The third snipe’s the charm, Ovechkin’s new wheels, a miracle on ice and more. Here’s what we learned in the NHL on Monday night.
Persistence pays off
Edmonton Oilers forward Nail Yakupov was a living example of the old “third time’s a charm” adage Monday night.
After his first two attempts went wide, the 21-year-old scored on an absolute snipe of a one-timer off a pass from Jordan Eberle.
All this after shaking off a hard hit from New Jersey’s Steve Bernier earlier in the game. Not a bad way to break an 11-game goalless drought.
The goal would turn out to be the game-winner for Edmonton as they edged the Devils 2-1, bringing them their first regulation road win in, well, quite a while.
Scott Hartnell puts on a show
Making it to your 1,000th career NHL game is quite the feat. But scoring in that game? Well, that’s just the beauty of sport.
Despite ultimately losing 4-3 to the Los Angeles Kings, the Blue Jackets’ Scott Hartnell put on a show for his family and friends in attendance for the milestone, scoring a beautiful tic-tac-toe goal.
Ovi’s generosity
Speaking of feel-good stories … remember Alex Ovechkin’s win-the-car campaign at the 2015 NHL all-star draft?
Well he got one. He was given the keys to his very own Honda on Monday and, in a classy act of generosity, he donated it to the American Special Hockey Association.
Coyotes find a miracle. Or two.
The Chicago Blackhawks had not one but two crazy-close almost-goals in the dying seconds of overtime against the Arizona Coyotes, leading to two video reviews.
There really are no words to describe this crazy sequence of events. Just watch:
After a lengthy review, officials declared there was no goal on the play, and the game was settled in a shootout, where Antoine Vermette netted the game-winner to give the Coyotes a hard-fought 3-2 road win.
Yup, the Coyotes can thank the, uh, man upstairs for that one.
