From goalie blowups to the Leafs potentially losing their No. 1 defenceman, it was a busy night in the NHL with nine games.
Other highlights include some goaltending struggles from someone you might not expect, a Canucks legend inching closer to a milestone and coaching rumours.
Here are five things we learned in the NHL on Tuesday night:
Just saying hi
Robin Lehner had an interesting night in net for the Buffalo Sabres.
The goaltender was seen waving to a fan during a second period stoppage against the Toronto Maple Leafs and was pulled shortly after giving up three goals on 16 shots in 29:45.
Lehner didn’t take too kindly to coach Dan Bylsma’s decision to bench him:
The interaction received a lot of attention on Twitter and the fan responded after the game.
Sportsnet’s Luke Fox delved into both Lehner’s rough night and Buffalo’s inability to string together victories after the game.
Defenceman down
A tough break (hopefully no pun intended) for the Maple Leafs.
No. 1 defenceman Morgan Rielly left Toronto’s 4-3 win over Buffalo with a lower-body injury.
The 22-year-old hobbled off the ice after his right leg got locked up with Sabres winger William Carrier along the boards in the Maple Leafs’ zone early in the first period.
Rielly leads Toronto in ice-time, averaging 23 minutes per game, but played over 27 minutes in last Saturday’s game in Ottawa.
Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston wrote about what a possible Rielly injury could mean for the surging Maple Leafs.
One more
Henrik Sedin inched closer to 1,000 career points in Vancouver’s 1-0 victory over the Nashville Predators.
The Canucks captain scored his 10th goal of the season at 12:28 of the third period for the game’s only offence. That leaves him just one point from reaching the 1,000-point plateau.
Sedin will have a chance to accomplish the feat on Friday at home against former teammate Roberto Luongo and the Florida Panthers.
Dethroning Henrik
It’s been tough times of late for Henrik Lundqvist.
The Rangers goaltender had another rough outing in New York’s 7-6 loss to the Dallas Stars, allowing seven goals on 20 shots through two periods. King Henrik was coming off a start against the Montreal Canadiens where he turned away 17-of-22 in 38:34. He had also allowed four goals in each of his two starts before that against Columbus and Toronto.
This season hasn’t been kind to Lundqvist, who was benched in early December while Antti Raanta was hot. Lundqvist is 18-12-1 with a 2.89 goals-against average and .902 save percentage this year — a far cry from his career .920 save percentage.
Raanta is currently out with a lower-body injury while current backup Magnus Hellberg, who stopped all four shots he faced in relief against Dallas, hasn’t started a game in his career.
Do Lundqvist’s recent struggles open a need for the Rangers to acquire a reliable backup before the trade deadline?
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Coach for hire
Need a coach? (Ahem, the New York Islanders). Well, Gerard Gallant might just be the man for you.
The New York Islanders fired Jack Capuano on Tuesday after a 17-17-8 start to the season — good for last in the Eastern Conference.
While Gallant is an option to take over behind the New York bench, Sportsnet’s Rory Boylen looks at other candidates that could fill the vacancy.
