2024-02-21 03:34:00
LOS ANGELES – There are those goals that leave a lasting impression, and the one scored by Quinton Byfield on Tuesday night is on that list.
The Los Angeles Kings forward scored one of the best goals of the season in the National League in front of the Columbus Blue Jackets.
The Kings (28-16-10) finally won 5-1, signing their fourth success in a row since they were humiliated 7-0 by the Buffalo Sabers a week ago.
Byfield grabbed the puck from the faceoff in his territory and carried it towards enemy territory. He then used a masterful feint to get rid of Zach Werenski by sliding the puck between the defender’s skates.
He passed under the nose of Adam Boqvist who was in the front row to see the Kings player get the better of goalkeeper Elvis Merzlikins with a backhand feint to open the scoring for Los Angeles.
Aged 21, Byfield is having by far the best season of his young career. He has just scored his 18th goal of the campaign and has 42 points on his record.
He also made an accomplice on the net in the middle period of Pierre-Luc Dubois. His personal high was 22 points last campaign.
Dubois scored another goal ten minutes after his first of the evening. It was only the second time this campaign, and the first since mid-October, that the Quebecer collected a double in a match.
Veteran goaltender Cam Talbot stopped 33 shots. He has won both of his starts since returning from an appearance in the NHL All-Star Game.
Other scorers for the Kings were Kevin Fiala and Drew Doughty, both late in the first period.
Only Boqvist threaded the needle for the Columbus team (17-27-10).
Ovechkin continues his momentum
Alex Ovechkin is truly on the move and we now wonder how far behind Wayne Gretzky he will end the season.
The forward found the back of the net twice, giving him a streak of eight goals in as many games, in a 6-2 victory for the Washington Capitals over the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday.
The 38-year-old Russian has 16 goals to his name this season and 838 since the start of his career. Still certainly far from Gretzky’s 894, but his streak dating back to January 27 is enough to revive discussions in this race. The only game in which he hasn’t scored since then was last Saturday against the Montreal Canadiens.
Ovechkin beat Nico Daws with a quick shot after a faceoff won by Dylan Strome midway through the third period. He then brought the score to 4-1 Caps. A little less than five minutes ago, Ovi had spotted Strome in the enclave and the latter had made the red light flicker.
He came back on the power play late in the game. Once again, on a delivery from Strome, the Caps captain added to his tally by pushing the disc easily behind Daws.
Connor McMichael also scored two goals and Michael Sgarbossa was the other scorer in the Caps’ victory. Max Pacioretty collected an assist. Charlie Lindgren did well in front of the Capitals cage with 37 saves.
This setback hurts the Devils who are looking to stay in the playoff picture. They are four points behind the Detroit Red Wings and in last place among the teams drafted in the East. Alexander Holtz and Erik Haula scored in the defeat for the New Jersey team. Daws finished his evening with six goals allowed on 25 shots.
The Capitals, however, lost the services of center Nic Dowd, who left the game in the first period with an upper body injury.
Shesterkin smoking in Rangers’ 8th straight
Igor Shesterkin blocked 41 pucks and the New York Rangers signed their eighth straight victory, this time by a score of 3 to 1 against the Dallas Stars.
The Rangers’ last winning streak of at least eight dates back to the 2015-2016 season.
Adam Fox, Kaapo Kakko and Vincent Trocheck moved the ropes for the Rangers in this duel between the leaders of the Metropolitan and Central sections.
Miro Heiskanen scored the only goal for the Stars, who lost a second game in as many days. They lost 4-3 in a shootout on Monday against the Boston Bruins.
Scott Wedgewood stopped 23 of the 25 shots he faced.
The Rangers are 9-1-1 in their last 11 games. They dramatically won a Stadium Series game 6-5 in overtime against the New York Islanders on Sunday at MetLife Stadium.
Shesterkin improved his personal record to 23-12-1 and allowed two goals or fewer in 17 of his wins. He made an acrobatic glove save on Wyatt Johnston at 17:28 of the second period and turned away several chances in the slot late in the third.
He notably frustrated veteran Tyler Seguin by making a miraculous save with his stick, when Seguin thought he had a gaping net, with about five minutes remaining in the duel.
The Rangers have won four of their last five meetings against the Stars.
No fireworks and victory for the Wild
Obviously the Minnesota Wild left much of their offense on the ice from Monday’s game in which they scored ten times because tonight they were no match for the Winnipeg Jets who won 6-3.
Yesterday, the Wild defeated the Vancouver Canucks after a 17-goal marathon.
The Jets put their mark on this game by scoring the first three goals of the game, including those from Gabriel Vilardi and Mason Appleton in the space of 14 seconds in the first period. These are the Jets’ two fastest goals since a December 10, 2019 game when they scored twice in the space of eleven seconds.
Vilardi finished the game with two goals and an assist. For his part, Kyle Connor reached the 20-goal plateau for the seventh time in his career in addition to being an accomplice on two other Jets goals.
Sean Monahan takes a liking to scoring. After a hat trick the day before, the former Montreal Canadiens scored his 18th halfway through the third.
Nino Niederreiter completed in an empty net.
Adam Lowry and Josh Morrissey each had two assists in the win.
Trailing by four goals, the Wild attempted a late comeback with two goals late in the third, but the damage was already done. Marco Rossi scored twice while Kirill Kaprizov, on a power play, scored his 24th of the campaign.
Laurent Brossoit made 29 saves for the victory while Marc-André Fleury was foiled five times on 27 shots.
The Preds cause a surprise in Vegas
Tommy Novak scored his fourth goal in five games and the Nashville Predators defeated the Vegas Golden Knights 5-3.
Former Golden Knights Cody Glass scored in the victory. Luke Evangelista, Cole Smith and Gustav Nyquist were the other scorers for the Predators.
Roman Josi and Ryan McDonagh both had two assists in the victory. In his first start since January 27, Kevin Lankinen made 23 saves.
The Predators have won two games in a row for the first time since January 12-13.
Alex Pietrangelo, William Karlsson and Michael Amadio responded for the Nevada team, which was playing a second match in as many evenings. Adin Hill stopped 35 pucks.
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