The Toronto Maple Leafs pumped the brakes on a six-game losing streak thanks to the soft hands of rookie Nikita Soshnikov.
The 22-year-old beat New York Islanders goaltender Thomas Greiss with a deceptive backhand in the skills competition Wednesday to give the Maple Leafs a 4-3 victory.
The win snapped the Maple Leafs' six-game skid, which had seen their past five losses come in the form of one-goal defeats.
The goal proved to be only Soshnikov's latest achievement to catch the eye of head coach Mike Babcock, who made it clear that the Russian and fellow rookie Zach Hyman - who scored his second goal of the season Wednesday - have futures with the big club.
Mike Babcock: "Hyman and (Soshnikov) are here to stay. They're too good and too fast."
— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) March 10, 2016
"He's not intimidated by anything," Babcock said of Soshnikov.
William Nylander also received accolades from Babcock, who called Wednesday's performance his best game yet.
The Maple Leafs seemed destined for yet another one-goal loss after Ryan Strome put the Islanders up 3-2 with 5:19 remaining in regulation, until Nylander responded with a power-play marker with just 1:13 left to send the game to extra time.
Wait, maybe nobody told William Nylander about the losing one-goal games thing
— Bruce Arthur (@bruce_arthur) March 10, 2016
The Maple Leafs will look to string together back-to-back wins for the first time since Feb. 2 and 4 when they visit the Ottawa Senators on Saturday.
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This could've been a disaster. Toews gets caught on the door. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/FhAfyWviMQ
— Aldo Soto (@AldoSoto21) March 10, 2016
Chicago Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews exited briefly, but was able to return to normal deployment Wednesday night after being ridden into an opened door at the St. Louis Blues' bench.
Toews headed down the tunnel after a short shift, but returned just moments later.
The durable top center has 24 goals and 47 points in 66 starts.
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Ryan Reaves got a 5-minute major, game misconduct for this Christian Ehrhoff hit https://t.co/KaZR6X4xyg
— NHL on NBC (@NHLonNBCSports) March 10, 2016
Ryan Reaves has thrown another questionable hit.
The St. Louis Blues winger was dinged with a five-minute major charging penalty and automatic game misconduct Wednesday night for taking a run at Chicago Blackhawks defender Christian Ehrhoff.
The NHL's Department of Player Safety is required to look at the infraction to assess whether to uphold, lengthen, or rescind the automatic suspension tied to a game misconduct.
Reaves' force appeared to be exclusively through the body of Ehrhoff, but the argument could certainly be made that he left his feet to deliver the blow.
Ehrhoff returned to Wednesday's game.
Reaves was issued a three-game suspension for a nasty hit on Matt Tennyson only two weeks ago.
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If Morgan Rielly wanted a goal for his birthday, he got one.
The Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman celebrated his 22nd birthday Wednesday in offensive fashion by punching in his seventh goal of the season, beating New York Islanders goalie Thomas Greiss blocker side with a rising wrist shot.
Now blow out the candles, Morgan.
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The Pittsburgh Penguins will face their Pennsylvanian rivals the Philadelphia Flyers for an outdoor game on Feb. 18, 2017 at Heinz Field as part of the Stadium Series, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman confirmed Wednesday.
The 2017 season will mark the 50th anniversary of both franchises. For the Penguins, the matchup represents the team's fourth time participating in an outdoor game, while the Flyers will do so for the third time.
"I think it'd be a really neat experience," said Flyers goaltender Steve Mason. "It's something I've never been a part of. Growing up in Canada you play on the outdoor ponds and that's always fun. To potentially have a chance to do that in the NHL would be pretty cool."
Since the clubs entered the league, they've met 274 times. The Flyers hold the series edge with a 150-86-38 record against the Penguins.
The outdoor game will also mark the first time the two teams have played each other on an outdoor rink.
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The St. Louis Blues will finally play outdoors.
To celebrate its 50th anniversary, St Louis will host the Chicago Blackhawks at Busch Stadium at the Winter Classic on Jan. 2, 2017, the league confirmed Wednesday.
Let's take it outside. https://t.co/8ecFHLVYoW #WinterClassichttps://t.co/D7S3vjNPHy
— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) March 10, 2016
The NHL's annual marquee event is usually reserved for New Year's Eve, but the Centennial Classic between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Detroit Red Wings, also announced Wednesday, will take priority next season.
Related: Maple Leafs to host Red Wings in Centennial Classic at BMO Field
Playing in their record fifth outdoor game and third Winter Classic, the Blackhawks will have a decided experience advantage. But upwards of 50,000 fans are expected to be in attendance, and the majority of them will be wearing blue.
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