Colorado center Nazem Kadri, left, celebrates with left wing Andre Burakovsky, center and defenseman Devon Toews after scoring during the Avalanche’s 5-3 win over the Sabres on Saturday in Buffalo, New York. Adrian Kraus/Associated Press
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Mikko Rantanen scored a goal and assisted on Alex Newhook’s tiebreaking goal in the third period, and the NHL-leading Colorado Avalanche beat the Buffalo Sabres 5-3 on Saturday.
Nathan MacKinnon also had a goal and an assist, J.T. Compher and Nazem Kadri scored the other goals, and Colorado extended its season-best road win streak to seven. With consecutive wins to open a four-game trip, the Avalanche improved to 8-0-1 in their past nine road games and 24-2-2 overall since Dec. 6.
Darcy Kuemper made 29 saves to earn a point in his 18th consecutive decision (16-0-2), prolonging a franchise record.
Tage Thompson netted his first hat trick for the Sabres, who have lost two in a row and fell to 8-14-4 at home. Jeff Skinner had two assists and Dustin Tokarski stopped 31 shots.
Rantanen set up Newhook in the slot for the go-ahead goal. It was Newhook’s 11th, coming on a rush after Erik Johnson knocked down Buffalo’s Rasmus Dahlin behind the Avalanche net.
The sequence drew boos from the crowd as Dahlin was slow to get up from the ice before going to the dressing room. The All-Star defenseman returned later in the period and delivered a big hit to Colorado’s Andre Burakovsky.
Rantanen scored his 26th in the empty net with 52 seconds left in the game.
OILERS 4, JETS 2: Connor McDavid scored a goal and added two assists to lead Edmonton to its fifth straight victory under interim coach Jay Woodcroft, over host Winnipeg.
McDavid’s three points give him 71 – 26 goals and 45 assists – for the season, two ahead of Oilers teammate Leon Draisaitl, who had an assist against the Jets, for the NHL lead.
Zach Hyman, Kailer Yamamoto and Darnell Nurse also had goals for Edmonton, and Tyson Barrie had two assists. Mikko Koskinen stopped 22 shots for Edmonton in his first game since going into the COVID-19 protocol after the all-star break.
Winnipeg scored a pair of third-period goals, with one coming short-handed from Adam Lowry and Kyle Connor adding another on a power play. Connor Hellebuyck made 36 saves for the Jets, who are 5-3-1 after a six-game winless streak.
Winnipeg had a five-on-three man advantage for 90 seconds in the first period, but didn’t get a shot on goal after a lot of passing back and forth.
BLUES 6, MAPLE LEAFS 3: Brandon Saad, Ryan O’Reilly and Pavel Buchnevich each scored in St. Louis’ three-goal third period that broke open a tie game and gave the Blues a victory in Toronto.
Buchnevich finished with two goals, and Klim Kostin and Brayden Schenn also scored for St. Louis. Ville Husso made 34 saves to improve to 9-1-1 since Jan. 1.
The Blues rebounded from a 3-2 overtime loss Thursday night that ended the Montreal Canadiens’ 10-game skid.
William Nylander had two goals and T.J. Brodie scored his first goal since Jan. 5 for Toronto. Jack Campbell made 28 saves.
With the game tied at 3, Saad finished a pinpoint three-way passing play from linemate David Perron and defenseman Colton Parayko 4:38 into the third period to give St. Louis the lead.
O’Reilly deflected a point shot from Niko Mikkola midway through the final period to make it 5-3.
Buchnevich scored his second of the game into an empty net.
NOTES
STARS: Dallas captain Jamie Benn has been fined $5,000 for unsportsmanlike conduct after squirting water from the bench into the face of an opponent.
The fine was announced by the NHL on Saturday, a day after Benn squirted water at Blackhawks wing MacKenzie Entwistle as he skated past the Dallas bench late in the third period at Chicago. The Stars won 1-0 in a shootout.
That came right after Entwistle had been checked hard into the boards by Michael Raffl near the Stars bench.
PENGUINS: Pittsburgh signed defenseman Chad Ruhwedel to a two-year contract extension.
The deal carries an average annual value of $800,000 and runs through the 2023-24 season.
The extension also gives the 31-year-old some stability. He spent the majority of his first five seasons in Pittsburgh in a reserve role, typically only seeing playing time when other defensemen were injured.
RANGERS: Emile “The Cat” Francis, a diminutive goalie who became a Hall of Fame coach and general manager with the New York Rangers has died. He was 95.
The Rangers announced the death Saturday night.
“Emile’s passion and dedication to the Rangers organization and growing the game of hockey in New York City was second to none,” Rangers president and general manager Chris Drury said in a statement. “‘The Cat’ was a true pioneer and innovator, as well as the architect and coach of some of the greatest teams in Rangers history. Emile has meant as much to the Rangers as any person who has been part of the organization throughout its history. Our thoughts are with Emile’s family and friends during this difficult time.”
Francis was general manager of the Rangers from October 1964 to January 1976, also serving as coach for parts of 10 seasons during that time. New York made nine consecutive playoff appearances in his tenure, reaching at least the semifinals in four consecutive years (1971-74) and the Stanley Cup Final in 1972.
COYOTES-MAPLE LEAFS TRADE: The Arizona Coyotes acquired forward Nick Ritchie and a conditional second-round draft choice from the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday night in exchange for forward Ryan Dzingel and defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin.
The 26-year-old Ritchie had two goals, seven assists and 23 penalty minutes in 33 games for the Maple Leafs this season. The 6-foot-3, 236-pound forward has 61 goals, 85 assists and 410 penalty minutes in 383 career NHL games with Toronto, Boston and Anaheim.
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