Connor Bedard scored his fifth winning goal at his 99e career game and the Blackhawks defeated the New York Islanders 5-3 on Sunday in Chicago.
Bedard broke the tie with 54 seconds left in the third period. The first selection in the 2023 National Hockey League (NHL) draft also collected an assist. He has 29 goals and 87 points since his debut on the circuit.
Connor Murphy completed the score into an empty net. Ilya Mikheyev, Taylor Hall, Teuvo Teravainen also hit the target for the Blackhawks, who avoided a third straight defeat. Teravainen totaled three points in this game.
Arvid Soderblom stopped 30 pucks, being thwarted by Ryan Pulock, Simon Holmstrom and Noah Dobson. At the other end of the ice, Ilya Sorokin gave up four times on 22 shots.
Mathew Barzal and Adam Pelech returned to action for the Islanders. Both players had been out for six weeks.
Semyon Varlamov was placed on injured reserve on Saturday and Pierre Engvall was recalled from the farm club.
Anthony Duclair and Bo Horvat did not play against the Blackhawks due to lower-body injuries, but Duclair could return to action Tuesday against the Carolina Hurricanes.
Sabres 3 — Maple Leafs 5
John Tavares reached the 15-goal mark with a hat trick and the Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Buffalo Sabers, 5-3.
Tavares completed his hat-trick into an empty net, after scoring twice in 1:10 of the middle period.
Max Domi and Nick Robertson each provided a goal and an assist for the Leafs, who were down 3-1 midway through the second period.
Bobby McMann was complicit in two nets.
The Maple Leafs have won three of their last four games. Their next meeting will take place Wednesday evening in Dallas.
Jack Quinn (twice) and Alex Tuch responded for Buffalo, which lost a 10th straight game (0-7-3).
The club will have another opportunity to change the situation Tuesday evening, at the Bell Centre.
Blue Jackets 1 — Hurricanes 4
Sebastian Aho set the tone with a short-handed goal and the Carolina Hurricanes defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets, 4-1.
Aho hit the mark midway through the first period. Montrealer William Carrier scored a third goal for the Hurricanes.
Their other scorers were Jordan Martinook and former CH Jesperi Kotkaniemi, author of a fifth goal. Dustin Tokarski stopped 27 shots, beaten only by Dmitri Voronkov.
Columbus dropped a fourth game in a row. The club is 4-10-2 on the road.
Rangers 2 — Blues 3
Joel Hofer made 26 saves for his fourth straight victory and the Blues handed the New York Rangers a 3-2 defeat in St. Louis.
Robert Thomas threaded the needle and added an assist. He was complicit in a goal in a seventh game in a row. Pavel Buchnevich and Jordan Kyrou also made the red light shine.
Brett Berard and Will Cuylle responded to take two goals from the Blues’ lead. The Rangers nevertheless suffered a 10th defeat in 13 games while they were without Artemi Panarin, injured in his upper body.
Jonathan Quick allowed three goals on 24 shots.
Golden Knight 3 — Wild 2
Victor Olofsson scored his second double of the season to help the Vegas Golden Knights defeat the Minnesota Wild 3-2 in Saint Paul.
Olofsson scored two goals in an 8-4 win over the Colorado Avalanche in the season opener. Since then, he has missed 20 games due to a lower-body injury, but has scored three goals in his last two outings.
Shea Theodore was the other scorer for the Nevada club. Jack Eichel also contributed to the victory with two assists. Ilya Samsonov blocked 20 pucks.
Kirill Kaprizov scored twice in the loss, following another two-goal performance against the Philadelphia Flyers. He is now tied with Leon Draisaitl for the most goals this season (22).
Jesper Wallstedt made 24 saves in his first game of the season. It was his fourth career start.
