There was another big night of action in the NHL on Wednesday evening. The Toronto Maple Leafs travelled to the Dallas Stars as they were looking for a second win on the bounce. Meanwhile, the Tampa Bay Lightning were looking to make it two wins in three, while the Vancouver Canucks were looking for a fourth win in a row to increase their lead at the top of the Pacific Division.
Maple Leafs Hitting Their Groove
The Toronto Maple Leafs made it two wins in a row as they beat the Dallas Stars 5-3 on Wednesday night. The Leafs pressed home their advantage in the second and third periods by scoring two goals in each of those periods. The Stars had held the Leafs to a 1-1 scoreline after the opening frame, before allowing the Leafs to run away with the game.
Auston Matthews was once again amongst the goals for the Maple Leafs, while Tyson Barrie, Andreas Johnsson, Zach Hyman and William Nylander also added goals too. Alexander Radulov scored a brace for the Stars, while Denis Gurianov also found the net. Toronto can continue their recent good form when they host the Ottawa Senators on Saturday evening.
Canucks Continue Dominant Form
The Vancouver Canucks have been in tremendous form this season, and they continued to lead the Pacific Division with another win on Wednesday night. Their 5-2 success over the San Jose Sharks was their fourth in a row, and they look to be in with an excellent chance of achieving something special in the post-season.
Vancouver opened the scoring in the first period, but the Sharks managed to turn the game on its head and went ahead in the second. However, this Canucks team are something special and turned on the style in the final period. They scored four unanswered goals to secure the comfortable victory.
Quinn Hughes, Tanner Pearson, Tyler Myers, Brandon Sutter and Jake Virtanen were the goalscorers for the Canucks. Meanwhile, Brent Burns and Tomas Hertl found the net for the defeated Sharks.
Lightning Win On Emotional Night
The Tampa Bay Lightning were able to keep pace with the Boston Bruins at the top of the Atlantic Division on Wednesday night. The Lightning were visiting Los Angeles on an emotional night for the Kings as they were honouring Kobe Bryant. The Kings opened the scoring in the first period, and added a second in the following period.
However, that provoked a response by the Lightning and they quickly got themselves level with two goals in the second. They went on to score two more in the final period to win the match 4-2. Steven Stamkos scored twice for the Lightning, while there were also goals for Erik Cernak and Tyler Johnson. Alex Iafallo and Tyler Toffoli scored the Kings goals.
The Lightning will be looking to continue their solid form when they travel to the Anaheim Ducks on Friday night. Meanwhile, the Kings will have a chance to avenge the defeat when they take on the Coyotes on Thursday.
