Players of the Night:
Ben Bishop, Dallas Stars: Bishop made 24 saves en route to his second shutout of the season. Bishop had lost his previous four starts, so it was a nice bounce-back from the veteran netminder. He can also say he backstopped Ken Hitchcock’s 800th win as a head coach now.
Joe Thornton, San Jose Sharks: Thornton scored twice in Thursday’s 5-4 overtime win against the Vancouver Canucks. His second goal was his 1,415th point of his NHL career, moving him into sole possession of 18th spot all-time, one point ahead of Doug Gilmour.
Dustin Brown, Los Angeles Kings: Talk about embracing the moment. Brown, playing in his 1,000th NHL game, scored the overtime winner for the Kings as they squeaked out a 2-1 win against the Colorado Avalanche.
Charlie McAvoy, Boston Bruins: It was the dude’s birthday, and much like Brown did, he took hold of the moment, scoring the shootout winner in a 2-1 win against the Winnipeg Jets.
Coach of the Night:
Ken Hitchcock, Dallas Stars: These don’t make regular appearances in The Buzzer, but then again, coaches don’t often record their 800th career NHL win. In fact, only three have even done it and Hitchcock is now one of them. Can you guess the other two? The answer is below.
Highlights of the Night:
Thornton’s second of the night was a pretty nice clap bomb:
Joe Thornton’s 2nd of the night.#SJSharks lead 3-1 pic.twitter.com/F84e1nJI46
— Brodie Brazil (@BrodieNBCS) December 22, 2017
Jake Virtanen went coast-to-coast on this fine effort:
Coast to coast, the kid can wheel. 💨 https://t.co/2YHcFcljoU
— NHL (@NHL) December 22, 2017
Cam Talbot nearly gave up a goal and then he gave us this save:
CAM TALBOT WITH THE DIVING STICK SAVE, OH MY WHAT A ROBBERY! pic.twitter.com/2W611hLtr1
— Hockey Daily 365 l NHL Highlights (@HockeyDaily365) December 22, 2017
This dog dropped a puck. It was cute because dog:
12/10 would have this very good dog drop the puck again. pic.twitter.com/UjZfcZ4yQv
— San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) December 22, 2017
Factoid of the Night:
Ken Hitchcock joined some pretty elite company on Thursday:
Ken Hitchcock of the @DallasStars is the third head coach in NHL history to earn 800 career regular-season wins. #NHLStats #CHIvsDAL pic.twitter.com/vUrjBEgkqb
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) December 22, 2017
MISC:
- Matt Duchene doesn’t seem to be too happy with comparisons to Kyle Turris.
- Buffalo Sabres owners have bought a team in the National Women’s Hockey League
- Dustin Brown played in his 1,000th NHL game on Thursday
- PHT’s James O’Brien gets Festivus with fantasy.
Scores:
Bruins 2, Jets 1 (SO)
Devils 4, Rangers 3 (SO)
Ducks 5, Islanders 4 (OT)
Penguins 3, Blue Jackets 2 (SO)
Lightning 4, Senators 3 (SO)
Hurricanes 4, Predators 1
Stars 4, Blackhawks 0
Oilers 3, Blues 2
Sharks 5, Canucks 4 (
Kings 2, Avalanche 1 (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