NHL: Thursday match round up - Part 1
Sixteen teams faced off against each other in the National Hockey league yesterday. Thursday saw some interesting encounters and bettor.com brings you the complete round up of all the action.
Boston Bruins 6 – Edmonton Oilers 3
The current Stanley Cup holders look finally like the side that stormed to the pinnacle of NHL last season. As a shaky start to the season is forgotten the Bruins side oozed confidence as they won yesterday at the TD Garden in
Boston.
Winger Brad Marchand scored two and goal tender Tuukka Rask made 27 saves as the Bruins won their fourth straight match. Jordan Caron scored his first goal this season while Johnny Boychuk, Tyler Seguin, and Milan Lucic also got
on the score sheet.
Ryan Smyth scored two goals for the Oilers but his efforts were not enough to prevent the defeat.
The Bruins take their record to 7-7-0 and rise to fourth in the Northeastern Division after this win.
Chicago Blackhawks 6 – Columbus Blue Jackets 3
The Blackhawks could not have wished for a better match up as they looked to end their three game losing streak at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio.
The Blue Jackets have the unwanted title of the worst team in the NHL with a shocking 2-12-1 record and just five points this season. The Blue Jackets also are the worst on the penalty kill and the Blackhawks struggling power play
line up found the net twice during the game whereas before they just managed it 5 times from 57 opportunities.
Jonathan Toews scored twice in the first period and Steve Montador got his first goal of the season with Andrew Brunette, Patrick Kane and Marian Hossa also got on the score sheet with the Blackhawks leading 6-1 at the start of
the third period.
Grant Clitsome got the Blue Jackets first goal in the first period and scored another at the end of the third period with Mark Letestu also getting on the score sheet for the first time this season to make it 6-3 leaving the Blue
Jackets at the bottom of the overall NHL league standings.
Toronto Maple Leafs 3 – St. Louis Blues 2 (SO)
The Toronto Maple Leafs ended a two game losing streak yesterday with a shootout victory over the St. Louis Blues.
The Maple Leafs took a two goal lead in the first period but were pegged back by the St. Louis Blues with a goal each in the second and third period. With no team able to gain an advantage during overtime a tense shootout was on
the cards. Maple Leaf goal tender Ben Scrivens made 38 saves during the game to keep his team in the match.
Phil Kessel scored the only goal in the shootout beating Blues goal tender Jaroslav Halak to win the game 3-2 for the Maple Leafs.
The Maple Leafs are top of the Northeast Division with a 10-5-1 record after this win with the Blues remaining third in the Central Division with a 7-7-1 record.
Florida Panthers 5 – Winnipeg Jets 2
Winnipeg Jets lost their fourth straight game yesterday with a poor performance against the Florida Panthers.
Kris Versteeg got his first hat trick game in the NHL to lead Panthers to a 5-2 victory. He also added an assist in a fine all round performance. Versteeg scored two goals in the first period as the Panthers took control of the
game over a Jets side in awe of their opponents. Jason Garrison and Mike Santorelli gave the Panthers a 4-0 lead in the second period with the Panthers looking in total control of the proceedings.
The Jets had a mini comeback in the third period with Tim Stapleton scoring his first goal of the season and Andrew Ladd halving the Panthers lead to make it 4-2. Versteeg completed his hat trick at the end of the third period
to make the game safe and give Jets their fourth straight loss.
Florida Panthers now lead the Southeast division with a 8-4-3 record and 19 points with the Jets languishing at the bottom.
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