Sandwiched between two busy nights, Wednesday was a quiet night on the NHL schedule.
However, it wasn’t an uneventful evening. Here are three things we learned:
Ovechkin takes NHL goal lead: The Washington Capitals captain has rarely had the last laugh against Sidney Crosby, but Wednesday was certainly a win for Ovie. The Russian superstar scored twice — his 28th and 29th goals of the season — to pass Rick Nash and Tyler Seguin for the NHL goal scoring lead while Crosby’s squad was shut out by Braden Holtby in a 4-0 loss. Ovechkin recorded the 93rd multi-goal game of his career, tying Peter Bondra for first place on the Capitals’ franchise multi-goal game list. And that wasn’t all. Later in the game — in vintage Ovechkin fashion — he caused quite a skirmish between the two teams. It was a good night for No. 8.
Leafs fading quickly: We didn’t necessarily learn this on Wednesday, but the shootout loss just continued the trend. The Leafs have picked up just nine of a possible 36 points in their past 18 games. They have a 4-13-1 record during that span and have just one point on the road since Dec. 31. Whether or not it’s bad luck, the Leafs are struggling to generate offence. Wednesday night was the Leafs’ first time in nine games that they’ve scored first in a game, and their power play has been in decline as well. It’s gotten so bad that Phil Kessel hasn’t scored an even-strength goal in almost six weeks. This looks like the same old Leafs. Another year of free fall.
JVR gets his revenge: With time ticking off in the second period, James van Riemsdyk thought he had a wide open net. He quickly fired the puck, but it went directly into the glove of Cory Schneider.
But that didn’t deter the Toronto Maple Leafs forward. He paid back Schneider in the third period when he potted his team-leading 21st goal of the season on a beautiful pass from Tyler Bozak. The Leafs weren’t able to pick up a needed victory but he can take solace in his performance. He led all skaters and tied his season-high with eight shots on net.