Player of the Night: Mike Smith, Calgary Flames
While Petr Mrazek pitched a 27-save shutout as the Red Wings lulled the Blackhawks to sleep, Smith deserves recognition for another strong game, but beyond that for defying expectations in 2017-18. He’s been red-hot in particular lately.
This marks Smith’s sixth consecutive win, and he’s faced 30+ shots on goal in all of those victories. Sunday represented one of his best performances of that stretch, stopping 38 out of 39 shots against the frustrated Carolina Hurricanes.
It’s not just a flash in the pan, either. Smith is now 20-13-3 on the season with a sparkling .924 save percentage.
Confession: few of us expected this level of work, and such durability, from the massive 35-year-old.
Highlights of the Night
Pretty sweet stuff from Michael Grabner for the Rangers in a loss to the Penguins.
It’s probably worth seeing Phil Kessel’s 700th point again, even if it was typical, at least by Kessel’s sniping standards. More on Kessel’s milestone here.
After missing 21 games, Brandon Sutter scored the overtime game-winner for the Canucks against the Wild.
Factoids
Another Kessel tidbit:
Scoring his 20th of 2017-18 tonight, Phil Kessel moved past Tony Amonte on this red, white & blue list (soon to be alone in 3rd once Patrick Kane scores his next goal though) pic.twitter.com/VLX4RdbBK1
— StatsCentre (@StatsCentre) January 15, 2018
Tyler Bertuzzi, like Dominik Simon, scored his first NHL goal. He gets the edge because of this great, very “hockey” photo.
Tyler Bertuzzi of the @DetroitRedWings, a second-round selection (58th overall) in the 2013 #NHLDraft, scored his first career goal (17 GP). #NHLStats #DETvsCHI pic.twitter.com/4Uc2oz3cZN
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) January 14, 2018
Scores
Red Wings 4, Blackhawks 0
Flames 4, Hurricanes 1
Penguins 5, Rangers 2
Canucks 3, Wild 2 (OT)
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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.