Player of the Night: Patrice Bergeron, Boston Bruins
Nico Hischier collected two goals and an assist in a blistering effort as the Devils beat the Senators in overtime. Erik Karlsson almost ruined things for New Jersey with three assists. Andrei Vasilevskiy pitched an impressive 43-save shutout as the Lightning edged the Blue Jackets. Ben Bishop narrowly kept Clayton Keller and Derek Stepan from even bigger nights, yet each player scored two goals and one assist apiece in a slim Stars win vs. the Coyotes.
Even Bergeron’s teammates made some waves.
There were great choices for player of the night, but ultimately, Bergeron’s return to the Bruins lineup stands tallest. He scored a goal and three assists, soothing injury-bummed Bruins fans as part of Boston’s victory against Vancouver.
Bergeron didn’t ease right in. He won half of his draws, fired six shots on goal, and almost logged 21 minutes of ice time. Maybe he can hold things together for Boston?
Highlight of the Night: Connor McDavid’s ridiculous assist
This post goes into greater detail on that and Edmonton’s win, so we’ll just stick this GIF in here because you need to see it either way:
You thought he was good going forward... #LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/vOuAkFhS1D
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) October 20, 2017
OK, but to avoid an overly redundant buzzer, check Hischier here, David Pastrnak’s great goal, and Mikhail Sergachev’s big night. And, as a bonus, Will Butcher must have nodded to Karlsson after sending this ridiculous outlet pass:
cc @BobbyDrex pic.twitter.com/Cdbb3unudP
— steph (@myregularface) October 19, 2017
Outstanding.
You know what? Enjoy Bishop robbing Derek Stepan as a bonus bonus.
LIZARD STICK FROM BISHOP pic.twitter.com/DKhX5KxbZb
— Dylan Nadwodny (@dnadders) October 20, 2017
Misc.
Click here for Erik Gudbranson’s hit and fight. Zack Kassian’s hit on Ryan Hartman is mentioned there, but just in case you missed it, here it is one more time:
Zack Kassian absolutely unloads on Ryan Hartman. Only got 2 mins pic.twitter.com/hxp93SWmhc
— Pete Blackburn (@PeteBlackburn) October 20, 2017
Factoids of the night
Pekka Rinne and the Nashville Predators continued their hot streak by blanking the Flyers. Rinne enjoys a milestone moment:
Pekka Rinne of the @PredsNHL earned his 44th career shutout to tie Miikka Kiprusoff for most by a Finnish-born goaltender. #NHLStats pic.twitter.com/wn9azPSQ4Z
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) October 20, 2017
Two impressive bits regarding how dominant McDavid and Karlsson have been:
Erik Karlsson: 28th career 3+ point game tonight. Since his 2009-10 NHL debut, that's 10 more than the next closest defenceman (Kris Letang)
— StatsCentre (@StatsCentre) October 20, 2017
The @Oilers get OT win, as Connor McDavid earns 27th career multi-assist game- tied for most in NHL since his debut (despite missing 37 gms)
— StatsCentre (@StatsCentre) October 20, 2017
Scores and more
Devils 5, Senators 4 [OT] (more)
Lightning 2, Blue Jackets 0 (more)
Oilers 2, Blackhawks 1 [OT] (more)
Stars 5, Coyotes 4
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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