Hockey

Top-5: Leafs fall below .500 with 5th straight loss
Mathis Therrien
Top-5: Leafs fall below .500 with 5th straight loss
Credit: Twitter screenshot

After a quiet Friday, there was the usual big Saturday in the National Hockey League, with 13 games on the schedule.

So there was plenty of action, with a few standouts.

Here they are.

1. Leafs fall below .500

Things aren't going well in Toronto right now, as the Maple Leafs suffered their fifth consecutive defeat yesterday, losing 3-2 in regulation time to the Blackhawks in Chicago.

Colton Dach scored the winning goal for the Hawks with only minutes left in the game.

And not only is it a fifth straight loss for the Leafs, it's also one that takes them below .500.

Toronto is now 8-9-2 after 19 games, putting Craig Berube's team in 15th place in the Eastern Conference, with only the Buffalo Sabres behind them.

The Sabres are two points behind and have a game in hand on the Leafs.

In short, things are going very badly for Toronto, and the loss of Mitch Marner is being felt more than ever, given that it's been a long time since the Leafs found themselves in such a situation.

We were used to seeing the Leafs at the top of the table throughout the regular season, but now a poor start to the season has put them in a bit of hot water.

2. Tage Thompson makes two superb plays against the Wings

Here's one we've heard a lot about in recent days, given that his name has been linked to the Montreal Canadiens.

Thompson is all about hockey, and he proved it yesterday with two magnificent sequences in the Buffalo Sabres' 5-4 overtime win over the Detroit Red Wings.

First, Thompson scored a superb goal, carrying the puck from one end of the rink to the other.

And then, in overtime, Thompson went all out, tackling the Wings defenseman hard to retrieve the puck for Mattias Samuelsson, who gave the Sabres the win.

In short, two superb games from Thompson, proving once again just what a hockey player he is.

He now has 16 points, including eight goals, in 18 games.

3. Jason Robertson scores a hat-trick

After scoring two goals at the Bell Centre on Thursday in the Habs' shocking 7-0 defeat, Jason Robertson continued his fine form last night with a hat trick.

The Dallas Stars forward scored three goals in a 5-1 win over the Philadelphia Flyers.

Robertson now has nine points in his last three games, giving him a total of 23 points, including nine goals, in 19 games.

4. A first NHL goal for Braeden Bowman

I don't know about you, but it seems like the Vegas Golden Knights always come up with new players out of nowhere.

And not only are they unknown, they become good hockey players, like Pavel Dorofeyev.

Well, last night, a new unknown player scored his first NHL goal in his 2nd career game.

I'm talking about Braeden Bowman, a 22-year-old Canadian right-winger who was never drafted.

Bowman scored his powerplay goal on the Golden Knights' first unit, and it turned out to be the winning goal in the Knights' 4-1 win over the St. Louis Blues.

5. Three points for Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl

Things are quietly picking up for the Edmonton Oilers, and with them Connor McDavid's climb back up the NHL scoring charts.

Last night, McDavid, along with Leon Draisaitl, scored three points in a 4-3 overtime win over the Carolina Huricanes.

With his three points, McDavid now ranks 2nd among NHL scorers with 30 points, including nine goals, in 20 games, putting him just three points behind Nathan MacKinnon and his 33 points at the top.


Extra time

– Here are all yesterday's results.

– Here are yesterday's top scorers.

(Credit: NHL.com)

– Today's NHL schedule: five games.

(Credit: Google/NHL)
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