Happy Wednesday, Razzball faithful!
It was a short slate on Tuesday night with just 5 NHL games to recap.
In Toronto, we didn’t even have Auston Matthews or William Nylander to check in on. The announcement on Tuesday afternoon was that both would be “out with a lower body injury.”
Well, that’s certainly not a very Knies gift for Leaf fans this holiday season!
Fear not, fans of the blue buds. Matthew Knies – 1 G (11), +1, 7 PIM, 3 SOG, 3 H, 1 BLK in 15:58 TOI, and the rest of the lesser-known supporting cast of forwards provided enough offense to lift the Leafs to their 3rd win in 4 games.
Joseph Woll’s 33 saves on 33 shots were also more than enough for his third consecutive win, and his first shutout of the season.
But I’m pretty sure no one had this one on their Night Before New Year’s Eve NHL Bingo Card.
Matthew Knies and Nico Hischier drop the gloves off the draw 👊 pic.twitter.com/RX2MgLPaRa
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) December 31, 2025
Now, don’t get me wrong. I know it’s not exactly Tie Domi vs Troy Crowder here, but it’s Knies to see one of the Leafs stepping up and trying to make something happen. And for the record, I used the term ‘stepping up’ before seeing that head coach Craig Berube used that exact term earlier Tuesday afternoon in a presser.
If anything, Knies should earn a couple of brownie points with his head coach after that one.
Were the Leafs the only team to pull off an exciting victory on Tuesday night?
Here’s what else I saw in Tuesday night’s NHL action…
Sam Montembeault – Both teams were flying Tuesday night, and I was a bit surprised it took as long as it did for either team to score. After two shutout periods, Florida scored a couple just over the halfway mark in the third period. BUT…the Habs didn’t give up. (More below).
Cole Caufield – 1 G (19), 1 A (20), +1, 5 SOG. I watched this one, and after the two Florida goals, it felt like the Habs were ready to lie down and accept their fate. The only problem is that no one told Caufield and the rest of les petit enfants. Caufield’s goal came 14 seconds after Sam Reinhart buried Florida’s second of the night and injected some fire (and hope) into the Canadiens.
Nick Suzuki – 2 G (12, 13), +1, 2 PIM, 7 SOG, 1 PPG, GWG, 1 H. 12/20 FOW. Le Capitaine! Suzuki scored the tying goal with 1:22 left in the third period, then scored the game-winner on the OT PP. All of this could be the second most exciting part of the day for the Habs star, as rumor has it he’s already been contacted about a spot on the Olympic roster (which will be announced Wednesday).
Noah Dobson – 2 A (20), +2, 4 SOG, 1 PPA, 1 H, 5 BLK in 24:32 TOI. Lane Hutson had a couple of assists too, but Dobson’s ability to fill in the rest of the scoring categories gave him the edge for a write-up. The 8 points in his last 4 GP are pretty sweet. But the 95 blocked shots in 38 games are good for 4th place overall on the league leaderboard, and are helping out big-time in those leagues with extended categories.
Daniil Tarasov – 26 saves on 29 shots and the 3-2 OT loss. Tarasov played well in this one, especially in OT after his team ended up having to kill a penalty. In the end, the flurry of shots from Montreal was too much to handle.
Brad Marchand – It’s a 9-game point streak for Marchand, who’s officially up to 45 points in 38 games, and 1024 in his career. Speaking of his 1000-point achievement, I’ll leave you with a little New Year’s gift at the bottom of the page here, too!
As far as this game was concerned, though, Mr. Overtime was back in OT with his usual slick moves and dekes, and almost caught Montembeault off balance for the game-winner. Unfortunately for the Panthers, he was also back to his old ways with a not-so-slick elbow to Mike Matheson’s jaw. The subsequent penalty, and Nick Suzuki’s GWG, cost Florida the extra point.
Jacob Markstrom – 26 saves on 29 shots and the 4-0 loss at TOR. Markstrom was outplayed by the guy at the other end of the ice, but it wasn’t a terrible showing. You know the statsheet is bad when the only other guys worth mentioning are Luke Glendening and Paul “Welcome Back” Cotter for their 4 hits and 2 blocked shots (each).
Frederik Andersen – 23 saves on 28 shots and a 5-1 loss at PIT. It was not a good night for Freddie. As the kids might say, he was not Bussin’. But you know who’s Bussin’ even more now?
(not) Pyotr Kochetkov – Scheduled to have surgery on a “lower body injury” and is expected to miss the rest of the season. If Bussin’ Brandon Bussi is available in your league and you need a boost from the back end, you could do a lot worse than this speculative add. Anderson is 5-9-1 and has an .865 save percentage. The door to increased playing time for Bussi is wide open now.
Stuart Skinner – 27 saves on 28 shots in a 5-1 blowout vs CAR. Mark Jankowski spoiled Skinner’s shutout with 1:35 left in the third, but either way, this was a much-needed win for the 27-year-old netminder. It was Skinner’s first win as a Penguin (in 4 starts), and broke an ugly three-game stretch of 12 GA.
Anthony Mantha – 2 G (13, 14), +2, 3 SOG, 1 PPG, i, 14:35 TOI. For the third consecutive week, we’re headed back to the ‘Memberberry bush. I mentioned almost forgetting about Tarasenko two weeks ago, and said the same about James van Riemsdyk last week. This week, it’s Anthony Mantha. With 5 points in his last three games, he’s well on his way to surpassing his career high in goals and points (25 G, 48 PTS – 2017-2018).
Justin Brazeau – Former Bruin alert! – 1 G (12), 1 A (8), +1, 3 SOG, GWG, 1 H, 1 BLK, and 4 goals in his last TWO GAMES?! Brazeau has 6 of his 20 points in his last three games and continues to produce after injuries pushed him into a second-line role with the Pens.
Erik Karlsson – 2 A (25), +3, 1 SOG, 1 PPA, 1 BLK, and 19:40 TOI. The Pens announcers said Karlsson almost missed Tuesday night’s game with an illness, but decided to give it a go instead of missing his first game of the year. This guy plays nearly 20 minutes of hockey, records two points, blocks a shot, and is a +3 on the night while he’s sick? Someone needs to send this to all the players who have a tough time showing up for work with a cold or the sniffles.
David Rittich – 17 saves on 19 shots and the shootout win at CHI. He’s 10-4-0-2 (with that last 2 representing his previous shootout losses).
Bo Horvat – 1 G (21), 4 PIM, 3 SOG, 1 PPG, 3 H, 22:56 TO,I, 11/20 FOW. Bo missed a few games with a lower-body injury, but is back on the scoring track with two goals in his last 2 games. AND, for what it’s worth, he scored the shootout winner too.
Matthew Schaefer – 1 A (16), 1 SOG, 1 PPA, 1 H, and 26:54 TOI. His 25 points in 40 games put him on pace to at least give Phil Housley’s rookie defenseman record a run.
Housley’s 66 points in 77 games (1982-1983) might be tough to reach, but this 18-year-old kid is the real deal nonetheless. Think back to what you were doing at 18. If you said you were trying to figure out how to make a decent pot of pasta and not fail your first year of post-secondary education, join the club.
Spencer Knight – 19 saves on 21 shots and the 3-2 SO loss to NYI. Knight fell behind early on two NYI goals, so at least his team pushed back a bit and forced OT. Is there anyone else who is missing Connor Bedard more than Spencer Knight, though?
Teuvo Teravainen – 1 G (7), +1, 2 SOG. For all of the players who are lighting it up and on the way to crushing their career highs in points, it’s good to remember that not everyone is enjoying a point explosion this year.
Oliver Moore – 2 A (8), +1, 1 SOG, 1 PPA, 1 H. Nothing more than a nice game for Moore, who has just 3 points in his last 10 games.
Dan Vladar – 31 saves on 34 shots in a 6-3 win at VAN. Don’t be too proud of this netminding terror you’ve constructed. The ability to destroy the Canucks is insignificant next to the power of the Force.
Noah Cates – 1 G (10), 1 A (12), +2, 1 SOG, 2 BLK, and 13:07 TOI. Some fast times for Noah Cates on a Tuesday night. He’s still the second-best Cates behind Phoebe, though. Moving in Stereo indeed.
Matvei Michkov – 2 A (13), +1, 3 SOG, 12:30 TOI. Ray Ferraro and the Canucks broadcast team gave Michkov a hard time during this game, mentioning how Michkov came into the season out of shape and ended up injuring an ankle early on as a result. The newly turned 21-year-old (December 9) is doing his best to work his way back into Rick Tocchet’s good graces, but scoring just one goal in December isn’t the way to get there anytime soon.
Travis Konecny – 1 G (12), 1 A (23), +2, 2 PIM, 3 SOG, 2 H, 1 BLK, and 16:54 TOI. 35 points in 38 games for the ever-underrated Konecny.
Thatcher Demko – 27 saves on 31 shots and the 6-3 loss to PHI. This was Demko’s third straight loss, with 13 goals against (total) in those 3 GP. I nearly wrote up David Kampf for his goal and assist, too, but *barf emoji*.
Jake DeBrusk – 0 PTS, -2, 3 SOG, 5 H, 19:03 TOI. One night after getting the dreaded “healthy scratch” call, the $5.5 millon dollar man decides to turn it back on again. He’s a gifted scorer, but here’s hoping for the Canucks’ sake that he puts in a more consistent effort than he did during those years in Boston. 5 hits means he had a bit of fire Tuesday night. Now he needs to keep it warm.
THREE-POINT CHALLENGE!
Y’all know the drill here. Choose one player to record 3 points in one of our 10 games on Wednesday night. You can’t take any of the group of: Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon, Macklin Celebrini, Leon Draisaitl, Mikko Rantanen, Martin Necas, Nikita Kucherov, Kirill Kaprizov, Matt Boldy.
You also cannot choose any of the FOUR guys tied for 10th, either! – Wyatt Johnston, Mark Schiefele, Kyle Connor, and Jason Robertson.
GET YOUR PICKS IN EARLY – we’ve got WSH and NYR playing at 12:30 PM, then NSH at VEG starting at 3:00!
I was going to take Marchand, as I’m sure he’s angry about costing his team a point Tuesday night, but Florida is off today. I’ll take Cale Makar for 3 against Jordan Binnington and the Blues.
And, as promised, please take at least a minute or two to bask in the glory that is embedded here.
Perennial Selke winner? Check. Stanley Cup champion? Check. Hockey Hall of Famer? Check.
But flawlessly executed scenes as an ACTOR? Uh…I guess so.
Enjoy!
I hope you enjoyed it. If you have any questions or comments, leave them below, and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can! Happy Wednesday, and I’ll see you next week!
Follow me @marmosdad on Twitter/X and Bluesky @marmosdad.bsky.social
