Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid cracked down again with a brace, except his team stumbled 6-5 in overtime against the New Jersey Devils on Friday afternoon at the Prudential Center.
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The number 97 has thus added to its production of the season. He now has 52 points on the clock and dominates his teammate Leon Draisaitl by one in the race for the Art-Ross trophy. In addition, he played a 51st meeting with at least two points during the 2021 calendar year.
However, it was Jack Hughes who stole the show at the end of the meeting. He scored his second goal of the day midway through extra time to help his club enjoy a second straight triumph.
Dawson Mercer, Nico Hischier and Janne Kuokkanen also counted for the winners. Mackenzie Blackwood made 32 saves.
Always formidable
Earlier, McDavid had opened the scoring by accepting a cross pass from Ryan McLeod in the opening twenty. Then, early in the middle half, he tied the game 3-3 with a breakaway after sneaking between the two Devils defenders.
Kailer Yamamoto also hit the target twice for Edmonton, including a controversial streak in the third period. On a penalty that would be called against the home side, Yamamoto threaded the needle with a receiving shot, after catching a pass that was hit by Jack Hughes. New Jersey requested the video replay and it took about ten minutes for the referees to determine that play could in fact not be seen again, so the goal was confirmed.
Devin Shore also scored for the losers. Goalkeeper Mike Smith blocked 35 shots.
Separately, Devils head coach Lindy Ruff had to follow National League COVID-19 protocol and missed the game. His deputy Alain Nasreddine assumed his duties.
Bros is 11 seconds away from a shutout
In Vegas, Golden Knights goaltender Laurent Brossoit looked on his way to his first shutout of the season, but Ryan Getzlaf deprived him with 11 seconds left on the clock. The Nevada roster still defeated the Anaheim Ducks 3-1.
Positioned in front of the Golden Knights net, the Ducks captain spoiled the pleasure of the opposing goalkeeper by completing a game from Sonny Milano. Still, Brossoit turned away 15 pucks in the win.
On the crowd favorites, Nicolas Roy and Adam Brooks shook the strings in the first period, while Mattias Janmark hit the target in the second period. In the loss, John Gibson did not look bad, he who faced 45 shots.
With this gain, the Golden Knight offers themselves a little extra cushion at the top of the Pacific Division, with 44 points in 34 games. The Ducks are in second place, three points down.
Rangers resist the Lightning
In Tampa, the New York Rangers saw the Lightning forced into overtime with a goal in the final two minutes of regulation, but still won 4-3 in a shootout.
Just as he did against the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday, Corey Perry is the one who found the back of the net late in the game to ensure at least one point for his team.
Unlike the game against the Habs, the Lightning weren’t able to finish the job. Mika Zibanejad is the only one to have hit the target during the shooting.
Barclay Goodrow also contributed to his victory by making the red light twinkle twice, while the Quebecer Alexis Lafrenière obtained the other success.
In the Lightning camp, Ross Colton and Steven Stamkos were the other scorers.
Who other than Alex Ovechkin to score the last game-winning goal of 2021 in the National Hockey League?
The captain of the Washington Capitals indeed fired a cannonball on reception with only 2:50 left to go in the third period to secure a 3-1 victory for his team against the Red Wings on Friday night in Detroit. .
The 36-year-old Russian has also scored in an empty net to bring his total of goals to 24 this season. He sits atop the Bettman Tour, tied with the Edmonton Oilers’ Leon Draisaitl.
Pius Suter, for the Red Wings, and Evgeny Kuznetsov, for the Capitals, were the other two scorers for the game.
Ilya Samsonov did well in net for the Capitals with 19 saves on 20 shots. Thomas Greiss for his part stopped 24 of the 26 pucks directed towards him.