New York’s wings were extended, the wings were broken – and “Wild Bill” Carlson fired in the big heavyweight bout.
That’s the main theme of tonight’s NHL sweep.
Extended score for night 1
Yes, William Nylander broke the record again — with an assist on one of Auston Matthews’ three goals in the Leafs’ home game against Buffalo.
In doing so, he extended his club record scoring streak at the start of the season to eleven matches.
But neither this tally nor Matthews’ third hat-trick of the season reached far. Every time the Leafs scored, the Sabers answered right back — and eventually pulled away and won 6-4.
– Yes, it felt like we beat ourselves, says veteran fullback Mark Giordano.
Calle Järnkrok also answered for an assist – as did Buffalo duo Viktor Olofsson (who returned after five games in the stands) and Rasmus Dahlin.
Extended shot of the night 2
William Karlsson scored two more goals — interspersed with stunning shots in the third period — as Vegas stunned Colorado 7-0 at T-Mobile Arena.
This means his points streak – a previous club record – now stands at nine games.
– Yes, it was nice to be able to hang two in the end, although it didn’t matter much to the final result, as Wild Bill says when we get to him after the success.
What else do you say about the match? It’s a hell of a thing Statement of strength to beat the Avalanche 7-0.
– Yes, but the numbers are a bit misleading. It was even beautiful. Then we scored two goals and then it was over. But we will accept it, as scoring many goals boosts confidence.
Broken score for the night
The Boston Bruins had never lost a game in regular time when they landed in Detroit, but there the Red Wings were able to cut off an impressive offensive line.
The Bears led 2-0 and 3-2, but the Red and White players were hungrier and continued to catch up, eventually winning 5-4.
– It’s only one game, but it sure feels good to be able to lose to Boston, said veteran David Perron, who, among other things, hit an absolutely magical pass for Lucas Raymond’s fourth goal of the season.
Raymond was also known for providing assists himself – as was Bruins defender Hampus Lindholm.
Victory strike broken into the night 2
The New York Rangers had won six straight games heading into tonight’s away game against Minnesota and initially looked like they would pick up a seventh win as well.
Less than seven minutes later, they were 3-0 ahead – among other things after Erik Gustafsson chased the names (almost…) Filip Gustafsson out of the penalty area with a powerful shot into the roof of the net.
But then the absence of key players like Adam Fox, Igor Systyorkin, Filip Chytil and Barclay Gaudreau became too much to deal with, and the Wild came back, turned around and eventually won on penalties 5-4.
-We scored three goals from three shots in the beginning, it wasn’t like we were in control. As it turned out, we had to be satisfied that we got a point, says captain Jacob Trouba.
Joel Eriksson scored his sixth goal of the season and Jonas Brodin and Marcus Johansson both registered assists.
Loss of night broken in white 3
Calgary entered its road game in Seattle with a six-game losing streak, but was able to power its way to a long-awaited 6-3 win over the Kraken.
Mikael Backlund scored two goals, one of which was into an empty net – and Rasmus Andersson also put the puck into the empty net.
– We played maturely, especially in the third half. “I’m very satisfied,” says Mikis.
Nightwing stretched far away
The Los Angeles Kings remain undefeated “on the road.” They earned their sixth straight away win last night – downing the Philadelphia Flyers at the Wells Fargo Center.
-We have a very strong team and when we are away from home we don’t have to think about matches. We’re just moving all the formations around and getting contributions from all sides and angles, explained goalkeeper Cam Talbot after the 6-0 win.
Adrian Kempe scored the fourth goal of the season.
Other results from the night
St. Louis beat Montreal 6-3, Washington picked up a 2-1 win over Columbus (Rasmus Sandin had an assist), Chicago beat Florida 5-2 (Oliver Ekman Larsson scored one of the Cats’ consolation goals) and Carolina overcame a 0-3 deficit against The New York Islanders on Long Island to a 4-3 win, secured by Sebastian Aho in overtime (Simon Holmström was one of the Islanders goals).
Swedes of the night
- William Karlsson, Vegas Golden Knights – Two more great goals during Vegas’ dangerous show of strength in their heavyweight matchup against Colorado.
- Elias Pettersson, Vancouver Canucks – Tied for first in league scoring after another goal in the Canucks’ shutout of Dallas.
- Lucas Raymond, Detroit Red Wings – The Red Wings won the Player of the Year award and “Razor” contributed goals and assists.
- Victor Hedman, Tampa Bay Lightning – Scored a rare goal and had an assist as well.
- Mikael Backlund, Calgary Flames – Two goals, one of them into an empty net, as the Flames finally snapped their losing streak.
- Toronto Maple Leafs’ William Nylander extended his streak with another assist.
- Erik Gustafsson, New York Rangers – Plays a new prominent role in the absence of injured Adam Fox and appears to be doing a great job, notching a goal and an assist on the road to Minnesota.
- Simon Holmstrom, New York Islanders – The Hidden Gem of Long Island has scored again.