Top 5: Sabres completely crush the Lightning

Mathis Therrien
Top 5: Sabres completely crush the Lightning
Credit: Capture d'écran Twitter

It was our first Saturday of National Hockey League hockey since the return from the Olympic break, and we were treated to plenty of action.

Across 13 games, several highlights caught our attention.

Here is a recap of the day's hockey action.

1. The Sabres make short work of the Lightning

The Lightning have been comfortably leading the Atlantic Division for quite some time now, and let's just say that no team is threatening their position in the standings.

Tampa Bay dominates its division rivals in virtually every game.

However, last night, the Tampa Bay Lightning were completely shut out at home by the Buffalo Sabres, who are second in the division.

The Sabres won 6-2, after taking a 5-0 lead very early in the game.

It wasn't an ideal result for the Montreal Canadiens, but at least several of their direct rivals in the playoff race lost.

The Red Wings, Leafs, Bruins, and Blue Jackets all lost yesterday.

(Credit: NHL.com)

2. Macklin Celebrini scores into an empty net during the game

We all know about the struggles of the Edmonton Oilers' goalies, and last night we saw a perfect example of this situation when the Oilers visited the San Jose Sharks.

Connor Ingram looked foolish when, after losing his stick during play, he left his net to retrieve it, which unfortunately led to an empty-net goal by Macklin Celebrini.

Ingram thought the Oilers had recovered the puck, so he went to retrieve his stick, but the Sharks were quicker off the mark.

In the end, the Oilers lost 5-4, by just one goal, which makes this sequence even more painful to watch.

3. A completely failed empty net attempt for Markstrom

The New Jersey Devils led the St. Louis Blues 2-0 last night, forcing the Blues to pull their goalie late in the game.

And with an empty net, we all know every goalie's dream is to score a goal.

Well, Jacob Markstrom tried for that empty net, but his attempt was completely botched and destroyed when Pavel Buchnevich blocked the puck and then scored.

It could have cost the Devils dearly, but in the end, they still won 3-1.

4. Hats thrown for a fake hat trick

The Seattle Kraken won 5-1 last night against the Vancouver Canucks.

And in that game, Kraken forward Jordan Eberle had a great performance, scoring two goals and one assist.

However, that assist was initially counted as a goal for Eberle, before ultimately being awarded to Matty Beniers, who slightly touched the puck with his skate.

It was extremely light contact from Beniers, but apparently it was enough to change the goal scorer.

And in the end, that change in scorer wasn't recognized by Kraken fans, who, for the second time this season, threw their hats on the ice for a fake hat trick.

They began celebrating a hat trick when Eberle scored into an empty net, even though it was only Eberle's second goal of the game.

5. The linesman does his job from the players' bench

In the New York Rangers' 3-2 shootout victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins, we witnessed a strange scene involving a linesman.

Penguins forward Avery Hayes collided with linesman Steve Barton, sending Barton crashing into the Rangers' bench.

However, this did not prevent him from remaining on his feet and doing his job, checking for offside during the sequence.


Overtime

– Here are all of yesterday's results.

— Here are yesterday's top scorers.

(Credit: NHL.com)

– Today's NHL schedule features six games.

(Credit: Google/NHL)
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