Montreal Canadiens 2-9 Pittsburgh Penguins
The Pittsburg Penguins (13-14-4) ran rampant at the Bell Centre, cruising to a 9-2 win over the Montreal Canadiens (11-15-3). Despite the final score, it was actually the hosts who went in front through Nick Suzuki. Two minutes later, the Penguins responded through Rickard Rakell. That was all the scoring the first period would have, but the guests were only getting started.
Midway through the second period, Bryan Rust added a pair of goals to put Pittsburgh up by two. That deficit would be halved by the end of the period, as Joel Armia got one back for the Habs. The third period saw the game completely flip, at least from a Montreal perspective.
Rakell would score his second 4:40 into the period, with Kris Letang and Anthony Beauvillier adding goals a minute apart. Rust completed his hat-trick with 8:04 to play, while Matt Nieto and Noel Acciari adding their own in the final moments of the game to complete the rout.
The Penguins are now two points outside of a playoff spot, while the Habs continue to occupy the last spot in the Eastern Conference, having conceded 109 goals. Only the San Jose Sharks (114) have let in more than them.
Minnesota Wild 1-7 Edmonton Oilers
The Edmonton Oilers (17-10-2) went on a rampage after the first period, scoring five more to beat the Minnesota Wild (19-6-4) by a 7-1 score. Zach Hyman put his team ahead seven minutes in, before Kasperi Kapanen doubled the Oilers' advantage. At the end of the first period, Frederick Gaudreau got the Wild back into the game, or so he thought.
Less than two minutes into the second period, Connor Brown restored the two-goal lead despite Edmonton being shorthanded. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Leon Draisaitl added to the Wild's demise with goals three minutes apart. By the end of the second period, the Oilers went up 5-1, and never looked concerned.
Troy Stetcher and Derek Ryan capped off the scoring in the third period as the guests found goals from seven different players in the win. They are now on a four-game winning streak, and are looking strong in the Western Conference. Minnesota have lost two of their last three, with the Winnipeg Jets jumping ahead of them into first place in the conference.
New York Islanders 5-4 Chicago Blackhawks
In what was a thriller in New York, the Islanders held off the Chicago Blackhawks 5-4. The only goal of the first period would come from the guests on a power play, through Connor Bedrard.
What happened next was a period and a half of domination from the hosts, who scored five times within the next half an hour. Dennis Cholowski and Simon Holmstrom overturned the deficit, with the latter giving New York the lead. In the third period, goals from Noah Dobson, Bo Horvat, and Maxim Tsyplakov - all within two minutes of each other - put the Islanders 5-1 up.
The Blackhawks would not simply give up though as T.J. Brodie got one back with 8:56 left to play. Tyler Bertuzzi added two more later on, but that was the closest Chicago would come. They would lose 5-4, but almost managed to come from four goals down and force overtime.
It is a third win from their last four for the Islanders, while Chicago slumps to a sixth defeat from their last seven games.