Trade deadline madness is over and done with, but goalie madness was front and centre in the NHL Tuesday.
Here are six things we learned from the night’s action.
Panthers have goalie issues…like, major goalie issues
What. The. Heck. Happened. Here?
In the most bizarre scene in the NHL this season, the Panthers were nearly forced to turn to their goalie coach, former NHL backup Robb Tallas, after both Roberto Luongo and Al Montoya went down with injuries. First, Luongo suffered an upper-body injury then Montoya suffered a lower-body injury. Montoya toughed it out for as long as possible before Luongo shed his street clothes and returned to the net in the third. The chaos in the crease ultimately resulted in a 3-2 loss to the Maple Leafs.
Dubnyk sets Wild record
Devan Dubnyk hasn’t even been a member of the Minnesota Wild for two full months and he’s already setting franchise records. Dubnyk has been on fire since being acquired from the Arizona Coyotes on Jan. 15 and he became the first goalie in Wild history to start 21 straight games as he picked up a 3-2 shootout win over the Ottawa Senators. He’s now 16-3-1 with the Wild (he was pulled in a Jan. 20 game against the Red Wings and didn’t record a win or loss).
Markstrom gets lit up in season debut
Jacob Markstrom hadn’t started a game with the Vancouver Canucks since April 13 last year and it showed Tuesday night. His season debut went as poorly as it could have, as he allowed three goals on four shots and was pulled in favour of Eddie Lack.
Blue Jackets love to mix it up
A yellow jacket is an aggressive wasp. A Blue Jacket is a member of an aggressive hockey team. The Columbus Blue Jackets were outclassed 5-3 by the Washington Capitals, but they didn’t go down without a fight – four to be exact. After four Blue Jackets dropped the gloves Tuesday, the team leads the NHL in fighting majors with 36. This play from Jared Boll symbolizes the team’s feistiness.
Kesler doesn’t play around when a man down
And the award for best individual effort while shorthanded goes to…Ryan Kesler, centre, Anaheim Ducks.
Matt Martin could get a call from NHL officials
Matt Martin has been excellent for the New York Islanders this season. He brings energy and aggressiveness to the table every night but – whether intentional or not – he went too far Tuesday. Martin received a five-minute major and automatic game misconduct for kneeing Dallas Stars defenceman Trevor Daley, who was forced to leave the game. The Stars must be sick of their players getting hit low. A couple weeks ago they lost leading scorer Tyler Seguin after he was low-bridged by Dmitry Kulikov of the Florida Panthers.