The Toronto Maple Leafs scored four goals in the first period at Madison Square Garden for the first time since March 9, 1944, en route to a 7-3 victory over the New York Rangers.
Toronto gave itself a three-goal lead thanks to an offensive explosion in the first twenty. Auston Matthews and Conor Timins scored 75 seconds apart to give the Leafs a 2-0 lead.
Another quick goal, this time from Rangers, allowed the Blue Shirts to bring the game back to one goal. It was forward Blake Wheeler who struck the mark 35 seconds after Timmins’ goal.
In another quick push before the end of the period, the visitors scored two goals in 21 seconds on the works of Calle Jarnkrok and Mitchell Marner.
The second period was the affair of the Rangers who once again narrowed the gap to one goal. Mika Zibanejad and Blake Wheeler scored for the home team to return to the locker room with a single goal difference. On Wheeler’s goal, Jacob Trouba collected his 300th point in the Bettman circuit. Only Morgan Rielly and Shayne Gostisbehere have also reached this plateau among defensemen selected in the 2012 draft.
Marner put a damper on the momentum of the New York camp in the third period thanks to a power play goal in the 89the second of the final period. The rest of the match went to the advantage of the Leafs who added goals from the paddles of Matthews and David Kampf before the end of the match to sign 15e victory this season. In the case of the Rangers, it is a third defeat in four games. For their part, the Maple Leafs have not lost in regulation time in their last seven meetings (5-0-2).
The awakening of the Penguins power play
The Pittsburgh Penguins can console themselves with the end of a seemingly endless power play drought in a 4-2 victory against the Arizona Coyotes.
The Pennsylvania troops had been shut out on their last 37 power play opportunities when Jake Guentzel remedied the situation. Not two minutes had passed in the game when he surprised Connor Ingram on the near side with a shot from the bottom of the slot after a pass from Sidney Crosby.
The Coyotes’ response also came on the power play. Lawson Crouse and Matias Maccelli each rocked the ropes as the Desert squad played with an extra man on the ice for each goal.
Arizona had a good chance to add to its lead moments later on another power play, but it was the Penguins who struck. Jeff Carter presented himself alone in front of Ingram, whom he thwarted with a beautiful backhand feint.
The Penguins didn’t have to wait long for their next power play goal. In the third period, Carter scored his second goal of the game, this time on the power play, by redirecting a point shot from Kris Letang. The Penguins finished the game with two goals in five power play opportunities.
Guentzel completed the score in an empty net.
This match had a special flavor for Logan Cooley since the Coyotes player is originally from Pittsburgh and he had participated in a camp organized by Sidney Crosby in his youth. Cooley finished the game with a minus-1 differential.
Tristan Jarry faced only 22 shots against the Coyotes who suffered a fourth straight defeat. Ingram stopped 39 pucks.
The Penguins stopped their losing streak at four games and will return to action on Wednesday against the Montreal Canadiens. Both teams have 27 points in the standings, but Pittsburgh has one more game to play.
The Wings wake up in third
Robby Fabbri and Lucas Raymond scored in the third period to lead the Detroit Red Wings to a 6-4 victory over the St. Louis Blues.
Moritz Seider, Jake Walman, Jonatan Berggren and Michael Rasmussen also scored in the victory. The Red Wings had lost their last three games, going 0-2-1.
Kevin Hayes scored two goals for the Blues. Marco Scandella and Brandon Saad also found the back of the net. The Blues have lost four games in a row and five of their last six outings.
Jordan Binnington stopped 26 pucks for the Blues.
Raymond tied the game 4-4 on the power play just 48 seconds into the third period. Fabbri then gave his team a 5-4 lead at 6:38. Rasmussen completed the scoring with an empty-net goal at 18:21 of play.
Ville Husso stopped 33 shots for the Red Wings in his first game against the Blues since being traded by the team in July 2022.
Forsberg only needs 18 seconds
Filip Forsberg scored 18 seconds into overtime, and the Nashville Predators won 3-2 against the Philadelphia Flyers.
Juuse Saros made 38 saves to sign a fifth victory in a row. Gustav Nyquist and Michael McCarron also found the back of the net for the Predators, who won their fifth game in their last six.
Sean Couturier and Travis Sanheim responded for the Flyers, who suffered their first defeat in five games. Samuel Ersson stopped 18 pucks to see his personal streak of four victories come to an end.
In overtime, Ersson blocked Forsberg’s initial shot from the left side, but the forward collected the puck behind the goalie and slid it behind the goal line.
Nyquist scored the first goal of the game by deflecting a shot from Quebec defender Alexandre Carrier.
The Flyers were shut out in four power plays. Before this meeting, they showed the worst performance in the NHL in power play on the road, at 6.1%.
