{allcanada} MacKinnon scores twice as the Avalanche beat the Canucks 3-1

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DENVER (AP) Nathan MacKinnon scored two more goals and Gabriel Landeskog had two assists, leading the Colorado Avalanche to a 3-1 victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday night.

Brock Nelson also scored as Colorado improved to 12-0-1 in its last 13 games. Mackenzie Blackwood made 11 saves after Scott Wedgewood departed in the second period with an upper-body injury.

Vancouver lost for the sixth time in seven games. Linus Karlsson scored for the Canucks, and Kevin Lankinen stopped 28 shots.

MacKinnon poked home a rebound with 37 seconds left in the first, tying it at 1. He converted a one-timer off a Landeskog pass late in the second, giving Colorado a 3-1 lead.

The 30-year-old MacKinnon has eight goals and five assists in his last seven games. He leads the NHL with 22 goals on the season.

The Canucks begin a four-game homestand on Friday night against Utah. The Avalanche open a four-game trip on Thursday night against the New York Islanders.

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{allcanada} Wallstedt earns 4th shutout of the season as Wild beat Oilers 1-0

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EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) Jesper Wallstedt made 33 saves to record his fourth shutout of the season in just 10 games as the Minnesota Wild carried their torrid pace from last month into December, emerging with a 1-0 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday.

Jonas Brodin scored the lone goal for the Wild, who have achieved at least a point in 12 straight games. The Wild went 11-1-2 in November.

The Oilers have lost five of their last seven. Stuart Skinner recorded 23 stops for the Oilers.

Wild forward Kirill Kaprizov had his goal-scoring streak snapped at five straight games and his points streak ended at seven games, during which he had notched seven goals and two assists.

It was a bad night for Edmonton streaks as well, as forward Leon Draisaitl had his points streak halted at eight games, with five goals and eight assists during that span.

Minnesota got the game's only goal with seven minutes remaining in the opening period as Skinner whiffed with his glove hand on a point blast from Brodin off the draw, his third of the season.

Wallstedt, who was drafted 20th overall in the 2021 NHL draft after Edmonton traded the selection to the Wild and dropped two spots, was named the NHL's rookie of the month for November on Tuesday.

The 23-year-old Swede was incredible last month with a 6-0-0 record, a league-best 1.14 goals-against average, .967 save percentage and three shutouts in six games. Wallstedt entered the game boasting a 7-0-2 record with a league-leading .938 save percentage and 1.93 goals-against average.

Both teams play Thursday night. The Wild visit the Calgary Flames, and the Oilers host the Seattle Kraken.

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{allcanada} Barnes’s 28 points leads Raptors past Blazers

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TORONTO — Scottie Barnes scored 28 points — including 13 in the second quarter — as the Toronto Raptors held off the Portland Trail Blazers 121-118 on Tuesday.

Barnes, who was named the NBA Eastern Conference's defensive player of the month before the game, also had seven rebounds, seven assists, and two blocks.

Immanuel Quickley added 23 points with eight assists as Toronto (15-7) ended a modest two-game losing skid.

Reserve forward Gradey Dick had 14 points for the Raptors.

Deni Avdija had a double-double with 25 points and 14 assists as Portland (8-13) dropped its third straight. He also pulled down eight boards.

Toumani Camara added 21 points and seven rebounds while Shaedon Sharpe of London, Ont., came off the bench with 23 points.

RJ Barrett of Mississauga, Ont., remained out for the Raptors with a sprained right knee. The swingman has been out since landing awkwardly after a dunk in Toronto's 119-109 win over the Brooklyn Nets on Nov. 23.

"RJ is improving," said Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic pre-game. "He's still not taking any participation in team activities. He's recovering and improving."

Takeaways

Blazers: A well-rounded attack saw five of Portland's players reaching double digits in points, but the visitors were still overwhelmed for long stretches of the game. The Blazers especially struggled in the paint, getting outscored 64-50 by Toronto's bigs.

Raptors: Toronto's NBA-best fast-break attack was once again dominant, earning 25 points to Portland's 10. The Raptors entered the game averaging 20.2 fast-break points per game, 0.7 ahead of the Miami Heat. The Trail Blazers tied with the Houston Rockets for 15th in the league with 14.8 per game before Tuesday's tipoff.

Key moment

Quickley drilled a three within the first minute of the second quarter that tied the game 40-40. That sparked a dominant 16-3 Raptors run that gave them a 10-point lead.

Key stat

Quickley was 5-for-6 (83.3 per cent) from three-point range, making nearly half of Toronto's shots from beyond the arc. He hasn't attempted fewer than six three-pointers in any of his last 14 games.

Up next

Portland: Travels to Cleveland to face the Cavaliers (13-9) on Wednesday.

Toronto: Hosts the Los Angeles Lakers (15-5) on Thursday.

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{allcanada} Schaefer and Wiesblatt's first NHL goals lead Predators over Flames 5-1

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) Reid Schaefer and Ozzy Wiesblatt each scored their first NHL goal, Juuse Saros made 27 saves and the Nashville Predators defeated the Calgary Flames 5-1 on Tuesday night.

Michael Bunting had a goal and an assist, Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Marchessault also scored, and Nicolas Hague had a pair of assists for the Predators, winners of three of four.

Morgan Frost scored and Devin Cooley and Dustin Wolf combined for 23 saves for Calgary, which concluded a five-game road trip 2-2-1.

Schaefer scored the game's first goal at 6:24 of the opening period.

Parked just outside the crease, Shaefer collected a loose puck and slid it past Cooley for his first goal, playing in his third NHL game.

Saros' best stop came on a breakaway by Jonathan Huberdeau with 3:45 remaining in the first. Huberdeau forced a neutral zone turnover from Hague and then skated in all alone on Saros, who denied Huberdeau's backhand with a sprawling left pad save.

Stamkos made it 2-0 at 5:04 of the second.

After taking a pass from Ryan O'Reilly, Luke Evangelista carried the puck behind the Calgary net and found Stamkos on the doorstep. The goal was the 1,200th point of Stamkos' career, becoming the 53rd player in NHL history to reach that mark.

Marchessault extended the Nashville lead to 3-0 with 5:35 left in the second and Wiesblatt followed 1:07 later, scoring his first career NHL goal on a tap in off of a Bunting pass. Tuesday was NHL game number 28 for Wiesblatt, a Calgary native.

Cooley made 12 saves before being replaced by Wolf at the start of the third.

Bunting scored the only goal against Wolf, who made 11 saves.

Frost spoiled Saros' shutout bid with a power-play goal 13:39 of the third.

Flames host the Minnesota Wild on Thursday.

Predators visit the Florida Panthers on Thursday.

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