Players of the Night:
Carey Price, Montreal Canadiens: Price made like a brick wall for the third straight game, stopping 27 of 28 shots he faced for his third straight win since returning from injury. Montreal had been a tire fire prior to Price’s return, and Price had been a tire fire before he went down with the mysterious lower-body injury. Price’s revival looks very, very good over the past three games with a 0.67 goals-against average and a .980 save percentage. The Canadiens have won three-straight.
Carey Price has stopped 100 of 102 shots since his return three games ago. #Habs
— Chris Stevenson 🇨🇦🏒⛳️🍺🎙️🌈 (@CJ_Stevenson) November 30, 2017
Antoine Vermette, Anaheim Ducks: Vermette picked a good night to end his 11-game goal-scoring drought, netting twice, including the game-winner, as the Ducks beat the St. Louis Blues. Anaheim had lost their previous four games before Wednesday’s win.
Highlights of the Night:
This is just one filthy, filthy pass by Andrew Shaw:
What a feed from Shaw finished off by Danault. Nasty pass. #Habs pic.twitter.com/zb7agboYtX
— Shayne Pasquino (@shaynepasquino) November 30, 2017
Riley Nash made Andrei Vasilevskiy look pedestrian with this slick wrister:
Since about 3/4ths into last season, @rileynash20 has been one of the bruins most consistent guys. Does it all. pic.twitter.com/oVZSJrqxgJ
— The Morning Skate (@morning_skate) November 30, 2017
Steven Stamkos ended a five-game goal-less slump when he finished off this tic-tac-toe play on the power play:
The Mighty Stumble:
The NHL’s No. 1 and No. 2 teams coming into Wednesday night’s action both fell to lesser teams (going by standings, of course).
On Wednesday Night Rivalry on NBSCN, the Boston Bruins topped the NHL-leading Tampa Bay Lightning 3-2. Charlie McAvoy had a goal and an assist and played over 28 minutes for the Bruins.
Kyle Brodziak scored twice in the final four minutes for St. Louis, but it wasn’t enough to claw his team back from a 3-0 deficit.
The Winnipeg Jets took a too many men penalty with seven seconds left in regulation in a 2-2 game and paid for it when the game shifted into overtime as Nathan MacKinnon scored 59 seconds into extra time.
The Jets had a chance to move into a tie for the top spot in the Western Conference with St. Louis losing. Alas, it was not to be.
MISC:
- Tuukka Rask hasn’t had a good start to the year -- he has just four wins in 14 starts -- but he stopped 19 shots on Wednesday against the league’s top team to end a four-game skid, including this fine save:
19 saves for @tuukkarask. None bigger than this one. pic.twitter.com/A1KUELgePO
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) November 30, 2017
- Bryan Little has eight points in nine games since ending an 11-game goal-scoring drought on Nov. 14.
- Erik Karlsson continues to starve the scoresheet of his name. He is now seven games without a goal or an assist, this after recording 17 in his previous 10 games.
Factoid of the Night:
Jonathan Drouin scored his first career penalty shot goal and became the first @CanadiensMTL player to convert a penalty shot attempt since Dale Weise on Nov. 13, 2014 vs. BOS. #NHLStats pic.twitter.com/jEtYnR4LCl
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) November 30, 2017
And it was a pretty nice goal to boot.
Another look at the Drouin penalty shot. #Habs pic.twitter.com/omXBaQs4K1
— Shayne Pasquino (@shaynepasquino) November 30, 2017
So majestic.
Scores:
Bruins 3, Lightning 2
Canadiens 2, Senators 1
Ducks 3, Blues 2
Avalanche 3, Jets 2 (OT)
Scott Billeck is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @scottbilleck