NHL: Derek Stepan's hat-trick leads New York Rangers to eighth straight win
Sunday 28 December 2014 10:42, UK
Derek Stepan scored a hat-trick as the New York Rangers extended their winning streak to eight games with a 3-1 win over the New Jersey Devils.
Stepan scored a short-handed goal, another on the powerplay and wrapped up the victory with a late empty-netter as the Rangers celebrated goalie Henrik Lundqvist's 600th game in style.
The winning run is the longest in 40 years for the franchise who won the Eastern Conference title last year before losing to the Los Angeles Kings in the Stanley Cup Finals.
Braden Holtby made 31 saves for the Washington Capitals as they ended a lengthy losing streak against the Pittsburgh Penguins with a 3-0 shutout.
The Capitals, who benefitted from two goals from Eric Fehr, had not beaten their Metropolitan Division rivals in nine games, a span of nearly two years.
Scott Hartnell enjoyed a sparkling return to action after a spell sidelined with a broken finger, scoring twice as the Columbus Blue Jackets crushed the Boston Bruins 6-2.
Hartnell scored the first two goals for the Blue Jackets, with defenseman Kevin Connauton weighing in with a goal and two assists as well.
Ben Bishop made 25 saves on his return from injury to lead the Tampa Bay Lightning to a 2-1 win over the Carolina Hurricanes, their goals coming from Nikita Kucherov and Alex Killorn.
Patrick Kane scored twice for the Chicago Blackhawks in a 5-2 win over the Colorado Avalanche and rookie sensation Johnny Gaudreau made it six goals in three games to lead the Calgary Flames to a 4-1 win over the Edmonton Oilers.
Gustav Nyquist potted an overtime goal as the Detroit Red Wings came from behind to beat the Ottawa Senators 3-2 and Andrew Ladd was the overtime hero for the Winnipeg Jets in their 4-3 win over the Minnesota Wild.
Jason Demers had a goal and an assist for the Dallas Stars in a 4-3 win over the struggling St Louis Blues, who were losing their fourth straight game.
Colin Wilson scored twice for the Nashville Predators in a 4-1 win over the Philadelphia Flyers and Anze Kopitar contributed a goal and an assist in the Los Angeles Kings' 3-1 victory against the San Jose Sharks.
And there were two penalty shootout winners on a packed Saturday night schedule with Shane Doan leading the Arizona Coyotes to a 2-1 win over the Anaheim Ducks and Tyler Ennis seeing the Buffalo Sabres past the New York Islanders 4-3.
