Players of the Night
- Carter Hutton has quietly been playing well when used (sparingly) by the St. Louis Blues, but he stepped into the spotlight on Saturday, guiding his team to a 2-0 win against the Winnipeg Jets.
The high-powered Jets fired 48 shots on goal in this one, yet none beat Hutton, who nabbed the ninth shutout of his solid career. The 31-year-old bumped his save percentage up to a whopping .949 so far in 2017-18. He set a Blues record in doing so.
- On Friday, Jack Eichel collected a hat trick and an assist in a losing effort. Gabriel Landeskog upped the ante one night later - literally - by scoring three goals and two assists in a game his Avalanche managed to lose anyway.
As much attention as Nathan MacKinnon is grabbing (rightfully, as he added two goals to his impressive season so far), this marks the second hat trick of the season for Landeskog. Not bad with it still being 2017, and all.
This was a pretty nasty game between the Avalanche and Lightning, at least at times.
Some key highlights
Technically, you can spell overtime without Alex Ovechkin ...
OVI
— Hockey Daily 365 l NHL Highlights (@HockeyDaily365) December 17, 2017
OVERTIME
OVER
CAPITALS WIN! pic.twitter.com/UhhdX1KRxb
(Ovechkin’s already in select GWG company.)
Shayne Gostisbehere scored both of Philly’s goals, but the antics between Wayne Simmonds and Ben Bishop were the real highlight here:
Bishop lost his stick and was trying to pull Simmonds' away from him. Bishop was left with no stick and Gostisbehere's shot goes right past him to end it in overtime. pic.twitter.com/ospkydeIlf
— Dylan Nadwodny (@dnadders) December 17, 2017
Speaking of Nathan MacKinnon, this is something else:
Mathew Barzal to Jordan Eberle a combination that torments Darcy Kuemper in overtime and Peter Chiarelli, always:
Finally, Jonathan Gibson flashes the glove in defeat:
Factoids
The Lightning keep piling up different milestones and accomplishments, with Mikhail Sergachev ranking among those today (as Tampa Bay won its seventh in a row):
Mikhail Sergachev of the @TBLightning is the fourth rookie defenseman in NHL history to score five game-winning goals in a season. #NHLStats #TBLvsCOL pic.twitter.com/VOCc6AEXrc
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) December 17, 2017
The cold weather didn’t slow Erik Karlsson down (more on that outdoor game here):
Erik Karlsson set NHL regular-season outdoor game records for time on ice (32:55) and blocked shots (8). #NHL100 pic.twitter.com/8Ljx4FNT9B
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) December 17, 2017
Pekka Rinne’s really been rattling off some milestones lately.
.@PredsNHL goalie Pekka Rinne stonewalled the #Flames, earning a shutout that ties him for 5th on this all-time list of European-born netminders pic.twitter.com/q1TrA5mT38
— StatsCentre (@StatsCentre) December 17, 2017
Scores
Oilers 3, Wild 2
Rangers 3, Bruins 2 (OT)
Blues 2, Jets 0
Islanders 4, Kings 3 (OT)
Hurricanes 2, Blue Jackets 1
Flyers 2, Stars 1 (OT)
Senators 3, Canadiens 0
Capitals 3, Ducks 2 (OT)
Penguins 4, Coyotes 2
Lightning 6, Avalanche 5
Predators 2, Flames 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.