The Toronto Maple Leafs no longer know who to turn to or which goalie to trust after suffering a bitter 9-3 loss to the Sabers on Thursday night in Buffalo.
The Queen City team will have some work to do in practice as they have allowed seven goals at five-on-five, one on the power play and one on the shootout. But the real problem seemed to lie in front of the network.
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Ilya Samsonov started the game, but his workday ended after 28 minutes as the Russian allowed five of the 19 shots he received. Martin Jones couldn't have done better, with 12 saves on 16 shots.
The Sabers scored three goals per period, four of which came from Jeff Skinner and Kyle Okposo. Alex Tuch led his team with four assists. Quebec goaltender Devon Levi secured the win with 25 saves.
On Wednesday, the Buffalo club allowed nine goals to the Columbus Blue Jackets.
On the setback, Auston Matthews scored his 26th goal of the season. The American scored twelve goals in eight games in December.
Ovechkin, finally!
Speaking of the sniper, that one collapsed, Alexander Ovechkin shaking off his torpor by scoring an overtime game-winner in a game that ended 3-2 in favor of the Washington Capitals against the Columbus Blue Jackets.
The Russian scored his sixth goal of the season on a power play, beating Elvis Merzlikins with a wrist shot. It was his first win since November 18th, again against the Jackets.
The extra time was mainly characterized by an exchange of blows between Merzlikins and “Caps” striker Tom Wilson. The Latvian goalkeeper caught the plague in his net to give him a correction.
Anthony Mantha stood out with two goals, while Charlie Lindgren added the win to his tally.
Three times four
In Tampa, a goal by Nick Paul with 1:13 left in the third period gave the Lightning a 5-4 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights.
Four home team players had three points: Paul, Brayden Point, Victor Hedman and Nikita Kucherov. The latter extended his lead at the top of the points standings with 57 points in 33 games.
Jonathan Marchessault scored two goals for the Knights. His team suffered its third defeat in four duels.