Despite Artturi Lehkonen’s opening goal and Mikko Rantanen’s equalizer in the final set, the Colorado Avalanche failed to secure a win against the Toronto Maple Leafs in their NHL match. Lehkonen scored in just the third minute of the match, marking his 500th career game. Shortly after, Andrew Cogliano extended the lead to 2-0. However, Tyler Bertuzzin narrowed the lead and later equalized the game. He then gave the Leafs a 3-2 lead, with Rantanen leveling the score in the final set. Bertuzzin completed his hat-trick, securing a 4-3 victory for Toronto.
Alongside his final set equalizer, Rantanen also contributed with an assist in Cogliano’s opening set goal. Rantanen set a club record in the match as the first Avalanche player to surpass the 30-goal mark four times consecutively. He boasts a total of 250 NHL goals.
In other NHL action, the Florida Panthers secured a 3-2 victory over the Washington Capitals. Florida’s Gustav Forsling scored the winning goal in overtime. Aleksander Barkov, Florida’s Finnish captain, was credited with the equalizing goal in the final set. This game marked the end of Alexander Ovechkin’s ten-game point streak and his 1,400th NHL career game.
The Carolina Hurricanes faced a home defeat against the Dallas Stars, with a final score of 2-1. Sebastian Aho of Carolina managed to score an equalizer early in the second period. However, Dallas’ Wyatt Johnston sealed the match with a goal six minutes later.
The New Jersey Devils triumphed over the Montreal Canadiens with a score of 4-3. This marked Montreal’s fifth consecutive loss. Joel Armia, a Finnish striker from Montreal, assisted in the final goal of the game.
