Columbus Blue Jackets 2 - 0 New York Islanders
Merzlikins makes 26 saves for Blue Jackets in shutout win against Islanders COLUMBUS -- Elvis Merzlikins made 26 saves for the Columbus Blue Jackets in a 2-0 win against the New York Islanders at Nationwide Arena on Wednesday. It was the second straight strong outing for Merzlikins; he came within 27 seconds of his 11th NHL shutout on Monday before the Edmonton Oilers scored a power-play goal in a 6-1 win.

“It feels really good to win the game right now,” he said. “We just have to keep working as hard as we are working now. Just take it game-by-game, step-by-step, and move forward.

“It’s obviously a nice feeling to get the shutout. It’s definitely not just me. It’s the team. They are helping me a lot. They’re really working hard for this. This is our shutout. It could be two in a row.” Damon Severson and Justin Danforth scored for the Blue Jackets (5-3-1), who are 3-0-1 in the past four games.

Semyon Varlamov made 24 saves for the Islanders (3-5-2), who have lost four of five (1-4-0), including 3-1 to the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday.

“We deserve to be disappointed because we played a really good game,” Islanders coach Patrick Roy said. “Back-to-back games like this, coming up with that kind of game. I thought we deserved better than that.

“I know how hard our guys are working. We're going to the net, bringing pucks to the net. The bounces just aren't going our way. There were great chances but we just couldn't finish. The guys know that.”

Severson gave the Blue Jackets a 1-0 lead at 5:43 of the third period when his wrist shot from a tight angle below the right circle deflected in off the skate of Islanders defenseman Ryan Pulock.

“I just got lucky, hitting the D-man's skate,” Severson said. “We grinded our way through that one. We had chances, they had chances. It was kind of back and forth there. Both goalies played solid. It was nice to get that one late there.” Islanders forward Bo Horvat said the game is one to learn from.

“You can call it puck luck all you want or unfortunate bounce, but at the end of the day, it’s the difference every night. It’s on us in here to get it done, including myself,” he said. “I’ve had so many opportunities to score and it hasn’t gone in. It’s up to me to fight through that and bury my opportunities.”

Danforth scored an empty-net goal at 17:57 for the 2-0 final.

“It's nice to have that heat at the end and the guys come through,” Blue Jackets coach Dean Evason said. “Elvis was terrific all night, made some key saves. We did a lot of right things at the end to hold a one- and two-goal lead.”

The Islanders were shut out for the fourth time this season.

“It’s definitely not our goaltending,” Horvat said. “It’s definitely not their fault. It’s on us. We’ve got to score goals at the end of the day.”

NOTES: Adam Fantilli, Mathieu Olivier and Kirill Marchenko of the Blue Jackets each had his three-game point streak end. … Islanders defenseman Alexander Romanov missed his third straight game due to an upper-body injury.

Box Score, Gamecast

Detroit Red Wings 2 - 6 Winnipeg Jets
Kyle Connor's impressive performance, marking his 500th NHL point, led the Winnipeg Jets to a 6-2 victory over the Detroit Red Wings at Little Caesars Arena. Connor, playing near his Michigan hometown, recorded a goal and two assists, extending his 10-game point streak and marking the longest season-opening run in franchise history. Neal Pionk contributed with two goals, while Gabriel Vilardi and Connor Hellebuyck bolstered the Jets' effort with a goal and an assist, and 19 saves, respectively, helping the team recover from a recent loss to Toronto. The Red Wings struggled defensively, allowing three first-period goals and failing to capitalize on opportunities, as highlighted by Detroit's Dylan Larkin and coach Derek Lalonde. Despite Alex Lyon's 23 saves, Detroit extended its losing streak to three games, while Winnipeg celebrated a franchise record fifth straight road win.

Box Score, Gamecast

Colorado Avalanche 2 - 5 Tampa Bay Lightning
The Tampa Bay Lightning achieved their third straight victory by defeating the Colorado Avalanche 5-2 at Ball Arena. Nikita Kucherov led the Lightning with a goal and two assists, contributing to Jake Guentzel's two-goal performance and Anthony Cirelli's impressive display with a goal and an assist. Despite a strong push from the Avalanche, who had standout performances from Cale Makar with a goal and an assist and Nathan MacKinnon with two assists, the Lightning maintained their lead. Highlights included Makar extending his season-opening point streak to 11 games, matching the second-longest streak for a defenseman in NHL history. Kucherov also hit personal milestones, achieving his 250th career multi-point game and 92nd career three-point game, joining an elite group of players since his debut. The game was marred by a controversial hit from Avalanche forward Matt Stienburg on Lightning's Erik Cernak, leading to Stienburg's ejection.

Box Score, Gamecast

Utah Hockey Club 5 - 1 Calgary Flames
In a decisive 5-1 victory over the Calgary Flames, the Utah Hockey Club showcased standout performances, led by Mikhail Sergachev's impressive three-point game with a goal and two assists. Maveric Lamoureux scored his first NHL goal in his fourth game, while Nick Schmaltz and Dylan Guenther each contributed two assists, helping Utah break a four-game losing skid. Connor Ingram was solid in goal, making 30 saves. Despite Anthony Mantha scoring for the Flames, their struggles continued with a fifth loss in six games, leaving head coach Ryan Huska to lament their lackluster work ethic. Mikael Backlund played his 1,000th NHL game for the Flames, becoming the second player in franchise history to reach this milestone. The game's notable additions included Olli Maatta making a successful debut for Utah and Clayton Keller capturing a goal during a power play, highlighting Utah's strong team cohesion and skillful execution.

Box Score, Gamecast

Vancouver Canucks 0 - 6 New Jersey Devils
Markstrom makes 20 saves, Devils shut out Canucks VANCOUVER -- Nico Hischier had a goal and two assists and Jacob Markstrom made 20 saves for the New Jersey Devils in a 6-0 win against the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena on Wednesday. Jack Hughes and Dawson Mercer each had a goal and an assist for the Devils (7-4-2), who have won consecutive games after going winless (0-2-2) the previous four.

Arturs Silovs gave up six goals on 22 shots in his first start in six games for Canucks (4-2-3), who have lost two straight (0-1-1) after winning the previous four.

Hischier scored his NHL-leading 10th goal on a 2-on-1 just 53 seconds into the first period to put the Devils ahead 1-0, talking a pass from Mercer and snapping a short-side shot over Silovs' blocker from the bottom left circle.

Mercer scored on a shorthanded 2-on-1 at 1:35 of the second period, converting a rebound from Hischier’s shot off Silovs' right pad to make it 2-0.

Timo Meier made it 3-0 at 3:07 with a rush wrist shot from the left face-off dot between the legs of defenseman Tyler Myers.

Ondrej Palat scored on another rush chance to make it 4-0 at 14:04, knocking his own rebound out of the air while cutting across the top of the crease and having it bounce off the post and in off the back of Silovs.

Markstrom stopped Teddy Blueger on a breakaway at 16:00 of the second period to preserve his first shutout of the season and the 21st of his career.

Hughes made it 5-0 at 9:22 of the third period on a backdoor power play pass from Stefan Noesen, giving him two points in the second NHL game featuring all three Hughes brothers -- Jack and Luke play for the Devils, Quinn for the Canucks.

All three brothers had at least a point in the first game, a 6-5 Devils win on Dec. 5, 2023. It was also the eighth time Jack and Quinn have played against each other, and the Devils improved to 7-1-0 in those games, with 15 points for Jack (eight goals, seven assists) and five assists for Quinn.

Tomas Tatar scored on a backdoor tap-in from Nathan Bastien at 14:06 for the 6-0 final.

Box Score, Gamecast

Los Angeles Kings 6 - 3 Vegas Golden Knights
In a notable NHL matchup, Anze Kopitar reached his milestone 800th career assist as the Los Angeles Kings secured a 6-3 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights at Crypto.com Arena. Kopitar, tallying a goal and two assists, became the sixth Europe-born player to achieve this feat with his assist for Kevin Fiala's power-play goal. The Kings, now with a 6-3-2 record, remained undefeated at home, buoyed by Fiala and Adrian Kempe's contributions, as well as three assists from Brandt Clarke. Meanwhile, Darcy Kuemper made 23 saves to help break the Knights' four-game winning streak. Despite Pavel Dorofeyev's two goals and Ilya Samsonov facing six goals on 26 shots, the Golden Knights couldn't maintain their momentum. Amidst the action, Tomas Hertl faced a high hit but returned to assist on Dorofeyev's second goal, while a mistake from Samsonov and a series of well-executed plays from the Kings defined the match’s outcome.

Box Score, Gamecast