One of the more dramatic matches to take place to end the week came in Pittsburgh, where the Penguins edged the Montreal Canadiens 4-3 in a shootout.
Oliver Kapanen gave the Habs the lead seven and a half minutes in as the guests were chasing a third win on the spin. The Penguins had other ideas, finding their equalizer through captain Sidney Crosby. The winger's goal took him level with Mario Lemieux for the most points in franchise history.
A little less than five minutes later, Crosby found Rickard Rackell to give the Pens their first lead of the night. That play also gave the 38-year-old the franchise record with his 1,724th point.
Back came Montreal, who tied things back up early on in the second period through Ivan Demidov. Yet, they found themselves behind again in the middle of the frame, as Noel Acciari put the home team back ahead.
Noah Dobson made the score 3-3 shortly after the second intermission, which is how regulation ended. Overtime solved nothing, with the Penguins scoring twice in the shootout to win 2-1. Kevin Hayes and Rakell converted their efforts for Pittsburgh, while Crosby failed to do the same. Cole Caufield was the lone scorer for the Habs.
The victory snapped the Pens' eight-game losing skid to remain 13th in the Eastern Conference. As for Montreal, they are fourth after the day.
In Minnesota, the President's Trophy-leading Colorado Avalanche picked up their 24th regulation win of the year in a 5-1 defeat of the Wild. Nathan MacKinnon scored twice to give the Avs their 19th success since the start of November.
Steven Stamkos' empty net goal with 48 seconds left lifted the Nashville Predators to a 2-1 victory over the New York Rangers. As for the Buffalo Sabres, they rallied from a goal down to beat the New Jersey Devils 3-1 away. It was their sixth win on the trot.
Red Wings see off Caps
It was another win for the Detroit Red Wings in a 3-2 overtime victory at the expense of the Washington Capitals. They had to do it the hard way though, as Ethen Frank put the guests up with 5:43 left in the opening period.
While the Red Wings went into the locker room behind, they would end the second frame ahead. Lucas Raymond tied things up on a power play before John Leonard gave them the lead five minutes later.
The Caps, who outshot their opponents 56-41, saw Frank tie the game up midway through the third as the winger claimed his second of the contest.
Unfortunately for Washington, it was not to be their day. With 24 seconds left in overtime, Moritz Seider scored the decisive goal to give Detroit the narrow win.
The Red Wings move up to second in the East, jumping ahead of their opponents. They sit two points back of the Carolina Hurricanes. The Capitals have won just once in six games that go beyond regulation.
Elsewhere, the Ottawa Senators defeated the Boston Bruins 6-2 on the road, while the Dallas Stars topped the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-1. The Stars scored four times in the third to run away with the victory.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins got two goals and an assist for the Edmonton Oilers as they staved off a late Vegas Golden Knights comeback to beat them 4-3.
As for the Utah Mammoth, they jumped back into the playoff spots in the Western Conference thanks to a 4-3 overtime success over the Winnipeg Jets.