Be sure to visit NBCOlympics.com and NBC Olympic Talk for full hockey coverage from PyeongChang.
Russia (O.A.R.) wins gold in overtime against Germany
Germany was an overtime goal away from a huge upset (note: miracle is loosely translated as “wunder” in German). Instead the Olympic Athletes of Russia will take their clunky name to a redemptive gold medal after beating Germany 4-3 in overtime thanks to a power-play goal.
Olympic Athletes of Russia win 4-3 in OT, on a power-play goal. First men's hockey gold for OAR/Russia/Unified team since 1992
— Helene Elliott (@helenenothelen) February 25, 2018
With memorable moments like Ilya Kovalchuk being shut down on a heart-stopping semi-breakaway chance in OT, two Russian forwards were especially deadly.
Kirill Kaprizov scored “the golden goal” on that power play after racking up three assists during regulation. His partner-in-crime was Nikita Gusev, who generated two goals and two assists of his own.
Surreal scene pic.twitter.com/3Ms29drTvl
— Stephen Whyno (@SWhyno) February 25, 2018
Kovalchuk finally got a taste of Olympic glory, while Pavel Datsyuk joins the “Triple Gold Club.”
Quite a tournament for Kaprizov, Gusev, and a certain Nashville Predators prospect named Eeli Tolvanen (more on him here).
Final top scorers for the 2018 Olympic Winter Games: Nikita Gusev (VGK), Kirill Kaprizov (MIN) and Eeli Tolvanen (NSH). USA's Ryan Donato (BOS) tied for the tournament goal-scoring lead with 5 with Kaprizov and Kovalchuk. pic.twitter.com/w8VkaxKKwm
— Chris Peters (@chrismpeters) February 25, 2018
Players of the Night
- No Auston Matthews? The Maple Leafs wouldn’t respond “No problem,” but they might note that it gives other players a chance to step up. Lately, Mitch Marner has been on an absolute tear. He played a huge role in Toronto’s 4-3 win against Boston on Saturday, getting involved in all four goals (one goal, three assists).
This burst pushes Marner past Matthews for the team lead in scoring with 51 points. The splendid scorer has 14 points during an eight-game tear.
- The Washington Capitals took care of business against the Sabres on Saturday, and Evgeny Kuznetsov led the charge with one goal and three assists of his own. He had been quiet before this outburst, only managing a goal in his previous five games. Kuznetsov has 59 points in 62 games this season.
.@Kuzya92 sure made that look easy. pic.twitter.com/Lfi2JXkSh4
— NHL GIFs (@NHLGIFs) February 25, 2018
- There were some other great performances, including Evgenii Dadonov generating his first hat trick to help the Panthers hold off the Penguins.
So much goalie interference review fun
The Maple Leafs beat the Bruins after a goalie interference review went their way, which you can read more about here. The Oilers ended up holding off a mad Kings rally because of another really weird one. Ah, the NHL must love all the attention these nightmares are generating.
Highlight of the Night
A patently ridiculous save by Andrei Vasilevskiy:
👏👏👏 pic.twitter.com/ahUYtP8gKD
— NHL GIFs (@NHLGIFs) February 25, 2018
Factoids
Taylor Hall cannot be stopped, and this time it even translated to a win for the Devils against the Islanders:
Taylor Hall of the @NJDevils is the sixth player in the last 25 years (since 1992-93) to record at least one point in 21+ consecutive appearances. #NHLStats #NYIvsNJD pic.twitter.com/KDv5QGa0XS
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) February 25, 2018
The team success hasn’t been there as much lately for Henrik Zetterberg, but he’s climbing some lofty heights from an individual standpoint:
Henrik Zetterberg had the game winner Saturday for the @DetroitRedWings vs the 'Canes & with it, he also tied a franchise legend for 5th on this all-time list pic.twitter.com/jIVTCdzfay
— StatsCentre (@StatsCentre) February 25, 2018
Patrik Laine turns 20 on April 19, by the way.
Patrik Laine makes it 4-1 @NHLJets, also becoming just the 7th player in NHL history to record multiple 30-goal seasons as a teenager- 1st since Sidney Crosby (2005-07)
— StatsCentre (@StatsCentre) February 25, 2018
Scores
Flyers 5, Senators 3
Flames 5, Avalanche 1
Jets 5, Stars 3
Maple Leafs 4, Bruins 3
Lightning 4, Canadiens 3 (SO)
Red Wings 3, Hurricanes 1
Panthers 6, Penguins 5
Capitals 5, Sabres 1
Blue Jackets 3, Blackhawks 2
Devils 2, Islanders 1
Coyotes 2, Ducks 0
Oilers 4, Kings 3
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James O’Brien is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @cyclelikesedins.