston Matthews and Troy Stecher made it 3-0 before Edmonton found the net. William Nylander scored twice, and Anthony Stolarz stopped 30 of 32. Leon Draisaitl had both Oilers goals, with McDavid on each.
Lind's read: By our count, McDavid now has a point in all 11 games and 33 points total. Edmonton is still minus-2 over its last five, so the problem isn't the top of the lineup.
Drake Batherson had three goals and an assist in 14:44, the last one into an empty net with 12 seconds left. Jake Sanderson added a goal and two helpers. The Rangers pulled within 5-4 late in the third before Ottawa iced it twice.
Sully's chirp: Batherson got four points in under 15 minutes of ice time. Some guys need a full shift to find the bench door.
Utah 5, Lightning 4 (OT)
Tampa led 3-1 and 4-2, with Brayden Point scoring on the power play. Then Dmitri Simashev tied it late in the second and won it 1:44 into overtime. The Lightning didn't score after 5:32 of the second.
Lind's read: Tampa scored four times in the first 26 minutes and never again. Thirty-six scoreless minutes is a legs problem, not bad luck.
Hurricanes 4, Blues 0
Pyotr Kochetkov made 24 saves for the shutout. Sean Walker and Jesperi Kotkaniemi scored 20 seconds apart early in the second, and Carolina outshot St. Louis 39-24.
Sully's chirp: Two goals in 20 seconds. The Blues were still arguing about the first one when the second went in.
Capitals 4, Sabres 3 (OT)
Buffalo led 2-0 in the first period. Dylan Strome scored twice, Noah Ostlund tied it in the third, and Alex Tuch won it 3:42 into overtime.
Lind's read: Washington outshot Buffalo 34-21. A 2-0 lead on that kind of shot share is a loan, and the Caps collected.
Penguins 3, Predators 2 (OT)
Rickard Rakell tied it with 66 seconds left, with Erik Karlsson and Sidney Crosby on the play. Ville Koivunen won it in overtime. Juuse Saros made 34 saves in the loss.
Sully's chirp: Rakell and Karlsson are two of the names Gord has on the for-sale rack. Nothing raises an asking price like a tying goal with a minute left.
Bruins 6, Sharks 4
It was 3-3 midway through the third. David Pastrnak tied it, James Hagens scored 40 seconds later, and Fraser Minten made it 5-3 on the power play.
Lind's read: Boston won 60.6 percent of its faceoffs. Starting with the puck that often is how you win a track meet.
Ducks 5, Flyers 4
Philadelphia led 2-0 on two first-period power-play goals and lost anyway. Tristan Luneau scored the winner early in the third and finished with three points. Matvei Michkov scored twice.
Sully's chirp: The Flyers went 2-for-7 on the power play and still lost. Seven power plays, and they still found a way. That takes real commitment.
Wild 5, Kraken 1
Blake Coleman scored twice. Kirill Kaprizov and Joel Eriksson Ek had a goal and an assist each, and Jesper Wallstedt stopped 23 of 24.
Lind's read: Minnesota outshot Seattle 36-24 while losing 65 percent of the draws. That's a team winning on what happens after the faceoff.
Flames 4, Red Wings 1
Joel Farabee had a goal and two assists, Calgary went 2-for-2 on the power play, and Devin Cooley made 28 saves.
Sully's chirp: Detroit took two penalties and gave up two power-play goals. Perfect efficiency. Just for the wrong team.
Blue Jackets 2, Golden Knights 1 (OT)
Adam Fantilli won it on the power play 59 seconds into overtime. Cam Talbot stopped 26 of 27.
Lind's read: Vegas outshot Columbus 27-20 and got one goal. Talbot was the difference.
Devils 3, Kings 1
Brett Pesce scored the winner in the third, and Arseny Gritsyuk added the empty-netter. Jake Allen needed only 12 saves.
Sully's chirp: Jake Allen faced 13 shots in 60 minutes. He's been busier in warmups.
Three stars of the night
- Drake Batherson, OTT: three goals and an assist.
- Pyotr Kochetkov, CAR: 24 saves, shutout.
- Dylan Strome, WSH: two goals and the assist on Tuch's overtime winner.
Lind's number of the night
13. That's how many shots the Kings got in New Jersey, per NHL data. Los Angeles still led until 18:43 of the second, which tells you how thin that lead always was.
Sully's take of the morning
Tampa had a two-goal lead twice in Utah and lost to a defenseman's overtime goal. Great. Tremendous. The Lightning have figured out how to play the first 30 minutes of a hockey game. Somebody tell them there are 30 more. Grade: D.
Kessler's corner
No. 13 Augustana won 4-3 at Ohio State, and No. 2 Michigan State answered Friday's loss at UNH with a 2-1 win. The bigger story: the Gophers swept No. 3 North Dakota.
Pabs's Florida line
Devon Paliani scored three straight in a 4-2 comeback over Atlanta, and the Everblades are 4-0 (box score). Tampa also beat FGCU 6-5 in a shootout (box score).
Meg's line
No. 1 Ohio State beat No. 8 Colgate 8-0, and Colgate was 6-0-0 in this week's poll. That's a statement, not a result.
Tonight
The Panthers are in Chicago at 3 PM ET on Scripps, after two straight losses with one goal scored, by our count. Montreal and Winnipeg play at Princess Auto Stadium at 7 PM ET on TNT. The Islanders visit Dallas at 6, Colorado is at Nashville at 8, and Minnesota is in Vancouver at 10.
