Yesterday was a fairly quiet day in the NHL, with only five games on the schedule.
Without further ado, here’s what caught the eye on the Bettman circuit:
1. Patrick Roy’s Islanders back in the playoff picture
For the past few games, the New York Islanders have been unstoppable. Prior to yesterday’s game, they had won their last five games, and were looking to make it six in a row last night.
For the occasion, they faced the poor Ducks… and it quickly became clear that the Islanders wouldn’t have too much trouble extending their streak.
By the middle of the first period, the visitors were already 3-0 up.
TIC, TAC, GOAL. pic.twitter.com/JEmjO0ej9y
– New York Islanders (@NYIslanders) March 11, 2024
The Ducks held their own in the second period, but in the third, the Islanders put their foot back on the gas pedal to secure victory.
Bo Horvat found the back of the net for the third consecutive game.
3 straight games with a goal for Horvat! pic.twitter.com/4dWt5nxK9z
– New York Islanders (@NYIslanders) March 11, 2024
In the end, the Islanders prevailed by a score of 6-1… and in doing so, they are now back in the playoff picture, having overtaken the Red Wings in the standings following yesterday’s win (both teams have 72 points, and the Islanders still have a game in hand).
If the season were to end this morning, Patrick Roy would have succeeded in getting his club into the playoffs. And that’s without taking into account the fact that the Islanders are currently pushing to continue climbing the standings. They are currently the second team drafted, but the Lightning (first team drafted) and the Flyers (third place in the Metropolitan) are only two points behind, and the Islanders still have two games in hand on both teams.
#Isles win 6th game in a row, pass #LGRW for 2nd wild card spot in East.
Just 2 points behind PHI and TB (74) with two games in hand on both, and a game in hand on DET (72)
– NHL News (@PuckReportNHL) March 11, 2024
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2. Connor Bedard scores a goal from behind the net
Connor Bedard had been in a bit of a goal-scoring slump for a few weeks. In fact, his last goal came on February 19, when he failed to hit the target in his next eight games (collecting four assists in the process).
Quite often, then, guys need a bit of luck to break out of their slump in such situations. And yesterday, Bedard got his lucky break, scoring a goal from behind the net.
Scorer’s instinct, like.
Bedard said the bank is OPEN in Chicago on Sunday π° pic.twitter.com/Gynxkhnq6G
– B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) March 10, 2024
And sure enough, after a slightly “luckier” goal, the floodgates opened for the Blackhawks’ young prodigy.
We saw him score a beauty of a goal later in the game, and this one might just restore his confidence.
GUESS WHO π
Connor Bedard’s got two goals on the night! pic.twitter.com/kq6Ur2z0Ej
– NHL (@NHL) March 10, 2024
And as if scoring goals wasn’t enough, Bedard also reminded everyone that he has excellent passing skills in his toolbox.
Tyler Johnson took advantage of this, while his young teammate made a clever pass to feed him. It put the defense to sleep, and all Johnson had to do was complete it.
Tyler Johnson BURIES the dish from Bedard that had the defense napping π₯΅ pic.twitter.com/UE7xjvXJGP
– B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) March 10, 2024
A 7-4 Blackhawks victory in the end, with only Seth Jones (four assists) collecting more points than Bedard for the Blackhawks.
Special mention to Colin Blackwell, who scored his first career hat trick in the victory.
Colin Blackwell has his first career hat trick! π
Hat Trick Challenge presented by @AstraZenecaUS pic.twitter.com/MqHrlpl4i8
– NHL (@NHL) March 11, 2024
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3. Jesperi Kotkaniemi scores two points in the same game for the first time in over four months
Jesperi Kotkaniemi is having a difficult season. The Habs veteran, who started the year as a lion, had gone more than four consecutive months without scoring two points in a game.
In fact, we had to go back to November 4 to find the last game in which he had scored twice.
His first point came on a face-off win. He passed the disc to Jaccob Slavin, who then fed Brent Burns for a ball on landing,
BURNZIE BLAST! pic.twitter.com/wJuMvmSu43
– Carolina Hurricanes (@Canes) March 10, 2024
Then, late in the game, KK got his second point of the match on a rather bizarre sequence. He passed the disc to Teuvo Teravainen, but the puck deflected off the latter’s skate.
The puck ended up in the air… and Teravainen simply “slammed” it into the goal.
Carolina goal!
Scored by Teuvo Teravainen with 02:46 remaining in the 3rd period.
Assisted by Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Andrei Svechnikov.
Carolina: 7
Calgary: 2#CGYvsCAR #CauseChaos #Flames pic.twitter.com/X2bzfvQaeJ– NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) March 10, 2024
A pretty convincing win for the Hurricanes, then, who prevailed by a score of 7-2. Evgeny Kuznetsov, playing his first game in his new uniform, had no points, while Jake Guentzel was out of uniform.
Frederik Andersen also made a magnificent save, turning aside 17 of 19 shots in a fairly quiet game for the Canes goaltender.
Oh my goodness Freddy! π± pic.twitter.com/RWVtLswhQk
– Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) March 10, 2024
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4. Connor McDavid makes short work of the Penguins
Things have been going very badly for the Penguins in recent days. Jake Guentzel was traded on Thursday night, and the club has lost its last two games by scores of 6-0 and 5-1.
These are clearly tough losses.
Yesterday afternoon, the Penguins had a chance to bounce back against the Oilers… but after 68 seconds of play, the Oilers already had the lead.
Connor McDavid got the ball rolling.
McDavid wastes absolutely NO time, scoring 68 seconds into the game… π₯
(π₯: @NHL) pic.twitter.com/lrQeqYeLwt
– BarDown (@BarDown) March 10, 2024
And then McDavid let his playmaking skills do the talking. After collecting an assist on Mattias Ekholm’s goal, he fed Darnell Nurse for his third point of the game.
It was his 79th assist of the season.
Darnell Nurse goal 1/2 π¨ pic.twitter.com/eAilOt6TDX
– Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) March 10, 2024
Nurse added a second goal a few minutes later, making it 4-0 to the Oilers.
Another tough loss for the Penguins, who were blanked. However, Calvin Pickard briefly left the game late in the second period (before returning for the third), so it was a “shared shutout” between Pickard and Stuart Skinner. Skinner didn’t stop a single puck, however, while Pickard turned aside 41.
The @EdmontonOilers pick up their second shared @pepsi shutout in franchise history! π pic.twitter.com/68S3fKozCf
– NHL (@NHL) March 10, 2024
Extension
– We were treated to a wild finish between the Wild and Predators.
If the Predators had scored a goal in the empty net, the Wild would have had no points β https://t.co/5ORt7K5hTM
– DansLesCoulisses (@DLCoulisses) March 11, 2024
– Nice goal from Clayton Keller.
So smooth with it, @ClaytonKeller37. π pic.twitter.com/esZHxSbNQQ
– NHL (@NHL) March 10, 2024
– Legend has it that Dan Vladar is still looking for the puck this morning.
That Aho and TerΓ€vΓ€inen connection π€ pic.twitter.com/2L198yRYiA
– Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) March 10, 2024
– Michael McCarron and Marcus Foligno fought a heavyweight bout.
Foligno and McCarron going AT IT right off the draw π₯ pic.twitter.com/dVAHxQgPQ8
– B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) March 10, 2024
– Results from the previous day.
The @NYIslanders are back in a playoff spot for the first time since Jan. 13. They’re now just two points back of the Lightning for the first Wild Card position and the Flyers for third in their division.#NHLStats: https://t.co/Rm4Bk2ReWe pic.twitter.com/bwHnQSEx13
– NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) March 11, 2024
– Last night’s top scorers.
– Four games on the schedule today.