NHL Scores: Zdeno Chara victorious in Boston return, Maple Leafs roll over Oilers, and more
Anthony Scultore
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Zdeno Chara finally got to see his family in Boston since he was forced out of town. The Bruins wanted to get younger and give their kids a chance, the Capitals – well they just want to win another Cup.
NHL Scores: Capitals win in OT, give Chara a win in Boston return
Coming into the contest Chara reflected on his time with Boston and being grateful for the experience. He spoke of the fans and the connections he’s made over the years with a smile. The 43 year-old defender also remarked that not having fans in the stands didn’t make his return any less exciting. The game lived up to it.
The Bruins (12-5-3) and Capitals (13-5-4) played a bruising and physical match that needed a shootout to decide the winner. David Pastrnak scored his 10th of the season to break the defensive deadlock. Then Lars Eller would score almost five minutes later and the two teams kept at each other tooth and nail.
It took the skills competition to decide a winner with Jakub Vrana getting the only goal in the shootout and Vitek Vanecek stopping them all. Capitals win this one 2-1.
Chara received a video tribute and was visibly moved. He finished the game with a +1, two hits, one block in 16:59 of ice time.
“Guys played hard tonight,” Caps coach Peter Laviolette said. “It was an important game coming back to Boston for [Chara]… Guys, I think, knew that. I’m really happy for him that we were able to come in and help him out and get a win in his first game back in Boston.”
NHL Scores: Maple Leafs roll over Oilers again
Auston Matthews and Frederik Andersen came back to the Maple Leafs (18-4-2) lineup to help Toronto to a 6-1 win over the Oilers (14-11). Jimmy Vesey scored twice for the Leafs to get the party started. When it was all said and done Andersen stopped 26 shots and Toronto swept the three games series against the Oilers.
“I felt pretty good,” Andersen said about coming back for the first time since February 20th. “Felt pretty good right away, and the guys did a good job of just keeping them to the outside in the first period, especially, and taking it to them a little bit more.”
NHL Scores: Golden Knights continue to dominate West
Vegas only has four regulation losses in 19 games this season. Last night the Golden Knights (14-4-1) soundly defeated the Wild (12-7-1) by a 5-1 margin. Mark Stone remains hot for Vegas as he scored his 5th of the season and added his 19th assist as well.
The real story has to be Marc-Andre Fleury who won his 10th straight start by making 36 saves. He’s obviously going to give Andrei Vasilevskiy a run for his money at the Vezina trophy.
“The more you play, you just go out and play and not think as much,” MAF said. “You react to what’s happening in front of you. You just wait for the puck more. The play slows down a little bit, so it’s been good.”
In other NHL action the Blues (13-8-2) edged the Ducks (6-12-5) 3-2 thanks to Brayden Schenn’s 11th of the season. The Avalanche (12-7-1) on the strength of a Phillip Grubauer goaltending got a 4-0 win over the Sharks (8-10-2). And finally, the Coyotes (10-9-3) beat the Kings (9-8-4) by a 3-2 final.