Three Overtimes, a Shootout and a Hat Trick Utah Could Not Keep

Eleven games, three trips to overtime, one shootout and a hat trick in a losing cause — Thursday night in the NHL had a little of everything, and almost none of it was settled early. Montreal blew Utah away in shots and still needed 30 seconds of overtime. New Jersey blew a three-goal lead and survived anyway. Dallas led with four minutes left and lost. And in Detroit, Vegas said nothing for two periods and then took the whole game in the third.

Montreal, where the best player on the ice lost

Logan Cooley scored Utah's first three goals and assisted on the fourth, and the Mammoth still lost 5-4 in overtime at the Bell Centre. Cooley scored twice in the first period to stake Utah to a 2-0 lead before the game was ten minutes old, then completed his fifth career hat trick on the power play at 11:05 of the second. Utah's power play went 3-for-5. It was not enough, because Montreal kept answering: the Canadiens tied the game three separate times, the last on rookie defenseman Adam Engstrom's first career NHL goal with 5:06 left in the third. Thirty seconds into overtime, Cole Caufield finished a 2-on-1 to end it.

The Canadiens outshot Utah 35-20, and Jakub Dobes won while facing only those 20 shots. Captain Nick Suzuki, back after missing six games with a hand injury suffered blocking a shot — his first missed games in seven years — put up a goal and two assists and took first-star honors ahead of Caufield. Cooley, who had a point on every Utah goal, was the third star. His night deserves its own story: five hat tricks in 228 career games is faster than Alex Ovechkin got there. Montreal improved to 10-3-3; Utah fell to 10-6-1.

New Jersey survives its own collapse

The Devils led St. Louis 4-1 with 8:45 left in the third period, and by the end of regulation the lead was gone — the Blues scored three times to force overtime. Dougie Hamilton broke up a Blues chance in front of the New Jersey net in the extra period, and Jesper Bratt went the other way for a breakaway winner at 1:26 of overtime to give the Devils a 5-4 win over the Blues. Bratt added an assist to go with his third goal of the season; Jack Hughes had two assists and Luke Hughes a goal and an assist. New Jersey is 11-5-0, has won three straight and seven of its last eight. St. Louis, which gets full credit for the comeback and none for the finish, is 7-7-2.

Stamkos in Denver, a shootout in Columbus

Steven Stamkos scored on the power play 2:18 into overtime to give the Predators a 3-2 overtime win over the Avalanche at Ball Arena. In Columbus, the script ran longer: Mikko Rantanen's rebound goal at 6:27 of the third had Dallas in front 1-0 deep into the night, Casey DeSmith was working on a shutout, and then Zach Werenski tied it at 16:46 of the third — his first goal of the season — and the Blue Jackets beat the Stars 2-1 in the shootout. DeSmith made 29 saves in the loss. Dallas played without top defenseman Miro Heiskanen, who is day-to-day with an upper-body injury; the Stars are 9-5-2 and head home for four straight.

Vegas waits out Detroit

The Golden Knights trailed 1-0 in Detroit into the third period, then scored twice late — Braeden Bowman to tie it and Trevor Connelly for the winner with 1:42 left — to beat the Red Wings 2-1. Vegas is 11-5-2; Detroit slipped to 7-7-3. It was the quietest game of the night and the rudest finish: the Red Wings protected a one-goal lead for two periods and change and left with nothing.

Carolina keeps the league's best record

The Hurricanes beat the Islanders 5-3 at UBS Arena to move to 13-3-2, the best record in the NHL. William Carrier scored the winner at 14:52 of the third. Andrei Svechnikov had a goal, an assist and seven shots. The engine room of this run is an unlikely one: Mark Jankowski has eight goals in 14 games since moving up the lineup after captain Jordan Staal tore a calf muscle six games into the season. Carolina is 9-2-1 without Staal, who is expected to miss another month or more. Taylor Hall returned Thursday after missing nine games. Next up: Chicago at home Saturday, then the Global Series in Finland against Seattle on November 12 and 14.

The Rangers' six-minute flip — and a goaltending carousel

The Rangers trailed the Flyers 2-1 with 6:30 left at Madison Square Garden and won 3-2 anyway: Pavel Dorofeyev tied it on the power play and Tye Kartye scored the winner at 15:21 of the third. Adam Fox assisted on both late goals to reach 20 points, the fourth defenseman there this season behind Evan Bouchard (28), Quinn Hughes (22) and Mikhail Sergachev (20). The bigger Rangers story is in net. James Reimer, signed as emergency cover, was placed on waivers Thursday after exactly one appearance — an October 26 relief outing against Los Angeles in which he allowed three goals on eight shots in 20 minutes. Igor Shesterkin is out for the season after a lower-body injury on October 9, when his skate caught on the goalpost. Joonas Korpisalo, yet to debut because of a foot infection, just finished a conditioning stint in Hartford and could return during the coming four-game road trip, which opens Saturday in Seattle. The Rangers are 9-7-1 with Dylan Garand holding the crease together.

The rest of the board

The Bruins beat the Penguins 6-2 — Pavel Zacha scored twice and Elias Lindholm had the winner late in the first as Boston improved to 12-4-1 and Pittsburgh fell to 5-9-2. The Lightning beat the Blackhawks 4-1 — Ilya Mikheyev scored the winner, and Chicago rookie Roman Kantserov's eighth goal of the season, the most by any rookie in the league, spoiled Andrei Vasilevskiy's shutout in the final minute; Tampa Bay is 10-3-2, Chicago 4-12-1. The Jets beat the Canucks 6-2 — Dawson Mercer scored the winner in the first period and Vancouver, at 3-14-1, stayed at the bottom of the league. And the wildest finish of the night: the Ducks beat the Oilers 5-4 in Edmonton. Pavel Mintyukov and Beckett Sennecke each scored twice with an assist — Mintyukov added a fight for the Gordie Howe hat trick — Cutter Gauthier scored his ninth goal in four games, and Connor McDavid's goal and three assists ran his season-opening point streak to 17 games in a losing cause. Sennecke's second goal, on the power play at 1:42 of the third, made it 5-2 and stood as the winner; Edmonton pulled within one twice late, the last on Leon Draisaitl's goal with 45 seconds left, but Laurent Brossoit's 23 saves held. Anaheim (8-7-1) has won three straight and taken points in five of six; Edmonton is 11-3-3. Full league numbers live in the Stats Hub.

The notebook

Minnesota defenseman Brock Faber skated in a full practice with his teammates Thursday for the first time since suffering a skull fracture in the preseason; he has missed the entire season so far and there is still no firm return date, with captain Jared Spurgeon also week-to-week. Calgary activated goaltender Devin Cooley from injured reserve after four missed games with a lower-body injury and sent Arsenii Sergeev back to the AHL. On Friday, Anaheim plays the second night of a back-to-back in Calgary (8 p.m. ET), and San Jose visits Minnesota — the full slate is on the sports front.