Timo Meier scores 5 goals for Sharks in 6-2 win over Kings

Timo Meier set a San Jose franchise record with five goals on Monday, and the Sharks used a huge first period to beat the Los Angeles Kings 6-2.

Meier, a sixth-year winger who made his first All-Star team this season, had a hat trick before the first period even ended. He scored his fourth goal less than two minutes into the second period and broke the Sharks’ record with his fifth just 27 seconds before the second intermission.

Meier had a chance for his sixth goal midway through the third period when he took the puck down the left side with open ice ahead of him, but Kings defenseman Mikey Anderson knocked the puck away as Meier approached the net.

It was the first five-goal game in the NHL since the New York Rangers’ Mika Zibanejad on March 5, 2020, against Washington.

Meier also notched the 11th single-period hat track in Sharks history.

Rudolfs Balcers had San Jose’s other goal. James Reimer made 39 saves for the Sharks.

Anze Kopitar and Anderson scored for Los Angeles, which had a four-game winning streak snapped.

AVALANCHE 4, WILD 3, SO

DENVER (AP) — Pavel Francouz stopped 24 shots in relief of injured Darcy Kuemper and three more in the shootout, and Colorado beat Minnesota for its 14th straight home win.

Kuemper was injured when Minnesota’s Jordan Greenway ran into him in the crease and knocked him down. He remained in the game until he was replaced by Francouz with 10:34 left in the second period.

Mikko Rantanen had a goal and an assist for Colorado and the only tally in the shootout. Nathan MacKinnon also had a goal and an assist for the Avalanche.

Wild goaltender Kaapo Kahkonen finished with 36 saves. Kirill Kaprizov scored two goals and Kevin Fiala had the other for Minnesota.

BLUES 5, PREDATORS 3

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Brayden Schenn and Ivan Barbashev each had two goals and two assists as St. Louis came from behind to beat Nashville.

Ryan O’Reilly added a goal and two assists in the first meeting between the teams since they played back-to-back games in February 2020. St. Louis’ victory left the clubs tied for second place in the Central Division with 51 points apiece.

Ville Husso made 32 saves for the Blues. He has won his past eight home decisions since losing to Vegas on April 5, 2021.

Yakov Trenin, Filip Forsberg and Ryan Johansen scored for the Predators, and Juuse Saros made 24 saves.

PENGUINS 5, GOLDEN KNIGHTS 3

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Jason Zucker scored twice and Pittsburgh rallied from an early three-goal deficit to defeat Vegas.

Pittsburgh scored five unanswered goals to improve to 13-2-0 since Dec. 4, including a 4-2-0 mark on its six-game road trip — the team’s longest of the season.

Vegas, which had five days off due to games in Edmonton and Calgary being postponed, dropped to 2-3-2 since Dec. 31, with all seven games coming at home.

Teddy Blueger, Jake Guentzel and Sidney Crosby also scored for the Penguins, and Tristan Jarry made 22 saves.

Chandler Stephenson, Evgenii Dadonov and Nic Roy scored for the Golden Knights, who were outshot for the first time in 24 games. Robin Lehner made 32 saves.

RED WINGS 3, SABRES 2, OT

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Dylan Larkin scored the tying goal in regulation and notched the game-winner 2:07 into overtime, giving Detroit the win before a sparse crowd in Buffalo.

Vladislav Namestnikov also scored for the Red Wings, who beat Buffalo for the second time in three days. Alex Nedelkovic made 26 saves.

A storm that dumped around 2 feet of snow in the region limited attendance to around 1,000 at KeyBank Center.

Henri Jokiharju and Jeff Skinner scored for the slumping Sabres, who have lost eight in a row at home and dropped to 1-6-2 in their last nine. Aaron Dell stopped 32 shots.

COYOTES 5, CANADIENS 2

GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Nick Schmaltz and Johan Larsson each had a goal and an assist, and Arizona stretched Montreal’s losing streak to six games.

Travis Boyd and Janis Moser also scored for the Coyotes, who were without coach Andre Tourigny and four players due to COVID-19 protocols. Clayton Keller added a an empty-net goal and Karel Vejmelka had 24 saves.

Ryan Poehling scored Montreal’s second power-play goal in its last 35 chances and Rem Pitlick also scored. Cayden Primeau allowed four goals on 16 shots before being replaced by Sam Montembeault in the third period.

KRAKEN 3, BLACKHAWKS 2, SO

SEATTLE (AP) — Ryan Donato got the tying goal early in the third period, Joonas Donskoi scored in the shootout and Seattle snapped its nine-game losing streak with a win over Chicago.

Donato scored at 2:02 of the third to pull the Kraken even at 2. Donato also converted in the second round of the shootout and Donskoi — stuck without a goal this season in 38 games — put the winner past Marc-Andre Fleury.

Vince Dunn also scored for the Kraken. It was Seattle’s first win since Dec. 14 at San Jose and first home win since Dec. 3 against Edmonton. The Kraken are 1-16-1 when trailing after two periods.

Seattle goaltender Philipp Grubauer made 25 saves.

Dominic Kubalik and Brandon Hagel scored in the second period for the Blackhawks. Fleury had 35 saves and stopped Jared McCann on the first regulation penalty shot in Kraken history.

ISLANDERS 4, FLYERS 1

NEW YORK (AP) — Brock Nelson and Casey Cizikas scored less than three minutes apart in the second period and New York handed Philadelphia its eighth straight loss.

Anthony Beauvillier and Matt Martin also scored, and Ilya Sorokin stopped 26 shots to help the Islanders get their fifth win in seven games (5-1-1). New York coach Barry Trotz was back on the bench after missing three games, the last two in COVID-19 protocols.

Sorokin improved to 6-0-1 with a 1.50 goals-against average in seven career games against the Flyers. He is 10-7-5 on the season.

Travis Konecny scored and Martin Jones finished with 27 saves for the Flyers, who are 0-6-2 during their losing streak.

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