Former Edmonton Oilers defenceman Darnell Nurse scored 1:03 into overtime Thursday night to give the San Jose Sharks a 3-2 win over the St. Louis Blues.
Nurse took a backdoor pass from Ivar Stenberg for the winner, his first goal with San Jose since the Sharks acquired him from Edmonton on July 1, NHL.com reported. “It felt amazing,” Nurse said.
Tyler Toffoli had a goal and an assist for the Sharks, and Collin Graf tied the game 2-2 in the third period. Alex Nedeljkovic made 24 saves in his first start of the season. Connor McMichael and Dillon Dube, with a short-handed goal, scored for the Blues, and Joel Hofer stopped 24 shots.
San Jose (3-1-0) played without captain Macklin Celebrini for a second straight game because of a lower-body injury. He is listed as day to day. All three of the Sharks’ wins this season have come in overtime. St. Louis (1-2-1) has lost three in a row.
In Calgary, Cale Makar and Nathan MacKinnon each had three points as the Colorado Avalanche beat the winless Calgary Flames 7-3. Devon Toews, Jaden Schwartz and Makar each scored twice, and MacKinnon added a goal and two assists. Scott Wedgewood made 26 saves in his first start of the season.
Adam Klapka, Mikael Backlund and Kevin Bahl scored for the Flames (0-4-0). “It’s obviously really tough and hard and frustrating to lose again,” Backlund said. Colorado (3-1-0) was playing the second game of a back-to-back after a 3-2 loss in Winnipeg on Wednesday, and has earned a point in 12 straight games against Calgary.
In Buffalo, Mikko Rantanen had a goal and three assists as the Dallas Stars blanked the Sabres 4-0. Jake Oettinger made 26 saves for his second straight shutout, following a 5-0 win over San Jose on Monday. Jason Robertson, Sam Steel and Roope Hintz also scored. Hintz’s power-play goal was Dallas’s first of the season after an 0-for-9 start. Buffalo is 0-for-13 on the power play.
“Our starts have to be better,” Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said.
Elsewhere, the Ottawa Senators beat the Philadelphia Flyers 2-1, according to ESPN. In Las Vegas, the Golden Knights rallied from a 3-0 deficit to beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-3 in a shootout. Jack Eichel scored on a penalty shot in the second period to tie the game 3-3, and Trevor Connelly scored the shootout winner, Vegas Sports Today reported.
The Edmonton Oilers did not play Thursday. They beat the Anaheim Ducks 5-2 on Wednesday.
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Sources: NHL.com game recaps, ESPN, Vegas Sports Today.
