Niko Mikkola, Kaapo Kakko and Roope Hintz managed to score in the hockey NHL. For Mikkola, scoring a goal has been a rare treat.
In the hockey NHL, the Florida Panthers rallied from two goals behind to win 5–3 without their Finnish captain, who was on the sidelines due to injury Alexander Barkov. The Finnish name for Panthers was defender Niko Mikkolawho managed to score twice during the evening.
Mikkola leveled the game twice: first at 2–2 at the end of the opening set and at 3–3 at the beginning of the second set. For Mikkola, it was the first time he managed to score more than one goal in a match. At the same time, the Finnish defender will miss his goal record in only 18 games – the last time Mikkola scored three goals for St. Blues in the 2021-2022 season.
Before the Edmonton game, Mikkola had hit six times in the 187 NHL games he played.
The head coach From Paul Maurice it rained praise for the Finnish defender.
– Our way of playing suits him perfectly. He is a big man who covers well and can play aggressively. We have few rules when it comes to playing, players are allowed to progress as fast as possible. It’s pretty new to see him step up, but he’s capable of it. We want all of our defenders to do that.
At the press conference after the match, Mikkola was asked if he hoped to do a hat trick.
– That would probably be too much for me, the Finnish defender laughed. He was also awarded as the number one player of the match.
Eetu Luostarinen had the assist on Florida’s fourth goal.
The guests Connor McDavid scored two goals, one from a penalty shot.
For Florida, the win was the seventh in the last eight games.
Roope Hintz joins the rise of Dallas
Roope Hintz caught the power 1+2 when the Dallas Stars beat the New York Rangers 6–3 at home. Miro Heiskanen like Hintz, was involved in his team’s second goal. The guests Kaapo Kako in turn scored Rangers’ second goal to give the visitors a 2–0 lead. The goal was only the second of the season for the Finnish striker.
However, Dallas’ rise began already in the second period, when Jamie Benn narrowed the game to 1–2 quickly after Kako’s hit. Hintz served a pass to the goal.
In the final set, Stars struck as many as five times. Hintz was able to close out Dallas’ last hit. At the same time, Rangers’ 11-game point streak ended.
The Nashville Predators, on the other hand, won 4–3 against the Colorado Avalanche Juuse Saros in the 300th career NHL game. The victory came after dramatic stages, as Nashville was still down a minute before the final buzzer.
However, the home team sought an equalizer without a goalkeeper and Filip Forsberg tied the game in 59.22. Just fifteen seconds later Yakov Trenin scored a 4–3 winning goal.
The Finnish keeper had 25 saves.
Maccelli already had time to fan the paint
of Arizona Matias Maccelli already had time to fan his fourth hit of the season against the Los Angeles Kings. The Coyotes’ 1–3 reduction was initially marked with the name of the Finnish striker, but was corrected after the match Lawson Crouse to do. However, Maccelli got an assist in the goal. The Kings won the match 4–1 and extended their winning streak to three matches.
The San Jose Sharks suffered their 14th loss of the season when they lost 1-3 away to Vancouver. Mikael Granlund had an assist on his team’s only hit.
Dallas–NY Rangers 6–3
D: Hintz 1+2, Heiskanen 0+1, R: Kakko 1+0
Nashville-Colorado 4-3
N: Saros 25/28 saves
Florida–Edmonton 5–3
F: Mikkola 2+0, Luostarinen 0+1
Tampa–Boston and 5–4
Arizona–Los Angeles 1–4
A: Maccelli 0+1
Seattle–Calgary and 3–4
Vancouver–San Jose 3–1
S: Granlund 0+1