ALUMNI GAMES HIGHLIGHT OUTDOOR SCHEDULES
Hockey heroes of yesterday will take the ice in Toronto and St. Louis on Saturday in a pair of outdoor alumni contests. The Maple Leafs Alumni, including Darryl Sittler and Doug Gilmour, will face Nicklas Lidstrom, Brendan Shanahan and the Detroit Red Wings Alumni at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto (12 p.m. ET; NHLN, SN). At Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Wayne Gretzky, Brett Hull and Adam Oates lead the St. Louis Blues Alumni against former Chicago Blackhawks including Darren Pang and Eric Daze (2:30 p.m. ET; NHLN, SN).
FRIDAY'S RESULTS
Home Team in Caps
CAROLINA 3, Chicago 2
Nashville 4, ST. LOUIS 0
SAN JOSE 2, Philadelphia 0
VANCOUVER 3, Anaheim 2 (OT)
STRONG BETWEEN THE PIPES
The San Jose Sharks, Nashville Predators and Carolina Hurricanes rode strong goaltending performances to wins Friday:
* Aaron Dell stopped all 21 shots he faced for his first NHL shutout and Patrick Marleau (1-1-2) factored on both goals to lead the Pacific Division-leading Sharks (23-12-1, 47 points) to their fourth consecutive victory.
* Juuse Saros made 25 saves and Filip Forsberg (1-1-2) and Mike Ribeiro (0-2-2) had multipoint games to lead the Predators. Saros is 3-2-1 with a 1.16 goals-against average and .957 save percentage, and has allowed no more than one goal in five of six starts.
* Cam Ward made 27 saves and Jay McClement scored the game-winning goal as the Hurricanes extended their home point streak to 11 games (10-0-1). Ward made his 11th consecutive start, and is 6-2-2 with a 2.34 GAA, .913 save percentage and one shutout during the span.
LOOSE PUCKS
Trailing 2-0 in the second period, the Vancouver Canucks scored three unanswered goals, capped by Henrik Sedin's overtime goal, to complete the comeback win. … Canucks forward Alexandre Burrows skated in his 800th NHL game. … Blackhawks defenseman Michal Kempny (1-1-2) scored his first NHL goal, in his 25th game. …
Click here
for a recap of the third episode of "EPIX Presents Road to the NHL Outdoor Classics." … ICYMI: Wayne Gretzky
met St. Louis Cardinals legend Ozzie Smith
ahead of the 2017 NHL Winter Classic Alumni Game. … The Red Wings
practiced at Exhibition Stadium
on Friday ahead of the 2017 Scotiabank NHL Centennial Classic on Sunday (3 p.m. ET; SN, TVA Sports, NBC). … Red Wings captain Henrik Zetterberg
hosted Jager Perreault
, who was diagnosed with leukemia in 2015, and his family at practice.
SNEAK PEEK AT SATURDAY'S ACTION
All Times Eastern
Buffalo @ Boston, 1 p.m., NESN, MSG-B, NHL.TV
Washington @ New Jersey, 1 p.m., MSG+, CSN-DC, NHL.TV
Columbus @ Minnesota, 6 p.m., SN 360, FS-N, FS-O, NHL.TV
NY Islanders @ Winnipeg, 7 p.m., SN, MSG+, NHL.TV
Montreal @ Pittsburgh, 7 p.m., CBC, TVAS, ROOT, NHL.TV
Carolina @ Tampa Bay, 7 p.m., SUN, FS-CR, NHL.TV
NY Rangers @ Colorado, 8 p.m., ALT, MSG 2, NHL.TV
Florida @ Dallas, 8 p.m., FS-SW, FS-F, NHL.TV
Vancouver @ Edmonton, 10 p.m., CBC, SN, NHL.TV
Arizona @ Calgary, 10 p.m., CBC, SN360, SN1, FS-A PLUS, NHL.TV
San Jose @ Los Angeles, 10:30 p.m., FS-W, CSN-CA, NHL.TV
STREAKING BLUE JACKETS, WILD MEET IN NEW YEAR'S EVE SHOWDOWN
The League's two hottest teams go head-to-head Saturday with the Blue Jackets (25-5-4, 54 points) putting their 14-game winning streak on the line when they visit the Wild (23-8-4, 50 points), victorious in 12 straight games. The teams have benefitted from strong goaltending, with Blue Jackets' Sergei Bobrovsky on a personal 12-game winning streak (12-0-0, 1.67 GAA, .924 save percentage) and the Wild's Devan Dubnyk on a personal 10-game run (10-0-0, 1.67 GAA, .942 save percentage).
DID YOU KNOW?
No two teams in NHL, NBA, MLB or NFL history have played while each holding win streaks of 12 or more games, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
