The Maple Leafs had a real nightmare on Monday in Toronto, who were booed profusely by their fans and beaten 4-2 by the Arizona Coyotes.
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After 40 minutes of play, the crowd favorites had still not shaken the ropes, they who were trailing 2-0. booing loudly.
That seemed to whip the Toronto squad, which tied with goals from William Nylander and Mitch Marner. The Coyotes, however, regained the lead, through Shayne Gostisbehere on the power play, with 93 seconds remaining in the game. The Maple Leafs tried one last push and even thought they had forced overtime, but a possible goal was eventually canceled due to a hand pass on the streak.
Goalkeeper Karel Vejmelka had his say in this win for the Coyotes, who will be at the Bell Center on Thursday to face the Montreal Canadiens, making 26 saves.
Ovechkin breaks the ice
In Washington, Alex Ovechkin hit the target for the first time in 2022-23 and the Capitals came from behind to defeat the Vancouver Canucks 6-4.
The Russian striker wasted no time, he who opened his counter from the 56th second, on the power play.
However, it was the visitors who took control of the game thereafter. They even retired to the locker room, after the middle period, with a 4-2 lead.
The “Caps” showed their punching power, however, as Dylan Strome and John Carlson tied the game before seeing Conor Sheary score what turned out to be the winning goal. Ovechkin completed the scoring with his second goal of the game, finishing his night’s work with four points.
Moreover, Evgeny Kuznetsov, who amassed three points in the victory, may well have to explain one of his gestures to the leaders of the National League. At the end of the second period, the Russian striker struck a violent deliberate stick in the face of defender Kyle Burroughs. Kuznetsov also received a minor penalty for high sticking on the sequence.
Panarin and Zibanejad settle Ducks case
In New York, Artemi Panarin and Mika Zibanejad continued their stellar start to the season with four points apiece in the Rangers’ 6-4 win over the Anaheim Ducks.
The crowd favorites have also hit the target on the power play three times, with the two forwards uniting their efforts on each of them. Zibanejad scored two of those goals, with assists from Panarin. The pair also set up Vincent Trocheck’s net.
By virtue of another glorious evening, Panarin became the first skater on the Bettman circuit to reach the 10-point plateau this season. He only needed four games to amass his two goals and eight assists.