Arena/expansion fun
Another positive step for an NHL team in Seattle.
Hurricanes on the way to being sold, but not moved (and more).
Notable Nights
There were a handful of strong player of the night candidates, so let’s rattle them off. Before you get angry that your guy was left out, please note that this is a lightning round, not a comprehensive list.
- Jakub Voracek is really starting to heat up, collecting three assists in the Flyers’ 4-1 win against the Canucks, Philly’s third consecutive win. This is the second time in three games that Voracek’s managed a three-assist night, with one assist sandwiched in between for seven points in three contests.
Instead of allowing mediocre shooting luck to be his downfall (seven goals on 108 SOG for just 6.5 percent success rate), Voracek is piling up points; he now has a whopping 37 points in 29 games. You could argue that he’s the greatest catalyst for a fantastic trio with Claude Giroux and Sean Couturier.
- Two guys with two-goal nights make the list because of context. David Backes managed two tallies despite the reasonable argument that he shouldn’t be playing so soon after having part of his colon removed. Sean Monahan, meanwhile, is starting to earn the nickname Mr. Overtime.
In just his 348th career game, #Flames Sean Monahan becomes the fastest player in NHL history to score 9 career OT winning goals pic.twitter.com/z5RuwmEiih
— Sportsnet Stats (@SNstats) December 8, 2017
- Joe Thornton’s three-point night helped the Sharks manage an impressive comeback against the Hurricanes, culminating in a 5-4 OT win. They had been down 4-2 late in the contest.
Joe Thornton (389-1,021—1,410) of the @SanJoseSharks collected 1-2—3 to leapfrog Dale Hawerchuk (518-891—1,409) for sole possession of 19th on the NHL’s all-time points list. #NHLStats #CARvsSJS pic.twitter.com/iv7zs3H35M
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) December 8, 2017
Stealing that ‘70s Show
Jeff Carter’s sadly on the shelf, but two other key cast members of “That ‘70s Line” combined for a beauty. Tyler Toffoli did most of the work in befuddling the Senators - including Erik Karlsson - while Tanner Pearson scored the goal:
Backhanders: not dead yet
Boy, it seemed like there were some especially nice backhand goals tonight. Gabriel Landeskog and Steven Stamkos dueled with backhand goals in the time you’d reheat leftovers in the microwave (with Stamkos’ tally being my favorite of the two, style-wise):
Christian Dvorak broke a personal slump with one of the best goals of the night. The turnover he forced really sold it.
More Factoids
Vladislav Namestnikov and Steven Stamkos both were back to business in scoring one goal and two assists apiece, and the Lightning are just on another level. So consider those two as additional player of the night.
The League-leading @TBLightning scored at least five goals for the third consecutive game to improve to 20-6-2 (42 points) this season. #COLvsTBL pic.twitter.com/ifjDxpLztJ
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) December 8, 2017
And one more Jumbo Joe note, because beating Jaromir Jagr in a stat is almost always a feat worth gloating about:
Tonight was Thornton's 229th career multi-assist game. That's the most in the NHL since the lockout... of 1994-95 (eight more than Jaromir Jagr) https://t.co/dXi58SokeU
— StatsCentre (@StatsCentre) December 8, 2017
The Kings now lead the West with 41 standings points after rattling off their seventh win in a row on Thursday night. Impressive stuff.
Scary Moment
Along with Sidney Crosby’s injury scare, there was this moment for the Coyotes. Yikes:
Dylan Strome blew a tire and took out Tobias Rieder, who went down hard on the ice. He went down the tunnel. #Yotes pic.twitter.com/a6X1tO33lo
— Richard Morin (@ByRichardMorin) December 8, 2017
Rieder returned soon after, but like with Crosby, it’s wise to monitor the situation.
Scores
Bruins 6, Coyotes 1
Penguins 4, Islanders 3 (OT)
Flames 3, Canadiens 2 (OT)
Lightning 5, Avalanche 2
Panthers 6, Jets 4
Blues 3, Stars 0
Flyers 4, Canucks 1
Kings 4, Senators 3 (OT)
Sharks 5, Hurricanes 4 (OT)
—
James O’Brien is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @cyclelikesedins.