Top-3: Adrian Kempe spoils Jaromir Jagr’s night in Pittsburgh

It was a quieter day in the NHL yesterday, with only three games on the schedule.

Without further ado, here’s what caught the eye on the Bettman circuit:

1. Adrian Kempe ruins Jaromir Jagr’s night in Pittsburgh

Yesterday, Jaromir Jagr was honored in Pittsburgh. It was the night he retired his jersey, and in addition to a rather spectacular speech and a presence on the ice for the warm-up, the Penguins wanted to honor him with a victory.

And to honor a Penguins legend, who better than another club legend, Sidney Crosby, to open the scoring.

It’s Penguins’ legends night at PPG Paints Arena! pic.twitter.com/JFov8kFTAT

– Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) February 18, 2024

That said, while Jagr took advantage of his time on the game’s description team mic to drop a live ” f*ck“, the Kings made sure to spoil the party, as Adrian Kempe hit the target twice rather than once to give the Kings a 2-1 lead.

His second, which turned out to be the winning goal, was scored on a shorthanded play.

Need a goal? @adriankempe‘s come to the rescue twice tonight. pic.twitter.com/Gp5PpdmRAv

– NHL (@NHL) February 19, 2024

Kempe’s two goals were enough to give the Kings the win.

Final score: 2-1.

2. Nine straight losses for the Coyotes

Things have been pretty bad for the Coyotes for a while now. In addition to a murky future in Arizona, the club simply isn’t winning any more.

Prior to yesterday’s game, they had lost their last eight games, and it was against the Avalanche that they were measuring themselves yesterday.

However, midway through the second period, the Coyotes were in a good position. Logan Cooley’s fine goal gave the desert team a 3-2 lead.

COOLEY, WHAT A SNIPE https://t.co/djE3NFuwys pic.twitter.com/K8AWVJKZmH

– Arizona Coyotes (@ArizonaCoyotes) February 19, 2024

However, Nathan MacKinnon provided the answer some twenty seconds later… and in the third period, Devon Toews gave the Avalanche the lead with a good shot.

Jonathan Drouin’s pass on the sequence was magnificent, by the way.

The Avalanche held on for a 4-3 win over the Coyotes.

The Arizona team is now 0-8-1 in its last nine games.

3. Islanders blow lead at MetLife Stadium

After the Flyers-Devils duel on Saturday night, it was the turn of the Islanders and Rangers to cross swords at MetLife Stadium in an away game.

The atmosphere was pretty frenzied… and Saquon Barkley, star ball carrier for the New York Giants in the NFL, made no secret of his enthusiasm.

That said, as for the game itself, we saw the Islanders take leads of 4-1 and 5-2… but in the end, we needed overtime, as the Rangers made a wild comeback in the third period.

And in the end, the Rangers completed the comeback in overtime thanks to an Artemi Panarin goal.

THE GOAL COUNTS. PANARIN SCORES THE OT-WINNER 10 SECONDS INTO OVERTIME pic.twitter.com/kh0ERRlNoZ

– B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) February 18, 2024

Patrick Roy’s Islanders really dropped a game in which they were in complete control.

A 6-5 victory for the Rangers in overtime.

Overtime

– Cale Makar Jack Johnson scored a spectacular goal yesterday.

– Mika Zibanejad and Artemi Panarin were emotional after the Rangers’ victory.

– Still.

– Last night’s results.

– Last night’s top scorers.

– 10 NHL games to watch today.