Five Minute Major

*Photo from Knights on Ice*     The former captain in Buffalo welcomed the adversity and responded strongly. Chandler Stephenson had a goal and 3 assists, Jack Eichel had a hat trick, and the Vegas Golden Knights defeated the Buffalo Sabres with a 7-4 victory on Thursday night in Buffalo.    Booed by the Buffalo crowd in his second game back since being traded, Eichel put up one of his best games this season, adding an assist on top of his 3 goals for a 4 point night. Vegas stayed red hot as a team, winning their 9th straight game to improve to 13-2-0, currently the best record in the NHL.    Vegas captain Mark Stone said of the early success that it's "Probably the best start in my career that I've ever been on. Knock on wood, good health. Great goaltending, our defense has been good. Jack's kind of leading the way offensively, but if you look down on the board, so many guys chipping in offensively. So, it was a good game for us and it's a good s...

*Photo from TSN*     Lately, this season series hasn't been so wild for Anaheim. Matt Dumba scored, Kirill Kaprizov added two goals, and the Minnesota Wild defeated the Anaheim Ducks with a 4-1 victory on Wednesday night in Anaheim.    With the win, the Wild continue a hot streak with a 6-3-1 record in their last 10 games. They've now won 11 straight games against the Ducks, the longest win streak against any team in their history. It's also the second longest active streak in the NHL, with the Boston Bruins having 19 straight wins against the Arizona Coyotes.    Wild head coach Dean Evason said of the game that "When pucks aren’t going into the net and you are not feeling good, you need looks on the power play to get you going. We had a few more looks here tonight, it allowed us to feel good. Not only the guys on the ice but the guys on the bench feel that too."    After the first period went scoreless, the Ducks struck first. It was Pavol R...

*Photo from ABC News*     Watch out in the Pacific Northwest, there's a Kraken being released. Jordan Eberle scored two goals, Will Borgen scored, and the Seattle Kraken defeated the Nashville Predators with a 5-1 victory on Tuesday night in Seattle.    For the first time in their young history, the Kraken have now won 5 straight games as they enjoy a much better start to their second season then their first, holding second place in the Pacific Division with a 8-4-2 record. Leading the way was Eberle, who potted two goals in a strong start to the game.    Kraken head coach Dave Hakstol said of the win that "We started the game well, we were opportunistic on some turnovers that we created. We picked up where we left off at home. We've played real well here over the last stretch, and to have that start here was a good start to the hockey game. It was an important start to the hockey game."    Eberle got the scoring started very quickly, giving ...

*Photo from Sportsnaut*     The Washington Capitals just needed something, anything to go right. Things finally did. Alex Ovechkin had a goal and an assist, Evgeny Kuznetsov had a 4 point game, and the Capitals defeated the Edmonton Oilers with a 5-4 victory on Monday night in Washington.    Entering Monday's home tilt in the midst of a 0-2-2 stretch, the Capitals rode the strength of the power play, scoring 4 times on the man advantage to get the streak snapping win. Besides Ovechkin and Kuznetsov, Dylan Strome contributed two goals, and Erik Gustafsson finished with 3 assists.    Kuznetsov said after the game that "Definitely tomorrow morning will be better than last eight mornings, probably. I felt like we play good but not good enough for wins lately. This win will give us big breath and we can breathe a little bit and coaches can finally show us some positive moments, because that's big when you come in next morning."    The only goal of...

*Photo from MLive.com*     It was some international flair that allowed the Motor City team to win. Moritz Seider had a two assist game, Dominik Kubalik scored the winning goal, and the Detroit Red Wings rallied to defeat the New York Rangers with a 3-2 victory on Sunday afternoon in New York.    Trailing 2-0 early on, the Red Wings slowly dug their way out of the hole and emerged with a win in overtime. The Red Wings have now taken home 3 straight wins and possess a 7-3-2 record, sitting in second place in the Atlantic Division, right behind the first place Boston Bruins.    Kubalik said of his overtime goal that "I ended up in front, and I knew that DP just looked at me and I was hoping he was going to just put it there," Kubalik said. "It ended up in the net, so it worked pretty well and I'm very happy about that. We deserved this. We earned it."    Starting the scoring in the first period for the Rangers was Kaapo Kakko, who scored 9:14 i...

*Photo from the San Diego Union Tribune*     First, it was Mikko Rantanen's time to shine. Now, it's Artturi Lehkonen's time. Nathan MacKinnon had 3 assists, Lehkonen scored, and the Colorado Avalanche defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets with a 5-1 victory on Saturday afternoon in Tampere, Finland.    After Rantanen picked up a hat trick in Friday's win to start the global series, fellow Finland native Lehkonen scored in Saturday's finale to help the Avalanche win both games of the global series, with Rantanen assisting on his goal. The Avalanche now own a 6-4-1 record after two Finland victories.    Lehkonen said after the game that "When you get four points, the whole trip, in some ways, you can call it a success. These two games here, we got four points. It was a long road trip for us. It is nice to go back home."    Just 33 seconds into the game was when Lehkonen lit the lamp, scoring to give the Avalanche a 1-0 lead with MacKinnon and Ran...

*Photo from the Mankato Free Press*     It's safe to say that Mikko Rantanen took full advantage of his homecoming. Nathan MacKinnon had 4 assists, Rantanen notched a hat trick and an assist, and the Colorado Avalanche defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets with a 6-3 victory on Friday afternoon in Finland.    Friday was game one of two in the NHL's global series in Tampere, Finland, between the Avalanche and Blue Jackets. Rantanen and Columbus's Patrik Laine, who are both Finnish, both felt it was great to return home to play hockey, and Rantanen heard the crowd chanting his name in a sing-song style.    Rantanen said of the crowd's cheering that "The crowd chanting that was pretty cool. I had chills on the bench. It was really cool, I didn't expect it. I thought the crowd was really good the whole game. I was happy there. I was surprised and it gave me chills, you know."    Starting the scoring early for the Avalanche was Logan O'Connor, w...