Player of the Night: Radek Faksa, Dallas Stars.
In a span of 6:46, Faksa scored all three of the Stars’ goals in a 3-0 win, slowing down the Vegas Golden Knights for at least one night. (That face he’s making in the post’s main image is actually a reaction to all of the gambling/"Facts of Life” puns that thankfully didn’t make it into headlines.)
This is the first hat trick of Faksa’s career. He now has eight goals this season, putting him in a position to crush last season’s career-high of 12 goals.
Troll of the Night: Glen Gulutzan
There’s believing in your team and then there’s challenging an empty-netter with less than a second remaining.
Someone should break down the environmental impact of the NHL actually having to go through the motions of doing a blog post and everything else they would normally do on this tally.
Wasted Rally
The Rangers admirably fought back from a three-goal deficit to tie things up against the Panthers, with Chris Kreider (two goals, one assist) and Pavel Buchnevich (1G, 2A) leading the way. For those who question Kreider’s efforts, consider this goal:
CHRIS KREIDER, RANGERS WITHIN ONE! pic.twitter.com/IjtolgVZiQ
— Hockey Daily 365 l NHL Highlights (@HockeyDaily365) November 29, 2017
It was all for naught, as Denis Malgin - new addition to Florida’s top line - scored the game-winner, and didn’t even have the decency to wait until overtime.
Highlights of the Night
Bo Horvat made a great play, with bonus points for it this goal coming at John Tavares’ expense. Save that puck, kid.
To little surprise, Tavares got the last laugh, powering the red-hot Islanders to a 5-2 win.
Malcolm Subban made some sweet saves for Vegas in a losing effort, too:
Factoids
Anze Kopitar is about as hot to start this season as he was cold in all of 2016-17, basically:
Anze Kopitar leads the @LAKings with 12 goals this season (25 GP), matching his total from 2016-17 (76 GP). #LAKvsDET pic.twitter.com/0f1rcz1hPz
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) November 29, 2017
Circling back to Tavares, maybe the Islanders should stay in Brooklyn a little longer, after all?
The @NYIslanders improved to 8-0-2 at Barclays Center this season and are the only team without a regulation home loss in 2017-18. #VANvsNYI pic.twitter.com/Ft4dnKncZO
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) November 29, 2017
A friendly reminder that Auston Matthews is a premium “volume shooter,” among other skills.
For the first time in his 104-game NHL career, #Leafs Auston Matthews fails to register a shot on goal
— Sportsnet Stats (@SNstats) November 29, 2017
John Tortorella isn’t just good at landing gigs, he usually makes his presence felt.
#CBJ John Tortorella becomes the 15th head coach in NHL history to win 100 games with 3 different franchises
— Sportsnet Stats (@SNstats) November 29, 2017
Scores
Lightning 2, Sabres 0
Islanders 5, Canucks 2
Panthers 5, Rangers 4
Sharks 3, Flyers 1
Blue Jackets 3, Hurricanes 2 (SO)
Kings 4, Red Wings 1
Predators 3, Blackhawks 2
Maple Leafs 4, Flames 1
Oilers 3, Coyotes 2 (OT)
Stars 3, Golden Knights 0
—
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.