NHL NEWS JAN 18 – ROOKIES HELP MAPLE LEAFS CONTINUE WINNING WAYS
The Maple Leafs (21-13-8, 50 points) erased an early 2-0 deficit with four straight goals to improve to 9-1-1 in their last 11 games and move within one point of the Bruins (23-19-5, 51 points) for second place in the Atlantic Division. Toronto holds five games in hand.
Auston Matthews scored a go-ahead goal in the second period to take sole possession of the rookie lead in goals (22) and points (38).
Five other rookies – Connor Brown, Zach Hyman, Mitchell Marner, William Nylander and Nikita Zaitsev – also found the score sheet for Toronto.
NHL CENTRAL SCOUTING MID-SEASON RANKINGS RELEASES TODAY
NHL Central Scouting will release its mid-season rankings for the 2017 NHL Draft today at 10:00 a.m. ET. The rankings feature the top 217 skaters and 31 goaltenders in North America as well as the top 120 skaters and 10 goaltenders internationally.
NHL NEWS AND MUSINGS
- Captain Henrik Sedin scored the lone goal in Vancouver’s victory to move within one of 1,000 career points (232-767—999)
- Ryan Miller posted his 38th career shutout (second this season) as Vancouver extended its home point streak to seven games (6-0-1)
- Rickard Rakell scored his team-leading 19th goal and fifth game-winner as Anaheim improved to 8-1-2 in its past 11 games
- Mark Stone (2-0—2) and Mike Hoffman (2-0—2) each scored twice as Ottawa won for the third time in its past four games to climb into the second Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference
- Wild defenseman Jared Spurgeon (1-1—2) gloved the puck to himself before batting it into the net for a spectacular goal
- Maple Leafs forward James van Riemsdyk scored the game-winning goal to extend his point streak to eight games (3-9—12), while teammate Nazem Kadri (0-1—1) registered a point for the sixth straight game (5-3—8)
- Panthers forward Vincent Trocheck (5-4—9) and Lightning forward Valtteri Filppula (1-4—5) extended their point streaks to five games
- Blackhawks forward Marian Hossa tallied 0-3—3 to eclipse 600 career assists
- Hurricanes goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic, a native of Parma, Ohio, denied all 17 shots he faced while making his NHL debut in his home state
- Avalanche forward Rene Bourque (700), Blues forward Patrik Berglund (600) and Sabres defenseman Cody Franson (500) played in milestone games
- The Islanders named assistant general manager Doug Weight as interim head coach
- Outtakes from the “Sharks for Life” ad campaign featuring Brent Burns and Joe Thornton.
TUESDAY’S NHL RESULTS
Home Team in Caps
Dallas 7, NY RANGERS 6
COLUMBUS 4, Carolina 1
TORONTO 4, Buffalo 3
Ottawa 6, ST. LOUIS 4
New Jersey 4, MINNESOTA 3
Chicago 6, COLORADO 4
CALGARY 5, Florida 2
VANCOUVER 1, Nashville 0
ANAHEIM 2, Tampa Bay 1 (OT)
WEDNESDAY’S NHL ACTION
All Times Eastern
Arizona @ Winnipeg, 7:30 p.m.
Pittsburgh @ Montreal, 7:30 p.m.
Boston @ Detroit, 8 p.m.
Florida @ Edmonton, 9:30 p.m.
San Jose @ Los Angeles, 10:30 p.m.