The cheers coming from the Toronto Maple
Leafs¡® locker-room could have easily been swapped out for sighs of relief.Nazem
Kadri recorded the fifth hat trick of his career and added an assist as the
Maple Leafs defeated Washington 6-3 on Wednesday night and dealt the defending
Stanley Cup champion Capitals their seventh straight loss.Auston
Matthews
Carl
Soderberg Jersey , Nikita Zaitsev and Mitch Marner also scored for
Toronto. William Nylander added three assists, while Morgan Rielly and Connor
Brown had two each. Frederik Andersen stopped 41 shots for the win.¡°We wanted
this one,¡± Kadri said. ¡°We wanted to feel good about ourselves.¡±The Leafs came
in having lost two straight, four in a row and five of six at Scotiabank Arena,
and seven of their last 10 overall.¡°We¡¯ve felt like we¡¯ve been trending in the
right direction,¡± Kadri added. ¡°It¡¯s definitely nice to play a full 60 (minutes)
and beat a good team.¡±Nicklas Backstrom had a goal and an assist, and Alex
Ovechkin and Matt Niskanen scored for Washington, which was playing for the
third time in four nights.Braden Holtby, who had allowed 11 goals on his last 54
shots against coming into Wednesday, finished with 31 saves. T.J. Oshie added
two assists for the Capitals, who have allowed 30 goals in their last five
games.With his second-period goal, Ovechkin tied Sergei Fedorov for the top spot
among Russian-born players with
1
Gabriel
Landeskog Jersey Kids ,179 career points.¡°It¡¯s a big privilege, especially
when you played together and you learn a lot from that legend,¡± Ovechkin said.
¡°I¡¯m pretty sure Fed is very happy it¡¯s me.¡±Matthews, who had gone seven
straight games without a goal and had just one in his last 13 contests, snapped
a 2-2 tie with 3:41 left in the second when he netted his 21st of the season
through Holtby¡¯s pads on a Toronto power play.The goal was a relief for Matthews
and for the Leafs¡¯ power play, which had gone just 6 for 52 since early
December. John Tavares was denied at the side of the net seconds before Matthews
broke through.Kadri made it 4-2 with his second of the game at 2:10 of the
third, blasting a shot off the rush past Holtby¡¯s blocker.The Toronto center
then completed the hat trick at 10:15. Nylander carried the puck into the
Washington zone before dropping it to Brown, whose shot went off the crossbar
and post before ricocheting to Kadri, who deposited the puck into an open
net.The Capitals got one back with 2:46 to play when Niskanen¡¯s shot went in off
a Toronto player in front. Marner scored his 20th into an empty net with 32.6
seconds left.Washington, which came in on a 0-4-2 run, including Sunday¡¯s 8-6
loss in Chicago and Tuesday¡¯s 7-6 overtime defeat at home to San Jose, has now
given up 21 goals in its last three games.Kadri is also the third straight
member of the opposition to record a hat trick against the Capitals after
Chicago¡¯s Jonathan Toews and San Jose¡¯s Tomas Hertl.¡°We can¡¯t give up that
number of
goals
http://www.officialavalanche.com/authentic-adidas-j.t.-comph er-jersey ,¡±
said head coach Todd Reirden, whose team has eight days to contemplate its
latest setback. ¡°We¡¯ve got to figure out a way to keep the puck out of our
net.¡±Tied 1-1 after the first, the Capitals pushed ahead at 3:51 when Ovechkin
blasted a shot from the top of the right face-off circle past Andersen¡¯s blocker
for his 37th goal of the season and the record-tying point.Ovechkin leads all
active players with 38 goals against Toronto in his career, despite ranking 11th
in games played at 47.¡°Sometimes you feel like the puck is a basketball, but on
that shot it was more like a golf ball,¡± said Andersen, who made a couple of big
stops early and was solid throughout. ¡°He¡¯s got a heavy shot and placed it
really well.¡±Toronto turned in a couple of spirited shifts before Zaitsev took a
pass from Nylander in the slot and scored his first of the season and first in
53 games dating to March 30, 2018.Nylander, who has just one goal in 21 games
since ending his contract impasse, played his best game of the season so far.
That included a nice back-check on Ovechkin earlier in the shift before taking a
hit and setting up Zaitsev.Backstrom opened the scoring on a power play with
1:13 left in the first when he took advantage of some soft defending from
Zaitsev in front to tap home his 13th.Toronto got that one right back with 26
seconds remaining in the period when Rielly and Nylander pressured the puck
behind the Washington net before it squirted in front. Holtby tried to cover the
puck with his glove in the crease, but Kadri was quickest to the mark and poked
it over the line.The Capitals got a scare earlier in the period when Ovechkin
collided with Oshie near center ice. Ovechkin stayed down for a few moments
before leaving the bench as part of the NHL¡¯s concussion protocol. He returned
in time to be on the ice for Backstrom¡¯s goal.NOTES: Fedorov played 1,248
regular-season games. Wednesday was the
1
Youth
Matt Nieto Jersey ,053rd appearance of Ovechkin¡¯s career. ¡ Capitals
defenseman Brooks Orpik (rest) got the night off. ¡ Both the Leafs and Capitals
don¡¯t play again until Feb. 1 because of the NHL All-Star break and their
league-mandated bye week. ¡ Toronto defenseman Jake Gardiner missed a second
straight game with back spasms.UP NEXTCapitals: Home against Calgary on Feb.
1.Maple Leafs: At Detroit on Feb. 1 NEWARK, N.J. (AP) ¡ª The New Jersey Devils
were tired of the pointed questions. Tired of the team meetings. Tired of not
feeling like their work had accomplished a tangible result.So they went out and
did something about it.Nico Hischier scored 41 seconds into overtime to cap New
Jersey¡¯s comeback from three goals down as the Devils beat the Vegas Golden
Knights 5-4 Friday night.¡°It¡¯s time to go out and execute,¡± Brian Boyle said.
¡°It¡¯s time to go out and make some plays. We¡¯re working plenty hard enough. It¡¯s
time to put it to work on the ice and make the plays.¡±Travis Zajac, Miles Wood,
Kyle Palmieri and Brett Sevey also scored for the Devils, who trailed 3-0 after
one period, and 4-1 in the second before rallying for their second win in five
games.Cory Schneider gave up three goals on seven shots over the first 9:22
before he was pulled. Keith Kinkaid came on finished with 14 saves.¡°It¡¯s not
easy for a goalie coming into a game,¡± Hischier said of Kinkaid. ¡°He did a great
job and made some huge saves.¡±William Karlsson had two goals, and Alex Tuch and
William Carrier also scored for Vegas, which lost for just the third time in
their last 12 games. Marc-Andre Fleury had 37 saves and remained one win from
tying Hall of Famer Tony Esposito for ninth all-time for goaltender wins.¡°We
played a real good first 10 minutes of the hockey game and that was it,¡± Vegas
coach Gerard Gallant said. ¡°New Jersey took over after that. They played real
well and real hard and battled back. We weren¡¯t prepared for that, I
guess.¡±Zajac pulled the Devils to 3-1 with a power play goal at 2:59 of the
second
Mikko
Rantanen Jersey , but Karlsson¡¯s second of the game and 13th of the season
58 seconds later restored the Golden Knights¡¯ three-goal lead.Wood got his third
of the season with 9:39 left in the middle period to pull New Jersey back within
two.Palmieri¡¯s unassisted goal at 6:24 of the third made it 4-3 with his team
leading 17th. Seney tied it with 5:05 left as a Vegas player kicked the puck
into his own goal.The Devils outshot the Golden Knights 42-22, including 30-12
after the first period.¡°The end of the second was a huge part of the game,¡±
Boyle said. ¡°Most aspects of our game was really good because we stuck with
it.¡±Tuch got Vegas on the scoreboard first just 1:19 into the game. Karlsson
doubled the lead at 7:45 and Carrier made it 3-0 less than two minutes later.
That prompted Devils coach John Hynes to pull Schneider, who came in 0-5-1 with
a 4.29 goals-against average in his previous eight games.¡°We obviously have him
here so this is what we think is best,¡± Hynes said when asked if the Devils
wanted Schneider to continue working with goaltending coach Roland Melanson, or
if the organization would consider sending him to AHL Binghamton on a
rehabilitation stint.¡°Cory is a big part of our team. He¡¯s going through some
things and right now we¡¯ll all continue to work through it.¡±NOTES: Dating back
to Dec. 29, 2017, Schneider is 0-14-2, which is the fourth-worst in franchise
history. William McKenzie holds the record with 26 consecutive decisions without
a win, between Oct. 27, 1975, and March
15
Nathan
MacKinnon Jersey , 1978. He went 0-22-4 in that span. Former Capitals
goaltender Michel Belhumeur holds the NHL record for most consecutive
appearances without a win with 42, set between Oct. 19, 1974 and Nov. 1, 1975.
Schneider is signed through 2021-22, and will earn $6 million in each of those
seasons. ¡ Ninety minutes before the game, the Devils and Prudential Center
hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony for the William Hill Sports Lounge. The Devils
have a partnership with the sports book, as do the Golden Knights. ¡ Prior to
the game, the Devils called up LW John Quenneville from AHL Binghamton, and
placed RW Stefan Noesen on IR. ¡ New Jersey LW Taylor Hall missed the game due
to ¡°an injured lower body,¡± according to the team. It was the first game the
reigning Hart Trophy winner has not played this season. He left Thursday¡¯s
practice early. ¡ Vegas LW Max Pacioretty missed the game with what the team
termed ¡°a minor injury.¡± ¡ Vegas C Paul Stastny played in his first game since
Oct. 8. He had missed 30 games with a lower body injury. ¡ The teams play once
more this season, Jan. 6 in Las Vegas.UP NEXTGolden Knights: At the New York
Rangers on Sunday.Devils: At Nashville on Saturday night.