One other week of NHL motion is within the books, and loads of headlines emerged. Fortunately, CBS Sports activities is right here that can assist you hold monitor of all of them with the weekly NHL Rewind.
On Saturday evening, one other epic battle came about between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Boston Bruins. The bitter rivals went backwards and forwards in a see-saw affair earlier than Brad Marchand performed the position of hero and broke fairly just a few hearts in Toronto.
The commerce market additionally noticed some notable motion with the Calgary Flames sending veteran defenseman Nikita Zadorov to the Vancouver Canucks. Zadorov’s first sport as a Canuck occurred to be in opposition to the Flames, and he managed to get on the scoresheet in a 4-3 win.
Let’s recap all the most effective highlights and largest storylines from the week that was within the NHL.
Purpose of the week: Tristan Jarry turns into a sniper
Tristan Jarry is thought extra for making saves moderately than placing the puck within the internet, however that may have modified a bit of final week. On Thursday evening, Jarry turned the primary Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender to attain a objective.
Late within the third interval, the Tampa Bay Lightning pulled goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy whereas trailing 3-2. Because the Bolts have been pushing to tie the sport, they dumped the puck into the Penguins’ zone, however a chip-in was off the mark. It slid straight to Jarry, and he noticed a chance.
In a single movement, Jarry corralled the puck and flung it again down the ice, effectively over the heads of all 11 skaters. It lastly landed in between the circles on the different finish of the rink and bounced into the gaping cage for Jarry’s first profession objective.
Not solely did Jarry change into the primary Penguins goalie to attain, however he’s additionally simply the fourth netminder to perform that feat within the final decade.
Oddly sufficient, Jarry’s backup on this sport was Alex Nedeljkovic, who isn’t any stranger to scoring objectives himself. Nedeljkovic hasn’t scored within the NHL, however he’s the one goalie to attain greater than as soon as in AHL historical past, together with his most up-to-date tally coming only a couple weeks in the past.
Save of the week: Juuse Saros stretches to protect the lead
Juuse Saros continues to be attempting to get rolling this season, and his efficiency in opposition to the Buffalo Sabres on Sunday ought to assist. Saros made his finest save of the season whereas preserving the Nashville Predators’ 2-1 lead within the third interval.
The Predators jumped out to a 2-0 lead within the first interval, and Saros took over from there. Within the third interval, the Sabres trailed 2-1 and have been turning up the stress in entrance of the Nashville internet. Buffalo ahead Dylan Cozens bought the puck within the slot with no Predator in his zip code, and it regarded like the sport is likely to be tied.
Cozens had Saros sliding to the quick aspect earlier than making a transfer to the far publish in hopes of sliding the puck across the Nashville goaltender. One way or the other, Saros was in a position to cease on a dime and fling his left pad backward as he robbed Cozens of the tying objective.
Saros hasn’t been enjoying his finest hockey thus far this yr as his save proportion is down at .900. However when he performs like he did in opposition to the Sabres, the Predators change into a really powerful out.
Bruins break hearts in Toronto
The rivalry between the Boston Bruins and Toronto Maple Leafs not often fails to ship, and followers bought to see one other basic on Saturday evening. Sadly for the Leafs, the outcome was one other heartbreaking loss.
Within the first interval, Toronto performed effectively and outshot Boston 10-7, however the Bruins have David Pastrnak. The Czech sniper crossed the offensive blue line and fired a seed below the crossbar to beat Toronto goaltender Joseph Woll.
Boston defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk doubled the lead together with his first of the second interval, however Toronto was in a position to get again into the sport when Auston Matthews went looking for rebounds in entrance of Linus Ullmark and located one. Matthews hammered the puck into an empty internet for his fifteenth objective of the season.
Early within the third interval, Max Domi bought his first of the season to tie the sport at 2-2, however the curler coaster was removed from accomplished. The Bruins’ Trent Frederic punched house a greasy objective with just below seven minutes left within the third to present his group the lead once more.
It was beginning to appear to be the Bruins would escape Toronto with a regulation win, however Matthews had different plans. With simply 5.7 seconds left, Mitch Marner discovered Matthews with chaos unfolding in entrance of the Boston internet, and the latter fired a one-timer previous Ullmark to even the rating once more.
It will have been a disgrace if this sport was determined by a shootout, and it virtually was till Bruins captain Brad Marchand ended it in dramatic style. With eight seconds left in OT, Pastrnak misfired on a breakaway however chipped the rebound to Marchand, who grabbed the puck out of mid-air and punched it house to win the sport.
That win helped lengthen the Bruins’ Atlantic Division lead and stored the Leafs down in fourth place. It also needs to be famous that Marchand adopted up his heroics with a hat trick Sunday in opposition to the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Canucks purchase Zadorov from Flames
The NHL commerce market has began to thaw a bit of bit now that the primary couple months of the season have come and gone. The Vancouver Canucks have gotten off to an excellent begin and wanted so as to add some depth to their blue line, so that they rang up the Calgary Flames to get a deal accomplished.
On Thursday evening, the Canucks despatched a third-round decide and a fifth-round decide to the Flames in alternate for Nikita Zadorov. The veteran defenseman just lately requested a commerce out of Calgary, and the Flames granted his want with this transfer. Now, Calgary will get some further draft capital whereas the Canucks get some defensive assist.
The 6-foot-6 Zadorov brings some physicality and mobility to the Canucks, particularly with Carson Soucy on the shelf for fairly a while.
Zadorov’s first sport as a Canuck occurred to be in opposition to Calgary, and he discovered a technique to get on the scoresheet. It initially regarded like Zadorov scored an empty-net objective, nevertheless it simply caught a chunk of Elias Pettersson’s stick earlier than leaving the zone, so he was credited with an help.
If Zadorov can stabilize Vancouver’s blue line a bit of bit extra and the group’s underlying numbers proceed to enhance, will probably be time to start out taking them severely as a real Stanley Cup contender.
Quinton Byfield helps Kings deal with Avalanche
The Colorado Avalanche stay one of many high Stanley Cup contenders throughout the league, however the Los Angeles Kings have been in a position to show that they will go toe-to-toe with their Western Convention counterparts.
On Sunday, the Kings defeated the Avalanche 4-1 behind a pair of objectives from winger Quinton Byfield.
The Avalanche have been in a position to put the stress on the Kings within the early going of Sunday’s contest. Defenseman Josh Manson bought the scoring on the 12:28 mark of the primary interval as he scored off a terrific cross from teammate Nathan MacKinnon. It marked Manson’s first objective of the 2023-24 marketing campaign.
Shockingly sufficient, that was solely time the Avalanche would discover the again of the online as Kings goaltender Cam Talbot stopped 20 of the 21 photographs he confronted on the evening.
Halfway by the second interval, the Kings compelled a turnover in their very own zone and rushed the opposite method. Defenseman Mikey Anderson uncorked an enormous slap shot off a cross from winger Adrian Kempe, and Byfield was proper in entrance to redirect the puck previous goalie Alexandar Georgiev to tie the sport at 1-1.
Byfield continued his stellar night on the 13:26 mark of the third interval when he bought into the scoring column as soon as once more. Very similar to his first objective, Byfield paid off some sensational puck motion from his teammates. Captain Anze Kopitar obtained a cross from Kempe on the aspect of the Avalanche internet, and he then arrange Byfield for a simple objective.
Ahead Trevor Moore scored lower than a minute later, and defenseman Drew Doughty added an empty-netter to ice the competition for the Kings.
This was simply the second multi-goal sport of Byfield’s younger profession. It continues a powerful stretch wherein the 21-year-old has tallied 4 objectives and eight assists during the last month.
It was an enormous win for a Kings group that sits 5 factors behind the Vegas Golden Knights for first place within the Pacific Division. It was additionally the sixth win over their final seven video games because the Kings proceed to try to set up themselves as one of many high groups within the West.
Appointment viewing this week
Pink Wings at Sabres: Tuesday, Dec. 5: Sadly, Patrick Kane will not make his Pink Wings debut in Buffalo, however that is nonetheless an intriguing matchup. The Pink Wings regarded like a playoff group up so far, whereas the Sabres have dropped 4 out of their final 5 video games. This might undoubtedly be a high-scoring affair.
Hurricanes at Oilers: Wednesday, Dec. 6: It has been an underwhelming begin to the yr for the Oilers, to say the least. It is a group that sits in seventh place within the Pacific Division, however is presently using a four-game successful streak. In the meantime, the Hurricanes have regarded like a Stanley Cup contender at occasions and hope to rise within the Japanese Convention standings.
Maple Leafs at Senators: Thursday, Dec. 7: The Senators have been seeking to take the following step and return to the postseason in 2023-24. Nonetheless, this can be a group that has struggled to this point with simply 18 factors. Then again, the Maple Leafs sit in the midst of the pack within the Atlantic Division as they proceed to try to catch the Bruins.
Coyotes at Bruins: Saturday, Dec. 9: Talking of the Bruins, they’re tied for probably the most factors by the primary quarter of the 2023-24 season, and that is likely to be a little bit of a shock contemplating the offseason turnover. In the meantime, the Coyotes have an abundance of youth, however that hasn’t stopped them from being aggressive within the Central Division. This will probably be a real take a look at for the Coyotes as they tackle the league’s finest.
Kings at Rangers: Sunday, Dec. 10: After being bounced from the opening spherical of the 2023 postseason, the Rangers have performed with a chip on their shoulder this season. The Rangers have been one of many NHL’s high groups with Artemi Panarin enjoying out of his thoughts. Quite the opposite, the Kings are winners of six of their final seven video games, and they are going to be seeking to pull off an enormous win on their East Coast highway journey.