Things were looking so good for Kris Russell before the 18:55 mark of the third period Thursday.

The Edmonton Oilers defender tallied a goal and an assist before he mistakenly slammed the puck into his own net in what would hold up as the game-winner for the Toronto Maple Leafs, who skated away with a 6-4 victory.

Related - Watch: Kris Russell shoots puck into his own net for Leafs' winner

The goal was a bizarre rarity and one that evidently had Twitter buzzing.

Only one man on the ice could have saved that shot:

On the bright side ...

A little salt in the wound:

Not everyone was upset about the goal:

Going on sale tomorrow?

In the end, everyone will surely have his back ... right?

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This is one goal Kris Russell clearly wishes he didn't score.

The oft-maligned Edmonton Oilers defenseman shot the puck into his own net on a clearing attempt with about a minute left in a tie game against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday night.

Russell's blunder would hold up as the game-winner for the Leafs, who prevailed 6-4.

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There's nothing quite like going head-to-head with one of the game's most lethal goal scorers.

On Thursday night, Drew Doughty had that distinction as he and his Los Angeles Kings teammates tangled with Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals, a game that the Kings took 5-2, and one that Doughty admits was extremely exhausting.

"They're so hard to play against," Doughty said, according to Stephen Whyno of The Associated Press. "I've never been so tired in my whole entire life. I felt like I spent the entire game in my own zone playing against that Ovechkin line."

But while trying to contain Ovechkin and his linemates Nicklas Backstrom and Tom Wilson might be no easy task, Doughty loves the challenge.

"That was so much fun," said Doughty. "I live for that stuff. They didn't come out with any points. I don't even know if I had a friggin' shot on net, but we shut down that line."

Doughty won't have the chance to face Ovechkin again until March 8, but he'll likely be tasked with shutting down Vladimir Trarasenko on Friday night and Patrick Kane and Co. on Sunday.

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The postseason doesn't start for a very long time, but the Montreal Canadiens are temporarily, and somewhat improbably, in a playoff spot.

Carey Price continued his strong play since recovering from injury, making 28 saves on 31 shots to lift the Canadiens to a 6-3 victory over the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday night.

Montreal vaulted past the Boston Bruins for third place in the Atlantic Division, albeit having played four more games than their longtime rivals, and having played more contests than any other divisional foe except the Toronto Maple Leafs.

It was the star goaltender's fourth consecutive win since returning, and he looks to be back to his old self.

Price's performance before and after the 10-game injury absence has truly been night and day.

He won only three of those first 11 games, allowing at least four goals in seven of them. He then returned to shut out the Buffalo Sabres on Nov. 25, and allowed only one goal in each of his next two starts against the Columbus Blue Jackets and Ottawa Senators, respectively, before winning Thursday night's contest in Detroit.

The Canadiens were among the NHL's worst teams before Price's absence, but clearly the break was exactly what he and his club needed.

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Vancouver Canucks forward Daniel Sedin scored a power-play goal midway through the third period of Thursday night's game against the Nashville Predators to record the 1,000th point of his career.

Sedin entered Thursday night stuck at 998 career points, but sealed the deal on his sixth goal of the year after earlier tallying an assist on Loui Eriksson's fourth of the year.

The 37-year-old is now the 87th player in NHL history to reach the mark and the eighth active player. In hitting the milestone, Henrik and Daniel are now the only brothers in league history to each score 1,000 points.

Henrik was able to score his 1,000th point last January in a game against the Florida Panthers. The two have the second-most points among any two brothers in league history behind Wayne and Brent Gretzky.

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Tampa Bay Lightning forward Cedric Paquette was dealt a one-game suspension for boarding Boston Bruins defenseman Torey Krug, the NHL Department of Player Safety announced Thursday.

The incident in question took part in the second period of Wednesday night's game and saw Paquette assessed a minor for boarding on the play.

The one-game ban means Paquette will miss Saturday's contest against the San Jose Sharks. He'll be eligible to return Tuesday against the New York Islanders.

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The Montreal Canadiens are looking to deal defenseman Brandon Davidson.

The club has sent out an email to all 30 NHL clubs stating it's looking to move the 26-year-old, a source tells Sportsnet's Eric Engels.

Davidson has been limited to just 13 games this season, including serving as a healthy scratch during the Canadiens' past three games. He was acquired by the club from the Edmonton Oilers last season, but has failed to find his groove in Montreal, tallying just three assists in 23 games.

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The Canadian national hockey team is adding a few former NHL forwards for its next pre-Olympic tournament.

P.A. Parenteau, Max Talbot, and Matt Frattin were named to Canada's roster for the Channel One Cup in Moscow, Russia - a three-game tourney that will run Dec. 13-17.

Parenteau will make his first appearance for Canada, while Frattin was named to the Karjala Cup roster last month, but wasn't able to participate. Talbot wasn't selected to play in the previous tournament.

All three players are now in the KHL. Parenteau has been playing for Automobilist Yekaterinburg, Talbot is in his second season with Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, and Frattin has been plying his trade with Barys Astana.

Mason Raymond was omitted from the Channel One Cup roster despite playing in the Karjala Cup, but general manager Sean Burke implied no official cuts have been made yet.

"Our goal remains to put together the best possible team to compete in Pyeongchang in February, and these 25 players are part of a larger group that remains under consideration," Burke said in a press release Thursday. "We continue to evaluate every Canadian player that’s eligible to play at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in order to give ourselves the best possible chance for success in Korea."

The Channel One Cup will be Canada's penultimate tune-up opportunity before the Olympics.

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The New Jersey Devils showed the rest of the league that they aren't messing around when they acquired Sami Vatanen to shore up their back end Thursday.

Related: Ducks trade Vatanen to Devils for Henrique, Blandisi

And the Anaheim Ducks aren't letting a rash of injuries to key players stop their push for a sixth consecutive postseason berth, as the addition of Adam Henrique should go a long way toward replacing some of the scoring punch they lack with a few of their offensive weapons sidelined.

Here's a breakdown of Thursday's trade from each team's perspective, with corresponding letter grades attached.

Ducks: B+

The fact Anaheim could afford to offload a talented puck-moving D-man in Vatanen has a lot to do with the stellar play of unsung Ducks rearguards Josh Manson and Brandon Montour.

Manson and Montour have been nothing short of sensational on the back end for Randy Carlyle's group, logging heavy minutes and serving key roles on special teams - two things that Vatanen also did, making the 26-year-old Finn expendable.

As for the return, Anaheim's tied for the sixth-fewest goals scored in the league with 66 as the club's forward group has been decimated by injuries. Getting an offensively talented player like Henrique, who can play center and wing, should go a long way toward rectifying the Ducks' scoring issues, as he's racked up 54 goals since the start of the 2015 campaign.

Sprinkle in the offensive talents of a former 50-goal junior player in Joseph Blandisi and a conditional 2018 third-round pick (the Devils get it if the Ducks re-sign Henrique), and from where general manager Bob Murray is sitting, this deal looks just fine.

Devils: A-

The team that gets the best player in any given trade usually wins that trade.

Such is the case with the Devils and Vatanen. The slick-skating blue-liner has the potential to be a top-pairing defenseman and the ability to put up solid offensive numbers.

In 280 regular-season games for Anaheim, Vatanen racked up 33 goals and 93 assists for 126 points while rocking a solid Corsi For rating of 50.6 in just over 20 minutes per night.

Those numbers alone should make hockey fans in New Jersey excited, but what should really fire them up is considering what Vatanen can bring to a defense corps that already includes stud rookie Will Butcher and the criminally underrated Damon Severson.

The Devils have been one of the biggest surprises of the season, and currently find themselves third in the consistently tough Metropolitan Division.

With Vatanen in the fold at an affordable $4.87 million per year until July 2020, the Devils have gone from Metro pretenders to Eastern contenders in a matter of months.

Chalk up another win for general manager Ray Shero in a deal that should benefit both parties.

(Photos courtesy: Action Images)

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Tampa Bay Lightning forward Cedric Paquette will have a hearing Thursday for boarding Boston Bruins defenseman Torey Krug, the NHL announced.

The incident took place during the second period of Boston's win Wednesday, and resulted in a wild scrum.

Paquette was assessed a minor penalty for boarding while Krug, uninjured, later scored the game-winning goal.

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