Los Angeles. Marcus Johansson made sure the Washington Capitals opened an early Christmas gift last night.
He clinched the game away against Ottawa with a great individual performance in overtime.
– It was amazing, says the 32-year-old from Skåne to Sportbladet after the 3-2 victory.
Overtime between the Senators and Capitals at the Canadian Tire Center had lasted exactly two minutes when Marcus Johansson pounced.
He picked up the puck on the red line from compatriot Erik Gustafsson, stomped right through the Ottawa defense and bunted the ball in the decisive 3-2 lead behind Cam Talbot.
“I understood when I got to the ice that they were a little tired, so when I saw a little gap between their players, I tried to pass and it went well,” Mojo says when we got him next.
– We had to work hard in the last period, with a lot of sending offs, among other things, so it was very good that we managed to win.
With the win, their third in a row, the Caps raised themselves above the playoff streak for the first time this season.
The Carolina Hurricanes are starting to look close to unbeatable just in time for Christmas.
They also won Game 1 against Pittsburgh last night, 4-3 after an extra goal by Jacob Slavin, and now have a seven-game winning streak.
– What a wonderful group we have. They’re all hard workers,” said trainer Rod Brind’Amour with pure joy.
Jesper Fast grabbed an assist for Carolina and Pittsburgh’s Marcus Peterson – Fast teammate Brent Burns earned his 800th point.
The New York Rangers fell down several times in their home derby game against the New York Islanders, but kept coming back and finally managed to win 5-3.
– In the past three or four weeks, it’s starting to look like we imagined it this season, says top scorer Barclay Goudreau.
Mika Zibanejad provided an assist and Cabo Kaku scored the decisive goal of the match.
In Boston, it was the Bruins who fell behind, 2-0 against a tough Winnipeg – but they also came back and won 3-2 in the end.
“We have such self-confidence in this room that we never worry when we’re down,” says winning shooter Nick Foligno.
Hambus Lindholm played until one of the goals was achieved.