Player of the night: Radim Vrbata
Radim Vrbata started the season by going eight games without a goal, but the Florida Panthers forward emphatically snapped that drought on Thursday, recording the hat trick in his team’s 8-3 win over the Anaheim Ducks.
A few hats and a few plastic rats littered the ice after Vrbata’s third goal, as he collected a loose puck and outwaited Reto Berra with a move to the forehand.
That’s the seventh hat trick of Vrbata’s career.
Highlight of the night:
Nikita Kucherov to Steven Stamkos. This goal is a thing of beauty.
Factoid of the night:
Jonathan Quick continued his strong start to the season in net for the L.A. Kings. He stopped all 40 shots he faced Thursday in a shutout victory over the struggling Montreal Canadiens. Oh, and he did so in his 500th career NHL game.
“The guys all knew it was his 500th game, and I told the guys after the game that might be one of the best goaltending performances I’ve ever seen,” said Kings coach John Stevens, per LA Kings Insider.
Appearing in his 500th NHL game with @LAKings, Jonathan Quick recorded the sixth 40-save performance for a shutout in his career. #NHLStats pic.twitter.com/KDFe5LcaV1
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) October 27, 2017
Scores:
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Cam Tucker is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @CamTucker_Sport.