Tom Wilson has Gordie Howe hat trick in Capitals’ win against Rangers

Adam Fox, making his return from long-term injured reserve, had a goal and an assist for the Rangers, who have lost three straight. Vincent Trocheck and Braden Schneider also scored.

With the Capitals tied 1-1 and needing a spark in the second, Wilson rose to the occasion. The 28-year-old came streaking up ice and leveled Noah Laba before getting to the front of the net and roofing a feed from Connor McMichael to restore Washington’s lead as he became the first Capital to hit the 20-goal mark this season. Minutes later, he answered for Laba’s hit, fighting Carrick.

The fight, initiated by Carrick, put the Capitals on the power play. Sourdif snuck a loose puck past Jonathan Quick, who had 21 saves, to end a 16-game goal drought to make it 3-1.

Fox responded with a power-play goal of his own soon after to pull things to 3-2 going into the third.

Protas and Wilson, netting his 200th career goal, added insurance tallies late to cushion the lead.

PREDATORS 4, GOLDEN KNIGHTS 2

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Steven Stamkos scored his 600th career goal and Nashville beat the Vegas.

The Predators, in the middle of a season-long seven-game road trip, won for the 12th time in 17 games, including the third of their first four on the trip.

The win put the Predators (18-17-4) above .500 for the first time since Oct. 16, just five games into the season, when they were 2-1-2.

Vegas, meanwhile, lost for the sixth time in seven games. The Knights closed their four-game homestand with a 1-2-1 mark.

Now in his 18th season, Stamkos scored his 18th of the season and ninth against the Golden Knights since they entered the league in 2017. The game-tying goal was part of an unanswered three-goal spurt over five minutes that turned a 2-0 deficit into a 3-2 lead for the Predators.

Nick Perbix, Reid Schaefer and Michael Bunting also scored for the Predators. Justus Annunen made 29 saves.

Former Knight Erik Haula, who is two games shy of skating in his 800th game, registered the 200th assist of his career on Bunting’s goal.

Mark Stone, who earlier in the day was named to Canada’s Olympic roster, scored his 10th goal of the season, while Ben Hutton added his sixth for the Knights. Akira Schmid stopped 15 shots before being pulled late in the third period for an extra skater.

Vegas forward Mitch Marner and defenseman Shea Theodore were also named to Canada’s team. All three of the Knights represented their homeland in the 2025 4 Nations Face-Off.

LIGHTNING 4, DUCKS 3, OT

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Darren Raddysh scored midway through overtime, and Tampa Bay blew three one-goal leads before beating Anaheim for its fifth consecutive victory.

Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper celebrated his 1,000th regular-season game in charge with his 595th victory as the longest-tenured bench boss in the NHL. The Lightning’s coach since March 2013 has also led them in 155 playoff games, won two championships and reached four Stanley Cup Finals.

Nikita Kucherov had a goal and an assist as the Lightning skated off with a win in the opener of their three-game California road trip when Raddysh converted a pass from Brandon Hagel, who had three assists.

J.J. Moser and Brayden Point also scored for Tampa Bay, and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 24 saves.

Mason McTavish tied it on a power play with 6:58 left in regulation for the Ducks, who have lost four straight and eight of 10. Jansen Harkins and Beckett Sennecke also scored, and Lukas Dostal stopped 24 shots as the Ducks earned a point for only the second time in six games.

Moser opened the scoring in the first period with his first goal since agreeing to an eight-year, $54 million contract extension last weekend.

Anaheim scored its first two goals off turnovers, with the 19-year-old Sennecke getting the 12th of his rookie season early in the third period.

Kucherov scored his 18th goal on a cross-ice pass from Hagel during a power play four minutes later, but the Ducks evened it again when Pavel Mintyukov made an exceptional play at the blue line to set up McTavish for his 10th goal.

SHARKS 4, WILD 3, SO

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Macklin Celebrini had a goal and an assist hours after being selected to play for Team Canada at the 2026 Winter Olympics, and San Jose beat Minnesota in a shootout.

Celebrini and William Eklund scored for the Sharks in the tiebreaker, while Minnesota failed to convert on either of its two attempts. San Jose has won three straight following a three-game slide.

Igor Chernyshov had a goal and two assists, and Jeff Skinner also scored for the Sharks. The 19-year-old Celebrini got his 40th assist of the season, passing Mikko Rantanen for second-most in the NHL. Yaroslav Askarov finished with 20 saves.

RED WINGS 2, JETS 1

DETROIT (AP) — John Gibson kept up his hot December with 24 saves, Dylan Larkin and Mason Appleton scored goals, and Detroit beat the slumping Winnipeg.

Gibson won for the ninth time in 10 starts as the Red Wings improved to 11-3-1 in December.

The Jets lost their seventh straight game (0-4-3) on a night where Connor Hellebuyck made 17 saves. Logan Stanley scored Winnipeg’s goal.

DEVILS 3, BLUE JACKETS 2

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Luke Hughes scored the go-ahead goal 4:45 into the third period and New Jersey scored three times in a 1:56 span in a victory over Columbus.

Hughes also had an assist, giving him his 28th multi-point game and tying Rob Ramage for the most by a defenseman before age 23 in franchise history. Hughes snapped a shot from the slot to give the Devils the lead.

Nico Hischier and Arseny Gritsyuk also scored for New Jersey, which trailed 2-0 going into the final 20 minutes. It is the first time the Devils have won this season when trailing after two periods. It is also their first multi-goal comeback since Nov. 29, 2024, at Detroit.

Jake Allen made 34 saves, including stopping Kirill Marchenko’s one-timer attempt late in the third period.

SABRES 4, STARS 1

DALLAS (AP) — Tage Thompson scored twice within 2 1/2 minutes midway through the third period and had an assist as Buffalo beat Dallas Stars to extend their winning streak to 10 games.

That matches both the franchise record and the longest for an NHL team this season, also done by Colorado in November.

Josh Doan and defenseman Bowen Byram each had a goal and an assist for the Sabres. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 28 saves in his third start during the streak, allowing one goal in each game.

Mavrik Bourque scored for the Stars. They are second in the overall NHL standings and had a six-game point streak snapped (4-0-2).

Casey DeSmith stopped 27 shots and lost in regulation for the first time since his first start of the season on Oct. 16. DeSmith went on a franchise-record 13-game point streak (9-0-4).

AVALANCHE 6, BLUES 1

DENVER (AP) — Nathan MacKinnon scored twice, including his 400th career goal, and Valeri Nichushkin netted his second NHL hat trick as Colorado beat the St. Louis for their ninth straight win.

MacKinnon became the third player in franchise history to reach 400 goals and first to score them all for the Avalanche. Joe Sakic had 625 goals, the first 233 coming with the Quebec Nordiques before the team moved to Colorado. Michel Goulet is second in club history with 456, all for Quebec.

MacKinnon, who added two assists, leads the NHL with 34 goals. His 70 points were tied with Edmonton star Connor McDavid for most in the league.

Nichushkin scored twice during a four-goal barrage in the first 4:39 of the game and finished with three goals. Brock Nelson scored later on a power play for Colorado, and Mackenzie Blackwood turned away 12 shots.

FLAMES 5, FLYERS 1

CALGARY, Alberta (AP) — Dustin Wolf made 25 saves, Mikael Backlund scored his 10th goal and Calgary beat Philadelphia.

Morgan Frost, Jonathan Huberdeau, Rasmus Andersson and Connor Zary also scored, and MacKenzie Weegar and Matt Coronato each had two assists.

The Flames have won five straight and 10-1-1 in their last 12 at home. They are 18-18-4 overall. Wolf has won eight in a row a home.

Up 2-1, Calgary got a two-man advantage midway through the second period. Zary set up Andersson for a one-timer with 18 seconds left on the power play.

Travis Konecny scored for Philadelphia, and Sam Ersson stopped 20 shots. the Flyers dropped to 20-12-7.

BRUINS 6, OILERS 2

EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — David Pastrnak had two goals and an assist as Boston closed out the calendar year with a much-needed victory over Edmonton.

Hampus Lindholm and Elias Lindholm each had a goal and an assist for the Bruins (21-18-2), who snapped a six-game losing streak that began with a 3-1 loss at home to Edmonton on Dec. 18.

Casey Mittelstadt and Jonathan Aspirot also scored, while Viktor Arvidsson and Fraser Minten each had two assists. Jeremy Swayman was solid in net with 34 stops for the win.

Hampus Lindholm had just one point in his previous 12 games.

Zach Hyman and Jack Roslovic scored for the Pacific Division-leading Oilers (20-15-6), who have lost two of three but still went 9-5-1 in December.

The Associated Press

by The Canadian Press

Tom Wilson has Gordie Howe hat trick in Capitals’ win against Rangers

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