A long-awaited return, a celebration gone wrong, a magic moustache, and more. Here are five things we learned in the NHL on Friday night.
Trocheck is a man of his word
Going into Friday’s matchup against the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Florida Panthers were a team in need of some good news.
They got exactly that with the much-anticipated (and much earlier than expected) return of forward Vincent Trocheck after a 27-game absence. If you’ll recall, Trocheck’s most recent game was Nov. 19 against the Senators, which saw him stretchered off the ice after fracturing his ankle when he crashed into the boards.
Though nearing a return following a steady recovery post-ankle surgery, the general consensus was that we wouldn’t be seeing the 25-year-old centreman suit up until after the All-Star Break — that would mean a Feb. 1 return against the Predators.
“If it was Game 7 tonight, he’d be in,” head coach Bob Boughner told reporters on Thursday.
Well, it wasn’t Game 7 but it was still a must-win game of sorts, considering the dismal seven-game losing streak the Panthers had going into Friday’s matchup. Turns out, it was just the spark they needed to be able to pounce on a tired Toronto team that was coming off a win against that other Florida team the night before.
Trocheck, who assisted on the eventual game-winner in Friday’s surprising 3-1 victory and was easily one of the best players on the ice, gave us a window into his determination with a pretty great post-game quote that proved his early return — even earlier than his own estimates — was all just part of his plan:
“I’ve been pushing for a while,” Trocheck said, via Sun Sentinel reporter Wells Dusenbury. “I gave a date the day it happened. I said Jan. 21 was the date I’d come back. [The trainers] told me I was full of [expletive].”
Brind’Amour almost laces ’em up
Speaking of awesome quotes, Carolina Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind’Amour had some strong words after Friday’s loss to the Ottawa Senators.
The last time Brind’Amour suited up was April 2010 — and it was for the Hurricanes, of course.
It gets better: He actually apologized to newly-acquired forward Nino Niederreiter, who was acquired by the Hurricanes in a trade with the Minnesota Wild on Thursday. (You can see his full comments in the video at the top of this post.)
The team will have a shot at redemption Sunday against the Edmonton Oilers.
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Paajarvi bats, then bails
This might be a painful time to bring this up, considering their performance Friday night, but the Hurricanes have become known for their fun home victory celebrations this season. From paddling across the rink in imaginary kayaks to toppling over in a game of human bowling, their choreographed post-game routines seem to get more creative as the season rolls on.
Perhaps they could give Magnus Paajarvi a lesson or two — from the looks of it, the Senators forward could certainly use it. His first-period goal Friday night — his fourth of the season and first since Dec. 1 — was an impressive display of hand-eye coordination as he batted the puck out of mid-air and past Carolina’s Petr Mrazek. We just can’t say the same for what followed.
After putting the Senators up 1-0, Paajarvi promptly went down — hard — in a hilarious post-goal celebration gone wrong. He and his teammates clearly had a good laugh about it, as did pretty much all of Hockey Twitter, as the Senators went home smiling with a 4-1 victory.
Islanders take top spot in Metropolitan
Every NHL season brings a heaping helping of the unexpected — that’s one of the great things about the game. To see one of the biggest surprises of the 2018-19 campaign, head on over to the standings and check out the Metropolitan Division:
It was tough to predict how the New York Islanders would respond to losing captain John Tavares in free agency, but it’s become quite clear in their performance this year that they’re just fine, thank you very much.
Friday’s game against the Washington Capitals was already circled on the calendar as an important matchup as it was Islanders head coach Barry Trotz’s first time back in his old rink since leading the franchise to its first-ever Stanley Cup last spring. He was honoured by the Capitals with a tribute and the fans showed their gratitude with a lengthy standing ovation. But few expected the game to hold this much meaning in the standings, with the Islanders taking over the top spot with the 2-0 victory.
And it’s probably not lost on Long Island dwellers that their club now has a matching record with their old captain’s new club:
Sammy McBennett and his ‘stache take the spotlight
No, that wasn’t Lanny you saw out on the ice in the throwback Flames sweaters Friday night — it was Sam Bennett, proud moustache-sporter and scorer of two goals against the Detroit Red Wings.
The Flames forward propelled the red-hot Calgary Flames to a 6-4 victory with a pair of power-play markers, including the game-winner, as well as an assist.
His teammate, Johnny Gaudreau, kept his incredible point streak alive with an assist Friday night (sans moustache), making it to 10 straight games with at least one point — and it’s not his first time doing that.
Gaudreau has nine goals and 21 (!) points in the past 10 games. Incredible.
But back to Bennett’s (equally-incredible) moustache… it could be here to stay: