NHL scores 2017: Thomas Vanek finally pays off for Panthers in a rout

Mike Babcock tossed his nuclear option onto the ice in the second period on Tuesday.

That’s the colloquial name for the rare times he puts wonder-rookies Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner on the ice together to spark something. Anything. And it happened pretty early this time.

That’s all thanks to one Thomas Vanek, the lone notable trade deadline acquisition for the Florida Panthers. Up until this week, he’d been a quiet acquisition with just one point in five games.

He made up for it in spades against the Toronto Maple Leafs. By the end of the night, Vanek had assists on four of the Panthers’ seven goals in a rout. It was the kind of win (over a fellow wild card hunter, no less) that could pull the Panthers out of their latest downswing.

And what a pendulum. Florida has gone from dead team skating after a coaching change to a hot February to another lengthy losing streak to this rout on Tuesday.

With just a dozen or so games left, this is the right time to turn that swing around again.

Islanders 3, Hurricanes 2 (OT)

Lightning 2, Senators 1 (OT)

Oilers 7, Stars 1

Jets 0, Devils 0, Snow 1 (Postponed)

Sabres 1, Sharks 1

Capitals 4, Wild 2

Blackhawks 4, Canadiens 2

Panthers 7, Maple Leafs 2

Kings 1, Coyoets 0

1. OVECHKIN LIVES

You can probably count the number of times Alex Ovechkin has gone ten games without a goal in his career on one hand. It’s a strange occurrance. The Halley’s Comet of hockey.

So of course Ovechkin snapped his ten-game goal drought on Tuesday in a highly anticipated matchup between the NHL’s two division leaders ... and helped the Capitals snap their own four-game slide in the process.

2. The Dallas Stars have punted on the rest of the season

Not sure how else to describe the mess in Edmonton on Tuesday. The 7-1 loss had all the hallmarks of Dallas’ failings this season: oddly anemic offense, defensemen getting lost in their own zone, and goalies failing to make easy saves expected of any NHL goalie.

The season can’t end soon enough, it seems. But they did make a good college signing Monday night, so there’s that.

3. Bruce Boudreau has tie problems

And it drove us absolutely bonkers for an hour.

Ottawa fell, but Mike Condon put together one of the best starts by a goalie this season. Not to mention one of the best save sequences, too.