Players of the Night:
Paul Byron, Montreal Canadiens:
Byron notched his first career NHL hat trick as the Canadiens annihilated the Detroit Red Wings 10-1. He now has nine goals on the season, well on pace to eclipse his career-high of 22 he set last season. Bryon was claimed off waivers by the Canadiens from the Flames on the day before the 2015-16 began. He’s exceeded expectations, to say the least.
Tristan Jarry, Pittsburgh Penguins:
How’s this for a replacement for Matt Murray? Two wins, one shutout, one goal allowed in 120 minutes of play. Jarry has been sensational since Murray went down with a lower-body injury and the Penguins are reaping the rewards.
Scott Wedgewood, Arizona Coyotes:
Wedgewood stopped 26 shots from the New Jersey Devils en route to his second-career shutout against the team that he recorded his first with. The Devils had yet to have been shutout this year prior to Saturday.
Highlights of the Night:
Wedgewood did this to Stefan Noesen:
Byron’s hat trick goal came off a nice snipe:
Ryan Miller did his best Domink Hasek:
Viktor Arvidsson was instrumental in a pre-game proposal:
Streak-ender of the Night:
The Buffalo Sabres finally scored. Jason Pominville, mercifully, fired home in the third period against the Penguins, the first goal for the club since Nov. 24, some 233:19 of game time.
Factoids of the Night:
A couple from the night of destruction in Montreal:
The @CanadiensMTL are the second team to score 10 goals in a game this season, joining the @NHLBlackhawks on Oct. 5 vs. PIT (10-1 W). #NHLStats #DETvsMTL pic.twitter.com/PQfNjx2n8G
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) December 3, 2017
22 years after the #RedWings scored 11 goals against the #Canadiens in Patrick Roy's final game as a Hab, Montreal beats Detroit 10-1 for their fifth win in a row. #NHL https://t.co/fU0cN8uovl pic.twitter.com/E1OtcEbixT
— SportsCentre (@SportsCentre) December 3, 2017
Alex Ovechkin moved himself up the all-time goal-scoring list again. Ovechkin is tied with Nikita Kucherov, who scored twice on Saturday, for the league-lead in goals at 19.
Alex Ovechkin of the @Capitals scored his League-leading 19th goal of the season (tied) to climb multiple all-time lists. #NHLStats #CBJvsWSH pic.twitter.com/I2wIjiTlnU
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) December 3, 2017
Tyler Seguin played quite a bit tonight:
Tyler Seguin played 28:50 tonight. That's the second-highest amount of ice time by a forward in @DallasStars history. It trailed Mike Modano by just 4 seconds from April 10, 2002 vs Minnesota.
— Josh Bogorad (@JoshBogorad) December 3, 2017
MISC:
- The St. Louis Blues have lost three straight and four of their last five after dropping a 2-1 overtime decision against the Minnesota Wild.
- So close, yet so far: The Oilers had a 6-1 lead early in the third period only to watch it get cut to 6-5 as the Calgary Flames stormed back after a brutal start. Alas, the Oilers held on to win their sixth game in a row against their Battle of Alberta rivals.
- Radek Faska has five goals in his past three games for the Dallas Stars.
- Elliotte Friedman said on Hockey Night in Canada that there is a “sense and a hope” that the salary cap in the NHL could reach $80 million next season.
- On the same broadcast, Friedman touched on what it would take for the Sabres to trade Evander Kane. The asking price, of course, is high. Friedman said the returns bigger than those of what the Winnipeg Jets got for Andrew Ladd (Marko Dano, 1st round and conditional picks) and the Arizona Coyotes got for Martin Hanzal and Ryan White (1st, 2nd, 4th round picks) should be expected.
- Furthermore, the Los Angeles Kings are going to make pending UFA Drew Doughty a priority when it comes to inking him to a long-term extension.
Scores:
Bruins 3, Flyers 0
Wild 2, Blues 1 (OT)
Canucks 2, Leafs 1
Canadiens 10, Red Wings 1
Lightning 5, Sharks 2
Penguins 5, Sabres 1
Capitals 4, Blue Jackets 3
Hurricanes 3, Panthers 2 (OT)
Coyotes 5, Devils 0
Predators 3, Ducks 2 (SO)
Stars 3, Blackhawks 2 (SO)
Oilers 7, Flames 5
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