Hockey

Top-5: Leafs in last place in the East this morning
Marc-Olivier Cook
Top-5: Leafs in last place in the East this morning
Credit: Screenshot/Twitter

There were only six games presented in the National League on Sunday.

But it wasn't a quiet day.

Let's find out what happened:

1: Things aren't going well for the Leafs

Yesterday afternoon, the Sabres took on the Hurricanes at home.

And it was the Sabres who won the game by a score of 4-1. Alex Tuch and Tage Thompson scored a goal apiece to help their club come away with the W.

That said…

With Buffalo's victory, the Leafs are now in last place in the Eastern standings. Yes, you read that right:

The Leafs have lost seven of their last eight games, and it really looks like the ship is sinking in Toronto.

You'll tell me the standings are really tight – and I'll tell you you're right – but… still.

Expectations were high for the Leafs, and clearly, the loss of Mitch Marner is hurting the Queen City more than anyone could have imagined :

(Credit: Screenshot / NHL.com)

2: Jesper Wallsted is unbeatable

Jesper Wallsted is on fire. Really on fire.

Prior to yesterday's game, the Wild goaltender had recorded two shutouts in his last three starts. And you guessed it: yesterday, Wallsted once again managed to blank his opponent.

Wild's 3-0 win over the Jets :

In his last four games, Wallsted has allowed an average of 0.75 goals per game… and has an efficiency rate of .978.

Wow!

The Wild goalie is really establishing himself as one of the best in the league. We knew he had enormous potential… and we're seeing it right now.

He's one of the players to watch in the National League, at the time of writing.

3: Morgan Geekie is having quite a season

Things are going better than we thought for the San Jose Sharks. They were able to beat the Bruins 3-1 last night, and Macklin Celebrini stood out with a goal and an assist.

The Sharks' star scored a sublime goal, by the way:

Morgan Geekie was the Bruins' one and only scorer in the game. And it's worth mentioning… because he's now scored 17 goals so far this season.

He's tied with Nathan MacKinnon atop the NHL scoring charts, and no one could have predicted that before the start of the campaign.

At least, I didn't have that on my bingo card…

4: Flames find their rhythm

The Flames were visiting Vancouver last night, and the Canucks didn't mess around with the puck.

It took just 65 seconds before they scored the game's first goal:

But… that goal seemed to whip Calgary's lineup into a frenzy, as they went on to score five unanswered goals in the game.

Blake Coleman scored his team's fifth, and in fine style at that. He now has 300 career points in the National Hockey League:

The Flames won by a score of 5-2, making it three wins in a row.

It's Calgary's best streak of the season. Now, it remains to be seen whether the Flames can build on it to get back on track…

5: Who will beat the Avalanche?

Nathan MacKinnon and Connor Bedard had a duel on their hands last night.

But it was Cale Makar who came out on top, scoring his 9th goal of the campaign. He's good:

Makar was the only scorer in the game: Scott Wedgewood stopped all 22 shots he faced to earn the shutout… and he sent a pretty clear message to Team Canada's Olympic leaders in the process.

He wants to make the club.

The Avalanche now have a 16-1-5 record since the start of the season. The club is virtually unbeatable in regulation time… and that's a sight to behold.


Extension

– Wow.

– Top scorers of the evening :

(Credit: Screenshot / NHL.com)

– Seven games tonight :

(Credit: Screenshot / Google)
facebook icon Share twitter icon Tweet linkedin icon Share
Copied!