MacKinnon extends his NHL points lead in Colorado’s 3-2 win over the Flyers

By Canadian Press on December 7, 2025.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Valeri Nichushkin scored the eventual game-winner early in the second period, Nathan MacKinnon had an assist to add to his NHL-leading points total and the Colorado Avalanche hung on for a 3-2 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday.

Brent Burns and Brock Nelson also scored for Colorado, which improved to 21-2-6 with a league-leading 48 points. The Avalanche were playing their third game in four days while Philadelphia had the last three days off.

Sean Couturier and Travis Konecny had the goals for Philadelphia, which lost for just the third time in the last nine games. The Flyers were playing the third contest of a season-long, six-game homestand.

Burns netted the first of three straight Avalanche goals on a wrist shot midway through the first period. Nelson put Colorado ahead 2-1 with 52 seconds remaining in the period when he scored on a power play on a scrum in front. MacKinnon originally was credited with the goal before being awarded the primary assist. He now has 49 points.

Nichushkin finished a 2-on-1 by beating Samuel Ersson on the blocker side on a wrist shot from the circle to make it 3-1 with 18:13 to play in the second. Ersson made 25 saves.

PANTHERS 4, ISLANDERS 1

SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Carter Verhaeghe stayed red-hot with his sixth goal in his last six games, Seth Jones scored for the second consecutive game and Florida closed out a homestand by topping New York.

Uvis Balinskis got a rare goal for the Panthers, who finished off a three-game, four-day stint with five points — going 2-0-1. Florida wrapped up a stretch where it played 11 out of 12 games at home, going 5-5-1 in those home contests.

Sam Reinhart added an empty-netter for Florida.

Mathew Barzal got his ninth goal for the Islanders, who had won three straight and were 7-1-0 in games when he had scored this season. No. 1 overall pick Matthew Schaefer had an assist on that goal, giving him 21 points through 30 games of his rookie season.

SHARKS 4, HURRICANES 1

Raleigh, N.C. (AP) — Macklin Celebrini set up San Jose’s first two goals to tie for the NHL assists lead and added an empty-netter, helping the Sharks beat Carolina for their first road victory over the Hurricanes since 2018.

Celebrini tied Edmonton star Connor McDavid for the assists lead with 28, and moved a point ahead of McDavid for second in the scoring race with 43 — six behind Nathan MacKinnon of Colorado.

The Sharks had lost six in a row in Raleigh since a 3-1 victory Feb. 4, 2018 — when Celebrini was 11 years old.

Collin Graf, John Klingberg and Alexander Wennberg also scored, and Alex Nedeljkovic stopped 29 shots against his former team.

Jordan Staal scored for the Hurricanes, and Pyotr Kochetkov made 18 saves in his first loss in five starts this season. The Hurricanes dropped to 3-3-0 with a game left on their homestand.

STARS 3, PENGUINS 2, SO

DALLAS (AP) — Mikko Rantanen’s final-round score was the only goal of the shootout and Jake Oettinger made 27 saves as Dallas beat Pittsburgh.

After Rantanen beat Tristan Jarry stick side, Oettinger stopped Kris Letang to end the game and record his league-high 14th win.

Defenseman Miro Heiskanen scored 6-on-5 to tie the score 2-2 with 1:49 left in regulation and Jamie Benn also scored for the Stars, who have won three consecutive games and are 8-0-2 in their last 10 games.

Dallas’ 45 points are second in the league but three behind NHL-best Colorado in the Central Division.

Thomas Novak and fourth-liner Connor Dewar scored for the Penguins, who are 0-4 in shootouts this season. Jarry, who stopped 21 shots, lost for the first time in his last five starts.

The Associated Press