NHL roundup: Isles' OT win spoils Auston Matthews' historic goal
Jan 3, 2026; Elmont, New York, USA; Toronto Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews (34) celebrates after scoring a goal against the New York Islanders during the second period at UBS Arena. Mandatory Credit: Thomas Salus-Imagn Images Auston Matthews became the Toronto Maple Leafs' all-time leading goal scorer Saturday night, but Matthew Schaefer scored twice, including the game-winner in overtime, as the New York Islanders earned a 4-3 win in Elmont, N.Y.
Schaefer, the No. 1 overall pick in June's draft, tied the score at 2-all in the second before collecting the game-winner off a nifty pass from Mathew Barzal with 49 seconds left in overtime. Adam Pelech scored the game's first goal in the second and Emil Heineman forced overtime for the Islanders, who have won four of six (4-2-0). David Rittich made 18 saves.
Matthews tied Mats Sundin with his 420th career goal with an impressive unassisted game-tying tally 9:30 into the second. The Leafs captain collected the record-breaking goal, putting the visitors ahead with 2:41 remaining in the period, when he took a cross-ice pass from Bobby McMann and fired a shot beyond Rittich's glove.
Matthews, who has 20 goals this season, grinned broadly and raised his arms while Oliver Ekman-Larsson raced over for an embrace. The Maple Leafs spilled on to the ice and mobbed Matthews against the boards across from their bench. The Arizona native broke Sundin's record in his 664th regular-season game -- 317 fewer than the Hall of Famer needed to set the record from 1994-2008.
Avalanche 5, Hurricanes 3
Brock Nelson scored two power-play goals in the first 7 1/2 minutes of the third period to spark a comeback as Colorado won its 10th consecutive game by rallying past Carolina in a victory in Raleigh, N.C.
Gabriel Landeskog and Jack Drury also scored for the Avalanche, Nathan MacKinnon tallied a goal and three assists and Cale Makar had two helpers. Scott Wedgewood also made 25 saves to help Colorado extend its point streak to 13 games.
Sebastian Aho had a goal and an assist for the Hurricanes, and Nikolaj Ehlers and Andrei Svechnikov had the other Hurricanes tallies. However, goalie Frederik Andersen suffered his ninth consecutive loss despite making 30 saves, including the first 16 shots he faced.
Blue Jackets 5, Sabres 1
Five Columbus players reached the back of the net to help end visiting Buffalo's 10-game winning streak.
Denton Mateychuk, Brendan Gaunce, Dmitri Voronkov, Mathieu Olivier and Cole Sillinger had a goal apiece to help the Blue Jackets notch their fourth victory in their previous five games. Jet Greaves backed up their effort with 32 saves.
Josh Doan was the only Sabre to solve Greaves, while Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 30 saves as Buffalo suffered its first loss since Dec. 8.
Bruins 3, Canucks 2 (OT)
Fraser Minten's two goals included the game-winner with 18.8 seconds left in overtime, propelling visiting Boston past his hometown Vancouver club.
Stationed in the crease, Minten slammed the rebound of a David Pastrnak shot past Canucks goaltender Kevin Lankinen (18 saves) for the final tally. Minten, who had a point-blank shot stopped by Lankinen in the final minute of regulation, also scored a power-play goal in the first period.
Elias Lindholm also scored, Pastrnak had two assists and Jeremy Swayman made 31 saves for the Bruins. Elias Pettersson and Filip Hronek scored for Vancouver, which led 33-21 in shots while finishing just 1-for-6 with a man advantage. The Canucks have lost three in a row and five of their last six (1-3-2).
Kings 5, Wild 4 (SO)
Quinton Byfield had a goal and an assist for Los Angeles in a shootout victory against visiting Minnesota.
Adrian Kempe, Samuel Helenius and Corey Perry also scored, and Darcy Kuemper made 24 saves in regulation and stopped three of four attempts in the shootout for the Kings, who had lost two straight and four of five.
Kempe and Brandt Clarke scored in the four-round shootout for Los Angeles, while Matt Boldy scored for Minnesota. Brock Faber had a goal and an assist, and Jake Middleton, Joel Eriksson Ek and Boldy also scored, and Jesper Wallstedt made 35 saves for the Wild, who have a six-game point streak (3-0-3).
Blackhawks 3, Capitals 2 (SO)
Spencer Knight steadied Chicago with 32 saves to help lift the Blackhawks past host Washington in a shootout win.
Nick Foligno buried the game-winning goal in the sixth round of the shootout to give the Blackhawks the victory. Ryan Donato and Teuvo Teravainen found the back of the net in regulation for Chicago, while Dylan Strome and Ryan Leonard tallied regulation goals for the Capitals to force the overtime at 2-2. Washington's Logan Thompson made 31 saves in the loss.
The Blackhawks had a short 4-on-3 man advantage in the final minute of overtime but were unable to find the game-winner. Nick Lardis, Andre Burakovsky and Foligno scored in the shootout for Chicago, while Strome and Sonny Milano found the net for the Capitals.
Lightning 7, Sharks 3
Defenseman Darren Raddysh recorded his first hat trick as Tampa Bay swarmed host San Jose from the start to spark a rout and climb into first place in the Eastern Conference.
Brayden Point, Raddysh and Brandon Hagel scored in the opening 6:46 as Tampa Bay extended its winning streak to a season-high-tying seven games. Nikita Kucherov crafted a five-point showing with a tally and four assists to extend his point streak to seven games.
The Sharks' Pavol Regenda notched his first hat trick as well to give him five goals in four games, but the club lost for the first time in its four outings since the holiday break. Timothy Liljegren and Jeff Skinner had two assists apiece. Macklin Celebrini had a helper to extend his point streak to 10 games (seven goals, 13 assists).
Penguins 4, Red Wings 1
Bryan Rust had a goal and Sidney Crosby had two assists to lead visiting Pittsburgh to a victory over Detroit, extending its win streak to four games.
Yegor Chinakhov, Rickard Rakell and Connor Dewar also scored, and Parker Wotherspoon had two assists for Pittsburgh, which completed a sweep of a home-and-home set. The Penguins, who defeated the Red Wings 4-3 in overtime on Thursday in Pittsburgh, held Detroit to just 12 shots on goal, a season-low for an opponent.
Alex DeBrincat scored for Detroit, which didn't have a shot on goal in the first 13 minutes of the game and had just six shots on goal in the first 35 minutes. John Gibson finished with 27 saves.
Senators 4, Jets 2
Thomas Chabot scored twice as host Ottawa lengthened Winnipeg's winless skid to nine games.
Drake Batherson and Claude Giroux were the other goal scorers for the Senators. Leevi Merilainen made 20 saves in net for Ottawa.
Kyle Connor picked up a goal and an assist, while Adam Lowry also scored for the Jets, who are 0-6-3 since Dec. 15. Winnipeg's Connor Hellebuyck made 23 stops.
Flyers 5, Oilers 2
Denver Barkey's first NHL tally highlighted a three-goal first period for Philadelphia, who topped host Edmonton.
Travis Sanheim and Bobby Brink also scored in the first, while Nick Seeler and Owen Tippett each posted a goal with an assist and Sean Couturier added two helpers for the Flyers, who finished a 3-2-0 road trip. Dan Vladar made 22 saves for Philadelphia, which allowed 13 Edmonton shots on goal in the first period, but just 11 the rest of the way.
Connor McDavid extended his point streak to 15 games with his 25th goal of the season and Evan Bouchard also scored for the Oilers, who have dropped two straight and three of four. Edmonton goalie Calvin Pickard made 24 saves.
Devils 4, Mammoth 1
Four different skaters scored for New Jersey as the Devils recorded their second straight win with a victory against visiting Utah.
Timo Meier and Nico Hischier each scored, while Jesper Bratt had a goal and an assist. Dougie Hamilton ended a 26-game goal drought to pitch in for New Jersey. Brett Pesce and Jack Hughes each had two assists as well, while Jacob Markstrom made 30 saves.
Michael Carcone scored the lone goal for the Mammoth, who have lost three of their last four games. Karel Vejmelka made 26 saves.
Blues 2, Canadiens 0
Jordan Binnington made 25 saves for his 19th career shutout as St. Louis blanked visiting Montreal. Binnington earned his first victory since Dec. 7.
Jonatan Berggren and Robert Thomas scored for the Blues, who won their second game in as many days.
Jacob Fowler made 17 saves for the Canadiens, whose two-game winning streak came to an end.
Predators 4, Flames 3
Defenseman Nicolas Hague scored with 29 seconds left in regulation to give Nashville a win over host Calgary.
Erik Haula scored twice in his 800th NHL game and Michael Bunting collected a goal and three assists for the Predators, while Steven Stamkos contributed two assists before limping off the ice after blocking a shot in the closing seconds. Nashville has now won six of its last eight games.
Blake Coleman and defensemen Yan Kuznetsov and Rasmus Andersson scored for the Flames, while Matt Coronato had two assists. Dustin Wolf made 32 saves but couldn't prevent Calgary from losing for just the second time in its last seven games.
--Field Level Media
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