After an advantageous start to the game, the Ottawa Senators collapsed against the New York Rangers on Saturday evening at the Canadian Tire Center and had to prevail 7-2.
With his club trailing 2-0, Alexis Lafrenière initiated his team's comeback by halving the score at the start of the second half. He took advantage of a chance rebound from Artemi Panarin's shot to deceive the alertness of Joonas Korpisalo.
The rest was a nightmare for the local favorites, who conceded four more goals and returned to the dressing room 5-2 down. Chris Kreider, Zac Jones, Jonny Brodzinski and Blake Wheeler were the authors of these successes.
After conceding four goals from 17 shots, Korpisalo was replaced by Mads Soagard. The latter admitted defeat twice in eleven shots. As if that wasn't enough, Panarin in the empty net and Kaapo Kakko added to the injury.
Lafrenière ended his evening of work with two points, as did Kreider and Mika Zibanejad. Panarin was his team's most productive player with three points.
Brady Tkachuk and Jakob Chychrun responded for the Ottawa club.
A 40th goal for Matthews
The Toronto Maple Leafs got their second win in less than a week against the Winnipeg Jets, winning 4-2.
Auston Matthews scored his 40th goal of the season by beating Connor Hellebuyck with a slapshot on the power play. With this performance, he became the fastest player in Maple Leafs history to amass 600 points.
If he keeps up this torrid pace, Matthews could finish the season with 71 goals. Only eight players in the history of the National Hockey League have accomplished such a feat.
In the win, Quebec's Simon Benoit scored his first goal of the season into an empty net. Ryan Reaves and John Tavares also scored for the Queen City team.
Dylan Samberg and Mason Appleton gave the Jets red lights.
Another loss for Patrick Roy's Islanders
The New York Islanders suffered their third straight loss as they lost 3-2 in overtime to the Florida Panthers.
Since arriving on the team's bench, Patrick Roy has a 1-2-1 record. His three defeats since taking office have each come by a single goal.
On Saturday, Kyle Palmieri forced overtime by scoring his team's second goal with 1:29 left in the game. The hope was short-lived, however, as Oliver Ekman-Larsson gave the Panthers victory just under two minutes into extra time.
Matthew Tkachuk and Sam Reinhart also scored goals for Paul Maurice's team. Simon Holmstrom brought the two teams back to level at the end of the second period.