NASHVILLE — James Neal scored a natural hat trick, and Nashville edged Chicago, 3-2, to become the last National Hockey League team still unbeaten in regulation this season.
The two Central Division rivals came in as the only teams yet to lose in regulation. They played into overtime six nights earlier in Chicago with the Blackhawks winning 2-1.
The Predators earned points in their seventh straight game before a sellout crowd, continuing their best start since the 2010-11 season when they got points in each of their first eight.
For Neal, it was the fifth hat trick of his career. Acquired in a trade with Pittsburgh in June, Neal has five goals in four games. Filip Forsberg had two assists.
Ben Smith and Andrew Shaw scored for Chicago.
Kings 2, Sabres 0
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Jonathan Quick made 29 saves to set the Kings franchise record with his 33rd career shutout, and Los Angeles beat Buffalo for its fifth consecutive victory.
Jeff Carter and Anze Kopitar scored power-play goals for the defending Stanley Cup champions in their first game since defenseman Slava Voynov was suspended indefinitely by the NHL after his arrest on suspicion of domestic violence early Monday.
Flames 5, Hurricanes 0
CALGARY, Alberta (AP) — Sean Monahan scored his first two goals of the season, and Jonas Hiller stopped all 16 shots he faced as Calgary blanked Carolina.
Matt Stajan and Lance Bouma also scored their first goals of the season for the Flames (5-3-1), who bounced back from an overtime loss at home to Tampa Bay on Tuesday.
Red Wings 4, Penguins 3 (OT)
DETROIT (AP) — Justin Abdelkader’s goal 4:16 into overtime capped a dramatic Detroit rally, giving the Red Wings a victory over Pittsburgh.
The Red Wings scored twice with their goalie pulled in the final 2:39 of regulation, tying the game on Niklas Kronwall’s goal with 38.9 seconds to play. Kronwall had two goals and an assist.
Wild 2, Coyotes 0
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Darcy Kuemper made 26 saves for his third shutout of the season, and defenseman Jared Spurgeon had two assists to lead Minnesota past Arizona.
Minnesota’s power play woes continued, as the Wild went 0-for-3 to fall to 0-for-19 to start the season. But the Wild’s penalty-killing unit maintained its strong play, blanking Arizona on two power plays. Minnesota has killed 14 of 15 penalties this season.
Canucks 4, Blues 1
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Ryan Miller was victorious in his return to St. Louis, making 31 saves, and Vancouver scored three times in the third period.
Nick Bonino, Linden Vey and Jannik Hansen all scored in the third period to help the Canucks (4-2) snap a two-game losing streak and make a winner of Miller, who signed a three-year, $18 million contract with Vancouver after the Blues opted not to re-sign him in the offseason.
Blue Jackets 5, Sharks 4
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Mark Letestu scored twice, including the winner with 21 seconds remaining, and Ryan Johansen also had two goals as Columbus beat road-weary San Jose.
Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 33 shots for his 99th NHL win, and the Blue Jackets improved to 4-1-1 in their last six games against the Sharks.
Comments are not available on this story. Read more about why we allow commenting on some stories and not on others.
We believe it's important to offer commenting on certain stories as a benefit to our readers. At its best, our comments sections can be a productive platform for readers to engage with our journalism, offer thoughts on coverage and issues, and drive conversation in a respectful, solutions-based way. It's a form of open discourse that can be useful to our community, public officials, journalists and others.
We do not enable comments on everything — exceptions include most crime stories, and coverage involving personal tragedy or sensitive issues that invite personal attacks instead of thoughtful discussion.
You can read more here about our commenting policy and terms of use. More information is also found on our FAQs.
Show less