Goaltender Louis Domingue excelled in his return to the NHL. In his first game since the 2022 playoffs, the Saint-Hyacinthe goalkeeper made 25 saves in a 4-1 victory for the New York Rangers over the Minnesota Wild on Thursday.
Domingue had the upper hand ahead of veteran goaltender Marc-André Fleury who moved into third place in NHL history for saves with 25,808th save since the start of his career in 2003-2004. Fleury ultimately faced 24 shots.
Quebecer Alexis Lafrenière collected three points, including his fifth goal of the season which proved to be the goal that made the difference, his 11th career winning goal.
This is the first time in his career that he has totaled three points in a game, a performance that allows him to reach the 100-point plateau.
The Rangers signed their eighth victory in nine games.
Vincent Trocheck, Blake Wheeler, with his first in a Rangers uniform, and Artemi Panarin were the authors of the other goals. Panarin has one point in his last 13 games. He’s just one game away from the team record.
For the Wild, Brandon Duhaime was the only one to beat Domingue.
Hat trick and 400e point for Coyle
Buoyed by Charlie Coyle’s hat trick, the Boston Bruins defeated the New York Islanders in a 5-2 victory.
At 31, this is the first hat trick of his career. Coyle also had an assist to finish the game with four points. With his first goal, Coyle reached the 400-point plateau in the NHL.
David Pastrnak also had a good offensive outing with a goal and two assists, while Trent Frederic finished the game with a goal and an assist.
Goalkeeper Linus Ullmark stopped 27 of 29 shots aimed at him to sign his fifth victory of the season.
The Bruins are 11-1-1 in 13 games this season. Boston and the Vegas Golden Knights lead the NHL with 23 points.
The Bruins were the first to score in the first period when Frederic’s excellent shot from the top of the slot beat Ilya Sorokin. Brock Nelson, however, tied the game 1-1 before the end of the first period.
Coyle opened his account in the second period with his first goal of the match to give Boston a 2-1 lead after 40 minutes of play.
Simon Holmstrom brought both teams back to square one at the start of the third period with his fourth goal of the season, but the Bruins took off afterward with two goals from Coyle and a goal from Pastrnak.
Sorokin allowed four goals on 34 shots in the loss.
The Bruins will be the Canadiens’ next opponents at the Bell Center on Saturday.
The punishment of the Stars is final
Matt Duchene had a three-point night as the Dallas Stars scored five straight goals in a 5-2 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Duchene finished the game with a goal and two assists.
After seeing the Blue Jackets take a 2-0 lead in the first period, Mason Marchment, Craig Smith, Duchene, Tyler Seguin and Jason Robertson scored in quick succession to give the Texan team the victory.
Boone Jenner, with his seventh of the season, and Kirill Marchenko scored for Columbus.
Rookie Adam Fantilli recorded his fifth assist of the season in the loss, which ranks him third on his team in this category.
