Pastrnak Wins Shootout as Bruins Top Golden Knights; Detroit, Colorado and Calgary Also Win

Boston’s penalty kill and Jeremy Swayman set up David Pastrnak to decide a tight game against Vegas. Pastrnak scored in the third round of the shootout, lifting the Bruins to a 3-2 win Monday night and their sixth straight victory at home.

Swayman stopped Trevor Connelly, Jack Eichel and Mitch Marner in the shootout. That left Pastrnak a chance to end it against Carter Hart, and he converted. Swayman finished with 21 saves; Hart made 25 for Vegas.

James Hagens opened the scoring with his sixth goal of the season, and Morgan Geekie scored on the power play for Boston. Elias Lindholm, Nikita Zadorov, Pavel Zacha and Pastrnak recorded assists. The Bruins have won two straight after dropping back-to-back games.

Vegas drew even at 7:23 of the third when Connelly collected a loose puck in front and slipped it past Swayman. Noah Hanifin and Marner assisted. Mark Stone also scored for the Golden Knights, who have lost five of their past six after opening the season 8-2. Their penalty kill has allowed a power-play goal in seven of their past eight games, a vulnerability that remains a concern as the team tries to reverse its recent slide.

Detroit strikes twice in 45 seconds

Justin Faulk and Michael Brandsegg-Nygård scored 45 seconds apart early in the third period, turning a one-goal Detroit lead into a 4-2 advantage on the way to a 5-3 win over Florida. Faulk’s power-play goal came at 2:08. Brandsegg-Nygård followed by lifting a shot from deep in the slot over Jacob Markstrom’s glove.

Carter Mazur started the scoring with his first NHL goal. Alex DeBrincat put Detroit ahead 2-1 early in the second, after Sam Reinhart had tied the game with 5:41 remaining in the first. Emmitt Finnie added an empty-net goal with three seconds left. Daniil Tarasov stopped 23 shots against his former team, while Markstrom made 24 saves in his first appearance since Oct. 17.

Florida didn’t lead at any point and saw its three-game winning streak end. Aaron Ekblad scored his first of the season, a short-handed goal that was the third of his 13-year career, and Reinhart added his eighth. Sam Bennett made it 4-3 with 3:21 left, finishing a six-on-five chance assisted by Matthew Tkachuk and Brady Tkachuk, but the Panthers couldn’t find another equalizer.

Colorado rallies after Chicago’s fast start

Chicago built a 2-0 first-period lead, but Colorado answered with two goals in 26 seconds and went on to win 5-2. Nazem Kadri and Jaden Schwartz each scored twice, and Devon Toews sealed the result with an empty-net goal at 17:38 of the third. Mackenzie Blackwood made 21 saves as the Avalanche earned their third consecutive win.

Wyatt Kaiser opened the scoring for the Blackhawks, and rookie Roman Kantserov made it 2-0. Connor Bedard assisted on Kantserov’s sixth goal, extending his point streak to six games. Colorado began its comeback when Kadri poked a loose puck over the line at 15:23 of the first; Schwartz tied it at 15:49 with a shot from the left circle.

The Avalanche took their first lead on the power play 13:10 into the second. Bedard went to the penalty box for holding Kadri, who redirected Cale Makar’s wrist shot from just inside the blue line. Kadri now has four goals this season, all in his last six games. Colorado has won 15 of its last 19 meetings with Chicago.

The Blackhawks’ difficult stretch continued: they are 1-5-1 in their last seven games. Patrick Kane left in the second period with an upper-body injury, while defenceman Bowen Byram missed his eighth straight game with an upper-body injury.

Calgary gets the edge in San Jose

Fourth-line wingers Adam Klapka and William Stromgren supplied the goals, Dustin Wolf stopped 26 shots, and Calgary beat San Jose 2-1. The result moved the Flames to 7-8-0; the Sharks fell to 7-8-1. Calgary’s margin came from a pair of contributions by Klapka, who scored once and assisted on Stromgren’s goal.

Klapka opened the scoring with a wrist shot at 14:36 of the first, converting a feed from centre Jonathan Castagna. At 9:14 of the third, Stromgren batted in his first goal of the season, with Klapka and Castagna earning assists. Sam Dickinson cut the deficit to one with 8:03 remaining, beating Wolf with a wrist shot, but San Jose couldn’t complete the comeback. Yaroslav Askarov made 20 saves for the Sharks.

Across the four games, the deciding moments came from special teams, late-period pressure and timely saves: Boston’s shootout finish, Detroit’s quick third-period pair, Colorado’s burst after falling behind and Calgary’s two-goal contribution from its fourth line. For the Bruins, the home run continues; Vegas needs its penalty kill to respond as it looks to steady its results.