Once again, the NHL followed up a terrific Saturday night of hockey with a significantly quieter sequel the next evening.
NHL scores 2014: Maple Leafs surge past Kings, Blackhawks put out Flames
And then the Oilers and Rangers put everyone to sleep.
John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports
That’s not entirely fair. Only three games were played Sunday night, and each got progressively less competitive as the night went on, with hot streaks burning and regression increasing.
The night started with a spirited affair between the Los Angeles Kings and Toronto Maple Leafs in Canada. The surging Leafs sprung out to a two-goal lead but watched the defending champions whittle it away for the next two periods. But, momentum in hockey is a difficult thing to battle, and the red-hot Leafs were able to tie the game late and win in a shootout.
Attention then shifted to Chicago, where the Blackhawks hosted the spiraling Calgary Flames after a tough loss on Saturday. In a sure sign that regression is starting to set in hard for Calgary, the Flames were unable to get anything going against the Blackhawks' backup netminder in a 2-1 loss.
The evening finished up in Edmonton, where two teams apparently played hockey until one of them won. Or at least that’s what we heard, we fell asleep watching the most boring game of the season.
All the NHL Scores
Toronto Maple Leafs 4, Los Angeles Kings 3 (SO)
Chicago Blackhawks 2, Calgary Flames 1
Three things we learned
1. The Rangers and Oilers combined for one of the most uneventful games this season. The two clubs totaled just 25 shots through two periods, and the few legitimate scoring chances created were fairly tame. This is really a credit to Edmonton -- New York had just come off a 5-1 win in Vancouver Saturday, so the fact the Oilers were able to slow them down to a crawl and keep them within arm’s length should not go unpraised.
2. The Flames are regressing right on schedule. With a fantastic start led by an unsustainable 104.6 PDO in late October, we all knew the Flames would regress. The only question was when it would start. It appears the answer to that question was “before Christmas.“ After losing in Chicago the Flames have dropped five in a row and are regressing hard.
3. Toronto is pretty much unbeatable right now. Remember when Toronto lost 9-2 to the Nashville Predators a few weeks ago? Imagine telling a Leafs fan after the game that their team would follow that up with a 9-1-1 stretch of hockey. You'd either get laughed at or make them cry. With a gritty 4-3 shootout win over the Kings, the Leafs extended one of the more remarkable runs of play in sports this year.
Impact Moment
He probably didn't intend to troll Boston, but it had to sting Bruins and Red Sox fans to see ex-Boston pitcher Jon Lester wearing a Blackhawks jersey Sunday. You know, the team that beat the Bruins in the Stanley Cup Final two years ago.
Jon Lester wearing a #Blackhawks jersey at tonight's game. pic.twitter.com/h7muPCDjao
— Scott King (@ScottKingMedia) December 15, 2014 Stat of the Night
Former Predators and Florida Panthers goalie Tomas Vokoun has decided to retire after 16 seasons in the NHL. He'll go down as one of the most underrated goalies of his time. Don't believe us? Just take a look at his stats.
Tomas Vokoun has called it a career. Goaltender won 306 of the 700 games he played in, put up a 2.55 GAA and .917 save percentage.
— Stephen Whyno (@SWhyno) December 15, 2014
Post to Post
- Los Angeles' comeback was too little, too late.
- Brandon Saad completed a terrific run of hockey with a game-winner Sunday.
- Finally, the Blackhawks traded Jeremy Morin to Columbus for Tim Erixon.
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