Evgeni Kuznetsov took a drop pass from Marcus Johansson and lit the lamp 26 seconds into overtime to life the Washington Capitals to a 4-3 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena.
Kuznetsov’s most unwelcome goal put the Florida Panthers six points behind the Capitals, who currently hold down WC1, with a game in hand. The Cats are three points behind the Pittsburgh Penguins, but have played three more games than Sidney and the Crosby Kids. Thanks for nothing, Columbus!
Brady Tkachuk scored with 1:18 remaining in regulation and Tim Stutzle collected four points as the Ottawa Senators pushed their winning streak to four games with a 5-4 road win over the Montreal Canadiens.
While Stutzle’s two-goal, two-assist performance was great for my fantasy squad, in reality, it was less so, as the Senators pulled within three points of the Panthers, with two games in hand, for fifth place in the Atlantic Division. A few weeks ago I said that I wouldn’t be surprised if our Cats ended up in seventh place in the division when all was said and done. Could happen…
The third game of the night saw the Carolina Hurricanes rally from a three-goal deficit to nip the Los Angeles Kings 5-4 in overtime. Sebastian Aho scored the winner with 54 seconds left in the extra session.
Carolina will go again tonight when they visit the Buffalo Sabres in the national game on TNT at 7:30 p.m. A Hurricanes win in regulation is the optimal outcome.
The only game tonight should be a barn-burner as the Boston Bruins will be lloking to snap a season-long three-game losing streak when the take on the Toronto Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena.
All-Star Games activities
5 to 8 p.m. at Panthers IceDen
- Featuring: Food trucks, appearances, games and more will begin at 5 pm outside of Panthers IceDen all leading up to an 8 p.m. match-up between Florida Panthers Alumni and NHL Alumni.
- The Alumni Game is a separate, private ticketed event. To see the roster, click HERE
- The festival is free and open to the public
- A free “Learn to Skate” event will be held from 4:45-5:45 p.m. Skates will be provided, but all participants must pre-register online and bring a helmet. To register, click HERE/