Player of the Night: Dustin Brown, Los Angeles Kings
Look, one good game - or even a good week or month - won’t wave a magic wand and make Brown’s contract a bargain.
Still, all the agitating 32-year-old can do is play his best, and Brown made the most of lining up with Anze Kopitar on Wednesday. Most obviously, he scored two tip-in goals in short order during the third period; tying the contest and then giving the Kings a lead that would at least open the door for them to grab a “loser point” in OT. Brown also had an assist, so his three points stand out on a night heavy with two-goal performances.
The most promising thing for the Kings might be that Brown resembled his peak self by filling up the box scores beyond the two goals and one assist. Brown had a +3 rating, four penalty minutes (not necessarily positive, but a possible sign of engagement), eight shots on goal, five hits, and one blocked shot.
Sounds quite a bit like the guy who used to draw a ton of penalties, score 25-30 goals, and fire a lot of shots.
Highlight of the Night: Does this not qualify?
Drew Doughty making post-game dinner plans with Matthew Tkachuk. pic.twitter.com/4wMXwpqGGM
— LA Kings (@LAKings) October 12, 2017
OK, then let’s go with Brad Marchand’s second goal of the season:
Factoid of the Night: Brian Gibbons’ shorthanded goal was the first of its kind in New Jersey Devils’ history.
Brian Gibbons 3-on-5 short-handed goal against Toronto was the first in @NJDevils regular-season history.
— NJDevilsPR (@NJDevilsPR) October 12, 2017
Misc.: Boston Bruins defenseman Adam McQuaid made his presence felt in his team’s 6-3 loss to the Colorado Avalanche.
First, he delivered this hit on Tyson Jost, who is believed to be OK after the game:
Maybe stemming from that hit, Nikita Zadorov took McQuaid on in a rough bout:
Scores and recaps
Pittsburgh 3, Washington 2 (more here)
New Jersey 6, Toronto 3 (more here)
Calgary 4, Los Angeles 3 [OT] (more here)
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.
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