Dostál picked up the win in the NHL, Nečas scored and Vrána scored an assist

NHL hockey game Anaheim – Columbus, March 18, 2023. Anaheim goalkeeper Lukáš Dostál (left) makes a save in front of Columbus' Liam Foudy.

New York – Goalkeeper Lukáš Dostál helped Anaheim hockey players in the NHL with 38 saves to win 7:4 over Columbus. Martin Nečas' goal did not prevent Carolina's 2-5 defeat in Toronto. Jakub Vrána contributed his second assist of the season to St. Louis 5-2 at Washington.

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Anaheim lost one-goal leads four times. Columbus couldn't find an answer until Max Jones' breakaway shot in the 58th minute. The remaining two goals were scored when the visitors played without a goalkeeper. Defenseman Scott Harrington was key to the Ducks' success, scoring twice. After San Jose, the Blue Jackets are the second team that no longer even has a theoretical chance to advance to the playoffs.

“It's been up and down during the season. We've had a lot of shutouts, we've also had to deal with adversity,” Mike Sillinger summed up the course of the year so far. For example, the team was missing Jakub Voráček due to a concussion, who played only 11 games (1+5) before the club traded him to Arizona.

Dostál picked up his fourth win in his eleventh start of the season from the opening minute. He was not responsible for the conceded goals. In the first, Nick Blankenburg beat him from close range between the concretes, in the next goal action, Boone Jenner ended a quick counterattack with a shot under the crossbar. Then Columbus struck twice on the power play. The first was used by Cole Sillinger, who directed the puck on the edge of the goal area after a smart pass behind the back of the Czech goalkeeper. Patrik Laine tied the game at 4:4 from the penalty spot.

“Our game looked pretty good, we played some nice actions. One mistake at the end made the difference,” stated Columbus coach Brad Larsen. His charges beat Anaheim 42:38.

Carolina was losing 0:2 and 1:3 before Nečas was among the scorers. The Czech striker reduced the score to 2:3 in the middle of the game with a shot from the right circle to the near post and scored his 26th goal of the season. However, the Komety Brno prodigy failed to process a pass in the middle zone a moment later, and from a two-on-one outnumbering, Zach Aston-Reese made his second attempt in the game.

“We gave them some goals, they didn't attack them. We let them into some turnovers that ended up in our net. They have one of the best offenses in the league, you can't make mistakes like that,” Carolina coach Rod Brind'Amour fumed .

St. Louis laid the foundation for success in the opening two periods, after which they led 4-0 thanks to two goals by Sammy Blaise. The team's second goal was prepared by Vrán, who sent Jordan Kyrou into a solo escape. The Czech striker has collected five points (4+1) in six games in the Blues jersey since being traded from Detroit.

Washington, which is losing five points to the last promotion spot, reduced the score to 2:4 with goals from Martin Fehérváry and Nicklas Bäckström in the third period. At risk without a goalie, however, Brayden Schenn sealed the win for St. Louis. “We don't have room to lose, so it's unfortunate that we didn't win this game. If we don't get going, our season could end quickly,” Washington forward Conor Sheary acknowledged.

St. Louis started without goalkeeper Jordan Binnington, who received a two-game suspension for hitting an opponent in the head with a jumper. He was replaced by Joel Hofer, who stopped 32 shots in his first start of the season and was named the best player of the game. “Obviously I was uncertain, I catch all year in the AHL. But the guys in front of me played very well and kept them out of dangerous positions. It feels great to win,” said Hofer.

Owen Tippett his first with a hat trick in the NHL, he arranged a 5-2 victory for Philadelphia over Buffalo. The Sabers hockey players lost 0:4 after two periods, have lost the eighth of their last ten games and are six points short of the top eight in the Eastern Conference.

NHL:

Philadelphia – Buffalo 5:2 (1:0, 3:0, 1:2)

Goals: 16., 34. and 46. Tippett, 24. Farabee, 39. J. van Riemsdyk – 43. and 60. Olofsson. Shots on goal: 22:38. Spectators: 18,051. Stars of the match: 1. Tippett, 2. Hayes, 3. T. DeAngelo (all Philadelphia).

Toronto – Carolina 5-2 (3-1, 1 :1, 1:0)

Goals: 3. and 35. Aston-Reese, 13. Marner, 18. Matthews, 49. Rielly – 15. Skjei, 31. Weather. Shots on goal: 24:34. Spectators: 18,607. Stars of the match: 1. Järnkrok, 2. Aston-Reese, 3. Samsonov (all Toronto).

Washington – St. Louis 2:5 (0:1, 0:3, 2:1)

Goals: 46. Fehérváry, 58. Bäckström – 2. and 35. Blais, 25. Kyrou (Crow), 30. Kapanen, 59. B. Schenn. Shots on goal: 34:22. Spectators: 18,573. Stars of the match: 1. Hofer, 2. Blais (both St. Louis), 3. Fehérváry (Washington).

Anaheim – Columbus 7:4 (2: 2, 1:1, 4:1)

Goals: 15. and 60. Harrington, 4. Zegras, 24. Comtois, 43. Terry, 58. M. Jones, 60. R. Strome – 11. Blankenburg, 20. Jenner, 37. Sillinger, 47. Laine. Shots on goal: 38:42. Lukáš Dostál caught the entire match for Anaheim, conceding four goals from 42 shots and had a success rate of 90.5 percent. Spectators: 13,475. Stars of the game: 1. M. Jones, 2. Terry, 3. Harrington (all Anaheim).

Table:

Eastern Conference:

Atlantic Division:

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Metropolitan Division:

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Western Conference:

Central Division:

Pacific Division:

Note: Teams marked with an “x” are certain to advance to the playoffs.

Canadian scoring:

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Sagittarius:

1. McDavid (Edmonton) 57 goals, 2. Pastrňák (Boston) 46, 3. Rantanen (Colorado) 45, 4. Draisaitl (Edmonton) 44, 5. Point (Tampa Bay) 43, 6. T .Thompson (Buffalo) 42, 7. Kaprizov (Minnesota), J. Robertson (Dallas) both 39, 9. Scheifele (Winnipeg) 38, 10. J. Hughes (New Jersey), Ovechkin (Washington) both 37, .. .48. Nečas (Carolina) 26, 96. Caught (NY Rangers), Hertl (San Jose) both 19.