The New York Islanders are going like the train in the Eastern Division of the NHL right now. On the night before Monday Finnish time, the ninth (!) Straight victory came – this time at the expense of the New Jersey Devils.
This time, penalties were required to fix the score. Or really, it took a little more than that.
Iceland’s 2-1 goal came in the last second of the first period. The Devils got up anyway and equalized during the second period.
In extra time, PK Subban managed to score the winning goal for New Jersey – but the goal was ruled out for offside after Isles coach Barry Trotz challenged the decision.
– We had time to believe that we had lost. But then we hear that it was probably offside and getting new energy. That changed the match picture, states Islanders Brock Nelson on NHL.com afterwards.
Kuokkanen netted with the wrong name on his back
The New Jersey Devils thus had to settle for one point in the match against the undefeated top team. But for Janne Kuokkanen, the match offered even more joy.
Kuokkanen – whose jersey called him “Koukkanen” – accounted for his fourth goal in as many matches when he equalized to 1-1 in power play five minutes into the match. In total, Kuokkanen has accounted for 5 + 6 in 20 matches this season.
He is tenth in the Finns’ scoring, with the seventh best scoring of all.
At the post-match press conference, Devils pilot Lindy Ruff admitted that the chain with Kuokkanen, Travis Zajac and Yegor Sharangovich was the one he used to play against the Islanders’ first chain with Kieffer Bellows, Matt Barzal and Jordan Eberle.
– We had several two-on-one situations in the first period where we did not even manage to get a shot on goal. So there are many details we can work on. Zajac’s chain is a perfect example of a chain that puts puck on goal and fights for its positions, says Ruff.
Donskoi also netted
Joonas Donskoi has also been in a dangerous mood during the truncated season. On Monday night, the season’s seventh hit came when Donskoi gave their Colorado Avalanche a 3-0 lead at home against the Los Angeles Kings.
Colorado won the match with the numbers 4-1 after Mikko Rantanen passed Nathan MacKinnon who punctured the match in an empty cage at the end of the third period.
It was also an assist for Sebastian Aho, whose Carolina Hurricanes beat the Detroit Red Wings 2-1 on away ice. Aho was noted for the primary assist to the Hurricane’s winning goal in the third period.
– We had tested the variant where Aho leaves the puck for me once before, and this time there was no defender who was close enough so I could choose a suitable hole and insert the puck, explains goal scorer Nino Niederreiter on NHL.com.
Joel Kiviranta, in turn, passed Dallas’ only goal of the game against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Stars won the match after penalties. Patrik Laine, who was benched by coach John Tortorella in Columbus’ last game, was allowed to play for over 20 minutes.
Resultat, NHL:
Minnesota–Arizona 4–1
ARI Antti Raanta 31/34 räddningar
Detroit–Carolina 1–2
CAR Sebastian Aho 0 +1, +1, 20:38
Columbus – Dallas 1-2 after penalties
CBJ Joonas Korpisalo 34/35
CBJ Patrik Laine 0 + 0, -1, 21:40
DAL Miro Heiskanen 0 + 0, +/- 0, 26:31
DAL Roope Hintz 0+0, -1, 15:34
DAL Joel Kiviranta 0 + 1, +1, 11:45
DAL Esa Lindell 0 + 0, +/- 0, 22:05
New Jersey – NY Islanders 2-3 after penalties
NJD Janne Kuokkanen 1 + 0, +/- 0, 13:08
NJD Sami Vatanen 0 + 0, +/- 0, 16:59
NYI Leo Komarov 0 + 0, +/- 0, 10:35
Colorado – Los Angeles 4–1
COL Joonas Donskoi 1 + 0, +1, 12:18
COL Mikko Rantanen 0 + 1, +/- 0, 16:02
Ottawa–Toronto 4–3
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