The final weekend of NHL motion earlier than the All-Star break was an entertaining one. The Hurricanes and Panthers managed to drag off a few of the most inconceivable comebacks of your complete season.
In Edmonton, University of Alberta pupil Matt Berlin obtained to take the ice as an emergency backup goaltender for the Oilers, and he exited the sport with a sterling save share.
Continue studying beneath for the largest headlines and highlights from this previous weekend within the NHL.
Goal of the weekend: Lee scores from his knees
The Islanders have been struggling to seek out offense these days, and they’ll take it wherever they’ll get it. In Friday evening’s sport towards the Detroit Red Wings, Anders Lee supplied some offense from the deck.
After forcing a turnover within the offensive zone, Brock Nelson was on the lookout for a teammate in a harmful scoring space when he noticed Lee within the slot. As the go was leaving Nelson’s stick, Lee obtained dropped by Red Wings defenseman Gustav Lindstrom. Somehow, Lee managed to stay with the play, and he redirected the puck previous Magnus Hellberg whereas laying on the ice.
Robbery of the weekend: Gibson comes up massive with the sport on the (objective) line
NHL goaltenders deserve numerous credit score proper now. They made this resolution very troublesome, as various excellent saves happened over the weekend.
John Gibson was in a position to take the cake with a game-saving cease on the objective line towards the Arizona Coyotes. With the Ducks and Coyotes tied at 1-1 in extra time, Arizona completely executed a 2-on-1, and it resulted in a gaping 6×4 cage for Jacob Chychrun. That’s when Gibson, who was sliding in the wrong way, caught out his glove and swiped the puck off the objective line.
Not lengthy after Gibson stonewalled Chychrun, Trevor Zegras discovered the again of the web on the different finish of the ice to ship a 2-1 win for the Ducks.
Necas, Hurricanes snatch victory from Sharks
With 1:52 left within the third interval of Friday evening’s sport between the San Jose Sharks and Carolina Hurricanes, Mario Ferraro fired the puck into an empty internet to offer San Jose a 4-2 lead. It regarded just like the Hurricanes have been about to undergo a wildly disappointing loss, however — someway — the sport was solely starting.
Just 15 seconds later, Sebastian Aho took an ideal go from Teuvo Teravainen and fired a shot previous James Reimer to convey the Hurricanes inside one.
Even with that objective, Carolina had a steep mountain to climb. Time was beginning to wind down when Martin Necas scooped up a unfastened puck in entrance of the web and flung it over the shoulder of Reimer to tie the sport with 12 seconds left.
Necas wasn’t completed there, although. Less than a minute into extra time, Martin Necas performed the function of Martin Brody and sank the Sharks. Necas took a feed from Andrei Svechnikov on a 2-on-1 and deposited it at the back of the web to finish a shocking last-second rally.
Panthers pull off inconceivable comeback
Speaking of unimaginable comebacks, the Florida Panthers pulled off considered one of their very own on Saturday evening. With 49 seconds left within the third interval, David Pastrnak scored to offer the Boston Bruins a 3-2 lead. It appeared as if the Bruins have been about to notch one other thrilling win, and the Panthers have been going to be dealt a gut-wrenching loss.
To their credit score, the Panthers did not take any time to really feel sorry for themselves. They started working and turned up the warmth for what little time was left in regulation, and it paid off. With just below three ticks remaining within the third interval, Aleksander Barkov caught with the play after a blocked shot and tied the rating at 3-3.
Then solely 17 seconds into the additional body, Sam Reinhart fired a B.B. previous Jeremy Swayman to win the sport.
The Panthers have barely been staying afloat within the Eastern Conference playoff race, however perhaps this win can spark the crew to play as much as the extent everybody anticipated earlier than the season started.
EBUG takes the ice in Edmonton
Just hours earlier than Edmonton Oilers’ sport towards the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday evening, Matt Berlin was getting ready for a psychology midterm on the University of Alberta. That’s when he obtained the decision that Oilers backup goaltender Stuart Skinner was sick, and so they wanted him to function the emergency backup goalie.
Berlin rushed to get to Rogers Place in time for the sport, and he suited up with the expectation that he would sport a ball cap on the bench for 60 minutes. Luckily for Berlin, the Oilers have been taking part in the Chicago Blackhawks that evening. By the top of the second interval, Edmonton held a 5-1 lead. In the waning moments of the third interval, the Oilers have been up 7-3 when the gamers advised that Berlin shut issues out within the crease. Head coach Jay Woodcroft — in addition to beginning goalie Jack Campbell — obliged.
Berlin entered the sport with 2:26 remaining within the third, and he even made a save on Blackhawks defenseman Caleb Jones that elicited a loud spherical of applause from the followers. That was the one motion Berlin noticed, and his NHL save share now sits at 1.000.
Speaking with reporters after the sport, Berlin stated he was extraordinarily grateful for the chance to play in an NHL sport and thanked the Oilers for being so welcoming.
Golden Knights’ slide continues
The All-Star break could not be coming at a greater time for the Vegas Golden Knights. The crew misplaced their fourth consecutive sport on Saturday as they fell 2-1 in extra time by the hands of the New York Islanders.
Forward William Carrier scored the lone objective for Vegas within the second interval to tie the sport up at 1-1. However, Islanders star Mathew Barzal received it on the 4:28 mark of the extra time interval to ship the Golden Knights to their fourth consecutive defeat.
That got here after the Golden Knights misplaced 4-1 towards the New York Rangers on Friday night. In each of the highway contests, they confronted backup netminders in Jaroslav Halak and Seymon Varlamov, however nonetheless got here away with a pair of defeats.
Vegas has now misplaced seven of its final eight video games and their offense has been extremely stagnant. The Golden Knights have scored simply 16 objectives over that eight-game interval and can be averaging simply 1.25 goals-per-game if it wasn’t for a 6-2 win over the Washington Capitals again on Jan. 21. In 4 of these video games, the Golden Knights have scored only one objective or fewer.
Appointment viewing this week
Kings at Hurricanes | Tuesday, Jan. 31: There’s just a few marquee video games on the docket earlier than the league breaks for All-Star weekend in South Florida, however that is actually considered one of them. The Kings are preventing on the high of a crowded Pacific Division and have received three of their final 4. This will probably be considered one of their more durable checks of the primary half of the season towards a Hurricanes crew that also appears to be like stellar regardless of dropping Max Pacioretty for the 12 months.
Bruins at Maple Leafs | Wednesday, Feb. 1: It appears insane that the Maple Leafs have already reached the 70-point mark, however are nonetheless 11 factors out of first place within the Atlantic Division. That speaks to simply how dominant the Bruins have been this season. The Bruins obtained the higher of the Maple Leafs in a 4-3 win earlier this month, so revenge will probably be on the minds of Toronto on this one.
Hurricanes at Sabres | Wednesday, Feb. 1: The Hurricanes have established themselves because the second-best crew within the East behind the Bruins. Carolina continues to make the most of a balanced scoring assault and has acquired stellar goaltending all through the primary half. On the opposite hand, the Sabres are searching for the franchise’s first playoff look for the reason that 2010-2011 marketing campaign. That’s actually an attainable objective contemplating that Buffalo averages a league-leading 3.76 goals-per-game on the season.
