It was a tale of two returns on Saturday, as two of the NHL’s biggest stars came back from injuries on the same night. The outcomes were both similar and drastically different.
NHL scores 2015: Ovechkin scores, Seguin shines in returns from injuries
Two of the NHL’s brightest stars settled back in nicely on Saturday.
Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Alex Ovechkin missed some time last week with a lower-body injury, leaving the Capitals without the league's leading scorer for a brief moment. They lost the only game he missed, a contest in which they only managed to score once against the Minnesota Wild. It's safe to say Ovi's return was a welcome one.
And he delivered, scoring with a blistering wrister from the left circle (his favorite spot on the power play) to give Washington a two-goal lead over Buffalo. The Sabres collapsed at that point, and the Caps rolled to a 6-1 win with their captain.
Dallas welcomed a major player back as well, as Tyler Seguin completed his comeback from a knee injury that kept him out for a month. When he hit injured reserve in February, Seguin led even Ovechkin in goals and points. Now, both he and the Stars are left playing catch-up with the rest of the league.
Much like Ovechkin, Seguin didn’t miss a beat before scoring two goals for the Stars. But while he may have finally made a mark on the scoreboard, he couldn’t help the Stars from collapsing in on themselves in Tampa Bay. The playoffs fade further out of reach.
And that’s essentially the difference between the two reunions. While Ovechkin’s return was greeted as a bright sign of playoff fun yet to come, Seguin’s return was nothing more than a dim reminder of what could have been for Dallas this season.
Scores
Boston Bruins 3, Philadelphia Flyers 2 (OT)
Florida Panthers 4, New York Islanders 3 (SO)
St. Louis Blues 6, Toronto Maple Leafs 1
Tampa Bay Lightning 5, Dallas Stars 4
Washington Capitals 6, Buffalo Sabres 1
Montreal Canadiens 2, Arizona Coyotes 0
Pittsburgh Penguins 1, Los Angeles Kings 0 (OT)
3 things we learned
1. Something is wrong with Nashville.
Winnipeg was missing Dustin Byfuglien and Bryan Little and still managed to beat the Preds on their own ice. It was the sixth straight loss for Nashville, by far their worst stretch of the season. This isn't exactly the best time for the Preds to start dropping games. They may have a playoff spot locked up, but they're still in control of who they play in the first round. Something tells me they'd rather face Minnesota than Chicago, but if they don't get things turned around they might not have a choice.
2. There might still be a puck in Adam Pardy’s pants.
Because they never found it after it disappeared in there last night.
3. Toronto has never looked worse than they did on Saturday.
The fact we still have to keep raising the bar for awful performances by the Leafs is disconcerting. But their showing on Saturday was particularly pitiful; Toronto trailed 5-0 just minutes into the second period while getting outshot 28-10. The final ended up at 6-1 while Vladimir Tarasenko and his Blues buddies dangled around the Leafs all night. I'm sure Olli Jokinen got a real kick out of the whole thing.
Impact Moment
The Florida Panthers are riddled with the flu right now and had to lean on one of their young stars on Saturday. Aaron Ekblad and Tomas Kopecky sat out with the illness. Erik Gudbranson, Willie Mitchell and Jaromir Jagr rejoined the team after missing a game, but it was clear they were still laboring a bit. So Jonathan Huberdeau stepped up to the plate, breaking a 2-2 tie in the third period with this beauty of a spin move.
Florida gave up the lead again, but Huberdeau answered with the only goal in the shootout to give the Panthers a huge two points. They couldn’t have asked for more from him.
Stat of the Night
The tank continues.
By getting shut out tonight, Coyotes tied their most times shut out in a season since moving to Arizona at 9. Also did it in 02-03 & 08-09.
— Craig Morgan (@cmorganfoxaz) March 8, 2015 Post to Post
- Edmonton's only goal was a pretty spin-o-rama by Derek Roy.
- Adam Henrique's no-look, between-the-legs assist was beautiful.
- Finally, the Sabres forgot which sport they were playing.
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