January 14th, 2021 NHL Recap

NEW YORK, NY. (Fish Sports) - January 14th, 2021, marked the second night of the 2021 NHL season. On the ballot tonight, were 10 games. The eleventh game was between the Dallas Stars and Florida Panthers but was postponed due to multiple Stars personnel testing positive for COVID-19. 

First up, was the Minnesota Wild visiting the Los Angeles Kings. The Wild won the game in overtime with the final score being 4 to 3. Minnesota received 2 points for the win, while the Kings received 1. LA's Dustin Brown was the game's 3rd star with a goal on the day, Minnesota's Jonas Brodin was the 2nd star with a goal, and Minnesota's Kirill Kaprizov was the game's 1st star with 1 goal, the game-winning goal in overtime, and 2 assists.  

The Anaheim Ducks visited the Vegas Golden Knights. Vegas won the game with a commanding 5 to 2 win. Newly acquired Alex Pietrangelo was the 3rd star of the game with his first assist as a Golden Knight, the 2nd star went to Max Pacioretty who had a goal, and the 1st star of the game went to Mark Stone, who was just named to be the first captain in Vegas Golden Knight team history, who had a goal and an assist. 

The Edmonton Oilers were at home for a second straight night and had the Vancouver Canucks as their opponent once again. Edmonton made up for their loss last night with a 5 to 2 win. The game's 3rd star was Ryan Nugent-Hopkins who had 2 goals and an assist, followed by the 2nd star, Leon Draisaitl who had 4 assists on the night, and the 1st star went to Connor McDavid who had 3 goals, the first hat-trick of the season as well as an assist on the night. 

Another overtime thrill was between the Calgary Flames who visited the Winnipeg Jets. Winnipeg won 4 to 3 in the extra frame. Calgary's Elias Lindholm was the 3rd star with a goal and an assist on the night, the 2nd star went to Winnipeg's Mark Scheifele who had a goal on the night and the 1st star went to Patrik Laine who had 2 goals and an assist to start the 2021 campaign. 

Smashville is the sight of our next matchup, where the Columbus Blue Jackets visited the Nashville Predators. To keep the tradition alive, the ice crew in Nashville threw a catfish on the ice, before the game with a little bit of a twist this year, it was wearing a mask. Nashville was victorious with a 3-1 win over Columbus. The 3rd star of the game went to Goaltender Juuse Saros who had 29 saves on 30 shots, posting a .967 save percentage to start the season. The 2nd star of the game went to Luke Kunin who had a goal, and the 1st star of the matchup was Filip Forsberg with a goal to start the season. 

Heading to Hockeytown, the Carolina Hurricanes visited the Detroit Red Wings. Carolina was victorious with a 3 to 0 win over the Red Wings. The 3rd star of the game was former Red Wing, Goaltender Petr Mrazek who received the shut-out, stopping all 14 shots he was faced with. The 2nd star of the game went to former New York Islanders goalie, Thomas Greiss. Greiss saved 40 pucks out of the 43 that were thrown on him. The 3rd star of the game went to Carolina's Nino Niederreiter who scored a goal. 

Now in the big apple, the New York Islanders visited the New York Rangers. First overall draft pick, Alexis Lafreniere made his NHL debut with a shot on net which was turned away by former Colorado Avalanche goaltender Semyon Varlamov, who gained the shut-out. The 3rd star of the game belonged to Matthew Barzal who had a goal. The 2nd star of the game went to Anders Lee who had 2 goals, and the 1st star went to the goalie, Semyon Varlamov who saved all 24 shots against him tonight. 

We stay in the East where the New Jersey Devils hosted the Boston Bruins. Boston without their long-time captain Zdeno Chara, who joined the Washington Capitals in free agency this year. New Jersey's own goalie, long-time Chicago Blackhawk, Corey Crawford retired earlier this week putting Mackenzie Blackwood into the starter position. Boston won the game 3 to 2 in the season's first shoot-out. The first star of the game went to Ty Smith of New Jersey who scored a goal. The 2nd star went to Mackenzie Blackwood who had 35 saves on the night, with a .946 save percentage. The 1st star of the game went to Brad Marchand who had a goal and an assist on the night. 

Heading to Buffalo, we had the Washington Capitals visiting the Buffalo Sabres. Long-time Boston Bruin, Zdeno Chara made his Washington Capital debut tonight, he was on the ice for 2 goals tonight (+2), and registered a shot on goal. The Capitals won the game 6-4 over Buffalo. The 3rd star of the game went to Alex Ovechkin who had 2 assists on the night. The 2nd star went to Nicklas Backstrom who had a goal and an assist, and the 1st star of the game went to T.J. Oshie who had a goal and 2 assists on the night. 

Heading to Arizona, we had the San Jose Sharks, visiting the Arizona Coyotes. The Sharks won in the shoot-out 4 to 3 over the Coyotes. The 3rd star of the game went to Arizona's Conor Garland who had a goal and an assist. The 2nd star of the game went to Evander Kane, who has had some off-ice issues within the last week, Kane had a goal and 2 assists. The 1st star of the game went to Tomas Hertl who scored 2 goals along with an assist on the night. 

It has been a great start to the 2021 NHL season and we look forward to seeing you back here!