timesargus
In a Wednesday night matchup at Capital One Arena, Alex Tuch found the back of the net twice, including an empty-net tally, as the Washington Capitals secured a 5-2 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers. Tuch, who was acquired via trade from the Buffalo Sabres and subsequently inked an eight-year, $84 million contract extension in June, now has nine goals in his inaugural season with Washington.
Tuch's fast start places him in elite company: he is only the second player in Capitals history to record at least nine goals in his first 11 games with the franchise, joining Dino Ciccarelli, who netted 12 goals in his first 11 appearances for Washington at the end of the 1988-89 campaign.
Jordan Kyrou also contributed two goals, and Aliaksei Protas registered his first goal of the season as the Capitals wrapped up a five-game homestand with four wins. Dylan Strome chipped in with three assists, while Jack St. Ivany and Pierre-Luc Dubois each added two helpers. Goaltender Logan Thompson, back in the lineup after missing Saturday's victory over Buffalo due to a lower-body injury, made 23 saves.
For the Flyers, Matvei Michkov scored his ninth goal of the season and fifth on the power play. Sean Couturier tied the game early in the second period, and Joseph Woll stopped 25 shots. Philadelphia, which lost its third consecutive game after an overtime defeat to Columbus on Tuesday, fell to 8-5-0.
Oilers Shut Out Flames, 4-0
Tristan Jarry made 24 saves, and Connor McDavid added two points as the Edmonton Oilers blanked the Calgary Flames 4-0 to snap a two-game losing streak. McDavid extended his season-opening points streak to 13 games, boosting his NHL-leading total to 36 points. He also set an NHL record by extending his campaign-starting assists streak to 13 games, surpassing Sebastian Aho, Ken Linseman, and Wayne Gretzky for the longest such streak in league history. Mathieu Joseph, Mattias Ekholm, Kasperi Kapanen, and Alex Formenton scored for Edmonton, which improved to 9-2-2. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins also recorded assists. Dustin Wolf made 20 saves in relief for Calgary after starter Devin Cooley (eight saves) was injured late in the first period when he was run over in the crease by forward Colton Dach. The Flames dropped to 5-7-0, ending a four-game win streak.
Avalanche Down Devils, 5-2
Nazem Kadri and Parker Kelly scored 1:02 apart early in the third period, and the Colorado Avalanche defeated the New Jersey Devils 5-2 to snap New Jersey's four-game winning streak. Kadri gave Colorado a 2-1 lead at 2:45 of the third, and Kelly followed at 3:47. Nathan MacKinnon added his eighth goal of the season with eight minutes remaining, and Jaden Schwartz scored 30 seconds later. Mackenzie Blackwood made 20 saves as Colorado improved to 7-5-1. Connor Brown scored twice for New Jersey, including a short-handed goal in the first period, and Gabriel Landeskog tied the game on a power play in the second. Jake Allen stopped 39 shots for the Devils, who fell to 8-5-0.
Originally reported by timesargus.