NHL Recaps: Bolts blast Avs, Canucks drop Isles, and Panthers win again
The Daily Goal Horn
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NHL Recaps: February 9, 2023
On Thursday night, the NHL schedule played host to 7 contests.
The Florida Panthers defeated the San Jose Sharks for their third straight win and have quietly moved to within one point of the final wild card spot in the East behind the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Meanwhile, Bo Horvat lost to his former team the Vancouver Canucks thanks to former New York Islanders forward Anthony Beauvillier, who delivered a crushing power play goal against the team that traded him away.
We begin our recaps in Tampa where a rematch of last year’s Stanley Cup Finals was the focus of the evening.
NHL Recaps: Bolts gets some Cup payback
Lightning 5 vs Avalanche 0
Tampa Bay goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy crafted his first shutout of the season, Brandon Hagel produced three points and the Lightning blanked the visiting Colorado Avalanche 5-0 on Thursday night.
“I’m glad that we won. That’s the one thing that matters, not the shutout,” Vasilevskiy said via NHL.com. “As long as we have the win, I don’t care.”
In the first meeting between the clubs since last June’s Stanley Cup Final, Vasilevskiy stopped 30 shots to extend his franchise-record shutout total to 29. Hagel had two goals and an assist to lead the Lightning offensive output as they broke a two-game skid (0-1-1).
Brayden Point had a goal and an assist, Corey Perry and Mikhail Sergachev each netted a goal, Alex Killorn handed out three assists and Anthony Cirelli added two as the Lightning moved to 21-4-2 at home. Pat Maroon skated in his 700th game.
The Avalanche, who won their third Stanley Cup by beating the Lightning in six games, have dropped two straight overall (0-1-1) to start their three-game road trip and were shut out for the fourth time. Alexandar Georgiev made 27 saves.
Golden Knights 5 vs Wild 1
Jack Eichel had a goal and an assist and Reilly Smith scored on a penalty shot to help lead Vegas to a victory in Saint Paul, Minn. Eichel snapped a nine-game goal drought.
Nicolas Roy, Alex Pietrangelo and Paul Cotter also scored for the Golden Knights while Jonathan Marchessault added two assists. Logan Thompson made 23 saves to earn the win, but he was assisted off the ice with a left leg injury with 18:41 remaining in the game. Adin Hill finished up and made four saves.
Kirill Kaprizov scored for Minnesota, which lost its third straight game. Marc-Andre Fleury broke a tie with Terry Sawchuk for fourth place for most games played by a goaltender in NHL history with his 972nd contest. He made 18 saves on 23 shots before giving way to Filip Gustavsson, who made eight saves in the third period.
Panthers 4 vs Sharks 1
Sam Reinhart scored twice, Eric Staal added two empty-net goals and Florida beat visiting San Jose in Sunrise, Fla.
“I think the important thing is we know we need to go on a bit of a run here,” Reinhart said via NHL.com. “We have to take advantage of home ice, especially with all the opportunities we have in front of us.”
Reinhart has 19 goals this season and six in his past eight games. Eetu Luostarinen led the Panthers with two assists, and Florida killed off a late double-minor penalty. Sergei Bobrovsky made 33 saves as Florida won its third straight game — its longest winning streak of the season.
Alexander Barabanov scored for the Sharks, and Kaapo Kahkonen made 38 saves. San Jose’s Erik Karlsson, who leads all NHL defensemen in points, picked up one assist. He has seven points in his past four games and 70 for the season.
NHL Recaps: Anthony Beauvillier haunts former team
Canucks 6 vs Islanders 5
Elias Pettersson scored the tying and go-ahead goals in a span of fewer than four minutes in the third period for Vancouver, which overcame a two-goal deficit to win in Elmont, N.Y.
Pettersson scored a power-play goal 4:38 into the third before he completed an end-to-end rush and beat Ilya Sorokin with 11:32 left. Anthony Beauvillier, who was traded by the Islanders to the Canucks for Bo Horvat on Jan. 30, added an insurance goal by redirecting a shot with 3:02 left. Boeser, Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Nils Aman added goals for the Canucks.
“I was trying to breathe and soak it all in,” Beauvillier said via NHL.com. “I was trying to breathe. It took me a couple minutes. There were a couple times I forgot which bench I was going to.”
Horvat also scored in his first game against his former team for the Islanders. Kyle Palmieri, Brock Nelson, Mathew Barzal and Noah Dobson tallied for New York, which had its four-game winning streak snapped. Sorokin recorded 28 saves.
Devils 3 vs Kraken 1
Defenseman Dougie Hamilton scored twice, extending his points streak to six games, as New Jersey defeated Seattle in Newark, N.J. Hamilton has 13 points (five goals, eight assists) during his streak.
John Marino added an empty-netter with 1:11 remaining and Ondrej Palat had two assists for the Devils, who won their third consecutive game and improved to 10-1-1 in their past 12. Mackenzie Blackwood made 33 saves.
Adam Larsson scored as the Kraken took a second straight loss on their five-game trip following the All-Star break. Philipp Grubauer stopped 24 of 26 shots.
Flyers 2 vs Oilers 1 (SO)
Morgan Frost and James van Riemsdyk scored in a shootout as host Philadelphia topped Edmonton, though the Oilers did extend their points streak to double digits.
The Flyers won in the third round of the shootout, in which Ryan Nugent-Hopkins was the only successful shooter for the Oilers. Edmonton’s Connor McDavid was unable to get a clean shot off in the shootout, and Flyers goaltender Carter Hart secured the win when he stopped Leon Draisaitl’s shot in Round 3.
Kevin Hayes scored the lone goal for Philadelphia in regulation, while Evander Kane found the net for the Oilers, who are 8-0-2 in their last 10. Hart finished with 34 saves, while Stuart Skinner stopped 35 shots for Edmonton.
Red Wings 2 vs Flames 1
Filip Zadina scored his first goal of the season after missing over three months as host Detroit edged Calgary.
Zadina was sidelined since early November by a foot injury before going on a rehab assignment last week. Dylan Larkin scored the other goal for Detroit, while Ville Husso made 35 saves.
Blake Coleman scored the lone Flames goal, while Dan Vladar made 15 saves.
–Field Level Media
–The Daily Goal Horn contributed to this article