Lukáš Dostál covered 52 shots for the New Jersey hockey players in the NHL, didn’t even miss a free kick two seconds before the end of the game and led Anaheim to a 4:3 victory. The Czech goalkeeper was declared the first star of the match and his teammate Radko Gudas got into a fight in the fifteenth minute. Thanks to Karel Vejmelka’s 34 saves, Arizona won 5:3 on the ice of Ottawa and stopped a streak of fourteen defeats.
Anaheim opened the scoring in the fourth minute with a goal by Frank Vatran. Down 1-0, Gudas lined up a penetrating Jack Hughes and knocked him to the ice. Curtis Lazar immediately pounced on him for a tackle on the New Jersey leader. The fight ended without any major injuries, and the Czech defender knocked his opponent to the ice with a wrestling grab after a few seconds.
Dostála beat Timo Meier in the 18th minute. Before going to the cabins, however, Adam Henrique returned the lead to Anaheim and Max Jones increased the lead to 3:1 at 33:47. One hundred seconds later, New Jersey capitalized on the power play with Hughes’ shot from the left circle. Still in the second period, Vatrano responded with his second goal of the game.
The Devils dramatized the end with a goal from Tyler Toffoli, who took advantage of another numerical advantage in the 58th minute from the goalpost, and in the end they had an ideal opportunity to equalize. The referees ordered a penalty shootout for Vatrana’s short-handedness, which intentionally moved the goal.
“I thought I would get two minutes. I didn’t know they could call a penalty shot, otherwise I wouldn’t have done it,” said Vatrano. “I saw that the puck was on the goal line. When I pushed the goal away, it was already behind it. Just a reaction,” he added.
But he managed to read Hughes’ forehand loop, the New Jersey leader lost control of the puck and didn’t even finish.
“It’s always fifty-fifty. But we’re still training raids. I believed I’d catch it,” said Dostál, who set a new club record for the number of hits in a win.
“Stopping pucks is my job,” added the Czech goalkeeper. He achieved his first win since January 27, since then he has recorded four defeats.
Anaheim coach Greg Cronin revealed that Dostál had been battling an illness throughout the day and had been given medication during the game. The coach asked the Czech goalkeeper during the second break whether he could finish the match. He got a confident nod.
“It was a wild end to the game and Dostál deserves recognition. He was the best player on the ice. He won the game for us,” praised the coach. New Jersey did not take advantage of the 55:23 shooting advantage in the game.
Arizona led 3-0 in the sixteenth minute after goals from Michael Carcone, JJ Moser and Nick Schmaltz. But Ottawa equalized. Vladimír Tarasenko and Shane Pinto overcame Vejmelka from the right circle, and Drake Batherson made his way from the rebound.
The game was decided by Dylan Guenther on the power play. Matias Maccelli, who collected three points in the match and became the first star of the match, secured the win at the risk of Ottawa without a goalkeeper.
Vejmelka picked up a win in the NHL after more than two months, during which he recorded eight losses. “Each of us has wanted to win for a long time,” said Vejmelka. “It tastes extraordinary now, I’m experiencing a lot of emotions. I’m happy for the team that we finally won.”
In the remaining game of Friday’s schedule, Washington defeated Philadelphia 5-2 on its ice, despite being down 0-2 after the opening period. The turnaround was started by Alexander Ovechkin with a goal.
In an important matchup, the home team lost to the Flyers, who hold the last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, with a difference of four points.
NHL:
Ottawa – Arizona 3:5 (1:3, 2:0, 0:2)
Goals: 19. Tarasenko, 34. Batherson, 36. Pinto – 8. Carcone, 13. Moser, 16. Schmaltz, 45. Guenther, 59. Maccelli. Shots on goal: 37:30. Karel Vejmelka he caught the entire match for Arizona, conceded three goals from 37 shots and had a 91.9 percent shooting success rate. Spectators: 17,734. Stars of the game: 1. Maccelli, 2. Guenther, 3. Schmaltz (all Arizona).
Washington – Philadelphia 5:2 (0:2, 3:0, 2:0)
Goals: 25. Ovechkin, 30. Milano, 38. Carlson, 47. Mantha, 56. D. Strome – 2. Brink, 19. Tippett. Shots on goal. 21:23. Spectators. 18,573. All-Stars: 1. D. Strome, 2. Lapierre, 3. Lindgren (all Washington).
Anaheim – New Jersey 4:3 (2:1, 2:1, 0:1)
Goals: 4. and 38. Vatrano, 19. Henrique, 34. M. Jones – 18. Meier, 36. J. Hughes, 58. Toffoli. Shots on goal: 23:52. Lukáš Dostál he caught the entire match for Anaheim, conceding three goals from 52 shots and had a 94.5 percent shooting success rate. Spectators: 16,078. Stars of the match: 1. He made it2. Vatrano, 3. M. Jones (all Anaheim).
