Player Of The Night: Frederik Andersen, Toronto Maple Leafs
The Toronto Maple Leafs picked up a big shootout win over the Nashville Predators on Wednesday night thanks in large part to another great performance from starting goaltender Frederik Andersen.
Andersen stopped 44 out of 46 shots on the night and then another six in the shootout.
It was already the fifth time this season (via NHL Public Relations) Andersen has won a game in which he has stopped at least 40 shots, more than any other goaltender in the NHL. Anaheim Ducks goalie John Gibson is the only other goalie that has at least four such wins.
With a .922 save percentage on the season Andersen has been great for the Maple Leafs and a huge part of their success. Given that the Maple Leafs still have some work to do to improve defensively he is going to play a big role in determining how far they are able to advance in the playoffs.
McDavid Scores Again, But Oilers Lose Again
For the seventh time in the past three games Connor McDavid found the back of the night for the Edmonton Oilers, and it was a pretty outstanding goal as he blew past Drew Doughty with ease and scored his 22nd goal of the season. The sad thing about McDavid scoring seven goals in the past three games? The Oilers have won just one of those games after losing to the Los Angeles Kings 5-2 on Wednesday night. That is pretty much the story of their season. McDavid is great. The rest of the team stinks. It is going to be one of the all-time great wasted seasons. They remain 13 points out of a playoff spot in the Western Conference playoff race and pretty much need to win 25 of their next 30 games the rest of the way to have a chance to get in.
Highlight Of The Night
Kasperi Kapanen has been a great addition to the Toronto Maple Leafs’ lineup and he scored a beauty of a shorthanded goal on Wednesday night to put his team up 2-0. Take a look at this individual effort.
.@kasperikapanen1 wasn't gonna be denied on this shorty. pic.twitter.com/0b0LKC8ctP
— NHL GIFs (@NHLGIFs) February 8, 2018
Highlight Of The Night Part 2
Speaking of great individual efforts, let’s go back to New York where Boston Bruins forward Tim Schaller kind of embarrassed the Rangers’ defense.
Those are some sick hands on Schaller. pic.twitter.com/CmVEbefl98
— NHL GIFs (@NHLGIFs) February 8, 2018
Factoid Of The Night
Drew Doughty became just the second Los Angeles Kings defenseman to record at least 300 career assists and 400 career points. The only other defenseman in team history to reach those milestones was Rob Blake. [NHL Public Reactions]
Scores
Toronto Maple Leafs 3, Nashville Predators 2
Boston Bruins 6, New York Rangers 1
Los Angeles Kings 5, Edmonton Oilers 2
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Adam Gretz is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @AGretz.