Mitch Marner had a point in his 18th straight game and helped the Maple Leafs win their fifth straight game on Wednesday in Toronto as they defeated the San Jose Sharks 3-1.
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Marner seemed unwilling to extend his winning streak, but Pierre Engvall broke a 1-1 draw with less than three minutes remaining in regular time. Marner then took advantage of the situation, the Haie had removed their goaltender in favor of a sixth fielder, to shoot the puck into the empty goal.
The small forward of the Toronto formation thus equaled a Maple Leafs organization record and collected a point for the 18th game in a row. He joins Darryl Sittler and Eddie Olczyk who shared this record. He will have a chance to make a new mark when his team visits Tampa to face the Lightning on Saturday.
Auston Matthews scored the other goal for the winners early in the second period.
In front of the crowd favorites’ cage, Ilya Samsonov, injured since November 5, successfully returned to the game, blocking 23 of the 24 pucks aimed at him. He only gave up on a throw by Matt Nieto, just over three minutes after Matthews’ hit.
In addition, head coach Sheldon Keefe announced after the game that forward Calle Jarnkrok had sustained a groin injury and would be out indefinitely.
The sabers are afraid
In Detroit, the Buffalo Sabers gambled away a three-goal lead in the third half but rallied on penalties and eventually defeated the Red Wings 5-4.
The visitors led 4-1 after 40 minutes but the crowd’s favorites kept their hopes alive after David Perron’s goal.
Oskar Sundqvist then took matters into his own hands, cutting back to just one goal and equalizing 110 seconds later.
As the third shooter in the shootout for the Sabers, Jack Quinn was the only skater to hit the target and give his team the win.
However, it was another young player, Dylan Cozens, who led his side’s attack during the regular 60 minutes, shaking the ropes twice.
The senators meet Halak
In Ottawa, the Senators tried their best to solve the Jaroslav Halak mystery, but the bouncer had the last laugh, helping the New York Rangers 3-1.
The former Montreal Canadiens masked man was almost perfect, allowing Shane Pinto just one goal in the second half. Among other things, Halak closed the door to the “Sens” with three numerical advantages.
Rangers offensively benefited from the nets of Jimmy Vesey, Barclay Goodrow and Chris Kreider in the first, second and last third.