NHL addresses outburst from Maple Leafs - Lightning game
The Lightning throttled the Maple Leafs 6-2 on Monday, to the point that the Toronto crowd was booing. But that might not have been the ugliest moment of that loss.
It’s unclear who was responsible for the outburst, but Twitter account @TheLeafsIMO pointed out (warning: NSFW language) that a homophobic slur was picked up by a live mic late in the second period of the game.
The NHL released a brief statement on the matter, so we’ll see if anything else comes from this.
The NHL is aware of reports that a homophobic slur was used during the Maple Leafs-Lightning game. The League is investigating the incident and will have no further comment until this investigation is completed.
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) March 12, 2019
The Leafs also commented:
Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas made the following statement this evening following their game versus the Tampa Bay Lightning: pic.twitter.com/o6RaA7zTQS
— Leafs PR (@LeafsPR) March 12, 2019
Bubble blunders
Out East, the Blue Jackets were blanked by the Islanders, while the Hurricanes took care of business. The Wild couldn’t muster a goal against the Sharks, which ended up being easier to stomach because the Coyotes and Avalanche didn’t fare much better. In a lot of cases, the bubble teams that didn’t play had the best experiences on Monday.
Three Stars
1. Petr Mrazek
There were three shutouts on Monday, and two of them were good enough to earn spots in the top three (sorry, Martin Jones, but yours wasn’t quite as impressive at 24 saves).
Mrazek continues to be red-hot for the Hurricanes, as he stopped a whopping 38 shots on goal to blank the Avalanche in a matchup between two teams that are fighting for berths in the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs in their respective conferences.
Mrazek’s now on a six-game winning streak that includes two shutouts. While his full season stats aren’t all that impressive, he’s putting together the sort of stretch run that should keep him on the radars of NHL teams -- probably including his current one in Carolina.
This save could be high on his “resume.”
Mrazek magic. pic.twitter.com/wF0KGlBp8b
— NHL GIFs (@NHLGIFs) March 12, 2019
2. Brendan Perlini
OK, I’ll admit that, in a vacuum, Leon Draisaitl had the more impressive three-point night. Edmonton needed all three of his points (one goal, two assists) to win in overtime, including his OTGWG. There’s also an argument for Andrei Svechnikov, who was part of all three of Carolina’s goals (two goals, one assist) with one of those points being an empty-net goal.
Perlini gets the edge because of context.
For one thing, it’s sweet enough to score against your former team after they traded you, but to make it a hat trick? That’s downright saucy.
It also greatly increases the Coyotes’ chances of missing the playoffs. Gotta respect that level of spite.
3. Thomas Greiss
You may prefer Svechnikov, Draisaitl, or a few other players in this spot, but Greiss generated a 31-save shutout against a desperate Blue Jackets team that - despite recent scoring struggles - boasts quite an arsenal of scorers.
Greiss and Robin Lehner continue to give the Islanders absolutely fantastic goaltending, keeping the door open for a possible division title, or at least a round of home-ice advantage.
Highlight of the Night
As bad as things were for Toronto, this Auston Matthews goal was nifty:
Factoids
- To give you an idea of how long it’s been since the Hurricanes’ franchise earned a regulation road win against the Avalanche’s franchise, realize that when it happened in 1994, it was the Hartford Whalers beating the Quebec Nordiques. Yeah.
- The Lightning keep piling up impressive accolades. The latest is that they became just the seventh team in NHL history to reach 110 standings points in 70 games or fewer. They’re also the first to do so since the Red Wings managed 110 in 69 games in 1995-96.
- The Islanders have nine shutouts this season, one goose egg shy of tying the franchise record of 10 from 1975-76.
Scores
TBL 6 - TOR 2
NYI 2 - CBJ 0
PHI 3 - OTT 2
SJS 3 - MIN 0
CHI 7 - ARI 1
CAR 3 - COL 0
EDM 3 - NYR 2 (OT)
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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.