The “Sabres” lost to the “Golden Knights” of Vegas with a score of 4:7 (1:1, 1:2, 2:4) on their field, in whose ranks Jack Aikel, the former leader of the Buffalo club, stood out with a “hat trick”.
Meanwhile, the “Blue Jackets” beat the Philadelphia “Flyers” 5-2 (2-0, 1-1, 2-1) at home, with Jonas Korpisalo scoring for the hosts.
Girgenson spent 13 minutes and 39 seconds on the ice in the match against the Golden Knights, with 32 seconds playing in the minority. The Latvian missed shots on goal, lost both shots and had a neutral efficiency ratio.
Tage Thompson of the home team scored two goals, but Casey Mittelstad and Rasmus Asplund were accurate once, while Aikel added an assist to three goals for the Vegas club, Chandler Stevenson scored 1+3, and Alex Pietrangelo scored 1+2.
This was the ninth victory in a row for the “Golden Knights” and the team with 26 points in 15 matches is the leader of the Western Conference and the entire league, while the “Sabres” are in 12th position in the Eastern Conference with 14 points in 14 matches.
Meanwhile, against the Blue Jackets at home to the Flyers, goaltender Korpisalo made 32 of 34 shots to help the Blue Jackets beat former head coach John Tortorella’s team for just their fourth win of the season. Merzlikin remained on the bench.
Boone Jenner scored two goals for the home team, Johnny Goodreau scored 1+2, and Zach Werenski scored 1+1. Nika Blankenburg also scored a goal, while Ivan Provorov scored 1+1 for the guests, and Tony Diangelo scored once.
The Blue Jackets remain in last 16th place in the Eastern Conference with eight points in 13 games, while the Flyers are ninth with 16 points.
In another game, Andrei Svechnikov scored his second hat trick of the season, helping the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Edmonton Oilers 7:2 (1:0, 3:1, 3:1) at home.
For the Russian forward, this was the second game in the regular NHL championship with three goals in the season and in his career, but once again he stood out with a “hat trick” in the Stanley Cup of the 2019/2020 season.
Jesper Faust and Jordan Martinuk were the winners with 1+1, while Jordan Stahl and Brett Burns once again beat “Oilers” goalkeeper Jack Campbell.
“Oilers” scored a goal and an assist thanks to the league’s top scorer Connor McDavid, but Zach Hyman was accurate once.
The New York “Rangers” also won a crushing victory on Thursday, beating the Detroit “Red Wings” 8:2 (1:1, 1:1, 6:0).
After two periods, the score was still tied at 2:2, but in the third period the guests scored six unanswered goals.
Adam Fox stood out for the New Yorkers with 1+3, Barkley Goodrow scored 1+2, Mika Zibanejad scored two goals, and Chris Crider and Jimmy Vesey scored 1+1 each.
Meanwhile, the New Jersey “Devils” won their eighth consecutive victory on Thursday, beating the Ottawa “Senators” team 4:3 (2:2, 1:0, 0:1, 1:0) in overtime.
The winning goal was scored in the last minute of extra time by Niko Hishir, who also excelled in regular time with an accurate shot. Also, Tomáš Tatars and Miles Wood scored accurately for the home side, while Shane Pinto scored two goals for the “Senators”, while Travis Hamonic scored one well-hit shot.
Eastern Conference leader Boston “Bruins” were also successful on Thursday, beating the Calgary “Flames” 3:1 (1:1, 1:0, 1:0) at home, achieving their ninth success in the last ten matches.
Conor Clifton, Charlie McAvoy and David Pastrniaks scored for the winners, while Noah Hanifin was accurate for the Flames.
