National Hockey

MONTREAL — The Montreal Canadiens assigned forward Nikita Scherbak to the Laval Rocket of the American Hockey League on Monday. Scherbak, 22, had a goal and two assists in seven games since he was called up Feb. 2 from Laval.

WINNIPEG — Kyle Connor admitted he had a bit of a chip on his shoulder after he was demoted from the Winnipeg Jets' top line.

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Mikkel Boedker might be playing his best hockey with the Sharks. "Yeah, I think that's pretty fair to say," Boedker said after scoring twice in San Jose's 5-2 victory over the Dallas Stars on Sunday.

DENVER — Connor McDavid had his third hat trick of the season and the Edmonton Oilers beat the Colorado Avalanche 4-2 on Sunday to snap a six-game losing streak. McDavid has 11 goals in the last nine games and two hat tricks.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Pittsburgh Penguins won without goals from Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin or the other three top scorers. Instead, they created opportunities for some guys who are usually in the background.

DETROIT — To Jeff Blashill, the outcome came down to one simple fact. "They made one more play than us," the Detroit coach Blashill said. To Toronto centre Auston Matthews, it came down to persistence.

RALEIGH, N.C. — Taylor Hall has had the hottest stick in the NHL for the past month, but on Sunday his streak almost came to an end. Then came overtime.

DENVER — Connor McDavid had his third hat trick of the season, and the Edmonton Oilers beat the Colorado Avalanche 4-2 on Sunday to snap a six-game losing streak. McDavid now has 11 goals in the last nine games and two hat tricks.

BUFFALO, N.Y. — This wasn't the first time Devante Smith-Pelly has had racial taunts directed at him during a hockey game.

NEW YORK — Pressed into action after Flyers starter Michal Neuvirth left with a lower-body injury, rookie goaltender Alex Lyon was confident at Madison Square Garden having played there before for Yale.