LAS VEGAS -- Marc-Andre Fleury has enjoyed many big moments during his decorated NHL career.

This one might have been the most emotional.

Fleury made 28 saves and the Vegas Golden Knights beat the Chicago Blackhawks 5-1 on Tuesday night in their goaltender's first game since the death of his father, Andre.

"I got to think about him a bunch," Fleury said afterward, doing his best to keep his emotions in check. "I tried to keep (the pregame routine) the same. I've been doing this for a while, none of that changed too much. But, it's definitely more emotional."

The 16-year veteran, the only son to Andre and France Fleury, hadn't started since a 4-2 loss to Edmonton on Nov. 23.

Fleury said he felt the energy before the opening puck drop, when public address announcer Bruce Cusick introduced him to a crowd of 18,319 that gave Fleury a bit more than the typical ovation he's used to.

"I was away for a while. It's always nice to get that feeling when I get back on the ice," said Fleury, who improved to 11-6-5 against Chicago and 69-38-13 in December.

"The first game, always a little worried to see how things are going to go, and I want to do well for the team. Took me a few minutes to get going, but the more the game went on, I felt better. The guys in front played very good. I'm just happy we got the win."

Reilly Smith, Deryk Engelland, William Karlsson, Max Pacioretty and Ryan Reaves scored for the Golden Knights, who now hit the road for two games on a 5-1-1 run.

Corey Crawford, who dropped to 1-4-0 against Vegas, made 32 saves for Chicago, which played its third road game in six nights. Dominik Kubalik scored with 27 seconds left to spoil Fleury's bid for his 59th career shutout.

"Obviously it's a special game for (Fleury), coming back, and I think everyone on the team knew what kind of game it was for him," Karlsson said. "Unfortunately we couldn't (finish) the shutout, but he had a great game and the team played pretty well, too."

After an evenly contested first period that saw both goaltenders come up with spectacular saves to keep their opponents off the scoreboard, Vegas was increasingly better in the second with the first seven shots on goal.

"Whether it's managing the puck or just being sharp in transition, they were better than us," Chicago coach Jeremy Colliton. "We would have some zone time, and then when they got it back, they were jumping by us, so it makes it difficult."

Smith took advantage on a power play with the eighth shot of the period. He gathered a rebound, maneuvered his way around Crawford and tucked home the first goal of the game.

Shortly after it was the 37-year-old Engelland beating Crawford top shelf with a wrist shot far side for his first goal of the season.

With less than a minute left in the second, Smith was masterful in forcing a turnover from Chicago veteran Jonathan Toews, streaking in on an odd-man rush and delaying just long enough to draw Crawford to his left before dishing to Karlsson, who finished with a short-handed goal to make it 3-0.

Meanwhile, Fleury didn't look as though he missed any time whatsoever, flashing leather and making highlight-reel saves to thwart every Blackhawks effort, including back-to-back attempts by Toews on the doorstep late in the second.

Pacioretty's goal made it 4-0 early in the third, and Reaves got his third of the season late in the period.

OTTAWA, Ontario -- Wins haven’t come easily for Ottawa this season. On Monday night, the Senators found a way to beat one of the top teams in the NHL.

Anthony Duclair had two goals and one assist, and Anders Nilsson made 38 saves as the Senators (13-17-1) beat the Boston Bruins 5-2 Monday night.

“We played a pretty solid game,” Nilsson said. “We came out and played a really good first period and that set the tone for the rest of the game for us.”

The win was Ottawa's (13-17-1) first over the Bruins (20-5-6) since April 6, 2017.

Chris Tierney, Artem Anisimov and Jean-Gabriel Pageau also scored for the Senators, who were playing their first home game since returning from a five-game trip (1-4-0).

Patrice Bergeron and Jake DeBrusk scored for the Bruins, who were playing the first of four road games. Tuukka Rask made 23 saves in his first loss in regulation since Nov. 8.

The Bruins are 0-2-1 in their last three and have lost back-to-back games in regulation for the first time this season.

“We’re going through a tough stretch in terms of getting our energy level where it needs to be,” Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said. “If you’re not competing hard on the puck, around the puck, on the puck in this league you’re not going to beat anybody. Ottawa was just better than us, they won more races and they were more competitive early on.”

The Bruins were 1 for 5 with the man advantage and are 2 for 17 through their last five.

“At the start of the year our power play was carrying us,” Cassidy said. “A night like (Monday) we probably get two on it early in the year and ends up being the difference in the game and maybe a timely save mixed in there, but now you put those two things not going in there and suddenly we’re in the loss column.”

Leading 3-1 to start the third, the Senators did a good job of containing the Bruins, who were pressing to close the gap.

With the Bruins on the power play, Rask was pulled for a 6-on-4 advantage, but Pageau was able to pick off a pass and break in for an empty-net goal to seal the win with just under three minutes remaining.

Nilsson gave lots of credit to those in front of him who blocked shots and found ways to cut lanes. In the end, the Senators had 29 blocked shots.

“It’s great as a goalie to stand back there and see when the guys are playing so hard and sacrificing themselves and blocking shots and battling through even when they’re really tired,” Nilsson said. “It was a great team effort and great job from everyone.”

DeBrusk scored a power-play goal 43 seconds later during a scramble in front of Nilsson, but that was as close as the Bruins got as Duclair added another empty-net goal.

Duclair now has five goals and one assist through his last three games. He was also on the ice late in the game and on the penalty kill, which is a new experience.

“I’m getting a big opportunity here and probably the most ice time I’ve gotten in my career, so I don’t want to take that for granted,” Duclair said. “I’m getting the confidence from the coaching staff and my teammates here, so I just want to continue doing that.”

Ottawa made it a two-goal game early in the second as Vladislav Namestnikov intercepted Rask’s pass from behind the net and found Tierney, who scored his fourth of the season and snapped a 22-game stretch without a goal.

Boston failed to capitalize on three power-play opportunities in the second, with Nilsson deserving much of the credit.

The Senators held a 2-1 lead after the first 20 minutes.

Ottawa opened the scoring 1:35 into the game when Dylan DeMelo made a pass to Anisimov, who broke through the defense and sent a backhander over Rask’s shoulder.

Duclair, with his 14th of the season, made it 2-0 when he took a pass from Tierney in the slot and beat Rask to the glove side.

The Bruins cut the lead in half as Bergeron, who was making his return after missing the last seven games with a lower-body injury, took a cross-ice pass from David Pastrnak and scored into an open net.

DENVER -- The Calgary Flames have traded controversy for good fortune and turned their season around. They even found a way to beat the Colorado Avalanche.

Sean Monahan scored 2:09 into overtime and the Flames rebounded after losing a two-goal lead to beat the Avalanche 5-4 on Monday night.

Matthew Tkachuk had a goal and an assist, Derek Ryan also scored and David Rittich made 28 saves for Calgary, which has won five in a row under interim coach Geoff Ward and finally broke through against Colorado this season.

Andrew Mangiapane and Michael Frolik scored 1:27 apart to start the third period for Calgary.

Ward took over for Bill Peters, who resigned after it was disclosed he directed racist slurs at a Nigerian-born player in the minors a decade ago and kicked and punched players behind the bench during his recent stint with Carolina.

Calgary was 11-12-4 under Peters but has yet to lose with Ward behind the bench.

"We're having fun right now, we're enjoying it," Monahan said. "When you come to the rink and you're working for the guy next to you, and to see smiles on guys' faces, that goes a long way."

The smiles were out again after the Flames beat a team that's had their number. Calgary has struggled against the Avalanche of late, starting with the first round of the 2019 playoffs when eighth-seeded Colorado won in five games. The Avs won the first two meetings this season as well.

Monahan ended the frustration when got a pass from Dillon Dube and beat Colorado goalie Pavel Francouz, who finished with 28 saves.

"Dubes made a sick toe-drag right in the middle of the ice," said Tkachuk, who scored his 200th career point with his goal. "Monny was showing off his speed there going wide and he did an unreal move going that fast with a guy on him right over the glove."

Colorado had won six straight, including three on an Eastern Conference road swing that ended Saturday in Boston. Nathan MacKinnon, Valeri Nichushkin, Ryan Graves and Joonas Donskoi scored for the Avalanche.

"We looked tired. We didn't have a lot of energy. Execution was poor," coach Jared Bednar said. "It's a tough game coming back off a week road trip, three tough games, all big wins, coming in and playing a hungry team that's on top of their game."

Mangiapane broke a 2-all tie when he scored his sixth goal 12 seconds into the third period. Frolik made it 4-2 at 1:39, but the Avalanche rallied. MacKinnon's 19th at 3:59 got Colorado within a goal, and Donskoi's 13th at 10:45 tied it again.

MacKinnon had an assist on Donskoi's goal and played 14 of his team-high 29 shifts after the second period.

"He dominated the last 17 minutes," Bednar said. "I was double shifting him, he was buzzing and he ended up being part of two big goals for us and he almost had another one in overtime."

The Avalanche took an early lead on Graves' fifth goal in the first period, and the Flames tied it on Ryan's tip at 9:33 of the second. Nichushkin's fifth goal in eight games, and fifth of the season, 31 seconds later gave Colorado the lead again, but Tkachuk scored seven seconds into a power play to tie it.

LAS VEGAS -- Alexandar Georgiev stopped 38 shots for his second shutout of the season and the New York Rangers beat the Vegas Golden Knights 5-0 on Sunday night.

Georgiev, who recorded his first shutout of the season at New Jersey on Nov. 30, was making his fourth start in five games. It was the 23-year-old's fourth career shutout.

Artemi Panarin, Chris Kreider, Jacob Trouba, Jesper Fast and Mika Zibanejad scored for the Rangers.

The Golden Knights hadn't been shutout since last Feb. 18 at Colorado. They came into the game with at least one goal in 52 consecutive regulation games, the third longest active streak behind Boston (84 games) and Florida (56).

Malcolm Subban, making his seventh straight start for Vegas, made 20 saves.

The Golden Knights had their five-game point streak snapped as they dropped to 7-6-3 at home this season.

The Rangers took a 1-0 lead after defenseman Tony DeAngelo made a nice spin move near the blue line and passed the puck to the top of the left circle for Marc Staal, who then fired the puck to the top of the right circle for Panarin, whose wrist shot beat Subban 4:08 into the game.

Kreider struck 14 seconds later, when he pelted Ryan Strome's cross-ice feed past Subban's skate, giving the Rangers a 2-0 lead.

Early in the second period Vegas forward Ryan Reaves was hit with a double-minor for high-sticking New York forward Brendan Lemieux in the face and the Rangers wasted no time on the power play.

After Subban's save caromed to his right, Trouba stopped the puck with his skate, kicked it to his forehand and punched it in a wide-open net to make it 3-0 at 7:14.

Trouba then helped extend the lead when his pass from the top of the right circle found Fast in perfect position to lift the puck over Subban's pad and give the Rangers a commanding 4-0 lead with 9 1/2 minutes left in the middle period.

The Golden Knights lost rookie Cody Glass late in the second when Lemieux came crashing in with a spinning elbow to the temple that left Vegas' first-ever draft pick on his knees writhing in pain. Glass had to be helped off the ice and to the locker room.

Zibanejad got credit for the Rangers' fifth goal when the puck went off Golden Knights defenseman Brayden McNabb and past Subban with just under five minutes left in the third.

BOSTON -- No matter how well the Boston Bruins are playing at home, it doesn’t seem to matter when the Colorado Avalanche come to town.

Ian Cole scored his first goal of season in his 500th career NHL game, backup goalie Pavel Francouz stopped all 16 shots he faced in relief and the Avalanche beat the Bruins 4-1 on Saturday night for their season-high sixth straight win.

“I guess Boston’s a special place. I like it,” said Cole, who made his NHL debut in the building on Nov. 6, 2010.

“We’ve had some success here in the past. That’s a great team over there; a really, really good team. It’s a measuring-stick game for us. Now we have to keep moving forward.”

Andre Burakovsky, Valeri Nichushkin and Gabriel Landeskog also scored for Colorado, which has won 11 of its last 14 games. The Avalanche posted their 11th win in their last 12 games in Boston, with their lone loss in the stretch coming in the last trip on Feb. 10 last season.

Francouz replaced starter Philipp Grubauer late in the first period. Grubauer left with an apparent injury after giving up a goal on four shots.

“You don’t really have time to think,” Francouz said. “You just grab your stuff and all of a sudden you’re on the ice.”

Avalanche coach Jared Bednar didn’t have an update on Grubauer after the game.

Chris Wagner scored for Boston, which lost its second straight and first in regulation at home this season after going 12-0-5. The Bruins were the NHL’s last team without a regulation loss on home ice.

“It’s a good run, but we’ll get right back at it on Monday,” Wagner said.

The Bruins are also the first professional local team to lose at home since the Red Sox lost to the Baltimore Orioles on Sept. 28. The Patriots are 5-0 at home this season, and the Celtics improved to 9-0 at the same building -- TD Garden -- on Friday.

(The Revolution won their last home game on Sept. 29, and the Pride of the National Women's Hockey League are 9-0 at home.)

Jaroslav Halak had 16 saves for the Bruins.

Trailing 1-0, the Avalanche tied it when Nichushkin cut in alone, shifted around Halak and slipped a backhander that barely crossed the goal line ahead of Boston forward Par Lindholm’s diving attempt to knock it away with his stick with 2:35 left in the opening period.

Immediately after the goal, Grubauer came off the ice and was replaced by Francouz. Grubauer slammed his stick onto the bench after he skated off.

Cole then made it 2-1 at 9:17 of the second period when he beat Halak with a blistering slap shot inside the far post from the left circle.

“It’s playing with fire when you’re trying to chase the game,” Boston defenseman Brandon Carlo said. “It’s the not the position we want to put ourselves in.”

Burakovsky’s 12th goal of the season made it 3-1 late in the second.

The forward slipped into the Boston zone slightly ahead of Bruins defensemen Charlie McAvoy and Matt Grzelcyk, who collided as they were trying to cut across the slot area. Burakovsky snapped off a shot from the left circle that slipped inside the right post at 18:21.

Seeking a spark from his lackluster team, Boston coach Bruce Cassidy juggled his lines in the second period. Colorado outshot the Bruins 14-8 through two periods.

Boston had taken a 1-0 lead when Wagner, cutting in front of the crease, tipped John Moore’s shot from the left point past Grubauer 13:14 into the game.

CALGARY, Alberta -- Dillon Dube has made a big impact on the Calgary Flames’ since being called up from the minors three weeks ago. He’s also helped Milan Lucic turn his season around.

Dube and Lucic each had a goal and an assist as the Calgary Flames beat the Los Angeles Kings 4-3 Saturday night for their fourth straight win.

With the Flames up 3-2, Dube scored his third goal in nine games this season, neatly burying a rebound of Derek Ryan’s shot at 1:29 of the third period. The sequence started with Lucic’s outlet pass.

“It's great to see when a young guy comes in and provides what he's been providing, it sometimes re-energizes us older guys to play the way that we can,” Lucic said. “I talk about my game moving in the right direction since the Las Vegas game when he got called up and he's been a huge part of me turning it around.”

Dube made the Flames out of training camp last season, but eventually spent most of the year in the minors. In 25 games with Calgary, he only scored once.

“It's a credit to (Lucic) and (Ryan),” Dube said, about how well he's fit in on that line this season. “When I came up to play with them, we all complement each other really well and it's easy playing with them.”

Interim coach Geoff Ward believes starting this season in the AHL was good for Dube, allowing him to learn and develop.

“He shows more confidence with the puck,” Ward said. “Last year he was trying to get rid of it right away which is a sign of a player that maybe isn’t ready to play at this level yet, but now he’s playing with the puck and allowing his skill to stand out.”

Zac Rinaldo and Sean Monahan also scored to help Calgary earn a point in six straight games (5-0-1) and remain perfect in four games under Ward.

Cam Talbot, making his first start since Nov. 17, overcame a shaky start and finished with 30 saves to end a four-game losing streak.

Drew Doughty and Anze Kopitar each had a goal and an assist for Los Angeles, and Matt Roy also scored as the Kings led 2-0 before falling to 0-10-1 in their last 11 on the road. Jack Campbell finished with 26 saves.

“We've played very well with the lead,” Doughty said. “So after the first period, with that good start, we felt pretty comfortable in here, maybe too comfortable. We didn't push enough in the second. Maybe sat back a little bit too much and we allowed them back in the game.”

Roy pulled the Kings back within one with 5 1/2 minutes to go.

Talbot’s best stop of the night was a glove save on Roy, looking for his second goal, with just over a minute remaining.

“From a team standpoint I think we did a lot of good things,”Campbell said. “Individually, if I give up four, it doesn’t matter what I did out there. It’s not good enough.”

Monahan gave Calgary its first lead of the night at 11:46 of the second to put the Flames up 3-2. While Monahan’s shot was perfectly placed inside the post, it was set up by a great rush up the ice by Johnny Gaudreau.

The Kings got off to a 2-0 lead on a pair of first-period power-play goals from Kopitar and Doughty, the goals coming 6 and 13 seconds into their only two man-advantages of the first period.

Lucic started the Flames’ comeback on the power play with his second goal of the season, second in two games and 200th of his career on a slap shot with 1:46 left in the opening period.

The Flames tied it 3:01 into the second on a slick move from Rinaldo, who cut across the top of the crease and buried his first of the season.

CALGARY, Alberta -- It took 28 games, but Milan Lucic finally has his first goal with the Calgary Flames.

Lucic scored early in the third period to open three-goal lead, and the Flames held on to beat the Buffalo Sabres 4-3 Thursday night.

"A little bit of relief. It's always nice to get the first one with your new team," said Lucic, who had been held to four assists this season.

"My teammates all along have been sticking with me and building me up, because it took longer than I hoped and probably a lot of people hoped, but good on everyone for all of the support."

Tobias Rieder, Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan also scored for the Flames, who are 4-0-1 in their last five games. Monahan also had an assist for his first multipoint game since Nov. 7.

Interim coach Geoff Ward improved to 3-0-0 since taking over for Bill Peters.

Sam Reinhart, Jake McCabe and Jack Eichel scored for Buffalo, which earned at least one point in its previous four games. Eichel extended his point streak to 11 games (10 goals, 10 assists).

"We really came out strong in the first and it got away from us a little bit in the second," Reinhart said. "We got away from our game plan a little bit. I think our forwards didn't do a good enough job of recognizing when we were turning pucks over in the offensive zone and our gaps weren't as good as a result, which gave them more time and space."

The Sabres' special teams let them down. Buffalo went 1 for 8 on the power play, gave up a short-handed goal and allowed Calgary to score once on its two chances with the man advantage.

"I feel like we didn't play well at all," Sabres wing Victor Olofsson said. "Started OK and then Calgary, I thought they took over. They were a lot better than us today up until the last few minutes of the game where we kind of woke up and we fought to the end, but couldn't get that last one in."

The Saddledome crowd roared at 3:58 of the third when Lucic finished off a passing sequence with Derek Ryan, who had two assists, and Dillon Dube for his first goal since last season's finale with Edmonton.

Choruses of "Looo" echoed throughout the building as Lucic hugged his linemates in the corner after putting Calgary ahead 4-1.

"I'm more than excited that I was able to do it in front of the home fans. I think they stuck with me, throughout the whole season so far, never gave up on me," Lucic said.

After the game, it was the goal everyone wanted to talk about.

"He's one of those guys who's really well-respected, obviously, in this locker room and in the league," Monahan said. "So when a guy like that scores a goal like that, there's a lot of emotion that goes into it and we're all really happy for him."

Ward and Lucic spent seven years together in Boston going back to when Lucic broke in with the Bruins.

"He's a guy who comes to work every day. He's a real good pro, he's team-first all the time, so to see him finally break through, it was awesome," Ward said.

Another ex-Oiler who scored a big goal was Rieder. Playing his 400th NHL game, his short-handed breakaway goal at 11:18 of the second snapped a 1-all tie and gave Calgary the lead for good.

"It always feels good, especially on the PK," said Rieder, who has two goals after failing to score in 67 games last season. "It was at the right time of the game as well. It got us going."

The goals by McCabe and Eichel came in the last three minutes -- Eichel's with the goaltender pulled -- to set up a furious finish.

David Rittich made 26 saves to improve to 13-7-4. Linus Ullmark, who had 25 stops, fell to 7-6-2.

After successfully killing off three straight first-period power plays for the Sabres, the Flames tied it 1-all at 16:42 by converting their first man-advantage.

Set up by Monahan, Gaudreau skated to the faceoff dot and ripped a shot into the top corner for his sixth goal of the season.

Gaudreau, who scored 36 times last season, entered without a goal in 10 games and with just two in his past 24 games.

At 15:02, Calgary surged in front 3-1 when Mikael Backlund set up Monahan for a one-timer from a sharp angle. It was the seventh goal of the season for Monahan, who is coming off consecutive 30-goal seasons.

Buffalo opened the scoring 3:29 into the first period when Reinhart redirected Rasmus Ristolainen's point shot past Rittich.

UNIONDALE, N.Y. -- In a physical game with a playoff pace, Ryan Pulock and the New York Islanders took advantage of a prime opportunity in overtime.

Pulock scored a power-play goal 3:20 into the extra session to give the Islanders a 3-2 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday night.

"It was probably one of the faster games we played this year," Pulock said. "That's a good team over there. It's huge to get that extra point."

Cal Clutterbuck and Brock Nelson also scored for the Islanders, who won their seventh straight at Nassau Coliseum and snapped Vegas' four-game winning streak.

Alex Tuch and Jonathan Marchessault had the goals for the Golden Knights.

"It was fast, it was furious. There were great plays, great saves -- everything you want in a game," New York coach Barry Trotz said. "It was a fun hockey game."

Marchessault was sent off for tripping at 3:10 of OT, giving the Islanders a 4-on-3 advantage. That led to Pulock's winner after New York won the faceoff in the Vegas zone.

Anders Lee assisted on the defenseman's fourth goal of the season.

"It was a hard-fought game and fun to be part of," Golden Knights defenseman Nate Schmidt said. "Too bad it had to end."

Semyon Varlamov stopped 31 shots for his ninth win of the season. He made a sterling glove save on Mark Stone in overtime.

"Everybody was invested," Trotz said. "I can't think of one line I was disappointed in. ... I like the way we played. Great atmosphere. One of our better games of the year."

Marchessault tied the game for the Golden Knights at 15:28 of the third after Nelson put the Islanders ahead earlier in the period. Marchessault, who had a hat trick in a win over the Devils on Tuesday, whipped the puck past Varlamov for his ninth goal of the season. Nicolas Hague and Reilly Smith assisted.

Nelson snapped a shot past Vegas goaltender Malcolm Subban at 3:56 for his ninth of the season. Anthony Beauvillier and Scott Mayfield assisted.

It was the first time the Golden Knights visited the Islanders' original home at Nassau Coliseum after Vegas' previous two road games against New York were played at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

This one had a playoff feel, rare for teams that meet only twice per season. Several dozen Golden Knights fans chanted loudly for their team but were quickly drowned out by the loud home crowd.

"It was a great game, two teams battled real hard. I love the way our team competed," Vegas coach Gerard Gallant said. "It was a real good road trip. If we keep playing like this, we'll win a lot of hockey games."

The Islanders improved to 8-2-0 at Nassau Coliseum, where they are playing a majority of their home games this season, two years before a planned move into their new arena at Belmont Park.

Clutterbuck opened the scoring at 4:26 of the second, scoring unassisted to finish a 3-on-1 break when he rifled the puck past Subban for his third goal of the season.

Tuch tied it at 15:27 when he wired the puck over Varlamov's right shoulder to continue his stellar play on the road trip.

Tuch also scored twice in Monday's 4-1 victory over the Rangers at Madison Square Garden and had three assists in Tuesday's 4-3 win at New Jersey. Cody Glass and Jon Merrill assisted on Tuch's fifth goal of the season.

Subban made a number of excellent saves in the first period. He had a sharp glove stop on defenseman Adam Pelech at 14:50 and another on Jordan Eberle on his doorstep at 16:10.

Varlamov had an especially strong second, denying Smith, the Golden Knights' leading goal scorer, on a 2-on-1 chance from the right circle. Varlamov stopped Marchessault from point-blank range while Vegas was on a power play 12 minutes into the middle period.

The Islanders held a 13-8 shots advantage after the scoreless first. Vegas outshot the Islanders 13-12 in the second, and the Golden Knights had an 11-4 edge in the third.

The Islanders were coming off a 4-2 loss at Montreal on Tuesday and had played five of their last six on the road since an overtime win in Brooklyn against Pittsburgh on Nov. 21.

BOSTON -- The Bruins haven't lost in regulation at home yet, and there they were trailing the Blackhawks 3-0 in the third period -- Boston's first three-goal deficit of the season.

"Digging the hole 2-0, letting them score (17) seconds into the third," Bruins forward David Backes said. "It's not a recipe for success."

Jonathan Toews scored 54 seconds into overtime, and the Blackhawks recovered after blowing a three-goal, third-period lead to beat Boston 4-3 on Thursday night and end the Bruins' eight-game winning streak.

"This team always plays good in their building," Toews said. "It's unfortunate we kind of gave them the chances. ... It's nice to get the win, even though they turned the momentum their way in the third period."

The Bruins had not lost since Nov. 16. But their third-period comeback preserved another streak: No Boston pro team has lost a home game in regulation since the Baltimore Orioles beat the Red Sox on Sept. 28.

Neither the Patriots nor Celtics have lost at home this season, and the Bruins are now 12-0-5.

"That's just high standards, trying to keep up with everyone else," Bruins defenseman Torey Krug said. "We're very, very lucky to be part of such a great sports town. So we'll try to keep the momentum going."

Toews picked up the puck after a turnover by David Pastrnak and skated in on Tuukka Rask before backhanding it between the goalie's legs.

The crowd, which thought Pastrnak had been tripped, began showering the ice with garbage.

"I thought it was a penalty," Pastrnak said. "I had a free lane to the net."

Robin Lehner made 37 saves for the Blackhawks, who had lost six of their previous seven games. 

Ryan Carpenter and Dylan Strome scored 37 seconds apart at the end of the first period, and Alex DeBrincat scored off the opening faceoff of the third period to make it 3-0.

Tuukka Rask made 26 saves for the Bruins.

The Bruins thought they opened the scoring early in the first period when Matt Grzelcyk's shot, which may have been tipped by Jake DeBrusk, found its way under Lehner's right pad and came to rest behind him, about six inches from the goal line. DeBrusk -- and pretty much everyone else -- stopped, thinking it was a goal, but when no whistle came Calvin de Haan swept the puck away and play continued.

The Blackhawks, who went almost nine minutes before getting their first shot, took a 1-0 lead on a short-handed goal when Charlie McAvoy whiffed on the puck at the blue line and Carpenter skated off with it, passing to Zack Smith in the Bruins zone and then scoring on the rebound.

Just 37 seconds later, on the power play, Strome tipped a shot from Erik Gustafsson over Rask's shoulder to make it 2-0. DeBrincat made it 3-0 17 seconds into the third.

But that lasted just 1:32 before Joakim Nordstrom cut the deficit to 3-1. Chris Wagner made it 3-2 on an unassisted, short-handed wrist shot with 4:59 left, and then Krug tied it with 2:33 remaining in regulation.

"They have really good players, they're a good team, they're at home. They're not going to go away," Chicago coach Jeremy Colliton said. "They found a way to come back. That's disappointing. But it's a big point for us."

NEWARK, N.J. -- Jonathan Marchessault gave the Devils’ day of change an all-too-familiar ending.

Marchessault scored three straight goals in the third period to rally the Vegas Golden Knights over New Jersey 4-3 Tuesday night, hours after the Devils fired coach John Hynes.

Marchessault scored twice in the first 5:04 of the third to give the Golden Knights a 3-2 lead. He added a power-play goal midway through the period, and Vegas held on even after New Jerseys Nico Hischier scored 20 seconds later.

The Golden Knights have won four straight to improve to 15-11-4.

“It’s fun,” Marchessault said. “We didn’t have that all year so far, so it’s good that we get on a roll.”

Malcolm Subban had 32 saves, and Chandler Stephenson scored in his first game since being acquired Monday from the Washington Capitals.

Mackenzie Blackwood stopped 26 shots for the Devils. Kyle Palmieri and Jesper Bratt also scored.

Hynes was fired Tuesday after a 9-13-4 start that left the team in last place in the Metropolitan Division and with the NHL’s second worst record.

General manager Ray Shero announced the move roughly 20 minutes before Hynes was scheduled to speak to the media before the game. Hynes had been the coach for four-plus seasons.

Shero named assistant Alain Nasreddine the interim coach, and Peter Horachek, a pro scout for the team, joined the coaching staff as an assistant.

“Tonight is a new beginning, and we had the lead, yes, going into the third, but it was more about what we did and what we didn’t do,” Nasreddine said. “There are no excuses.”

The dismissal came a day after the Devils were ripped by the Buffalo Sabres 7-1, a game Shero said was hard to describe. That followed a 4-0 loss at home to the rival New York Rangers on Saturday.

Subban has been playing for Marc-Andre Fluery, who has been away from the team for the past week with a family illness.

“It’s been huge. Obviously, you get a couple wins you feel better about yourself, you feel good about your game, so it’s been great obviously,” Subban said. “Still stuff to work on, but it’s coming along so it feels good right now.”

Struggling Devils forward Taylor Hall had a fast-break chance stopped by Subban in the first period before Palmieri scored a minute later off a pass from Damon Severson to make it 1-0. New Jersey outshot Vegas 17-7 in the first period.

The Golden Knights tied it in the second period on a centering pass by Alex Tuch to Stephenson at 5:24.

“That’s what he does,” Golden Knights coach Gerard Gallant said of Stephenson. “He’s done it before. He’s played on a real good team, and he’s had that role a little bit, so when we give him an opportunity and you know you want to make a player feel comfortable coming to a new team and scored a huge goal for us tonight, played some PK and it worked out.”

Bratt restored the Devils’ lead 14:17 into the second. Golden Knights coach Gerard Gallant challenged for goalie interference, but the referees said Hall was pushed into the crease by Paul Statsny.

BOSTON -- Jaroslav Halak celebrated his 500th career game with a shutout and the Boston Bruins extended their winning streak to eight in a row.

Halak stopped 24 shots for his second shutout of the season, and the Bruins scored twice late in the third period to beat the Carolina Hurricanes 2-0 Tuesday night.

"In my opinion, he's a No. 1 goalie in this league. He's proven that," Boston coach Bruce Cassidy said of Halak. "He plays great for us and gives us a chance to win every night."

Charlie Coyle broke a scoreless tie with 4:05 remaining in the third and David Krejci scored again for Boston just 1:08 later. It was more than enough offense for Halak, who faced only six shots in the third period as Boston controlled much of the final 20 minutes.

"We kept plugging away and got a big goal by Chuckie (Coyle) and after that it was a little bit easier," Krejci said.

James Reimer finished with 32 saves for the Hurricanes, who lost for the third time in four games.

"Tough lesson again. Unfortunately, we've had a few too many of those this year," Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour said

Both goalies took shutouts deep into the third before Coyle redirected a pass from Brad Marchand past Reimer.

Boston struck again quickly when Krejci tipped in McAvoy's shot from the point as the Bruins extended their longest winning streak of the season and improved to 9-0-3 in their last 12 games.

"It definitely wasn't easy, but it's good to know that we can win different ways," Krejci said.

Danton Heinen had an assist on Coyle's goal. McAvoy and David Pastrnak picked up assists on the goal by Krejci, who centered Boston's top line with Patrice Bergeron out of the lineup.

The Bruins haven't lost since falling at Detroit 4-2 on Nov. 8.

Jacob Slavin appeared to score for Carolina on a backhand with 2:08 left in the second, but the goal was waved off following a challenge by the Bruins.

Halak skated straight for the referees, arguing that the puck slipped under the goal when he bumped it. Replays showed Halak was correct and the game remained scoreless.

Halak said after the game the puck may have slipped through a hole in the side of the net.

"I was shocked because I sealed the post really well. In my head, I'm like there's no way that went in," Halak said.

Carolina had another great chance a few minutes earlier when Nino Niederreiter hit the post on a backhand from in front of Halak, who got his 49th career shutout.

"These ones sting. These ones are the ones that are hard to come back from, so we're going to have to pick the pieces up tomorrow," Brind'Amour said.

NEW YORK -- The Vegas Golden Knights got off to a fast start with two quick goals to start the game, then added two more early in the second period. That was enough to get their first three-game winning streak of the season.

Alex Tuch scored twice in the first four minutes and the Golden Knights beat the New York Rangers 4-1 Monday night.

Reilly Smith and Max Pacioretty also scored, and Malcolm Subban stopped 29 shots as Vegas improved to 5-2-1 after a season-high five-game skid (0-4-1).

"You could see it really set the tone for our team," Subban said of the early goals. "And then to follow it up with two more obviously helps. A 4-0 lead definitely gets you feeling good about yourself."

Though the Golden Knights were feeling good about their longest win streak of the season, Tuch said they don't think about it too much.

"We're just going out there trying to play each period one at a time," he said, "and just trying to get a win every night."

Brendan Lemieux scored and Henrik Lundqvist finished with 28 saves for the Rangers, who were 4-0-1 in their previous five games.

"I didn't like our mentality," New York coach David Quinn said. "We were way too risk-oriented, we just did not play a very solid, structured game. We really fueled their offense."

The Rangers went 0 for 6 on the power play against a Vegas team that came in tied for fifth in penalty-killing.

New York picked up the pace in the second half of each of the first two periods and came out more aggressive to start the third.

The Rangers outshot the Golden Knights 8-1 over the first 12 minutes and finished the period with a 11-4 advantage but couldn't score.

"We found a way, we made some good saves," Golden Knights coach Gerard Gallant said. "The guys did a really good job on the PK and that was the difference for us."

Subban, getting the start while Marc-Andre Fleury is away from the team following his father's death, denied Ryan Strome's tip try nearly seven minutes into the third, Filip Chytil's shot from the left circle with 8 1/2 minutes left and Ryan Lindgren's attempt from above the left circle less than 20 seconds later.

"We did a pretty good job of taking away their plays on the power play and their strengths," Subban said. "That obviously goes a long way and really frustrates those guys."

Vegas scored twice early in the first period and then doubled its lead with a pair of goals early in the second.

Subban knocked turned aside a deflection by Chytil 2:10 into the second to keep the Rangers off the scoreboard, and Chris Kreider hit a goalpost exactly two minutes later.

Smith made it 3-0 on a breakaway as he put a backhander past Lundqvist for his team-leading 12th at 4:44.

With Vegas on its second power play of the game, rookie Cody Glass sent a pass across the front of the goal and Pacioretty quickly put it past Lundqvist for his 10th to make it 4-0 at 6:20.

Lemieux deflected a pass from Jacob Trouba to get the Rangers on the board with 4:45 left in the middle period.

The Golden Knights outshot the Rangers 13-3 over the first 10 minutes.

Tuch got Vegas on the scoreboard just 1:34 in. His shot from the left side was stopped by Lundqvist but it trickled past and, as the goalie lunged back, he appeared to get the puck before it crossed the line

. However, after a review, the goal counted as replays showed it went across before Lundqvist pulled it back out.

"It was not the start we were looking for," Lundqvist said. "After that it was downhill for another five or six minutes before we settled things down and got our game going."

The Golden Knights went on a power play 18 seconds later and Tuch took advantage on a rush just 2 seconds before the penalty expired, tipping a pass by Nate Schmidt at 3:50 to make it 2-0. It was his fourth of the season, and third in two games.

"He plays hard, he played well and when he shoots pucks like that he's going to get them to go into the net," Gallant said.

BOSTON -- David Backes couldn’t help but smile after scoring his first goal of the season in his first game in nearly a month.

The Bruins’ alternate captain picked a big moment against a big-time rival to accomplish the feat.

Backes scored the deciding goal with 9:31 left in the third period, David Pastrnak added his league-leading 25th goal, and Boston won its seventh straight game, beating the Montreal Canadiens 3-1 on Sunday night.

“You could see (the emotion) it on my face. That was elation,” Backes said. “I’ve been watching this team do this for a month, and now it’s great to be part of it.”

Backes’ goal came off a feed from David Krejci through the right circle. Jake DeBrusk added his sixth goal of the year on a give-and-go with Charlie Coyle a couple minutes later and the Canadiens’ season-high losing streak reached eight (0-5-3).

Backes was in the lineup for the first time since being injured during a scary collision with Ottawa’s Scott Sabourin on Nov. 2.

“We didn’t know what he’d have, to be honest with you,” Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said. “He hadn’t played in a while. I thought he gave us some good energy, had a couple looks, was banging bodies.”

Tuukka Rask made 28 saves for the Bruins.

Boston extended its point streak to 11 games (8-0-3) and entered the third month of the season as the only team without a home regulation loss (11-0-4).

Joel Amir scored, and Carey Price had 31 saves for Montreal.

“For 45, 46, 47 minutes, we were playing solid hockey,” Montreal and former Bruins coach Claude Julien said.

“We needed that win desperately, and now we’ve got to go back home and find a way to win the next one.”

Montreal had allowed 24 goals in four prior games, including a season-worst 8-1 loss to Boston at home Tuesday that featured a hat trick by Pastrnak.

Price gave up five goals on 11 shots in Tuesday’s loss to the Bruins and has surrendered 19 total over his last four games.

But the Canadiens’ star saw improvement in his team’s effort.

“If we definitely play like (we did today), the majority of our games are going to be a better result,” Price said.

The Canadiens got off to a fast start this time after giving up three first-period goals in Tuesday’s matchup.

Armia’s backhand shot from the right circle deflected off Charlie McAvoy’s skate and into the net for his 10th goal of the year 1:58 into the game.

Play was stopped with 2:47 left in the second as a scuffle broke out involving all 10 position players on the ice after Shea Weber interfered with Pastrnak.

Pastrnak evened the score at 6:16 of the third after skating into the right circle and firing a one-time shot past Price high to the stick side.

“Twenty-five (goals) by December 1st, I wouldn’t have predicted that,” Cassidy said. “I know he’s certainly, maybe could have had 30. I don’t think he’s had a lot of freebies, let’s put it that way.”

Backes’ goal came with nine seconds left on a Bruins’ power play after Montreal’s Nick Cousins was whistled for holding Boston’s Torey Krug.

“It’s unfortunate. It was a bad call,” Julien said. “Krug’s stick was stuck under his own player. As a referee in a 1-1 hockey game, you’ve got to make sure when you make those calls. I was pissed off at the way that was handled.

The Canadiens beat the Bruins 5-4 in their first meeting on Nov. 5 in Montreal.

CALGARY, Alberta -- Make it two wins in as many games for Calgary Flames interim head coach Geoff Ward.

Elias Lindholm scored the deciding goal late in the third period and added an empty-netter, leading the Flames to a 3-1 victory over the Ottawa Senators on Saturday night.

Ward was also a winner on Wednesday night, when Calgary beat Buffalo 3-2 in overtime.

Calgary head coach Bill Peters resigned on Friday amid allegations of racial slurs and physical abuse of players in previous jobs.

Peters' resignation came after a lengthy process that included investigations by the Flames and the NHL.

"The group's been real resilient this week. They've found ways to pull together and it's evident on the bench tonight," said Ward, who has never previously been an NHL head coach.

Dillon Dube also scored for Calgary (13-12-4). The Flames improved to 3-0-1 in their last four games.

Jean-Gabriel Pageau had his team-leading 14th goal for Ottawa (11-15-1), which lost its fourth straight. The Senators have scored just four goals in that span.

David Rittich made 26 saves and improved to 12-7-4. He was making his sixth consecutive start and league-high 23rd start for the season.

Marcus Hogberg had 24 saves for Ottawa in his first start of the season and the fifth of his career.

"I think he played real solid the whole way," said Senators defenseman Thomas Chabot. "He made some big saves, that (Johnny Gaudreau) breakaway there, and plenty more during the game. We were lucky to have him. He was ready for it, ready for the challenge, and he played real well."

The Senators' third round pick in 2013, Hogberg is up from Belleville of the American Hockey League while Craig Anderson (lower body) is sidelined.

Anderson is not expected to be out long, but Hogberg got some game action with Anders Nilsson having played Friday night in Ottawa's 7-2 loss in Minnesota.

Lindholm's 13th goal of the season came less than a minute after Pageau had tied it.

Sean Monahan backhanded the puck high in the air and over defenseman Ron Hainsey, who put his arm up, but couldn't reach it.

As it landed behind him, Lindholm was there and quickly fired the puck over the shoulder of Hogberg.

"He made a great play at the net to get that puck up from where he was," Ward said. "We've talked about it a lot. When there's not ice in front of you, get the puck behind and skate onto it."

Pageau ruined Rittich's bid for a shutout at 14:49 when he burst down the right side and fired a puck over the Czech goaltender's shoulder.

Forced to pull the goalie while on a penalty kill, Lindholm rounded out the scoring with his 14th goal of the season.

The Flames opened the scoring late in the first period. Artem Anisimov won a defensive zone face-off against Milan Lucic, but in pulling it back on his backhand, the puck glanced off the skate of Anthony Duclair and went right to Dube, who kicked the puck from his skate to his stick and sent a backhand past Hogberg.

LAS VEGAS -- When Malcolm Subban was 14 years old, he started packing his goalie bags the exact same way and hasn't changed since.

"I go pants, jock, kneepads, then skates, shoulder pads, helmet, glove -- always the same" said the 25-year-old goaltender for the Vegas Golden Knights.

He's just as meticulous as he prepares his mindset for a shootout.

Subban improved to 5-0 lifetime in a shootout, Alex Tuch scored in regulation and added the shootout winner, and Vegas notched a 2-1 victory over the Arizona Coyotes on Friday.

Jonathan Marchessault also scored in the shootout for Vegas, which won its second straight.

Subban, who went into the shootout a perfect 16 for 16 in his career, stopped 35 shots in his third straight start, including two monster saves in the final 12 seconds of regulation, and two more in overtime, turning away Phil Kessel. He stopped two of the three shots he faced in the shootout.

"I wish I could describe the feeling, but I'm just focused on the puck and you don't really feel anything else," Subban said. "I just try to stay patient in there and give my team a chance to get a goal or two."

After losing his first six starts, going 0-4-2, Subban has won two straight after an overtime win in Nashville on Wednesday night.

"When you're losing a lot, it gets pretty miserable, so I'm happy to get a couple of wins here," Subban said.

"You're kind of just into the game and just try to dial yourself in and not think about anything else that's going on."

Vegas played its second straight overtime game and sixth in November. The Golden Knights, who are 4-4 in overtime games this season, including a perfect 3-0 in shootouts.

"Tuchy had a good game, he played one of his better games of the year," Vegas coach Gerard Gallant said. "Subby was good, made a couple of key saves there in overtime, locked in all night long. Obviously in the shootout he's very good at those breakaways."

Arizona -- which is 6-2-2 against Pacific Division teams and has earned a point in nine straight games (6-0-3) against them -- played in its third straight overtime game and seventh this month.

The Coyotes have earned points in 11 of 14 road games (8-3-3) and have earned points in eight of their last nine road games (6-1-2).

Jakob Chychrun scored for the Coyotes, and Darcy Kuemper made 37 saves. Christian Dvorak scored the lone shootout goal for Arizona.

"We played a good hockey game tonight, we deserved better," Arizona coach Rick Tocchet said. "You kill that many penalties and you don't get power plays and that's what happened. I'm proud of the guys we played hard."

BOSTON -- David Pastrnak believes good things come to those who wait.

The Bruins have done plenty of waiting lately. And plenty of winning.

Pastrnak scored his NHL-leading 24th goal and assisted on David Krejci's goal 1:40 into overtime, and Boston came from two goals down to beat the New York Rangers 3-2 on Friday.

The Bruins rallied for their sixth straight win after finding themselves in the familiar situation of a late-game deficit.

After Sean Kuraly made it 2-1 with 1:32 left in the second, Pastrnak tied it to force overtime on a one-timer from the left circle 4:27 into the third.

"We know after the second period if we're down by one, (we know) that we can score that one goal," Pastrnak said. "We have all 20 minutes to score one goal, and we know that if we play the right way, we will get it eventually."

Krejci's goal, his fifth of the season, came on a left-circle wrist shot against an out-of-position Henrik Lundqvist after a give-and-go with Pastrnak, who created space with a deke in the right circle before feeding Krejci through the slot.

"Just give the puck to a good player. I gave it to Pasta. He made a play. Pretty much an open net," Krejci said.

Jaroslav Halak made 26 saves for the Bruins. Boston matched its longest winning streak of the season and its longest point streak at 10 games (7-0-3).

"I thought we certainly pushed in the third and overtime," Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said. "Just like to see it happen a little sooner."

Pavel Buchnevich and Filip Chytil scored for the Rangers. Lundqvist had 24 saves as New York's three-game winning streak was snapped.

"Maybe if you look at the schedule and say you're going to come out of Boston with a point you're going to feel good about it, but we feel like we pissed away a point," Rangers coach David Quinn said.

New York failed to record a shot during a 5-on-3 chance late in the second and also couldn't convert on an extended power play late in the third after Boston's Par Lindholm was assessed a double minor for high-sticking.

The Rangers finished 0 for 6 on the power play.

"It was almost like they were asleep for 35 minutes and after they kill off the 5 on 3, it's almost like they decided to turn it up a little bit," Lundqvist said. "The difference tonight and why they're winning is their PK and Pastrnak."

Buchnevich's fifth goal this season put New York up 1-0 with 5:46 to play in the first period. Buchnevich beat Halak high to the glove side on a shot from the low slot after Tony DeAngelo's pass from the sideboards.

Chytil's eighth of the season doubled the Rangers' lead at 6:21 of the second. Chytil charged into the slot and scored five-hole on Halak after Ryan Strome's shot from the right circle bounced off Halak right to Chytil.

Jake DeBrusk's blue-line shot caught a piece of Kuraly's stick, bounced off the left post and trickled in to make it 2-1 after Lundqvist's inadvertent stick swat.

Krejci's feed through the slot set up Pastrnak's tying goal.

Boston was without Brad Marchand for the start of the third after he was pulled off the ice by a concussion spotter following an elbow from Jacob Trouba in the second.

Marchand was visibly agitated as he made his way down the tunnel before later returning.

"That's embarrassing," Marchand said. "Guy's up there busy eating pizzas and cheeseburgers and can't watch the game. Maybe next time he (won't) pull this out of his butt and watch the game."