Washington Capitals @ Winnipeg 1-2 OT
Mark Scheifele scored with 19.9 seconds remaining in overtime to help the Winnipeg Jets to a 2-1 win against the Capitals at MTS Centre. Scheifele broke loose from down-low coverage before drifting into the left circle and snapping a low shot past Capitals goaltender Braden Holtby for his 10th goal. The loss ended Washington's six-game winning streak. The play was reviewed to see whether Blake Wheeler was offside on the rush into the offensive zone moments before the goal. However, after several minutes, the officials could not find conclusive evidence to overturn the call on the ice, and the goal stood. Jets rookie Connor Hellebuyck made 37 saves in his third NHL game, including six in an overtime he said was "pretty exhausting." The 22-year-old goaltender has started 3-0-0 with a 0.97 goals-against average and a .967 save percentage.
The Jets recalled Hellebuyck from Manitoba of the American Hockey League on Nov. 22 after No. 1 goaltender Ondrej Pavelec sustained a knee injury that will keep him out of the lineup for at least the rest of the month. Early penalty trouble for the Capitals allowed the Jets to dominate the first period. Washington's penalty kill began play Saturday tied for fifth in the NHL, but it allowed a goal on one of four Winnipeg first-period power plays when Jets captain Andrew Ladd scored with 6.3 seconds remaining. Holtby had shut down Winnipeg after Washington surrendered three consecutive first-period power plays in a 6:41 span, including a 36 second 5-on-3 advantage. The Jets went scoreless on their first eight power-play shots in the period. Winnipeg's power play finally converted when Ladd's left-circle slap shot over Holtby's left glove gave him his eighth goal. The power play has scored in four of the past five games after scoring twice in the previous 11 games (2-for-38). Washington rebounded in the second period. The Capitals went on a 10-1 run in shots and broke through when Nicklas Backstrom's ninth goal made it 1-1 with 5:35 left in the period. Anthony Peluso's roughing penalty put the Capitals on their fourth power play late in the second period and Backstrom needed 12 seconds to snap a high shot from the right circle that slipped through Andre Burakovsky's screen. The Capitals couldn't solve Hellebuyck again, including Alex Ovechkin's overtime drive to the net that was stopped. Holtby's eight-game winning streak came to an end two short of the Capitals record. Since going 4-9-1 in November, including a six-game losing streak (0-5-1), the Jets have won three of their past four games. After visiting Chicago, they play five home games in December in an attempt to climb the standings in the Central Division.
Mark Scheifele: "We stuck with them through a full 60 minutes, and I think that shows [well] for our team, and hopefully we can take this into [Sunday against the Chicago Blackhawks]. For the most part, we stuck with it. We didn't get rattled, and it showed. Getting the win is huge."
Paul Maurice: "[It was] the first game [Hellebuyck] saw some big shooters. He consistently looks big in the net. He has had a good progression here to this game. We like what we've seen with Connor. We're going to do everything we can to keep him in that groove. I think we're close to a really good understanding of how we want to play and how it's supposed to look. As soon as we get comfortable that there is going to be angst through 82 games and come out with a really clear focus of the game we want to play, we'll be in good shape, and I think we're closer to that now."
Nashville @ Detroit Red Wings 4-5 OT
Gustav Nyquist's breakaway goal 1:41 into overtime gave the Red Wings a 5-4 come-from-behind win against the Predators at Joe Louis Arena. Detroit trailed 4-2 in the third period after Shea Weber scored three power-play goals for his first NHL hat trick. Nyquist broke in off right wing after taking a pass from Niklas Kronwall and beat Nashville goalie Pekka Rinne with a wrist shot over his blocker. Tomas Tatar and Dylan Larkin had a goal and an assist each, and Brad Richards and Justin Abdelkader scored for Detroit, which has a point in its past 10 games (7-0-3). Petr Mrazek made 28 saves. Viktor Arvidsson scored for Nashville. Filip Forsberg and Roman Josi each had two assists, and Rinne made 31 saves. Abdelkader's power-play goal tied it 4-4 with 2:23 left in the third period. Nyquist's shot from the left circle deflected off Abdelkader's arm for his ninth goal. It came 16 seconds after Ryan Ellis took a boarding penalty against Darren Helm. Weber completed his hat trick 8:03 into the third period on a slap shot from the left point to make it 4-2. It was his ninth goal of the season, and the hat trick came in his 711th NHL game. Larkin made it 4-3 1:16 later when he scored from the left circle after carrying the puck from the right-wing boards across the high slot. It was Larkin's 11th goal. Nashville scored three goals in the second period to take a 3-1 lead. Weber's first goal tied the game 1-1 at 1:03. He beat Mrazek with a slap shot from the top of the left circle. Arvidsson made it 2-1 1:50 later when he tipped Ryan Ellis' shot out of the air for his second goal. Weber's second goal of the game made it 3-1 with 4:32 left. His shot from the point bounced off the glass behind the net and deflected in off Mrazek. Play continued for 37 seconds after the puck crossed the goal line and was batted out by Danny DeKeyser before the horn sounded to signify that officials in the NHL Situation Room in Toronto had called the play a goal. Tatar made it 3-2 with a power-play goal with 2:56 left in the period. He tipped in Mike Green's slap pass. Richards scored his first goal with the Red Wings with 39 seconds left in the first period. The rebound of his shot from the high slot bounced in off Weber's skate five seconds after Seth Jones finished serving a slashing penalty.
Pekka Rinne: "Just a breakaway shot and he put it in. It's a fast situation and you try to read and react. He beat me, game over."
Shea Weber: "We knew they were going to play with the puck; they did a lot better in the third period than they did in the first two periods."
Peter Laviolette: "Their speed cranked up a lot. They were fast through the neutral zone and put a lot of pucks behind us and caused some penalties."
Colorado @ Minnesota 0-3
The Wild overcame the loss of their goaltender and the exemplary play of the opposing one in a 3-0 win against the Avalanche at Xcel Energy Center. Devan Dubnyk and Darcy Kuemper combined for a 20-save shutout for the Wild, who have held their past two opponents without a goal. Minnesota will carry a shutout streak of 154:39 into a rematch with Colorado at Pepsi Center on Monday. But the Wild may be without Dubnyk, who is tied for second in the NHL with 13 victories after he sustained a lower-body injury midway through the second period and did not return. Matt Dumba, Justin Fontaine and Jason Pominville has goals for the Wild, who have won three-straight. Dubnyk left with 9:05 left in the second after making the first 11 saves. Shortly thereafter, Dumba provided the Wild with all the offense they would need. Kuemper denied the final nine shots for his first win. Wild coach Mike Yeo said after the game that Dubnyk will be examined Sunday and that he doesn't expect the injury to be serious. Semyon Varlamov made a season-high 41 saves for Colorado, which finished a four-game road trip 2-2-0. Less than three minutes after Dubnyk left the game, Dumba's slap shot from the point slipped past Varlamov for his fourth goal and second in as many games at 13:27. Minnesota scored twice in the third period. Seconds after being robbed by Varlamov alone in front, Fontaine tipped a Marco Scandella shot from the point for his second goal at 2:28. Colorado pulled Varlamov with 2:10 remaining and Pominville scored into an empty net with 1:02 left. Pominville has scored in three of the past four games after starting the season with zero goals in his first 21 games. Minnesota outshot Colorado 44-20 and including a 17-6 margin in the first period, the score was tied 0-0 after 20 minutes. Eight different players had a point for the Wild, including Scandella, who was strong in each end of the rink. More than half of Scandella's ice time (22:19) was spent defending Colorado's top line of Matt Duchene, Nathan MacKinnon and Gabriel Landeskog. Scandella missed time recently because of a lower-body injury, followed by the loss of his father, Francesco, who died of cancer on Wednesday.
Darcy Kuemper: "It caught me off-guard. Anytime you get thrown in there, you're just trying to get into it as soon as you can. The guys did a really good job of letting me work into the game. They didn't give up much."
Mike Yeo: "I was pretty impressed with how we handled that. You can read guys' body language and you can tell by the things they're saying. Certainly, [there was] a lot of positivity, and I think it reflected in the play."
"We needed that one because we know the next one is going to be a tough one. There are certain nights when your team is just going a certain way, and when you're standing behind the bench, and them on the bench, I know it gives a pretty good sense of confidence."
"I'm really happy for him. It's been a tough go. We feel really bad for him and obviously the ice time that he's missed and the time he's been away, that's tough."
Patrick Roy: "He was phenomenal and we didn't play a good game in front of him. That's the positive for us in the way he played."
"I thought we were in good shape. I've seen that many, many times when I was a player. If you were even, it was a good chance to regroup. But tonight, they were the better team; they were first on the puck, they were competing better than us. They won those 1-on-1 battles. They played a really good game and I'd rather give them credit. We didn't play well, but they played a strong game."
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