Top-5 : Instead of scoring, Ovi passed to Protas for his hat-trick

There was a lot, a lot of action in the NHL on Tuesday night.

Eleven games were presented in all corners of the league!

The Canadian won against the Canucks, but let’s see what happened elsewhere:

Erik Karlsson scored for the @Penguins in overtime, Aliaksei Protas tallied a hat trick for the @Capitals and the @Predators extended their win streak against the Sharks to 13 games during Tuesday’s 11-game slate.#NHLStats: https://t.co/eCfCkKFjdt pic.twitter.com/PX3K7Atbw2

— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) March 12, 2025

1: What a beautiful gesture from Ovi
How did the game between the Capitals and the Ducks go?

In short, to summarize it all… We need to remember two things: Alex Ovechkin’s performance and that of Aliaksei Protas.

For those who are wondering, no, Ovi did not score in the game.

But Protas did score a hat trick. Here’s one of his goals:

#ALLCAPS 2-2. PROTAS TIES IT UP AT 2! pic.twitter.com/TVsES6hcUR

— x — Capitals Replays (@capsreplays) March 12, 2025

We also remember this magnificent goal from Anthony Beauvillier in the game.

His first goal with the Caps is all that:

What a move for Anthony Beauvillier’s first with the Caps pic.twitter.com/HdAB0rYPqD

— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) March 12, 2025

At the end of the game, Ovechkin had the opportunity to score to get closer to Wayne Gretzky’s record.

The Ducks no longer had a goalkeeper… But the Capitals captain chose to pass the puck to Protas, who was able to complete his hat trick in an empty net.

Beautiful gesture from Ovi:

Team guy Ovi sends Protas off to complete his first hat trick on the empty net pic.twitter.com/TKslmCMwpU

— Spittin’ Chiclets (@spittinchiclets) March 12, 2025

In the end, the Capitals won 7-4.

Ovechkin didn’t score… But he finished the game with three assists.

2: Dylan Cozens is having fun in Ottawa
Things are going well for the Sens lately.

The Ottawa team was trying to win a fourth game in a row and was visiting Philadelphia on the occasion.

That’s what happened!

The Sens can thank Matthew Highmore… Who came to save his goalkeeper when the score was 3-2 in the third period.

A sequence that deserves to be seen and seen again:

Matthew Highmore OUTTA NO WHERE pic.twitter.com/GzAz9mf5fX

— Spittin’ Chiclets (@spittinchiclets) March 12, 2025

From that angle, it’s even more impressive:

WHAT. A. BACKCHECK. https://t.co/3sUBxsicWC pic.twitter.com/Tbyxz0yhmr

— NHL (@NHL) March 12, 2025

The Senators ultimately won the game 5-2… and in the victory, Dylan Cozens continued to have fun with his new team.

He scored his 2nd goal in a Sens uniform… and also picked up a third point (in as many games).

A great acquisition so far for the Senators:

COZENS WITH HIS SECOND GOAL IN TWO GAMES AS AN OTTAWA SENATOR #NHL pic.twitter.com/HFmY4hDXUr

— TSN (@TSN_Sports) March 12, 2025

3: The Bruins and Panthers really don’t like each other
The Panthers visited the Bruins for the first time since the Brad Marchand trade.

The former captain of Boston was not in uniform (he trained this morning with the Panthers)… But there were still fans of his new team to cheer him on:

The duality of man. https://t.co/6f1CFDtkAe pic.twitter.com/M6FRSSlzhT

— Conor Ryan (@ConorRyan_93) March 11, 2025

But Brad Marchand didn’t need to be there for things to get heated between the Panthers and the Bruins.

In the final minutes of the game, the two teams did what they usually do when they face each other.

They bickered:

Yeah these two teams HATE each other pic.twitter.com/LOF8ceVqR4

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) March 12, 2025

ZADOROV AND BENNETT DROP THE GLOVES AND KEPT FIGHTING DOWN ON THE ICE pic.twitter.com/6dlJRI6jdE

— Gino Hard (@GinoHard_) March 12, 2025

The Bruins won this game 3-2.

It’s funny, but the Boston team has now beaten the Panthers AND the Lightning since Marchand left…

4: Is Igor okay?
We know that goalies have a… special character.

Last night, we saw Igor Shesterkin act like that.

The Rangers goalkeeper stole Brandon Tanev’s stick, tried to make a save… And then decided to catapult his opponent’s stick into the board.

The sequence is quite funny:

Igor Shesterkin gets bumped into by Brandon Tanev, so Igor steals his stick, attempts a save with it, and then whips it at the boards pic.twitter.com/5HCwXPq0th

— Gino Hard (@GinoHard_) March 12, 2025

Maybe the Rangers goalkeeper was upset about his team’s performance, too.

Because in fact, the Blue Shirts were only able to score once against Connor Hellebuyck, who had another big night.

The Jets goalkeeper stopped 21 of the 22 shots directed at him to sign his 38th win (!) of the season.

It was Gabriel Vilardi (with his 27th goal of the season) who scored the winning goal in the game.

The Jets won 2-1:

GABRIEL VILARDI pic.twitter.com/Gtw1sSySwe

— Winnipeg Sports Talk (@SportsTalkWPG) March 12, 2025

5: Sid is on fire
Sunday night, the Penguins faced the Wild.

Sidney Crosby scored two goals in the game.

Well… The Penguins captain continued his streak today by scoring two more goals against the Golden Knights.

He now has 23 goals and 70 points in 65 games:

Crosby est en feu contre les Golden Knights ; il a fait mouche deux fois! pic.twitter.com/6h34M4Vgv0

— TVA Sports (@TVASports) March 12, 2025

Overtime was necessary in the game to determine a winner between the two teams… And it was finally Erik Karlsson who stood up at the right time.

The Pens defenseman scored to give his team the win (3-2):

ERIK KARLSSON WINS IT!

He finds the back of the net in @Energizer overtime to give the @penguins back-to-back wins! pic.twitter.com/SnMpChfR7s

— NHL (@NHL) March 12, 2025

It’s a second consecutive win for the Penguins… who are no longer really in the running for a playoff spot.

We want to finish the season on a high note in Pittsburgh, apparently.

Overtime
— Classic.

Mathieu Olivier will find a way. pic.twitter.com/JD27igzUFB

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) March 12, 2025

— Snipe.

Luke Hughes with the snipe! pic.twitter.com/7cJXxK5DUA

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) March 12, 2025

— Wow!

Jarvis goes top shelf for a shorty pic.twitter.com/JrKTXeVKRg

— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) March 11, 2025

— Big night for Jesper Bratt and Juraj Slafkovský.

(Credit: Capture d’écran/NHL.com)
— Four games on Wednesday in the NHL:

(Credit: LNH.com)