West Coast hockey fans were in for a treat with three late games that were all tied at one entering the third period.
To go along with a pair of great early matchups (including a nasty OT winner by John Tavares), here are four things we learned in the NHL on Monday:
The drought continues…
With the way Edmonton’s season has gone so far, many would have thought the Oilers’ playoff chances were gone a long, long time ago. It became official on Monday in a loss to the Red Wings, for the ninth-straight season. Think about this: the last time Edmonton was in the playoffs it went all the way to the finals, only to lose to the Carolina Hurricanes.
This Booth is full…of goals
Talk about heating up down the stretch. David Booth scored for the third-straight game in Toronto’s overtime loss to the New York Islanders. The last time he accomplished the feat was in February 2012 while playing with the Vancouver Canucks.
Booth is due to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season, and could be making a case to be re-signed or be of value somewhere else. This all comes after he went 31 straight games without finding the back of the net earlier in the year.
Bad luck for Kesler
After spending the first 10 years of his NHL career in Vancouver, Ryan Kesler had a rough start to Monday night’s game against the Canucks. During warm-ups, the Anaheim Ducks forward was hit in the head by a puck.
He received some stitches, however, and was able to start the game in time.
Icing on the cake
Monday marked a milestone for NHL officials. In the Oilers game against Detroit, it was the first time a game was refereed by a Russian.
Romasko was greeted after the game by fellow Russian Nail Yakupov, who also scored a power-play goal for the Oilers in the third period.
