Thank You, Mike.https://t.co/quSDXsw2le
— LA Kings (@LAKings) March 10, 2016
The Los Angeles Kings extended their gratitude to members of the visiting Washington Capitals on Wednesday, paying tribute to two players who contributed to the only two Stanley Cup championships in franchise history, Justin Williams and Mike Richards.
Richards was up first. And while his departure resembled a messy divorce, you wouldn't know it by the reception he received.
And though he should've expected nothing less than a rousing ovation, Williams, the Conn Smythe winner in 2014, didn't seem prepared for it.
Welcome back, Justinhttps://t.co/lqoXGp8WN3
— LA Kings (@LAKings) March 10, 2016
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Not sure what is most impressive here:
— NHL (@NHL) March 10, 2016
1) The lob pass
2) MacKinnon's speed
3) That nifty little finishhttps://t.co/7SAltre6DC
Colorado Avalanche forward Nathan MacKinnon didn't squander a great opportunity courtesy of teammate Erik Johnson.
Midway through the first period of Wednesday's contest, Johnson found MacKinnon darting for the net and hit him with a lob pass for the ages.
From there, he was able to fight off the back-checking of Anaheim Ducks defenseman Josh Manson before going shelf on goaltender John Gibson.
MacKinnon is now just three goals away from matching his career high of 24.
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Ten seconds after establishing a new career high in goals, Johnny Gaudreau went ahead and did the same with points.
With his 25th and 26th goals - scored four seconds off Lanny McDonald's franchise record for the fastest two goals by one player - the Calgary Flames star improved on his 24-goal rookie total, and then his 64-point rookie total, in a flash Wednesday.
Johnny Gaudreau scores 2 goals in 10 seconds. It's only the 1st period. He may have 20 tonight pic.twitter.com/kuJARvFbyq
— Jordie (@BarstoolJordie) March 10, 2016
To be fair, the first goal required a review, so there was a little bit of a wait. But based on that clumsy back cut from the Predators defender, the delay worked to his advantage.
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The Toronto Maple Leafs pumped the brakes on a six-game losing streak thanks to the soft hands of rookie Nikita Soshnikov.
The 22-year-old beat New York Islanders goaltender Thomas Greiss with a deceptive backhand in the skills competition Wednesday to give the Maple Leafs a 4-3 victory.
The win snapped the Maple Leafs' six-game skid, which had seen their past five losses come in the form of one-goal defeats.
The goal proved to be only Soshnikov's latest achievement to catch the eye of head coach Mike Babcock, who made it clear that the Russian and fellow rookie Zach Hyman - who scored his second goal of the season Wednesday - have futures with the big club.
Mike Babcock: "Hyman and (Soshnikov) are here to stay. They're too good and too fast."
— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) March 10, 2016
"He's not intimidated by anything," Babcock said of Soshnikov.
William Nylander also received accolades from Babcock, who called Wednesday's performance his best game yet.
The Maple Leafs seemed destined for yet another one-goal loss after Ryan Strome put the Islanders up 3-2 with 5:19 remaining in regulation, until Nylander responded with a power-play marker with just 1:13 left to send the game to extra time.
Wait, maybe nobody told William Nylander about the losing one-goal games thing
— Bruce Arthur (@bruce_arthur) March 10, 2016
The Maple Leafs will look to string together back-to-back wins for the first time since Feb. 2 and 4 when they visit the Ottawa Senators on Saturday.
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This could've been a disaster. Toews gets caught on the door. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/FhAfyWviMQ
— Aldo Soto (@AldoSoto21) March 10, 2016
Chicago Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews exited briefly, but was able to return to normal deployment Wednesday night after being ridden into an opened door at the St. Louis Blues' bench.
Toews headed down the tunnel after a short shift, but returned just moments later.
The durable top center has 24 goals and 47 points in 66 starts.
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