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Player of the Night: Justin Faulk, Carolina Hurricanes
There were some other great performances on Tuesday, including Mark Scheifele powering the Jets past the Capitals with three points and Zach Werenski collecting three points of his own as a defenseman in Columbus’ win, but Faulk takes the cake when he correct for rarity.
Faulk generated not just a hat trick, but also a natural one, becoming just the fifth player in NHL history to achieve such a feat. You can see footage of that in the video above this headline.
Justin Faulk of the @NHLCanes is the 10th different defenseman in NHL history to score a natural hat trick. #NHLStats #LAKvsCAR pic.twitter.com/TEUYw7e4mn
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) February 14, 2018
Highlights of the Night
The Predators managed quite the comeback against the Blues on Tuesday, rallying from a 3-0 deficit almost halfway through the third period to send the game into overtime. Filip Forsberg took the cake in OT, locking down the win with a penalty shot. Watch all of their goals, which included a beautiful set of passes to set up one of Austin Watson’s two tallies:
It’s been a middling season for the Red Wings, but Dylan Larkin has enjoyed a fantastic rebound. This time around, it was all about the takeaway:
Beware of lurking @Dylanlarkin39. pic.twitter.com/4793ZoNMj8
— NHL GIFs (@NHLGIFs) February 14, 2018
This probably ranks as a lowlight, but still:
When you're having a rough night. pic.twitter.com/7v7GhTstI2
— NHL GIFs (@NHLGIFs) February 14, 2018
Factoids:
As lousy as that 4-1 loss was for the Islanders, John Tavares did collect his 600th career point. He hit that milestone in just the 645th game of his NHL career. Outstanding, especially for a guy who hasn’t always had the greatest linemates.
🚨 THE CAPTAIN! 🚨
— New York Islanders (@NYIslanders) February 14, 2018
Opens the scoring with a PPG! #Isles up 1-0! That’s @91Tavares’ 600th career point. Congrats JT! 🙌 pic.twitter.com/ORSmRuDCVo
Another feather in the cap for the Vegas Golden Knights:
#GoldenKnights become the 3rd team in NHL history to win 20 home games in inaugural season pic.twitter.com/Uig9AhAphk
— Sportsnet Stats (@SNstats) February 14, 2018
Put this in Taylor Hall’s Hart Trophy file:
Taylor Hall of the @NJDevils extended his point streak to eight games (6-5—11) and has recorded at least one point in 15 consecutive appearances dating to Jan. 2 (11-12—23). #NHLStats #NJDvsPHI pic.twitter.com/LaVoehUIqn
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) February 14, 2018
Then again, there’s this in Patrice Bergeron’s favor:
Patrice Bergeron of the @NHLBruins has recorded at least one point in 15 of 18 games in 2018 (16-10—26), including seven multi-point performances. #NHLStats #CGYvsBOS pic.twitter.com/8AM4Oa82sg
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) February 14, 2018
Hot take: they’re both excellent. (No punches pulled.)
Scores
Bruins 5, Flames 2
Sabres 5, Lightning 3
Blue Jackets 4, Islanders 1
Devils 5, Flyers 4 (SO)
Penguins 6, Senators 3
Hurricanes 7, Kings 3
Red Wings 2, Ducks 1
Predators 4, Blues 3 (OT)
Wild 3, Rangers 2
Jets 4, Capitals 3 (OT)
Golden Knights 5, Blackhawks 2
Coyotes 2, Sharks 1
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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.