The sweep of the NHL starts in Washington, where the New York Rangers were buoyed by a strong effort from rookie Jimmy Vesey in a 4-2 win.
Vesey was gifted with a perfect pass from Rick Nash down low to the left of Braden Holtby to snap home the game-tying goal in the second.
“The last couple games, I think I’ve had a lot of chances and our line’s had a lot of chances, but they just haven’t gone in, and it’s a tough league to play in and an even tougher league to score in, so this gives me a lot of confidence going forward,” Vesey said.
Vesey then notched the game-winner on a power move down the right side and across the crease for the winner.
“They dug in there, found a way to keep it out of the net, and they got a little momentum, got it tied up, and then they came at us a little bit in the second period,” Capitals coach Barry Trotz said. “Wasn’t a lot of shots, wasn’t a lot of chances, but all their chances went in.”
Brandon Pirri scored the first Ranger goal of the night on a writer from the high slot that fooled Holtby and Rick Nash scored an empty-netter to seal it.
Henrik Lundqvist started off slow yielding two first period goals but settled down to blank Washington the rest of the way.
“I loved the way we win this game, the way we battled, the way we believed in ourselves and our system,” Lundqvist said. “I thought we played a really strong game. Being down two after the first, it was tough, but I think we all thought we could do it.
“The way we’ve been playing, we’ve been creating a lot of good chances, enough chances to score a lot against good teams.”
The Nashville Predators hosted the Pittsburgh Penguins Saturday and handled them well in a 5-1 win.
A big four-goal second period was the deciding factor in the win.
Viktor Arvidsson and Kevin Fiala each had two goals in the victory.
“I think we got the puck behind them and we played with speed and threw pucks to the net and went to the net,” Arvidsson said. “I think that’s a big part. We battled and we scored goals.”
Mike Fisher, Colton Sissons, Craig Smith, Pekka Rinne did not play because of food poisoning.
Scott Wilson was the lone Pens goal scorer.
“You’ve got to make the right decisions out there,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. “It’s a big part of playing this game and controlling momentum and not giving teams an opportunity to get the types of scoring chances that they got. We have to become a more difficult team to play against. It starts with our decision making, but it’s more than just that at this point.”
Calle Jarnkrok also score4d for the Preds.
Juuse Saros was called up from the Milwaukee Admirals of the AHL and stopped 34 shots in the win.
“We could’ve [gone] out there and hoped our way through the game or waited for lucky bounces or whatever, but every guy in this room, we went out there and we attacked the game,” the Predators Ryan Johansen said. “ We won it full force, especially with them scoring a goal like that early on as well. We kept our composure, and [Saros] was phenomenal, our backbone back there definitely tonight. And we just attacked, and we went out there and we tried to win a game,”
The Chicago Blackhawks and their fans could be excused for being a bit distracted what with the Chicago Cubs clinching their first World Series appearance since 1945 on Saturday in their game with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Trailing by two goals late in the game, Artem Anisimov and Richard Panik scored with just 1:28 left in regulation to send the game to extra time.
“[We’re] certainly fortunate to come back in a game like that,” Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said. “[There’s] been a lot of comebacks in the League this year and we’ve given up some leads ourselves. That was a little different way of going about it.”
Jonathan Toews and Artemi Panarin scored in the skills competition to make the difference in the 5-4 win.
Anisimov had two goals in regulation and Tyler Motte also scored for the Hawks.
William Nylander had two goals for the Leafs.
Frederik Andersen took the loss on 29 saves and Scott Darling got the win on 30 saves.
“I think the big thing here is we’ve played one at home and four on the road (this season),” Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock said. “We’ve managed to get points on the road. We could’ve won every game we’ve played in. We’ve got to find a way to put away the other team, for sure, especially in a situation like tonight, but lots of positive things for us.”
James van Riemsdyk and Tyler Bozak also scored for the Leafs in regulation.
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