![\"NHL:](\"https:\/\/images.deadspin.com\/tr:w-900\/27902591.jpg\")
Dec 29, 2025; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; Buffalo Sabres goaltender Alex Lyon (34) celebrates with defenseman Michael Kesselring (8) and defenseman Rasmus Dahlin (26) after the Sabres defeated the St. Louis Blues at Enterprise Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images <\/span><\/div>\n<\/section>\nZach Benson broke a tie early in the third period as the Buffalo Sabres won their ninth straight game, defeating the host St. Louis Blues 4-2 on Monday.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n Buffalo is one victory short of matching the franchise record achieved three times, in 1983-84, 2006-07 and 2018-19.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n Noah Ostlund, Alex Tuch and Peyton Krebs also scored for the Sabres, and Alex Lyon made 16 saves. Brayden Schenn and Jimmy Snuggerud tallied for the Blues, and Joel Hofer stopped 30 shots.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n The Sabres led 1-0 but trailed 2-1 before Tuch tied the game at 15:17 of the second period. Benson put Buffalo back in front at 1:46 of the third period, batting a deflected puck inside the right post. Krebs scored an empty-net goal at 18:44 to seal the win.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n Avalanche 5, Kings 2<\/p>\n<\/section>\n Brock Nelson and Nathan MacKinnon had a goal and an assist each as Colorado beat Los Angeles in Denver for its eighth consecutive win.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n Martin Necas, Cale Makar and Jack Drury also scored and Mackenzie Blackwood turned away 21 shots for the Avalanche, who have won 14 in a row at home and are 16-0-2 this season on home ice.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n Joel Armia scored a short-handed goal, Corey Perry also had a goal and Anton Forsberg made 21 saves for the Kings, who have lost seven of their past nine (2-5-2).<\/p>\n<\/section>\n Canucks 3, Kraken 2 (SO)<\/p>\n<\/section>\n Goaltender Kevin Lankinen remained perfect in shootouts this season as Vancouver won at Seattle. Liam Ohgren was the only player to score in the shootout.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n Lankinen, who made 37 saves through regulation and overtime, stopped all three Seattle attempts to improve to 17-for-17 this season in winning for the fourth time in shootouts.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n Linus Karlsson and Elias Pettersson scored in regulation for the Canucks, while Jared McCann and Ryan Winterton countered for the Kraken. Seattle’s Joey Daccord stopped 22 shots.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n Hurricanes 3, Rangers 2 (OT)<\/p>\n<\/section>\n Jackson Blake scored a power-play goal with 12.6 seconds left in overtime as Carolina beat New York in Raleigh, N.C.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n Sebastian Aho registered a goal and an assist, Jordan Martinook tallied a marker and Nikolaj Ehlers provided two assists to help the Hurricanes improve to 9-3 in overtime this season. Rookie Brandon Bussi improved to 13-1-1 with a 17-save effort.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n Vladislav Gavrikov and Jonny Brodzinski scored for the Rangers, while Igor Shesterkin stopped 31 shots in a losing effort.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n Wild 5, Golden Knights 2<\/p>\n<\/section>\n Marcus Johansson had a goal and three assists as Minnesota jumped out to a five-goal lead in the first 27 minutes and then cruised to a victory in Las Vegas.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n Matt Boldy, Jared Spurgeon and Joel Eriksson Ek each had a goal and an assist, Jonas Brodin had two assists and Brock Faber also scored for the Wild, who improved to 21-4-3 since Nov. 1. Filip Gustavsson made 14 saves for the Wild as Vegas finished with a season-low 16 shots on goal.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n Brayden McNabb and Mark Stone scored goals and Ivan Barbashev had two assists for the Golden Knights, who lost for the fifth time in six games (1-3-2). Carter Hart left in the second period after allowing five goals on 12 shots. Akira Schmid finished up and stopped all 15 shots he faced.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n Panthers 5, Capitals 3<\/p>\n<\/section>\n Aaron Ekblad scored the go-ahead goal with 6:48 left in the third period as Florida defeated Washington in Sunrise, Fla.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n <\/p>\n Sam Reinhart also scored twice, including an empty-netter with 35 seconds left that clinched the win. The Panthers, who are 9-3-0 over their past 12 games, also got a goal and an assist apiece from Anton Lundell and Brad Marchand. Ekblad logged an assist, too.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n Florida’s Sergei Bobrovsky made 22 saves to earn win No. 446, passing Terry Sawchuk for eighth place on the all-time NHL list. The Capitals got two goals and an assist from Tom Wilson and a goal and two assists from Dylan Strome. Logan Thompson made 24 saves in a losing effort.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n Oilers 3, Jets 1<\/p>\n<\/section>\n Calvin Pickard made 41 saves as visiting Edmonton defeated Winnipeg to hand the host team its sixth straight loss and ninth in its last 10.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n Max Jones and Jack Roslovic beat Jets netminder Connor Hellebuyck for second-period goals, and Zach Hyman added one into the empty net.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n Adam Lowry picked up the lone goal for Winnipeg in the third period, while Hellebuyck made 18 stops.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n Blue Jackets 4, Senators 1<\/p>\n<\/section>\n Damon Severson, Boone Jenner, Denton Mateychuk and Kirill Marchenko each scored for Columbus as the Blue Jackets won at Ottawa.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n Severson also recorded an assist, while Cole Sillinger — moved to center because Sean Monahan (maintenance) was a late scratch — and Charlie Coyle each had two helpers. Jet Greaves made 27 saves.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n Defenseman Jake Sanderson got the lone goal for the Senators, who have lost three in a row (0-2-1). Tim Stutzle extended his point streak to 10 games with an assist, while Leevi Merilainen stopped 18 shots.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n Predators 4, Mammoth 3<\/p>\n<\/section>\n Steven Stamkos scored twice in the third period, including his 599th career goal, to give Nashville a comeback win over Utah in Salt Lake City.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n The Predators erased three separate one-goal leads before Stamkos finally put them ahead with 6:43 remaining. Luke Evangelista and Roman Josi scored Nashville’s other goals, while Ryan O’Reilly had two assists. Juuse Saros stopped 28 of 31 shots.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n Dylan Guenther, JJ Peterka and Mikhail Sergachev each scored for the Mammoth. Vitek Vanecek stopped 22 of 26 shots to extend his personal nine-game winless streak (0-8-1).<\/p>\n<\/section>\n Flames 2, Bruins 1 (OT)<\/p>\n<\/section>\n Connor Zary scored a power-play goal at 1:53 of overtime to propel Calgary to a win over visiting Boston.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n Zary was credited with the winning goal after a deflection off defender Hampus Lindholm in front of the net. The goal came with eight seconds left on the 4-on-3 advantage. Blake Coleman scored the game-tying goal in the second period, and Dustin Wolf made 24 saves for the Flames, who have won four of their past five.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n Less than a minute before Zary’s deciding goal, Wolf stopped Pavel Zacha’s short-handed breakaway and a Nikita Zadorov followup. Andrew Peeke scored and Jeremy Swayman stopped 19 shots for the Bruins, who are on a six-game winless streak (0-4-2).<\/p>\n<\/section>\n Sharks 5, Ducks 4<\/p>\n<\/section>\n Macklin Celebrini registered a goal and two assists as San Jose held on for a victory over Anaheim to win for the fourth time in its past five road games.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n Mario Ferraro, Igor Chernyshov and William Eklund added goals as the Sharks improved to 5-3-0 since Dec. 11. Alexander Wennberg logged two assists, while Yaroslav Askarov made 38 saves.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n Troy Terry notched two goals and an assist, Cutter Gauthier had a goal and an assist and Pavel Mintyukov also scored for the Ducks. Anaheim goaltender Lukas Dostal was pulled after allowing four goals on nine shots. Peter Mrazek saved three of four shots.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n –Field Level Media<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n