Despite Anthony Mantha’s absence from their lineup, the Detroit Red Wings held off an eight-game losing streak by surprising the Florida Panthers 4-1 at Sunrise.
Marc Staal and Givani Smith gave the visitors a two-goal lead in the middle period. After Alexander Wennberg closed the lead early in the third period, Robby Fabbri dealt the opponent a hard blow by capitalizing on a return throw from Smith in the net. Vladislav Namestnikov completed the score with less than three minutes to go.
Goalkeeper Thomas Greiss has been solid under 36 saves. Detroit hadn’t won since January 19.
Among the losers, Jonathan Huberdeau was shut out and concluded with a differential of -2. Chris Driedger turned away 33 pucks.
Coming back to Mantha, the reasons for his absence had not been specified at the time of this writing.
Stephenson se charge des Kings
Chandler Stephenson scored twice, each time giving the Golden Knights the lead, in a 4-3 victory over the Los Angeles Kings in Las Vegas.
Both teams got off to a wild start in Nevada, scoring a total of five goals in the opening 12 minutes of the game. Anze Kopitar and Adrian Kempe, for the Kings, as well as Reilly Smith, Zach Whitecloud and Stephenson, for the local favorites, hit the target.
Jaret Anderson-Dolan was the Kings’ other scorer. Like Whitecloud on the other camp, he was moving the strings for the first time in his career in the National Hockey League (NHL).
Robin Lehner stopped 29 pucks in the win. At the other end, Calvin Petersen faced 33 shots.
Jordan Staal leads the charge for the “Canes”
At Nationwide Arena, Jordan Staal amassed three points in the Carolina Hurricanes 6-5 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets.
The 32-year-old veteran also scored an important goal in the third period. Taking advantage of a power play, the center skilfully deflected a point shot behind goalkeeper Joonas Korpisalo.
Staal also provided assists on goals from teammates Dougie Hamilton and Warren Foegele. Brock McGinn, Brett Pesce and Vincent Trocheck also hit the target for the “Canes”.
With the Blue Jackets, Patrik Laine scored his second and third goals in three games with his new team. Max Domi, Riley Nash and Nick Foligno also found a way to outsmart goaltender James Reimer.
Lack of communication
Meanwhile, Trocheck’s goal came after an offside. Head coach John Tortorella decided to challenge the decision, but a lack of communication between officials and the video-restart center in Toronto led to the goal confirmation and a minor penalty for Columbus.
Realizing the mistake during the second intermission, the NHL decided to take the last 45 seconds of the power play early in the third period. Trocheck’s goal was not canceled, however.
–
