Key moments belonged to NHL stars on Friday.
NHL scores 2015: Devils no match for John Tavares, Stamkos scores winner for Lightning
The league’s elite made magic.
Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports
Across the NHL, teams jumped on the backs of their best players en route to victories. This happens a lot in hockey, but to see it uniformly occur in each game on a single night was a treat to watch unfold.
It began in New Jersey, where John Tavares almost single-handedly took down the Islanders' division rivals. He answered Travis Zajac's opening goal by assisting on New York's equalizer. When New Jersey regained the lead, Tavares netted a goal of his own to even the game again. He then finished the Devils off with an overtime game-winner. It was quite the show of force from one of the league's elite forwards.
Not to be outdone, Steven Stamkos continued his campaign for the Maurice Richard trophy with a game-winning tally against the Sabres. The Lightning captain now has 22 tallies on the year, just four behind league leader Tyler Seguin. With two goals in three games, Stamkos is quietly chasing down the NHL's statistical leaders.
Even the Toronto Maple Leafs got their stars involved in a win they desperately needed. James van Riemsdyk and Phil Kessel took quite a beating in the press in the last week, but they both came out with huge games on Friday. Kessel had a goal and an assist, and van Riemsdyk registered two goals and three points on the night.
All the NHL Scores
Islanders 3, Devils 2 (OT)
Lightning 2, Sabres 1
Maple Leafs 5, Blue Jackets 2
Oilers 5, Blackhawks 2
Three things we learned
1. New Jersey’s netminders still don’t get any help. Watching Cory Schneider play well and end up with a loss has become a tired refrain for the Devils. But it appears that even their backup isn’t immune to the lack of offensive support. Aside from a weird hiccup goal midway through the game, Keith Kinkaid played good enough to earn a win. But the Devils couldn’t find the offense they needed to finish the job.
2. Toronto played its most complete game of the season. Everything they were missing under Randy Carlyle was there on Friday. They were tighter and more energetic defensively. They took a big lead and held it thanks to a dominating effort in puck possession. It’s a small sample size, but Leafs fans have to be encouraged with what they’ve seen under new management.
Congratulations to the @NHL for creating the dumbest ASG jersey possible. pic.twitter.com/sh31u0jV2I
— Embellished Opinion (@The_Noogie) January 10, 2015 Impact Moment
It probably took longer than they anticipated, but the New York Islanders finally finished off the Devils in overtime thanks to Tavares’ second goal.
Stat of the Night
Since Tavares began his NHL career in 2009-10, only Alex Ovechkin and Steven Stamkos have more regular season overtime goals (8). #NYIvsNJD
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) January 10, 2015 Post to Post
- The end result was good, but the Maple Leafs were falling all over themselves when the game began.
- Buffalo lost, but the team’s goalie still made one of the best saves of the season.
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