Sporty.com | NHL: Edmonton Oilers extend win streak to seven

Calvin Pickard made 26 saves to earn his first NHL victory in nearly two years, and the Edmonton Oilers extended their winning streak to seven games with a 4-1 decision over the New Jersey Devils on Sunday.

Connor McDavid and Evander Kane each had a goal and an assist to help Pickard to his first win since Jan. 28, 2022, while with the Detroit Red Wings. The 31-year-old journeyman goaltender spent last season in the minors before being called up by the Oilers in November.

Edmonton is 9-3-0 since Kris Knoublach replaced Jay Woodcroft as head coach last month. The Oilers fired Woodcroft on Nov. 12 following a 3-9-1 start.

Pickard stopped all 12 shots he faced through the first two periods as Edmonton built a 2-0 lead on Derek Ryan's first-period goal and a power-play tally from Evan Bouchard in the second, the defenseman's third goal in two games.

McDavid stretched the margin to 3-0 when he scored off a feed from Kane 4:23 into the third period. Jesper Bratt answered for New Jersey 30 seconds later, but Pickard protected the two-goal margin until Kane's empty-net score with 3:08 left.

SEV-WIN

The #Oilers extend their streak with a 4-1 victory over the Devils at @RogersPlace. #LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/cI3silQuUh
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) December 10, 2023

Akira Schmid stopped 26 of 29 shots for the Devils, who had won three straight and six of seven coming in.

Gustavsson posts shutout as Wild extend Kraken's slide

The Seattle Kraken, meanwhile, have now lost eight consecutive games after a 3-0 defeat to the Minnesota Wild behind Filip Gustavsson's 24 saves.

Minnesota got goals from Matt Boldy, Marco Rossi and Joel Eriksson Ek to snap a two-game losing streak and improve to 5-2-0 since John Hynes replaced Dean Evason as head coach on Nov. 27.

Boldy put the Wild ahead 7:14 into the first period and Minnesota maintained a 1-0 lead until Rossi scored with 7:26 left in the third. Gustavsson then finished off his second shutout of the season, which Eriksson Ek capped with an empty-net goal with 3.9 seconds remaining.

Joey Daccord stopped 23 of 25 shots for the Kraken. Seattle is now 0-6-2 since Nov. 24.

career shoutouts for GusBus #mnwild pic.twitter.com/K8i1l1k1q2
— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) December 11, 2023

Quick beats former team, helps Rangers to win over Kings

Jonathan Quick came up with 25 saves to defeat his former team and help the New York Rangers get back on track with a 4-1 win over the Los Angeles Kings.

The veteran goaltender improved to 8-0-1 this season by winning his first-ever matchup against the Kings, the team Quick spent 16 seasons with until being traded to the Columbus Blue Jackets in March. The 37-year-old is the franchise's all-time leader with 370 wins and was part of two Stanley Cup champion teams.

Jonny Brodzinski had a goal and an assist and Vincent Trocheck added three assists as the Rangers ended their first two-game losing streak of the season.

The Kings, meanwhile, have now dropped back-to-back away games after setting an NHL record with an 11-game road winning streak to start the season. Los Angeles was coming off a 3-2 overtime loss to the New York Islanders on Saturday.

After a scoreless first period, the Rangers moved ahead on goals by Mika Zibanejad and Jimmy Vesey in the second.

Phillip Danault's power-play goal 6:37 into the third brought Los Angeles within 2-1, but Brodzinski converted a power-play chance less than five minutes later before Will Cuylle's goal with 4:36 remaining put the Rangers up 4-1.