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The Vancouver Canucks had enough. On Sunday night, rumors swirled that the Canucks had fired coach Travis Green and replaced him with veteran coach Bruce Boudreau.
This is a good move by Vancouver as the 66-year-old Boudreau is a players coach and should provide some calm and make the game fun again for the Canucks. Boudreau has always been a great coach in the regular season, his downfall has come in the playoffs.
The Canucks wish they had such problems this season.
There were six games on the Sunday slate.
TAMPA BAY 7 PHILADELPHIA 1
Corey Perry scored twice and added an assist as the Tampa Bay Lightning pummeled the Philadelphia Flyers 7-1 Sunday.
It was the Flyers eighth straight loss as they are 0-6-2 in that span. Alain Vigneault has to be concerned about losing his job as Philadelphia are 8-10-2 and losing contact with the rest of the Metropolitan Division.
The Lightning started Brian Elliott against his former teammates as he had played the last four seasons in Philadelphia before signing in the off-season with Tampa Bay. Elliott was spectacular for the first time this season as he stopped 38 shots, allowing only a power play goal by Cam Atkinson to ruin his shutout. It was the first game for Tampa Bay in which Elliott had allowed less than three goals in his five starts. Atkinson is 3-1-1 with a 2.73 GAA and a .909 save percentage.
Perry’s two goal effort gives him five this season as well as nine points with all five goals and seven points coming in the last seven games. He looks to finally be fantasy-worthy at this time.
Defenseman Ryan McDonagh opened the scoring and added a pair of assists while Mathieu Joseph had a goal and an assist for Tampa Bay.
Boris Katchouk scored his first career NHL goal Sunday in his 16th game of the season. Taylor Raddysh accomplished the same feat on Saturday and doubled his goal count Sunday by lighting the lamp. Pat Maroon with his fifth of the season, also scored for the Lightning.
It was not a good night for Philadelphia goaltender Carter Hart who gave up five goals on 15 shots before he was pulled at the 8:34 mark of the second period. Martin Jones finished up and gave up a pair of goals on 12 shots the rest of the way.
Victor Hedman and Ross Colton each had three assists.
Jan Rutta saw 18:22 of action and while he did not pick up a point, he did manage to be a plus-five while defense partner Hedman was a plus-four.
Keith Yandle was a minus-four for the Flyers.
Cal Foote had a pair of minor penalties.
SAN JOSE 4 COLUMBUS 6
Defenseman Adam Boqvist scored twice in leading the Columbus Blue Jackets to a 6-4 win over the San Jose Sharks.
It was the end of a grueling road trip for the Sharks as they lost their last two games after winning the first three.
Elvis Merzlikins returned to the cage for Columbus after missing the last two games with a non-COVID illness. He was well enough to back up Daniil Tarasov in the previous two contests and was deemed okay to play Sunday. Merzlikins stopped 30 shots in halting a four-game Columbus losing streak. Merzlikins is 10-4-0 with a 2.72 GAA and a .920 save percentage. Merzlikins has taken over the starter’s net from Joonas Korpisalo who seems to be headed out of town as he is a pending UFA and it does not seem like the Blue Jackets are interested in him coming back next season.
Sean Kuraly, Cole Sillinger and Jack Roslovic scored while Alexandre Texier had a goal and an assist.
Nick Bonino, Erik Karlsson, Brent Burns and Tomas Hertl replied for San Jose.
Adin Hill gave up five goals on 29 shots in taking his second straight loss. He is 5-7-0 with a 2.79 GAA and a .901 save percentage.
Matt Nieto and Timo Meier each had two assists for the Sharks.
Meier had seven shots on goal.
Logan Couture was a minus-four.
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CHICAGO 3 NEW YORK ISLANDERS 2 (Shootout)
Patrick Kane scored the only goal of the shootout as Marc-Andre Fleury stopped all three shots in the shootout as well as 22 shots in regulation and overtime as the Chicago Blackhawks defeated the slumping New York Islanders 3-2.
It was the Islanders 11th straight loss although they have managed two points this weekend as both games went into extra time.
It was Fleury’s 499th win of his career as he is 7-9-0 with a 2.82 GAA and a .913 save percentage.
Brandon Hagel with his eighth of the season, opened the scoring with a power play goal for the only goal of the opening period while Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored only his second of the campaign for the only goal of the second.
Dylan Strome made it a 2-1 game in the third as an errant pass made its way over to Strome who buried it past Semyon Varlamov. The Islanders tied it with the net empty and only four seconds to go in the third as Noah Dobson wristed a shot from the top of the circle past Fleury for his first of the season, sending the game into extra time.
Varlamov picked up his first point of the season as he is now 0-4-1. Varlamov made 24 saves and has a 3.17 GAA and a .888 save percentage.
Mathew Barzal assisted on both Islanders goals.
Zdeno Chara had six hits.
TORONTO 3 WINNIPEG 6
The Winnipeg Jets struck for four goals in 8:54 early in the second period and defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 6-3 Sunday.
It was the 1,000th career game for Blake Wheeler and not only did he celebrate with a win, he also had a pair of assists. Wheeler has yet to score this season but does have 12 assists in 19 games including seven in his last four contests.
Andrew Copp, Pierre-Luc Dubois, Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor each had a goal and an assist to lead the Lets with Evgeny Svechnikov and Nikolaj Ehlers also scoring for Winnipeg.
Connor Hellebuyck picked up his ninth win of the season as he is 9-6-4 after making 32 saves.
Joseph Woll got the start in goal for Toronto and gave up all six goals on 41 shots in taking his first loss of the season as he is 3-1-0.
Michael Bunting with his seventh and Auston Matthews with his 15, both scored on the power play. It was the sixth straight game that Matthews has potted at least one goal as he has eight goals and 10 points in the streak. Ondrej Kase also scored for Toronto.
Defensemen Neal Pionk and Nate Schmidt each had two assists.
It was a rough third period as Wayne Simmonds ended the night with 18 penalty minutes including a misconduct and four minors. Brenden Dillon and Kyle Clifford each had a major for fighting.
John Tavares had six shots on goal.
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LOS ANGELES 5 EDMONTON 1
The Los Angeles Kings were led by Adrian Kempe who had a pair of goals including his 10th of the season as they defeated the Edmonton Oilers 5-1 Sunday.
It was a big night as well for Drew Doughty who had a goal and two assists to give him two goals and 11 points in only seven games as he returned to action on Nov. 30 after missing five-and-a-half weeks with a knee injury.
The game turned around in the third period when Connor McDavid took a five-minute major for boarding Kempe as well as a game misconduct. The Kings broke open a 2-1 game with three power play goals to complete the scoring.
Trevor Moore had a goal and an assist while Rasmus Kupari opened the scoring in the first with his third of the season just 2:01 in.
Jonathan Quick stopped 21 shots for the win as he is 5-5-3 with a 2.27 GAA and a .926 save percentage. It has been a nice comeback season for the veteran goalie who was deemed excess when the Kings made him available in the expansion draft.
Mikko Koskinen gave up five goals on 40 shots for the loss. He saw his three-game winning streak come to an end. Koskinen is 12-3-0 this season with a 2.97 GAA and a .911 save percentage.
Darnell Nurse returned to action on Sunday after missing six games with a broken finger. His goal was his first of the season and a shorthanded effort.
McDavid and Leon Draisaitl were held off the scoresheet Sunday. McDavid had 15 penalty minutes. You have to wonder if the NHL will call McDavid up on the carpet as far as a suspension is concerned.
CALGARY 2 VEGAS 3
Robin Lehner kicked out 24 shots to lead the Vegas Golden Knights to a 3-1 win over the Calgary Flames.
Lehner snapped a two-game losing streak and picked up his 10th win of the season in the win.
Max Pacioretty opened the scoring with the only goal of the first period. It was his sixth of the season and extended his points streak to six games. Pacioretty has only been shut down one game this season and has six goals and 10 points in seven games as he has missed most of the season with a foot injury.
After a scoreless second frame, Nicolas Roy made it 2-0 just 1:49 into the third but Elias Lindholm with his 11th of the season, cut the lead in half.
Evgenii Dadonov would score the eventual winner at the 10:45 mark of the third with assists going to Roy as well as Mattias Janmark.
Andrew Mangiapane continued his amazing season with his 17th goal with 2:41 to go in the third but the Flames were unable to get another shot on goal the rest of the way.
Jacob Markstrom took the loss as he gave up three goals on 28 shots. Markstrom is 10-5-4 this season.
Milan Lucic had six hits while Brayden McNabb and Trevor Lewis had five.
NIGHTLY LEADERS
Goals
Corey Perry – 2
Adam Boqvist – 2
Adrian Kempe - 2
Assists
Ross Colton - 3
Victor Hedman – 3
Ryan McDonagh – 2
Timo Meier – 2
Andrew Peeke – 2
Matt Nieto – 2
Mathew Barzal – 2
Drew Doughty – 2
Neal Pionk – 2
Nate Schmidt – 2
Blake Wheeler - 2
Shots on Goal
Timo Meier – 7
Nikolaj Ehlers – 7
John Tavares - 6
Taylor Raddysh – 6
Jack Roslovic – 6
Hits
Zdeno Chara – 6
Milan Lucic – 6
Trevor Lewis - 5
Adam Lowry – 5
Brayden McNabb - 5
Penalty Minutes
Wayne Simmonds - 18
Connor McDavid – 15
Kyle Clifford – 5
Brenden Dillon - 5
Cal Foote – 4
Jansen Harkins - 4
