NHL roundup: Olivier’s two goals and Merzlikins’ shutout power Blue Jackets to sixth straight win

By Canadian Press on February 3, 2026.

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Mathieu Olivier scored twice in the third period, and Elvis Merzlikins made 23 saves for his first shutout of the season as the Columbus Blue Jackets beat the New Jersey Devils 3-0 on Tuesday night for their sixth straight win.

Dante Fabbro also scored for Columbus after missing the last six games with a lower-body injury.

Olivier’s first goal was a highlight-reel breakaway. Cole Sillinger sprung him behind the Devils’ defencemen, and he deked one way and went to his backhand, getting the puck past Jakob Markstrom at 12:05 of the third period to put the Blue Jackets up 2-0. He added an empty-netter with four minutes left, shortly after New Jersey’s Nico Hischer hit the post.

Fabbro snapped a wrister from the top of the left circle past Markstrom 5:24 into the third period, breaking a scoreless tie with his fourth of the season.

A first-period goal was disallowed. Danton Heinen scored, but his linemate, Miles Wood — who was drafted by the Devils and spent most of his career in New Jersey — had crashed Markstrom’s crease, taking away his ability to defend it. The goal was taken off the board after a coach’s challenge.

Markstrom finished with 22 saves.

Elsewhere in the NHL on Tuesday:

HURRICANES 4 SENATORS 3

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Jordan Staal scored the go-ahead goal with roughly five minutes left to help Carolina beat Ottawa.

The captain scored his 14th of the season after a neutral-zone turnover by the Senators, with Nikolaj Ehlers coming up with the puck and sending it ahead to Staal at the blue line. Staal skated in and fired from the left circle, banging the puck into the upper right corner of the goal at the 14:53 mark of the third period.

That finally put Carolina ahead for good on a night when it pushed to a 3-1 lead, only to have the Senators respond with a pair of power-play goals to tie it. Before those goals, Carolina had gone 14 for 14 on the penalty kill in its last six games.

Seth Jarvis scored twice in the second period for the Hurricanes, while Sebastian Aho struck for Carolina’s first goal late in the first. Brandon Bussi had 22 saves for the Hurricanes, including a big one while diving to his left in to deny Jake Sanderson with Ottawa going 6-on-5 late after pulling James Reimer in an attempt to tie.

Sanderson blasted a one-timer to tie the game 3-3 early in the third for the Senators, who got on the board less than three minutes in with Stephen Halliday’s redirection from the edge of the crease. Tim Stutzle also scored on the power play late in the second, a critical goal coming less than a minute after Jarvis’ second score pushed Carolina to a 3-1 lead.

Reimer finished with 14 saves.

FLYERS 4 CAPITALS 2

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Jamie Drysdale scored on the power play to snap a 20-game streak without a goal, Dan Vladar made 26 saves, and Philadelphia ended a four-game losing streak by beating Washington.

Drysdale one-timed a pass from Trevor Zegras past Washington goalie Clay Stevenson to put the Flyers ahead to stay, 3-2.

Vladar kept the Flyers in the game, especially in the first period, stopping all 11 shots Washington fired at him in a period that was spent predominantly in the Flyers’ end.

He stopped a pair of one-timers by Alex Ovechkin from the high slot in the third period to keep the Flyers ahead. Ovechkin was trying to tie Sidney Crosby’s record of 29 goals, most by a Philadelphia opponent in the 30-year history of Xfinity Mobile arena.

Owen Tippett gave the Flyers an early lead when he took a cross-ice pass from defenceman Travis Sanheim and made a deft forehand-to-backhand move to slide it past Stevenson, who had 18 saves.

Carl Grundstrom, who was a healthy scratch the previous two games, returned to the lineup and snapped a 13-game scoring drought when his shot caromed of the skate of Washington defenceman Jakob Chychrun to give the Flyers a two-goal lead in the second period.

Travis Konency had a pair of assists, marking his fourth straight multi-point game and his 15th this season.

LIGHTNING 4 SABRES 3 (OT)

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Jake Guentzel scored with 14 seconds remaining in overtime after teammate Darren Raddysh forced the extra session by scoring with 26 seconds left in regulation as Tampa Bay beat Buffalo.

Guentzel took a long pass from Nikita Kucherov just outside the blue line of the Sabres’ zone, skated in and beat Colten Ellis with a low shot to extend the Lightning’s winning streak to four games.

Kucherov had a four-point game with a goal and three assists. Oliver Bjorkstrand also scored and Raddysh finished with a goal and an assist. Guentzel also assisted on Kucherov’s goal in the first period. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 23 saves.

Mattias Samuelsson scored twice and Josh Doan added a goal for Buffalo, which was coming off a win over Florida on Monday night and has won six of its last eight games. Ellis made 31 saves.

The teams traded goals in the first period and, after a scoreless second, each scored twice in the third.

After goals by Samuelsson and Bjorkstrand early in the third, Doan appeared to give Buffalo the edge, scoring a power-play goal with just over five minutes remaining. But, Tampa Bay took advantage of an extra skater and struck in the final seconds as Raddysh scored with 26 seconds remaining to force the extra session.

ISLANDERS 5 PENGUINS 4 (OT)

NEW YORK (AP) — Bo Horvat scored his second goal of the game 52 seconds into overtime and New York beat Pittsburgh.

Mathew Barzal had a goal and two assists, Ilya Sorokin made 31 saves and New York snapped its two-game skid. Matthew Schaefer added a goal and an assist, and Ryan Pulock also scored for the Islanders.

Justin Brazeau had a goal and an assist for the Penguins, who dropped their second consecutive game. Anthony Mantha, Egor Chinakhov and Bryan Rust also scored. Stuart Skinner stopped 18 shots.

Horvat, who also had an assist, buried a breakaway in overtime to give the Islanders a critical victory in their second-to-last game before the Olympic break.

Barzal tied it at 3 midway through the third period, but Brazeau redirected a shot from Brett Kulak to put Pittsburgh ahead 4-3 with 9:20 remaining.

Pulock responded for the Islanders with less than six minutes left in the third to tie it again and force overtime.

MAPLE LEAFS 5 OILERS 2

EDMONTON, Alta. (AP) — Matias Maccelli scored twice and Toronto defeated Edmonton.

Matthew Knies added a goal and an assist for Toronto. John Tavares scored his 20th of the season and Bobby McMann added an empty-netter.

Anthony Stolarz stopped 34 of the 36 shots he faced for the Maple Leafs, including a diving stop on Leon Draisaitl that prevented Edmonton from getting back into the game in the final minutes of the third period.

Jake Walman and Kasperi Kapanen scored for the Oilers, who have lost two straight. Connor Ingram made 22 saves.

Toronto was coming off a 4-2 victory over the Flames in Calgary on Monday, and heads into the Olympic break with a three-game winning streak.

Kapanen tied the score at 2-2 early in the third period, but a pair of penalties proved to be Edmonton’s undoing.

Rookie winger Matthew Savoie was sent off for interference, and Mattias Janmark joined him seconds later on a high-sticking infraction. Maccelli scored just under a minute into Toronto’s 5-on-3 advantage and Tavares swiped a shot in from the side of the net on the power play to give Toronto a 3-2 lead at the 7:42 mark of the third period.

The Associated Press