NHL roundup: Aho helps Hurricanes beat Penguins 4-3 in OT

By The Associated Press on January 5, 2025.

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) – Sebastian Aho’s goal at 1:30 in overtime led the Carolina Hurricanes to a 4-3 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Sunday night.

Aho added two assists. Seth Jarvis had two goals and Jalen Chatfield also scored for the Hurricanes, who improved to 3-0 against Pittsburgh this season. Dustin Tokarski had 16 saves for the Hurricanes.

Kevin Hayes, Michael Bunting and Erik Karlsson scored for the Penguins. Alex Nedeljkovic stopped 26 shots for Pittsburgh.

The Penguins built a 2-0 lead in the first six minutes of the game. Hayes and Bunting beat Tokarski for the early advantage.

Aho set up Jarvis’ first goal and then fed Chatfield to tie the game at 2-2 with 7:15 left in the second period. Jarvis made it 3-2 with an assist from Andrei Svechnikov with 3:42 left in the second.

Elsewhere in the NHL on Sunday:

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RANGERS 6 BLACKHAWKS 2

CHICAGO (AP) – Filip Chytil scored twice, Jonny Brodzinski, Will Borgan, Reilly Smith and Vincent Trochek added goals, and the New York Rangers beat Chicago.

The Rangers won for the second time in three games and are 2-5 over their last seven games. The Blackhawks lost for the sixth time in seven starts.

Brodzinski and Borgan scored in the final five minutes of the first period to give the Rangers a 2-1 lead. Both shots beat Chicago goaltender Arvid Soderblom (28 saves) from the high slot, Brodzinski’s was aided by Mika Zibanejad’s screen.

Chytil made it 3-1 on a wrist shot 3:28 into the second, then added New York’s last goal on a double-deflection with 11:24 to play.

The Blackhawks took an early lead on Tyler Bertuzzi’s 14th goal of the season, set up by Connor Bedard’s pass following a steal from Zibanejad, at 5:37. Chicago’s Wyatt Kaiser scored his first NHL goal late in the second period.

Rangers goaltender Louis Domingue, called up from Hartford on New Year’s Eve, stopped 25 shots in his first start of the season and first NHL win since Nov. 9, 2023.

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ISLANDERS 5 BRUINS 4 (OT)

BOSTON (AP) – Bo Hovart scored his second goal of the game on a breakaway 3:10 into overtime and the New York Islanders snapped a three-game skid with a win over the Boston Bruins.

Anders Lee scored twice, and Ryan Pulock had a goal and an assist for the Islanders. Ilya Sorokin made 26 saves for New York, which won for just the third time in nine games.

Hovart fired a wrist shot that slipped between Jonas Korpisalo’s pads for the winner.

David Pastrnak scored twice, and Cole Koepke and Justin Brazeau added goals as the Bruins lost their fourth straight game.

Lee’s second goal gave the Islanders a two-goal edge early in the third period, before Pastrnak scored twice in an 8:09 span.

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MAPLE LEAFS 3 FLYERS 2 (OT)

TORONTO (AP) – Morgan Rielly scored 2:25 into overtime and Toronto extended its winning streak to four games with a victory over Philadelphia.

Rielly converted a feed from Auston Matthews for his fifth goal of the season and first in two months.

Matthew Knies and Oliver Ekman-Larsson also scored for Toronto, which leads the Atlantic Division and is second in the Eastern Conference, a point behind the Washington Capitals. Dennis Hildeby finished with 30 saves.

Tyson Foerster and Scott Laughton scored for the Flyers, who closed out a six-game, 10-day trip. Ivan Fedotov made 22 saves.

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DUCKS 4 LIGHTNING 1

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) – Frank Vatrano had two goals and assist after signing a three-year contract extension, and Anaheim defeated Tampa Bay.

Troy Terry also had a goal and an assist for the Ducks, who have won four of their last six. Jackson Lacombe put it out of reach with a goal at 16:26 of the third. John Gibson stopped 36 shots.

Jake Guentzel had a power-play goal in the second period for Tampa Bay. Nikita Kucherov picked up his 38th assist and 55th point, both fifth in the league.

Jonas Johansson made 22 saves. Tampa Bay has dropped three straight for the second time this season.

Vatrano – whose extension through the 2027-28 season will pay him $3 million in each of the next three seasons – redirected Jacob Trouba’s shot past Johansson with 2:57 remaining in the first, giving the Ducks a 2-0 lead.

Vatrano, who has 11 goals and 23 points, scored into an empty-net goal with 1:32 remaining.