NHL Roundup: Blue Jackets approaching history, Capitals top Maple Leafs
The Washington Capitals won a wild one against the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Columbus Blue Jackets are just a win away from history, and more in today’s NHL Roundup
Last night saw eight games of NHL action. It was a night filled with drama, with three of the games going to overtime. Fans saw two teams combine for 11 goals and two other teams combine for 10. Says who scoring’s down in the league?
In today’s trade rumors, the Chicago Blackhawks are reportedly pursuing Jarome Iginla as they look to bolster their roster for another Stanley Cup run. Speaking of the Colorado Avalanche, they’re willing to listen to offers for Matt Duchene and Gabriel Landeskog. The price, however, is a bit high. Also, the league announced the winners of the fan voting for the 2017 All-Star Game captains. Surprisingly, only one of them went to the 2016 event.
Last Night’s Scores
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T | |
| Capitals | 2 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 6 |
| Maple Leafs | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
The Washington Capitals haven’t had to come back from many deficits this season. However, they found themselves down 4-2 after 40 minutes. The Caps proceeded to tie the game, though the Maple Leafs regained the lead. John Carlson tied the game at five and Alex Ovechkin ended the game less than 30 seconds into overtime. A very impressive win for the Capitals, who needed a win like this to give them some confidence.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | T | |
| Blue Jackets | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Oilers | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Will the Columbus Blue Jackets ever lose again? Well, they haven’t since a few days after Thanksgiving. Columbus got goals from Cam Atkinson, William Karlsson, and Nick Foligno to advance their winning streak to 16 games. They could tie the record for longest winning streak on Thursday against the Capitals.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | T | |
| Hurricanes | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Devils | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
The New Jersey Devils didn’t look at all like a team that had just played the previous night. Cory Schneider got his second start in as many days and was once again fabulous. The Devils got goals from Adam Henrique, Mike Cammalleri, and Kyle Palmieri. Meanwhile, Carolina got a goal from unheralded rookie forward Sebastian Aho.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | T | |
| Rangers | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Sabres | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
A very bad game for the New York Rangers, who were no match for the Buffalo Sabres. Anders Nilsson was great for the visiting team while Henrik Lundqvist struggled, allowing four goals on 19 shots. Buffalo got goals from Zemgus Girgensons, Evander Kane, Justin Bailey, and Jack Eichel.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | T | |
| Jets | 1 | 3 | 2 | 6 |
| Lightning | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
The Winnipeg Jets got out to a 4-1 lead and never looked back. While the Tampa Bay Lightning got three third period goals, the score doesn’t reflect how much this game was a glorified blowout. Nikita Kucherov kept it interesting with two power play goals in the third period.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T | |
| Predators | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Canadiens | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
In Shea Weber’s return to Nashville, he scored the game tying goal in the third period. Another former Predator (albeit one far less adored than Weber) by the name of Alexander Radulov got two assists, including a helper on Max Pacioretty’s game winner. Pekka Rinne saved 41 of 43 shots in a losing effort.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T | |
| Sharks | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Kings | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
Jeff Carter had one of his usual nights. He scored the game-tying goal in the third period and got the assist on the game winner in overtime by Tanner Pearson. San Jose Sharks goaltender Martin Jones saved 35 of the 37 shots he saw while Peter Budaj saved all but one of the 27 shots he faced.
Last Night’s Stars
- Evgeny Kuznetsov had one heck of a night for the Capitals. He had a goal and three assists in helping the Caps come back and get a huge overtime win. This is the Kuznetsov the Capitals have been missing for the first three months of the season. While 23 points in 37 games isn’t bad by any stretch of the imagination, it’s a downgrade from his production last season. Hopefully this is a confidence booster for Kuznetsov.
- Cory Schneider faced 30 shots on his second game in as many days. He stopped all but one of them despite having to make a trip down to Carolina overnight. The Devils desperately need Schneider to steal games like he has the past two nights in order to have any chance of making the playoffs.
- Nikolaj Ehlers of the Winnipeg Jets is low key one of the best young players in the NHL. With a two goal and three point night against the Tampa Bay Lightning, he now has 34 points in 40 games. Ehlers is going to shatter his rookie mark of 38 points in 72 games.
Tonight’s Schedule
Wednesday night will feature six NHL games on the schedule. The most intriguing game features the Philadelphia Flyers hosting the Rangers. Philly desperately needs to get something going to get themselves out of their current funk. Meanwhile, the blue shirts will get an opportunity to play after a lackluster effort on Tuesday night.
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The Jets will complete the second end of their Florida road trip, facing the Florida Panthers starting at 7:00 p.m. ET. Montreal will play their second game in as many nights, visiting the Dallas Stars starting at 8:00 p.m. ET. A duo of 10:00 p.m. starts will see the Vancouver Canucks host the Arizona Coyotes and the Colorado Avalanche visit the Calgary Flames. Finally, the Anaheim Ducks will host the visiting Detroit Red Wings at 10:30 p.m. to end the night.