NHL Recaps: Leafs make Canes green with envy on St. Patty’s Day, and more
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NHL Recaps: March 17, 2023
It was a light Friday night with just four games on the docket.
We begin with a two playoff shoo-ins going to toe-to-toe as the Toronto Maple Leafs took down the Carolina Hurricanes.
NHL Recaps: Maple Leafs beat Hurricanes
Maple Leafs 5 vs Hurricanes 2
Zach Aston-Reese scored two goals as Toronto defeated visiting Carolina.
Morgan Rielly added a goal and an assist for the Maple Leafs, Mitchell Marner and Auston Matthews also scored and John Tavares and Calle Jarnkrok each had two assists. Ilya Samsonov stopped 32 shots as Toronto completed a 2-1-1 homestand.
Brady Skjei and Martin Necas scored for the Hurricanes in the opener of a three-game road trip. Carolina, which got 19 saves from Pyotr Kochetkov, took its third loss in four games.
“For the most part, I thought we did a really good job defensively and I thought we moved the puck really well coming out of our end tonight, which has been an issue for us in recent games,” Toronto coach Sheldon Keefe said. “And tonight we are playing against a team that’s maybe the hardest in the League to come out of your zone against.”
NHL.com
Flyers 5 vs Sabres 2
Owen Tippett scored three goals to lift the host Philadelphia Flyers to a dominant 5-2 victory over the Buffalo Sabres on Friday.
Joel Farabee and James van Riemsdyk each added one goal for the Flyers, who snapped a four-game losing streak.
Kevin Hayes and Tony DeAngelo each had two assists for the Flyers. Goaltender Carter Hart made 36 saves.
Victor Olofsson scored two goals for the Sabres, who lost their second straight. Sabres goaltender Craig Anderson stopped 17 shots.
NHL Recaps: Blues beat Caps
Blues 5 vs Capitals 2
Sammy Blais enjoyed his first career two-goal game to lead St. Louis past host Washington. Brayden Schenn had a goal and an assist for the Blues, who have won three of their past five games.
“It was behind the middle post, so it went up and got stuck there,” Blais said via NHL.com. “I thought it hit the post and it went out, but I went behind the net and I saw it. That’s when I saw it was in.”
St. Louis’ Jordan Kyrou and Kasperi Kapanen scored, and Brandon Saad earned two assists. Joel Hofer, who came up from Springfield of the AHL to replace the suspended Jordan Binnnington, made 32 saves for the Blues in his first appearance of the season.
Martin Fehervary and Nicklas Backstrom scored and Darcy Kuemper stopped 17 shots for the Capitals, who have won just two of their last six games.
Ducks 7 vs Blue Jackets 4
Max Jones’ late breakaway goal put Anaheim ahead for good in a wild win over visiting Columbus.
Anaheim gave away the lead four times, resulting in a 4-4 tie nearing the end of regulation. At 17:23 of the third period, Jones intercepted an Andrew Peeke pass attempt and raced down the ice to backhand home the winner. The Ducks then added two empty-net goals.
Scott Harrington had two goals for Anaheim. Ryan Strome and Troy Terry each logged a goal and an assist, and Max Comtois and Trevor Zegras added a goal apiece. Patrik Laine had a goal and an assist for Columbus. Cole Sillinger, Boone Jenner and Nick Blankenburg also scored.
–Field Level Media