NHL: Blues Win, Slovák Dvorský s Asistenciou & Výsledky z Noci

The St. Louis Blues defeated the Nashville Predators 3-2 on Saturday night in a tightly contested NHL matchup. Slovakian forward Dalibor Dvorský contributed an assist for the Blues in the victory.

Dvorský Adds a Hit and an Assist

Dvorský played a key role in the game’s opening goal, scored by Brayden Schenn at 9:00 during a power play. Dvorský moved the puck to the blue line where a shot by Cam Fowler was redirected past Predators goaltender Juuse Saros by Schenn.

Schenn’s goal marked his 700th career point in the NHL. Dvorský saw 11:14 of ice time as a member of the third line, adding three hits and a minus-one rating to his stat line.

Dvorský completed 13 shifts, the fewest of any player on Jim Montgomery’s team. The assist was his third of the season and eighth point overall in 29 games played.

Pavel Buchnevich scored twice to lead the Blues to victory in the Central Division rivalry game, while goaltender Joel Hofer stopped 30 shots. Jordan Kyrou and Jimmy Snuggerud returned to the Blues lineup after recovering from injuries.

VIDEO: Dalibor Dvorský’s Assist

The Predators suffered their first loss in four games. “After the break, it’s usually tougher, but we came out flying and managed to win a hard game,” Blues center Robert Thomas told NHL.com, after recording two assists.

Fehérváry Logs Over 20 Minutes

Martin Fehérváry also contributed to a win, playing over 20 minutes as the Washington Capitals defeated the New Jersey Devils 4-3 in overtime. Jakob Chychrun scored the overtime winner at 64:06, ending the Capitals’ three-game losing streak.

Fehérváry logged 20 minutes and 24 seconds on the ice, and registered two shots on goal. Alexey Protas scored twice with an assist, while captain Alexander Ovechkin netted his 15th goal of the season – his 912th career goal – and added an assist.

VIDEO: Alexander Ovechkin’s Goal

“That was a show of resilience from the Caps tonight. It wasn’t pretty, the performance wasn’t ideal, but we battled and that’s what made the difference,” said Washington coach Spencer Carbery. Devils defenseman Šimon Nemec remained sidelined with an injury.

Sabres Extend Winning Streak

The Buffalo Sabres continued their impressive run, defeating the Boston Bruins 4-1 and extending their winning streak to eight games. Mattias Samuelsson scored a goal and added two assists in the victory. This is Buffalo’s longest winning streak since November 2018, when they won 10 straight.

“We didn’t feel great starting out, but our legs started moving in the second period and we took over a tough game,” Sabres center Robert Thomas said.

Peyton Krebs had a goal and an assist, while Jack Quinn and Tage Thompson each recorded two assists. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 22 saves. Buffalo played without captain Rasmus Dahlin, who remained in Sweden with his fiancée, who is recovering from a heart transplant.

Dahlin is expected to join the team in St. Louis, where the Sabres will play their next game on Tuesday. “I think the guys wanted to win this one for ‘Rasa’,” said Sabres coach Lindy Ruff. “I talked to him around 6 p.m. our time, he was already up for the night and told me to get some sleep and see him in St. Louis.

He said he wasn’t going to sleep because he wanted to watch the game. I probably should have asked his mom and dad if they let him stay up that late,” Ruff joked. David Pastrňák scored the lone goal for the Bruins and recorded his 110th point of the calendar year 2023.

MacKinnon and McDavid Battle for Scoring Lead

The Colorado Avalanche, currently the top team in the league, also continued a hot streak, winning 6-5 in overtime against the Vegas Golden Knights, their seventh consecutive victory.

The Avalanche scored three goals in the third period, with league-leading scorer Nathan MacKinnon netting his 31st goal of the season and adding two assists. Martin Nečas also scored twice, and both players scored in the shootout.

Connor McDavid scored his 24th goal of the season and extended his point streak to 12 games, but the Edmonton Oilers fell to the Calgary Flames 2-3 in the “Battle of Alberta.”

With 68 points (24 goals, 44 assists), McDavid leads the NHL in scoring, four points ahead of MacKinnon.

Islanders Win New York Derby

The New York Islanders defeated the New York Rangers 2-0 in the New York derby, with David Rittich earning a shutout. The Czech goaltender stopped 27 shots for his second shutout of the season.

“It’s great, but I don’t care about shutouts. If it was 7-6 and we got two points, I’d be happy. It’s about the wins,” Rittich said. Anders Lee and Simon Holmström scored for the Islanders.

“The game had energy from start to finish. It was a hard-fought battle, and both goalies were great,” said Islanders coach Patrick Roy. Igor Šesťorkin made 24 saves for the Rangers, who were shut out for the eighth time this season.

Twelve Goals in Ontario

The Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Ottawa Senators 7-5 in a high-scoring “Battle of Ontario” game. Auston Matthews scored and added two assists, while Matthew Knies recorded two goals and two assists. Joseph Woll made 33 saves.

“It was an emotional game. Two divisional rivals, two teams that don’t like each other very much, and a rematch from last year’s playoffs. It was a battle to the very end, but I’m glad we pulled it out,” said Matthews, who scored his 416th career goal, tying Tony Amonte for 10th among American-born players.

Max Domi added three assists, and the Senators rallied from a 2-5 deficit to tie the game before John Tavares scored into an empty net to seal the win for Toronto.

A derby also took place in Florida, where the Panthers hosted the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Lightning won 4-2, with Nikita Kucherov scoring twice and Andrei Vasilevskiy making 24 saves. The rivalry between the two teams was evident even before the season, with a preseason game between the teams resulting in over 300 penalty minutes.

NHL leadership reportedly warned both teams to avoid crossing the line in this game, according to insider Elliot Friedman of sportsnet.ca. The game ultimately featured several scrums and fights, with referees handing out 136 penalty minutes.

The Carolina Hurricanes ended a three-game losing streak with a 5-2 win at home against the Detroit Red Wings. Andrei Svechnikov and Shayne Gostisbehere each scored a goal and added two assists. Brandon Bussi made 18 saves to improve to 12-1-1 in his rookie season.

Kaprizov Surpasses Gáborík

The Minnesota Wild tied the game 3-3 against the Winnipeg Jets with 22 seconds remaining, capitalizing on a power play with a goal by Mats Zuccarello, and then won in overtime with a second goal from Matt Boldy.

VIDEO: Minnesota’s Overtime Winner

The Jets were penalized in the final minute of regulation time when Dylan Mel was called for a cross-checking penalty. Jets coach Scott Arniel expressed his frustration with the call during and after the game.

“A couple of seconds before that, there was a hit on Josh Morrissey that wasn’t called. It was a terrible decision, he went head-first into the boards. And then they call a penalty for a battle in front of the net,” Arniel said at the post-game press conference.

Wild defenseman Quinn Hughes recorded three assists, his 27th of the season. Kirill Kaprizov also scored, his 285th career goal, surpassing Marián Gáborík for second place in franchise history. Mikko Koivu holds the club record with 433 goals.

NHL – Sunday, December 28:

New York Islanders – New York Rangers 2:0 (1:0, 0:0, 1:0)

Goals: 1. Lee, 60. Holmström

Goalies: Rittich – Šesťorkin, shots on goal: 26:27

Buffalo – Boston 4:1 (0:1, 3:0, 1:0)

Goals: 22. McLeod (Quinn, Samuelsson), 24. Krebs (Thompson, Samuelsson), 28. Samuelsson (Quinn, Byram), 60. Norris (Krebs, Thompson) – 12. Pastrňák (Geekie)

Goalies: Luukkonen – Korpisalo, shots on goal: 34:22

Carolina – Detroit 5:2 (0:1, 3:0, 2:1)

Goals: 24. Blake (Gostisbehere), 25. Robinson (Aho, Svečnikov), 36. Gostisbehere (Chatfield, Carrier), 54. Svečnikov, 59. Martinook (Svečnikov, Gostisbehere) – 13. Rasmussen (Compher), 44. Copp (Leonard, Sandin-Pellikka)

Goalies: Bussi – Gibson, shots on goal: 38:20

Florida – Tampa Bay 2:4 (1:2, 1:1, 0:1)

Goals: 6. Luostarinen (Samoskevich, Rodrigues), 28. Marchand (Bennett, Reinhart) – 14. Guentzel (Cirelli), 20. Holmberg (Gourde, Carlile), 23. Kučerov (Point, Goncalves), 60. Kučerov (Cirelli)

Goalies: Bobrovskij – Vasilevskij, shots on goal: 26:25

New Jersey – Washington 3:4 pp (0:1, 1:1, 2:1 – 0:1)

Goals: 25. Bratt (Hischier, Noesen), 47. Bratt, 48. Glass (Brown, Dillon) – 20. Protas (Ovečkin), 38. Beauvillier (Protas), 50. Ovečkin (Sandin, Protas), 65. Chychrun (Dowd, Strome)

Goalies: Allen – Thompson, shots on goal: 38:33

Toronto – Ottawa 7:5 (2:1, 3:1, 2:3)

Goals: 1. Nylander (Matthews, Maccelli), 15. Knies (Domi, Robertson), 24. McMann (Matthews, Domi), 28. Matthews (Domi, McCabe), 29. Robertson (Knies, Roy), 46. Knies (Maccelli, Rielly), 59. Tavares – 18. Cousins (Spence, Halliday), 21. Greig (Giroux), 41. Batherson (Cozens, Tkachuk), 46. Stützle (Zetterlund), 50. Spence (Giroux, Halliday)

Goalies: Woll – Ullmark (38. Merilainen), shots on goal: 33:31

Winnipeg – Minnesota 3:4 pp (1:1, 2:1, 0:1 – 0:1)

Goals: 12. Morrissey (Connor, Vilardi), 38. Connor (Scheifele, Vilardi), 40. Scheifele (Toews) – 19. Boldy (Spurgeon, Hughes), 28. Kaprizov (Z