We can’t say for sure that all Ville Husso wanted for Christmas was to win an NHL game. However, we can say that his latest NHL victory was a long time coming.
Beating the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 on Saturday, Husso was winning in the NHL for the first time since a 6-4 victory over the St. Louis Blues on Dec. 12, 2023.
“It's been kind of a tough go there last year, injuries and this year like no wins,” Husso said after the drought-ending triumph. “So just keep, keep grinding.”
He explained that in his homeland of Finland, they call it sisu. It means to be resilient, to stick with it.
“They teach us at a young age in Finland and just trust yourself and do your job,” Husso said. “It's not always easy, but it was nice to get the win for sure.”
Then again, if you think the waiting was the hardest part of Husso, you need to be talking to Dustin Tokarski. He was also winning on the weekend. Blocking 27 shots, the journeyman veteran netminder was backstopping the Carolina Hurricanes to a 4-1 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets.
The 35-year-old netminder was making his first start for the Hurricanes. He was making his first NHL appearance since Feb. 18, 2023 and winning in the NHL for the first time since Jan. 10, 2023.
"It's been pretty wild," Tokarski told Yahoo Sports. "But it's been awesome, been fun.”
Tokarski was earning an AHL pro tryout pact with the Chicago Wolves after attending camp in the fall on a PTO. The Wolves are Carolina’s AHL affiliate and the Hurricanes signed him when they ran into injury issues between the posts earlier in the month.
Tokarski posted shutouts in each of his first two AHL games for the Wolves.
“Grateful for Chicago and grateful to get here and happy to get the win," Tokarski said.