NHL Saturday: Penguins win in Kessel’s return to Toronto

Kessel played 453 games with the Maple Leafs (including playoffs) over six seasons before his trade to Pittsburgh in the offseason. And yet, the Maple Leafs fans booed him every time he touched the puck on Saturday. If that seemed unfair, one of his teammates took issue with another factor of the game: the lack of a video tribute.

It never fails. Every two weeks or so, an NHL goalie will try to play the puck behind his own net and end up turning over the puck. He either can’t get back in front of the net in time and is left standing around looking guilty, or he dramatically dives to stop a shot that found the back of the net two seconds earlier.

Sigh. Roll the tape.

There are plenty of things to take away from 3-on-3 overtime in the NHL so far this season. One of them is that gaining separation for an open shot in the offensive zone is harder to do than you’d expect.

That’s some serious speed and strength on the puck, not to mention the deception that made it happen. It’s not a stretch to say this is the best overtime goal of the season so far.

Larkin was initially denied on a scoring chance by the Senators goalie, but scampered back to retrieve the puck quickly and blazed around the net for one of the best wraparound goals you’ll see.

There one minute, gone the next. Textbook. That’s his third goal and eighth point of the year, good enough for fourth overall in rookie scoring.

Life as a Leafs fan is tough. They rarely have successful seasons, they trade away their best players and they haven’t won a cup in over 50 years. This would drive any fan to their nearest bar.

Which brings us to this amazing photo from someone in a bar in Toronto on Saturday.