Friday night’s NHL action had a little bit of everything.
A milestone was reached, one streak was snapped while another was extended, a long-standing curse came to an end, and a certain goaltender continued to have a rough go of it.
In case you were out on the town, here are four things we learned:
Curse lifted
Whether you believe in hexes or not, it is undeniable that the Toronto Maple Leafs have struggled on Friday the 13th.
Until now.
Coming off their bye week, the Leafs raced out to a quick 2-0 lead against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden. William Nylander put the visitors on the board early by scoring against former street hockey opponent, Henrik Lundqvist. All told, Nylander had a very impressive night, registering five shots on goal in 13:30 of ice time.
Toronto also continued its torrid power-play scoring, netting two goals with the man advantage on Friday. With the special teams clicking, Mike Babcock’s squad now sits just two points shy of a playoff spot.
Serial streak stoppers
If you find yourself on a lengthy winning streak, you better hope there aren’t any trips to Verizon Center scheduled any time soon.
The Washington Capitals have hosted some red-hot teams of late and have made sure each of their visitors exited the building in the loss column. Remember the Columbus Blue Jackets’ historic 16-game run? It ended in Washington. The Pittsburgh Penguins brought their five-game streak into D.C. and that didn’t go so well for them, either.
So with the Chicago Blackhawks in town having won their previous four contests, the Capitals aimed to continue the trend. It was never in doubt as they led 3-0 after one period and cruised to a 6-0 victory.
While the offence victimized the Blackhawks, Washington netminder Braden Holtby continued to make his case to win his second consecutive Vezina Trophy. Holtby turned aside all 24 shots he faced and has now recorded three shutouts in his past five games.
The Capitals have not only been killing other teams’ streaks, they’ve put together an eight-game unbeaten stretch of their own.
Tavares joins the 500 club in style
As a hockey player, not much can top the elation that comes with a hat trick. John Tavares found a way.
Not only did the New York Islanders star net three goals in his team’s victory over the Florida Panthers, he recorded his 500th career point on his second tally of the evening.
In typical Canadian fashion, modesty shone through in the Mississauga, Ont., native’s post-game scrum.
“It’s hard to believe that’s where I’m at. I didn’t really know about it until a couple of days ago,” Tavares said after the game.
“I was able to find some open ice off some good plays by my teammates and you want to take advantage of those.”
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Hellebuyck’s woes continue
Coming off an embarrassing loss at home to the Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday in which their coach pulled no punches, the Winnipeg Jets seemed to be in good shape for a bounce-back outing against the struggling Arizona Coyotes.
Connor Hellebuyck didn’t get the memo.
After surrendering three goals on seven shots against Montreal, the Jets goaltender did himself one worse on Friday. The 23-year-old once again allowed three goals, this time on just six shots. That was the end of Hellebuyck’s evening as he was pulled for the fifth time this season.
The Jets fell behind 4-1 after 20 minutes of play and couldn’t overcome their poor start, ultimately falling 4-3. Paul Maurice didn’t provide the same type of sound bites after this loss, but there was still some drama swirling.
