Hildeby Stops All Shots, Helps Leafs Take 3-0 Victory Over Lightning
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By Nemanja Petković
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Summary:
- Dennis Hildeby earned his first NHL shutout with 29 saves in the Toronto Maple Leafs’ 2–0 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
- Tampa Bay was shut out for the second straight game despite getting Brayden Point and Nikita Kucherov back.
- Calgary, Detroit, Los Angeles, and Minnesota also picked up notable victories around the league.
Dennis Hildeby had the kind of night every young hockey goalie dreams about. The 22-year-old stopped all 29 shots he faced for the first shutout of his NHL career, helping the Toronto Maple Leafs take a 2–0 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday.
Morgan Rielly scored early, and Auston Matthews added an empty-netter to close it out. With the win, Toronto has now gone 4-0-1 over its last five games.
Surprising Growth for Hildeby
It has been an unexpected rise for Dennis Hildeby, who opened the season as Toronto’s fourth option in net. With Anthony Stolarz and Joseph Woll both on injured reserve, he’s been thrown into a much bigger role, and he’s handled it with a calm that’s getting harder to ignore.
Tampa Bay, meanwhile, is suddenly struggling. Jonas Johansson made 22 saves, but the Lightning have now dropped four straight after piecing together a seven-game run.
They did get Brayden Point and Nikita Kucherov back from injuries, but they were still missing Andrei Vasilevskiy. Point had been out for seven games with an undisclosed issue, and Kucherov missed Saturday’s 2–0 loss to the Islanders.
The Lightning have now been shut out in back-to-back games for the first time since November 2023.
Busy Night Across the League
In Salt Lake City, the Kings handed Utah a 4–2 loss thanks to a pair of goals from Joel Armia. Adrian Kempe added one and set up another, while Anze Kopitar also scored. Kevin Fiala picked up two assists and Darcy Kuemper stopped 19 shots.
Utah got goals from Clayton Keller and Dylan Guenther, but the Mammoth have now dropped six of their last eight.
In Calgary, the Flames kept rolling with a 7–4 win over Buffalo. Yegor Sharangovich scored twice and added an assist, while Nazem Kadri had a three-point night of his own. Calgary has now gone 7-2-1 in its last ten. The Sabres had four different goal scorers, but they’ve been outscored 16–7 while starting their six-game trip 0–3. Dustin Wolf made 25 saves for the Flames, earning his third straight win.
In Vancouver, John Gibson turned back the clock with a 39-save shutout in Detroit’s 4–0 win. It was his first shutout since January 2023 and the 25th of his career. The Red Wings have now climbed into first place in the Atlantic Division.
Finally, in Seattle, Minnesota scored three times in the third period to beat the Kraken 4–1. Joel Eriksson Ek had a goal and two assists, and Kirill Kaprizov added an empty-netter as the Wild bounced back from a brief two-game skid.
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