Garret Sparks became the first Maple Leafs goalie with a shutout in his NHL debut, lifting Toronto over the Edmonton Oilers 3-0 on Monday.
Sparks made 24 saves in the Leafs’ first shutout since Jonathan Bernier blanked the Dallas Stars on Dec. 23 last year.
Leo Komarov scored twice and Nazem Kadri also had a goal to help Toronto snap a three-game skid. James van Riemsdyk added three assists.
Photo: AP
Anders Nilsson turned away 23 of 25 shots and the Oilers wrapped up their five-game trip at 1-3-1.
Both teams had only a shot apiece through the first 10 minutes.
Komarov opened the scoring with his team-leading and career-high ninth goal of the season on the power play 6 minutes, 45 seconds into the first.
DUCKS 4, CANUCKS 0
In Anaheim, California, John Gibson made 25 saves for his third career shutout to lead Anaheim over Vancouver.
Shawn Horcoff, Rickard Rakell, Jakob Silfverberg and Corey Perry scored as Anaheim won for only the second time in their past five games. Ten different Anaheim players had a point in their biggest rout of the season. Ryan Miller stopped 25 shots, while Vancouver were shutout for the first time this season.
Gibson made his NHL debut against Vancouver in last year’s playoffs, stopping all 18 shots to eliminate the Canucks. Gibson nearly had another shutout on Friday last week against the Chicago Blackhawks, the other team he has blanked during his brief career, but blew a 2-0 lead in that one.
Horcoff put Anaheim ahead just 1:19 into the opening period, taking Andrew Cogliano’s pass and converting a one-timer.
RANGERS 4, HURRICANES 3
In New York, Mats Zuccarello and Oscar Lindberg scored first-period power-play goals as New York kept up their mastery of Carolina.
Chris Kreider and Derick Brassard also scored and New York improved to 18-1-0 in their past 19 meetings with Carolina. The Rangers have won 11 straight against the Hurricanes at Madison Square Garden.
Henrik Lundqvist made 33 saves as the Rangers ended a three-game losing streak.
Jordan Stall, Victor Rask and Chris Terry scored for the Hurricanes. Carolina battled back from a 4-1 deficit to make it a contest at the end.
ISLANDERS 5, AVALANCHE 3
In New York, Cal Clutterbuck broke a deadlock 1:52 into the third period as New York beat Colorado.
Kyle Okposo, Mikhail Grabovski, Casey Cizikas and Ryan Strome also scored and the Islanders won for the third time in four games. Thomas Greiss stopped 25 shots.
Jarome Iginla, Nick Holden and former Islander Blake Comeau each scored for Colorado, but the Avalanche fell for the fifth time in their past seven games.
Off a faceoff win, Clutterbuck redirected Thomas Hickey’s point shot past goalie Semyon Varlamov’s glove. The goal was Clutterbuck’s sixth of the season and the first of two third-period goals from the Isles’ fourth line.
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