The App is Back! Don’t forget to download the NBC Sports EDGE app to receive real-time player news, mobile alerts and track your favorite players. Plus, now you can check out articles and player cards. Get it here!
The three stars of the week were announced on Monday and the first star was Leon Draisaitl who took over the NHL scoring lead with five goals and five assists in three games. He leads teammate Connor McDavid by one point and has 23 points in only 10 games.
The second star was Toronto netminder Jack Campbell who was perfect record-wise in three games as he was 3-0-0 with a 0.99 GAA and a .968 save percentage, defeating Vegas, Tampa Bay and Boston.
The third star was another goalkeeper as Anaheim’s John Gibson gave up only one goal on 63 shots, going 2-0-0, defeating New Jersey and St. Louis.
But the big news of the night was Alex Ovechkin who scored once to pull even with Brett Hull for fourth in all-time NHL goal scoring, with 741. Ovechkin now trails only Wayne Gretzky (894), Gordie Howe (801) and Jaromir Jagr (766).
There were three games on the Monday slate.
WASHINGTON 5 BUFFALO 3
The Washington Capitals got a pair of goals from Tom Wilson to beat the slumping Buffalo Sabres 5-3 Monday. While the big news was the goal from Ovechkin as mentioned above, Wilson was the goal-scoring star of the game.
The line, along with Evgeny Kuznetsov, combined for three goals and five assists as Ovechkin chipped in with two assists and Kuznetsov had a trio of helpers.
Connor McMichael and John Carlson with his third of the season (and a power play effort), were the other goal scorers.
Cody Eakin, Anders Bjork and Colin Miller scored for Buffalo.
Vitek Vanecek stopped 25 shots for the win. He is 3-2-3 with a 2.51 GAA and a .906 save percentage.
Dustin Tokarski picked up the start for Buffalo and gave up all five goals on 30 shots. He is 1-3-2 with a 3.10 GAA and a .902 save percentage.
Ovechkin had six shots on net.
Carl Hagelin had a pair of minors.
Nic Dowd suffered a lower-body injury in the first period and did not return.
Editor’s Note: NBC Sports Predictor: Play for FREE and win huge jackpots up to $100,000! Download the app today.
NEW YORK RANGERS 4 FLORIDA 3
And then there were none. The Florida Panthers were the last remaining team without a regulation loss coming into Monday’s action but they fell behind 4-0 heading into the third period and even a furious comeback was not enough as they fell just short.
It was Igor Shesterkin who was the thorn in the side of the Panthers as the Rangers netminder made 42 saves including all 28 in the first two periods. The Panthers dominated the Rangers to the tune of 45-18 in the shots on goal category but had an impossible time solving Shesterkin until the third period.
The Rangers got off to a great start in the first period with a power play goal by Chris Kreider, his ninth of the season and sixth on the power play. Later in the period, Adam Fox scored shorthanded to give the Rangers a 2-0 lead after one period.
They scored twice more in the second as K’Andre Miller scored his first of the season and then Ryan Strome with his second, gave the Rangers a 4-0 lead heading into the third.
Eetu Luostarinen gave the Panthers a bit of life at the 20 second mark of the third with his fourth of the season, but the Rangers seemed to be in control until the last 90 seconds of the contest as Sam Reinhart scored with 86 seconds remaining while Patric Hornqvist made it a one goal game with 40 seconds to go. But that was as close as it got as the Rangers held on to win.
Shesterkin improved to 6-2-2 this season with the win. He has a 2.37 GAA and a .933 save percentage.
It was a tough night for Spencer Knight who managed to make only 14 saves. He is 4-1-1 with a 2.78 GAA and a .902 save percentage.
Artemi Panarin and Mika Zibanejad each had two assists.
Patric Hornqvist has really picked up the pace as he had only two assists in his first nine games but has two goals and four points in his last three. He had six shots on net to go with his two-point effort Monday.
Ryan Reaves had seven hits.
Mason Marchment left the game in the third period after going hard into the boards. He suffered an upper-body injury that will be re-assessed on Tuesday.
Don’t forget, for everything NHL, check out NBCSportsEdge Player News, and follow @NBCSEdge HK and @mfinewaxhockey on Twitter.
LOS ANGELES 5 TORONTO 1
The Maple Leafs five-game winning streak came to a sudden halt as the Los Angeles Kings came into the Scotiabank Arena and whipped Toronto 5-1. It was the Kings fifth straight win.
Jonathan Quick was outstanding, turning aside 33-of-34 shots to win his third straight game and go to 3-3-1. He has a 2.37 GAA and a .924 save percentage. His stats have not been this good since the 2017-18 season when he had a 2.40 GAA and a .921 save percentage over 64 regular season games.
Phillip Danault was the offensive star with two goals and an assist. It was Danault’s biggest game as a King as the off-season acquisition had only a goal and four assists in the Kings first 11 contests.
Adrian Kempe, Trevor Moore and Andreas Athanasiou also scored for Los Angeles as it was their lesser lights that led them to the win offensively.
John Tavares scored the lone Maple Leafs goal to break up Quick’s shutout bid.
Jack Campbell was between the pipes for Toronto as he played his former team for the first time since his trade to the Maple Leafs in Feb. 2020.
Campbell gave up four goals on 28 shots. He saw his record fall to 6-3-1 as his four-game winning streak also came to an end. Campbell has a 2.09 GAA and a .929 save percentage.
Danault had seven shots on goal while Pierre Engvall had six.
Alexander Edler had six hits.
Tobias Bjornfot and Mikey Anderson were each a plus-four while Mitch Marner was a minus-four.
NIGHTLY LEADERS
Goals
Phillip Danault – 2
Tom Wilson – 2
Assists
Evgeny Kuznetsov – 3
Alex Iafallo – 2
Alex Ovechkin – 2
Artemi Panarin – 2
Mika Zibanejad – 2
Shots on Goal
Phillip Danault – 7
Alex Ovechkin – 6
Pierre Engvall – 6
Patric Hornqvist – 6
Hits
Ryan Reaves – 7
Alexander Edler – 6
Penalty Minutes
Carl Hagelin – 4