The 24-year-old Finnish forward of the Pittsburgh Penguins Valtteri Puustinen scored the first NHL goal of his career in NHL hockey in an away game against the New York Islanders. Puustinen, who recorded 1+1 performances, scored the first goal of his career directly past the defender with a hot shot Kris Letang’s input.
Puustinen, who played in the Penguins’ triple court, succeeded in his ninth NHL match, when he scored his team’s last goal in the final period in a 7–0 away victory. Puustinen, who was promoted from the AHL in December, has now played eight NHL games this season with impressive results of 1+5.
Letang, who started Puustisinen’s goal, recorded a great performance of 0+6 in the match. He was involved in no less than five of the six goals of the second period. Letang, who was the leading scorer in three goals, became the first defenseman in NHL history to start five goals in one period. He is also the first player in Penguins club history to record five power points in one set.
– That is an absolutely incredible achievement in today’s league. That’s not easy against a good team, Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan raved about Letang’s performance.
Sullivan spoke highly of Puustis a week ago, saying that Puustinen is smart and quick to learn, which fascinates Sullivan the most in a player.
“I think he’s going to be a better player quickly because of that trait, and I think he’s got a lot of talent for this game,” Sullivan said.
A night of four points in Aho
Carolina Sebastian Ahol it was a tasty four-point night in the hockey NHL. Aho scored a goal and had three assists in the Hurricanes’ 5–2 away win over the Nashville Predators.
Aho scored his 14th hit of the season, when he took the Hurricanes to a 1–0 lead in the opening set with a power play. The Finnish striker’s momentum is wild, as Aho’s balance in the last five matches is at least a point per game.
With four power points, Aho crossed the 500 NHL regular season mark. Aho became the fourth fastest Finn to score 500 NHL points (551 games); before Aho, the top five were Jari Kurri (356), Teemu Ridge (384), Mikko Rantanen (483), Alexander Barkov (560) and Saku Birch (611).
Aho has accumulated 14+21 power points in 32 matches. He shares second place on the Finnish stock exchange with Barkov, who has 11+24=35 in 31 matches.
Carolina is at the top of the Metropolitan Division in fourth place in the Eastern Conference.
Barkov assisted all of his team’s goals
The Florida Panthers took a narrow victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning on away ice. Florida captain Aleksander Barkov assisted on all three of his team’s goals.
Florida eventually won the match 3–2. Tampa Bay stretched Florida’s lead in the final period with two goals, but Florida’s consistent goal per period was enough for the win, in addition to great goaltending.
Barkov’s Florida is in the top three of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference.
In the last five matches, the attacker from Tampere has scored one goal and three assists.
– We have to play simply and hard. This match was not easy, but when you work a lot and everyone is on the same page, this kind of thing happens, Barkov commented immediately after the match.
True to his style, Barkov thanked everyone in the team profusely in the interview, especially the goalkeeper Sergei Bobrovsky.
– He is incomprehensible. He gives us every day a chance to win. Especially in the third set, he stopped important pucks, Barkov stated.
Bobrovski blocked pucks 27 times. Barkov, on the other hand, logged more than 19 game minutes.
Florida has won three of the last seven games. So Tampa’s win was big, because the team plays right next to Florida.
Barkov is rising to fourth place in the all-time scoring statistics of Finnish players in the NHL. Barkov has 254 goals under his belt and Saku Koivu has 255. In front of Barkov are also Teemu Selänne with 684 goals, Jari Kurri with 601 and Olli Jokinen with 321.
Rantanen’s loss to Colorado
Among the Finnish stars, Colorado also managed to score in the round of the night Mikko Rantanen, who recorded a 1+1 performance in a 4–5 overtime loss against the Arizona Coyotes. Rantanen shot straight by Nathan MacKinnon from the pass with a 1–0 goal advantage. The hit was Rantanen’s 18th of the season.
The home team Matias Maccelli recorded two assists in the contest as Arizona rallied from an 0-4 deficit to a sweet overtime win.
The results of the NHL round:
Toronto–Ottawa 2–4
OTT: Korpisalo 34/36 torj.
Tampa Bay–Florida 2–3
FLA: Barkov 0+3
NY Rangers–Washington 5 to 1
New Jersey–Columbus and 4–3
NJD: Haula 0+1
NY Islanders–Pittsburgh 0 to 7
PIT: Wooden 1+1
Buffalo–Boston 1–4
Nashville–Carolina 2–5
NSH: Saros 14/19 defense
CAR: Aho 1+3
Minnesota–Detroit 6–3
St. Louis–Dallas 2–1
STL: Kapanen 0+1
DAL: Hintz 0+1
Chicago–Winnipeg and 2–1
Arizona–Colorado and 5 to 4
ARI: Maccelli 0+2
COL: Rantanen 1+1
Calgary–Seattle 1–2
Los Angeles–San Jose 5 to 1
SJS: Kähkönen 37/42 defense.
Anaheim–Vegas 5–2