Carolina won on the ice of Boston in power plays, in which they scored two of the three goals. Nečas opened the score of the match in the 19th minute, who skated from the goalpost to the middle of the field in the numerical advantage and beat Linus Ullmark with a shot at the near post.
Teuvo Teräväinen made it 2-0 at 31:50, who found the puck in front of the goal despite Charlie Coyle’s close defense. “We gained the necessary confidence in the power play. I think Boston played them pretty well too, but unlike us, they didn’t score. If they had succeeded, it could have changed the match,” said Nečas, who was the top scorer of the match with nine attempts.
Going into the third period, it belonged to Boston. Brad Marchand erased the deficit with two goals in seven and a half minutes to give his team hope of extending their five-game winning streak. But the Bruins did not complete the turnaround. Two and a half minutes before the end, Jordan Martinook ran past the home defense and scored.
“I tried to shoot quickly and I think I caught the goalkeeper a bit off guard. I didn’t hit it quite the way I wanted, but I still managed to get the puck into the net,” Martinook described the decisive moment of the match.
Goalkeeper Spencer Martin had a successful debut in the Hurricanes jersey, stopping 26 shots, including five attempts by David Pastrňák. The Czech gunner came out with no points after five matches, but he maintained third place in the league productivity table with 30 goals and 37 assists.
With a difference of two points, Mikko Rantanen from Colorado came close to him, who scored one goal and set up four more on Wednesday. Nathan MacKinnon had the opposite record in the 6-2 win over Washington. The Canadian center played his seventh five-point game in the NHL regular season and scored four goals in one game for the second time in his career.
The successful match brought the 28-year-old attacker to the top of the league’s productivity. He has a two-point lead over runner-up Nikita Kučerov of Tampa Bay. MacKinnon scored in his 24th straight home game, breaking Joe Sakic’s club record from the 2000/2001 season.
The game between Florida and Arizona started with two fights in the opening seven seconds. The tense opening was more beneficial to the home team, who opened the scoring in 1:53 and already led 3:0 in the tenth minute. Arizona did not catch up in the rest of the match and was already losing by six goals at the beginning of the third period.
“Those fights at the beginning of the match got us fired up. We were all set up correctly and we showed it on the pitch. We went into the match really well,” said the author of the goal and assist Anton Lundell.
Two goals in the final 20 minutes reduced the Coyotes to 2:6, but they did not avert their third loss in the last five games. Vejmelka eliminated 37 shots and caught with a success rate slightly above 86 percent.
“It’s tough. Against a team like Florida, we can’t start so unfocused. We have to learn from this and focus on the next game,” said Arizona’s first goal scorer Dylan Guenther.
For the sixth time in a row, the most productive Czech defenseman Filip Hronek from Vancouver did not score, who, despite a powerful finish, won from the match with St. Louis just a point for a 3-4 overtime loss. Despite the loss, the Canucks remain the best team in the NHL.
A single goal decided the match between Toronto and Winnipeg. It was scored by Maple Leafs forward Auston Matthews at 64:13 after a scoreless regular season. The American gunner scored the 39th goal of the season and rules the league scorers.
NHL results: Toronto – Winnipeg 1:0 in overtime. (0:0, 0:0, 0:0 – 1:0) Goal: 65. Matthews. Shots on goal: 30:32. Spectators: 18,972. Stars of the match: 1. Samsonov, 2. Matthews (both Toronto), 3. Brossoit (Winnipeg). Florida – Arizona 6:2 (3:0, 2:0, 1:2) Goals: 2. and 25. M. Tkachuk, 9. Reinhart, 10. Bennett, 39. Lundell, 43. Gadjovich – 44. Guenther, 57. L. Cooley. Shots on goal: 43:33. KAREL VEJMELKA caught the entire game for Arizona, conceding six goals from 43 shots and had a success rate of 86 percent. Spectators: 17,020. Stars of the match: 1. M. Tkachuk, 2. Verhaeghe, 3. Bobrovsky (all Florida) Boston – Carolina 2:3 (0:1, 0:1, 2:1) Goals: 42. and 48. Marchand – 19. NEČAS, 32. Teräväinen, 58. Martinook. Shots on goal: 28:33. Spectators: 17,850. Stars of the match: 1. Marchand (Boston), 2. Martinook (Carolina), 3. Frederic (Boston). Los Angeles – Buffalo 3:5 (3:1, 0:2, 0:2) Goals: 3. Kopitar, 6. Kempe, 10. Dubois – 6. and 29. Peterka, 31. Quinn, 46. Tuch, 49. Cozens. Shots on goal: 41:38. Spectators: 18,154. Stars of the match: 1. T. Thompson, 2. Quinn (both Buffalo), 3. Kopitar (Los Angeles) Vancouver – St. Louis 3:4 in overtime (0:2, 0:0, 3:1 – 0:1) Goals: 41., 46. and 60. P. Suter – 14. Neighbors, 15. Bučnevich, 42. Toropchenko, 62. B. Schenn. Shots on goal: 32:18. Spectators: 19,003. Stars of the match: 1. P. Suter (Vancouver), 2. Neighbors, 3. R. Thomas (both St. Louis). Seattle – Chicago 6:2 (2:1, 2:0, 2:1) Goals: 45 .and 57. Tatar, 5. McCann, 8. Schwartz, 21. Wennberg, 38. B. Tanev – 18. Joey Anderson, 41. N. Foligno. Shots on goal: 29:36. Spectators: 17,151. Stars of the match: 1. Daccord, 2. Tatar, 3. Eberle (all SeattColorado – Washington 6:2 (1:0, 3:0, 2:2)Goals: 23rd, 27th, 30th and 57th MacKinnon, 20. Makar, 51. Rantanen – 48 and 58. D. Strome Shots on goal: 33:25 Attendance: 18,136 Stars of the game: 1. MacKinnon, 2. Rantanen, 3. Makar (all Colorado).
