Thursday in the NHL | Sidney Crosby spoils Connor Bedard’s return

The Penguins defeat the Blackhawks 4-1

Sidney Crosby scored twice and the Pittsburgh Penguins ended a three-game losing streak with a 4-1 win over the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday.

Reilly Smith and Bryan Rust also threaded the needle for the Penguins, who had successively lost to the Minnesota Wild, Winnipeg Jets and Florida Panthers. Alex Nedeljkovic stopped 27 pucks.

Blackhawks rookie Connor Bedard assisted on Philipp Kurashev’s goal in his return to the game after a 14-game absence due to a broken jaw.

Arvid Soderblom made 23 saves in the Blackhawks’ eighth straight loss. The Illinois team is in last place in the general standings of the National Hockey League.

The Penguins also placed the name of forward Jake Guentzel on the injured list a few hours before this duel. He is expected to miss up to four weeks of activities.

Guentzel did not play in the final 10 minutes of a 5-2 loss to the Panthers on Wednesday.

The 29-year-old American has scored 22 goals and totaled 52 points in 50 games this season.

Associated Press

Mason McTavish propels Ducks to victory

Mason McTavish scored a double close to home on Thursday as the Anaheim Ducks won 5-1 at the expense of the Ottawa Senators.

McTavish is originally from Carp, Ontario, very close to the federal capital.

Frank Vatrano, Pavel Mintyukov and Cam Fowler were the other Ducks scorers.

The team recovered after being dominated 5-0 on Tuesday in Montreal.

John Gibson made 15 saves in two periods before leaving the ice with an upper body injury.

Lukas Dostal then blocked 18 shots, only being thwarted by Claude Giroux.

Joonas Korpisalo stopped 15 shots for the Senators, who had won four straight games.

The Senators will be the visitors in Chicago on Saturday.

The same day, the Ducks will be in Toronto to face the Maple Leafs.

The Canadian Press

The Blues sign an 8^e victory in 10 matches

Robert Thomas and Jake Neighbors each had a goal and two assists in a 6-3 victory for the St. Louis Blues against the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday.

Jordan Binnington made 35 saves, including two dazzling saves against Zach Hyman during an Oilers power play in the first period.

Jordan Kyrou, Torey Krug and Pavel Buchnevich hit the target while contributing to a goal. Brandon Saad was the other scorer for the Blues, who have won eight of their last 10 games.

Leon Draisaitl, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Corey Perry responded for the Oilers, who have lost three of their last five games after winning 16 in a row. Stuart Skinner blocked 24 pucks.

Connor McDavid added three assists to his record. He had six in an 8-4 victory against the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday.

The Blues took control of the match with four unanswered goals in the second period.

Joe Harris, Associated Press

Stars crush Predators 9-2

Sam Steel scored 35 seconds after the opening faceoff and the Dallas Stars pulverized the Nashville Predators 9-2 on Thursday.

The Stars scored four times in the first 16 minutes of the game (Matt Duchene, Craig Smith and Wyatt Johnston continued the momentum).

Dallas had an 18-1 advantage in shots at the first intermission.

Duchene completed a double late in the second period, in addition to collecting two assists.

Johnston also scored two goals and two assists.

Tyler Seguin and Ty Dellandrea each provided a goal and three points.

Miro Heiskanen scored the other goal for the Stars, who won a third game in a row.

The team will host the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday, starting at 3 p.m.

Cole Smith and Tommy Novak scored for the Predators, who have just one win in six games.

Teresa M. Walker, Associated Press

A third consecutive victory for the Lightning

Nikita Kucherov provided two goals and an assist on Thursday as the Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the Colorado Avalanche 6-3.

Kucherov broke a 3-3 tie midway through the third period, scoring a 36^e net.

The 30-year-old Russian leads the National League with 93 points this season.

In second place is Nathan MacKinnon of the Avalanche with 89, including two assists on Thursday.

Steven Stamkos and Brayden Point also beat Justus Annunen, who made 33 saves.

Anthony Cirelli and Nick Perbix completed in an empty net.

Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 28 shots for the Lightning, who are undefeated in three games.

Tampa Bay will play again Saturday night at home, against the Florida Panthers.

Bowen Byram scored twice in a losing cause, while the other scorer was Artturi Lehkonen.

Mark Didtler, Associated Press

Kraken wins 4-1 against Bruins

Matthew Beniers had three points, including a goal, and the Seattle Kraken capped a five-game road streak with a 4-1 win over the Boston Bruins on Thursday.

Jordan Eberle, Eeli Tolvanen and Jared McCann were the other Kraken scorers. Joey Daccord stopped 36 shots to end his personal three-game losing streak.

David Pastrnak scored the lone goal for the Bruins, who lost first place in the Eastern Conference with a third straight loss and fourth in five games. Jeremy Swayman made 22 saves.

Pastrnak opened the scoring at 4:54 of the first period by recovering his own rebound. He thus registered his 34^e fillet of the season.

A penalty for a high stick, however, allowed the Kraken to tie the game at 10:49, thanks to Eberle.

The Bruins reached the post twice and missed a chance into an open net in the second before the visitors took the lead on a three-on-one run.

With two goals behind, the Massachusetts club removed Swayman in favor of a sixth skater, but McCann hit the target in an empty cage.

Brendan McGair, Associated Press

Winning goal from Quinton Byfield tips the scales for the Kings

Quinton Byfield scored on the power play with 5:37 remaining in the third period on Thursday, guiding the Los Angeles Kings to a 2-1 victory over the New Jersey Devils.

Byfield converted a rebound, scoring a 17^e goal this season.

Anze Kopitar scored a shorthanded goal and David Rittich made 27 saves.

The Kings only deserved a fifth win in their last 20 games.

The club responded well after being corrected 7-0 on Tuesday in Buffalo.

Tyler Toffoli scored the goal for the Devils, who were trying to win a third game in a row.

Toffoli won the Stanley Cup with the Kings in 2014.

Nico Daws also blocked 27 shots.

On Saturday, the Devils will face the Philadelphia Flyers at MetLife Stadium.

Tom Canavan, Associated Press

Panthers defeat Sabers 4-0

Anthony Stolarz stopped 45 pucks to record his seventh career shutout in the Florida Panthers’ 4-0 win over the Buffalo Sabers on Thursday.

The Panthers at the same time became the 11^e team in National Hockey League history to win 10 straight road games. It’s the sixth-longest streak of its kind, trailing two victories behind the Detroit Red Wings (2005-06) and the Minnesota Wild (2014-15).

The Los Angeles Kings won 11 earlier this season.

Carter Verhaeghe scored twice in the victory, scoring his second goal in an empty cage. Anton Lundell and Ryan Lomberg also scored for the Panthers, who have won 17 of their last 22 meetings.

The Sabers, for their part, were unable to score after blanking the Kings 7-0 on Tuesday.

Eric Comrie made 27 saves for the Sabres. He was getting his first start in more than two months due to Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen’s lower-body injury.

John Wawrow, Associated Press

The Flyers lose 4-3 to the Maple Leafs

William Nylander scored in overtime, Auston Matthews scored a hat trick in the second period and the Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Philadelphia Flyers 4-3 on Thursday.

Nylander’s winning goal came 54 seconds into the overtime period. The Maple Leafs had previously blown a two-goal lead.

Matthews scored his three goals in 7:49 of play. He now has 45 goals — a National Hockey League high — and is heading for a 71-goal season at this pace. It was his fifth hat-trick of the campaign.

Ilya Samsonov blocked 29 pucks in the victory. Mitch Marner had three assists and Timothy Liljegren had two.

Travis Konecny, Travis Sanheim and Garnet Hathaway responded for the Flyers, who had won their last four games. Samuel Ersson made 24 saves.

The Flyers’ next game will be away from home on Saturday at MetLife Stadium against the New Jersey Devils as part of the NHL Stadium Series.

Joshua Clipperton, The Canadian Press

Filip Zadina leads Sharks to 6-3 win

Filip Zadina scored two goals and added two assists to help the San Jose Sharks defeat the Calgary Flames 6-3 on Thursday.

It was a first career four-point performance for the 24-year-old Czech.

Luke Kunin scored twice for the visitors, who ended a two-game losing streak. Justin Bailey had a goal and two assists. Mikael Granlund was the other scorer and Mackenzie Blackwood stopped 31 pucks.

Mikael Backlund, Nazem Kadri and Andrei Kuzmenko responded for the Flames, who lost a second straight game. Quebecer Jonathan Huberdeau collected an assist and has six points in his last five games.

In his first start in the National Hockey League since December 12, Dustin Wolf made 24 saves. He has lost four of his six career starts.

Quebecer Marc-Édouard Vlasic competed in a 1270^e career match, for the Sharks. He joined Rob Blake among the defenders at 25^e rank in NHL history.

The Canadian Press