New York. William Nylander’s goal streak is getting longer and longer – and Caten Gustav can hit the ball resoundingly.
We talk about that and much more in tonight’s NHL sweep.
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Unstoppable Swedish night
William Nylanders refuses to leave the ice without his mark on protocol.
He scored for the eighth straight game as Toronto visited Nashville last night – tying the club record for the longest scoring streak at the start of a season.
This time he fired a direct shot that the great Jussie Saros didn’t have time to see.
“Wings don’t mean much to me, the goal in the end was just to help the team have as successful a road trip as possible,” Lil-Nelette says.
It was a success, too, as the Leafs had a long road trip away, beating both Tampa and Dallas – but in the Music City they had to settle for a point. The score was 2-2 at the end of normal time, and Roman Josi then made sure to save his party-hungry hometown with an extra-time win.
– They have a really good team, but we stood up to them all evening. I’m sure it was fun to watch, we had fun on the ice too, says Filip Forsberg, who was responsible for two new assists.
William Lagesson played his first game for the Leafs and will likely remain in the reserve lineup, as compatriot Timothy Liljegren had to leave the ice due to injury and may be out for a while.
Night precaution
Ilya Sorokin has been a monster in the box for the New York Islanders all season, but the Long Island team does a good job even when it needs a rest. As in tonight’s away game against Columbus. Instead, it was veteran Semyon Varlamov who stopped 34 shots and kept a clean sheet.
– Yes, he is also a very good goalkeeper, says coach Len Lambert after the 2-0 win.
Pierre Engvall and Sebastian Aho — the Swedish defenseman with the same name as Carolina’s Finnish star — each had one assist.
Al dente pasta night
Many thought David Pastrnak would lose steam when his legendary teammate Patrice Bergeron retired, but no – the happiest Czech in the world is still just as effective.
He scored his seventh and eighth goals of the season as the Bruins beat Detroit 4-1 overnight — and also played in one goal.
– But we win because we have such excellent defenders and goalkeepers. For example, they are afraid of numerical disadvantages, it is terrible to play a power game against them, smiling “noodles”.
The second cracked Swedish zero of the night
Mika Zibanejad finally scored his first goal of the season last night (see separate article) – and so did Gustav Forsling as the Florida Cats came from a 0-2 deficit to clinch a 3-2 win over Seattle at home on FLA Live.
On a power play midway through the second half, he received a butter pass from Finland’s Aton Lundell and slotted in a volley.
– It’s not my main job to score goals, but it’s still a good feeling. “You get a little bit of self-confidence,” Oostguten says.
Even Matthew Tkachuk – who really takes care of the net – finally put up his first bucket of the season.
Other results from the night
Montreal beat Winnipeg 4-3 on penalties, Nashville suffered a tough 5-2 loss to Ottawa at home at PPGA Paints Arena — largely due to a big play by Joonas Korpisalo in the visitors’ box — and Vegas quickly rebounded from its debut Season loss and won on penalties (4-3) away to Los Angeles. There William Karlsson had an assist for the Knights and Adrian Kempe had an assist for the Kings.
Swedes of the night
Mika Zibanejad, New York Rangers – The first goal of the season was beautiful and important, and he also got an assist.
Toronto Maple Leafs’ William Nylander tied the club record for points for the eighth straight game in the season opener.
Filip Forsberg, Nashville Predators – The goals weren’t coming at the same rate as usual, but he was helping more, as happened against the Leafs last night on two occasions.
Gustav Forsling, Florida Panthers, scored the first goal of the season with a scorching volley.