MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The St. Louis Blues cruised through the coldest outdoor game in NHL history to beat the host Minnesota Wild 6-4. Jordan Kyrou had two goals and two assists in a five-goal second period for St. Louis in the Winter Classic. The faceoff temperature was minus-5.7 degrees. This was the first of 33 outdoor games the league has played below zero. David Perron, Vladimir Tarasenko, Ivan Barbashev and Torey Krug also scored for the Blues. Kirill Kaprizov scored and had two assists for Minnesota. Wild goalie Cam Talbot left trailing 6-2 after two periods with a lower-body injury.
Elsewhere on NHL ice:
— The home crowd would have loved it, but Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena was mostly empty of fans as the Maple Leafs thrashed the Ottawa Senators 6-0. Justin Holl and Ilya Mikheyev scored on the same first-period penalty kill for their first goals of the season. The game was played without fans after the Ontario government announced Thursday that attendance at indoor events, including arenas, would be capped at 1,000 spectators because of COVID-19. Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, which also owns the NBA’s Toronto Raptors, subsequently said it would operate without sold tickets for games, save for league and team requirements, for the next three weeks.
— Charlie Coyle scored on a wrist shot from the slot 34 seconds into overtime and Boston completed a 4-3 comeback victory over the Buffalo Sabres. The Bruins erased a 3-1 deficit, with Nick Foligno and Taylor Hall each scoring early in the third period.
— Noah Dobson scored 3:52 into overtime to give the New York Islanders a 3-2 victory over the slumping Edmonton Oilers. It was the Islanders first win beyond regulation this season. Edmonton lost in overtime for the second straight day and fell to 2-7-2 in its last 11 after starting the season 16-5-0.
— The Panthers won their third straight game, this one 5-2 over the Montreal Canadiens. Sam Bennett scored twice and Sergei Bobrovsky made 29 saves to lead the Panthers. Aleksander Barkov, Frank Vatrano and Mason Marchment also scored and Jonathan Huberdeau added three assists as Florida improved to 17-3 at home.
— A 4-0 lead approaching the midpoint of the game is generally pretty comfortable, but it wasn’t enough for the Blue Jackets against the Hurricanes. Brady Skjei and Steven Lorentz each scored twice as Carolina had the last seven goals to beat Columbus 7-4.
— The Nashville Predators routed the Chicago Blackhawks, 6-1. Tanner Jeannot scored twice while Filip Forsberg and Ryan Johansen each scored once and added an assist for Nashville, which snapped a two-game losing streak.
— Vancouver stayed hot with a 5-2 win over the Seattle Kraken. The Canucks improved to 8-0-1 since Bruce Boudreau took over as coach. The Kraken lost their fifth straight and eighth in the past nine games.
— The Los Angeles Kings beat the visiting Flyers 6-3. Viktor Arvidsson led the L.A. attack with two goals and two assists, while Trevor Moore also scored and registered three assists. With the Kings victory, Todd McLellan earned his 500th win as an NHL coach.
