David Backes scored the deciding goal in his first game in nearly a month, David Pastrnak added his league-leading 25th goal, and the Boston Bruins won their seventh straight game, beating the Montreal Canadiens 3-1 Sunday night.
Backes’ first goal of the season came off a feed from David Krejci through the right circle, with 9:31 remaining in the third period.
Backes was in the lineup for the first time since being injured during a scary collision with Ottawa’s Scott Sabourin on Nov. 2.
Jake DeBrusk added his sixth goal of the year on a give-and-go with Charlie Coyle two minutes later.
Tuukka Rask made 28 saves for the Bruins.
Boston extended its point streak to 11 games (8-0-3) and entered the third month of the season as the only team without a home regulation loss (11-0-4).
Joel Amir scored, and Carey Price had 31 saves for Montreal. The Canadiens extended their season-high losing streak to eight (0-5-3).
WILD 3, STARS 2, SO.
Mikko Koivu scored the shootout winner in his 1,000th career game and reached 700th career points with a second-period assist in Minnesota’s win over Dallas.
Koivu, playing his 15th season with the Wild, beat Ben Bishop with his trademark move, a backhand over the goalie’s left shoulder. Then Alex Stalock, who made 26 saves, stuffed Corey Perry to seal the victory.
Kevin Fiala had a goal and an assist and Zach Parise also scored for the Wild. Both also scored in the first three rounds of the shootout, but Joe Pavelski and Tyler Seguin countered for Dallas.
Blake Comeau and John Klingberg scored for Dallas and Bishop stopped 27 shots. The Stars have lost three in a row after a 14-1-1 run.
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Shea Theodore scored 2:09 into overtime to lift the Vegas Golden Knights to a 4-3 win over the Washington Capitals on Wednesday night.
Alec Martinez, Evgenii Dadonov and Chandler Stephenson scored for the Golden Knights in regulation. Robin Lehner made 12 stops in the first period and didn’t return. Logan Thompson stopped 13 shots in the final two periods and didn’t face any in overtime.
Vegas has 89 points and is two back of Dallas for the second wild card in the Western Conference, and trails Los Angeles by three in the Pacific Division.
Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Shea Theodore (27) scores against Washington Capitals goaltender Ilya Samsonov (30) during overtime in an NHL hockey game Wednesday, April 20, 2022, in Las Vegas. The Golden Knights won 4-3. (AP PhotoSam Morris)
Alex Ovechkin had two goals and Evgeny Kuznetsov also scored for the Capitals, while Samsonov made 26 saves.
KRAKEN 3, AVALANCHE 2
Kole Lind, Jordan Eberle and Yanni Gourde all scored in the first period and the Seattle held on to beat Colorado.
Philipp Grubauer had 25 saves as Seattle won its third straight. Matty Beniers had an assist to become the first rookie this season to begin his NHL career with a point in each of his first four games.
Cale Makar and Artturi Lehkonen scored for the Avalanche, and Pavel Francouz finished with 26 saves. Colorado, assured of having the top seed in the Western Conference, has lost two straight after winning nine in a row. The Avalanche remained tied with Florida with 116 points for the Presidents’ Trophy for the league’s best record.
BLACKHAWKS 4, COYOTES 3, OT
GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) -- Alex DeBrincat scored his 40th goal of the season with 37 seconds left in overtime, giving Chicago a win over Arizona.
Jake McCabe, Dominik Kubalik and Alex Vlasic also scored for Blackhawks, who won for the second time in 12 games after squandering a 3-1 lead in the final 10:18 of regulation.
Barrett Hayton, Nate Smith and Anton Stralman scored for the Coyotes, who have lost eight in a row and 15 of 17.
Kevin Lankinen had 32 saves for the Blackhawks, who have not won in regulation since March 23.
Coyotes goaltender Karel Vejmelka made 34 saves in his 49th game, a franchise record for rookie goaltenders. He is the first rookie in NHL history with four games of at least 46 saves.
OILERS 5, STARS 2
Connor McDavid had a goal and two assists, and Edmonton won its third straight.
Evander Kane, Derek Ryan, Zach Hyman and Jesse Puljujarvi also scored for the Oilers, who are 11-0-1 in their last 12 home games. Evan Bouchard had two assists and Mike Smith stopped 34 shots.
Jason Robertson and Roope Hintz each had a goal and an assist for the Stars, who have lost three of their last four. Scott Wedgewood finished with 45 saves.
