NHL Rink Wrap: Gaudreau hat trick; Eichel’s Buffalo return; Maple Leafs issues

There were a couple of outstanding matchups on the Thursday schedule featuring potential Stanley Cup matchups with Colorado facing Carolina and Calgary hosting Tampa Bay. Calgary ended up getting the best of the Lightning in a 4-1 win that was highlighted by a hat trick by Flames forward Johnny Gaudreau as he continues to have an outstanding season for his first place team. He now has 26 goals and 77 points in 57 games this season. Thanks to the Flames win, combined with the Vegas Golden Knights’ loss to the Buffalo Sabres and the Los Angeles’ Kings overtime loss to the San Jose Sharks, the Flames now have a five point lead over the second place Kings and a nine point lead over the third place Golden Knights. They also have two games in hand on both teams. The Pacific Division looks to be theirs.

All three of Gaudreau’s goals for his sixth career hat trick.

Jack Ahcan‘s first career NHL goal was a thing of beauty for the Bruins in their 4-3  win against the Chicago Blackhawks.

Anders Lee recorded his first career hat trick for the New York Islanders on Thursday night in a 6-0 win against the Columbus Blue Jackets, that also included Ilya Sorokin‘s sixth shutout of the season. Here are all three of Lee’s goals from Thursday.

The opposite of highlights: Some goaltending blunders.

Sabres win in Jack Eichel‘s return to Buffalo

Jack Eichel was mostly booed in his first return to Buffalo as a visiting player while the Sabres were able to get a 3-1 win thanks to goals from Peyton Krebs and Alex Tuch, the two key players acquired in the Eichel trade earlier this season. This is probably the highlight of the Sabres’ season and a fun night for fans that have watched a lot of tough games over the past decade. Goalie Craig Anderson