Players of the Night:
Adam Henrique, Anaheim Ducks: Henrique had a goal -- a beauty of a goal -- and an assist in his return to New Jersey, just three weeks after being dealt there. His Ducks didn’t get the last laugh though. The Devils had a solid third-period comeback to win 5-3.
Charlie McAvoy, Boston Bruins: Who doesn’t like a Gordie Howe hat trick? McAvoy certainly liked his tonight. He scored the game-winner, assisted on two goals and fought Pierre-Luc Dubois to cap off the feat.
Jonathan Quick, Los Angeles Kings: Quick stopped 36-of-37 to end the Philadelphia Flyers six-game winning streak and ended the Kings’ three-game losing streak. The Kings have been very good this season and Quick has been front and center in that.
Highlights of the Night:
For this one, we start by going back to New Jersey and we go back to Henrique’s sensational goal against his former club.
Jesper Bratt scored this cheeky yet wicked wrist shot for the Devils tonight:
Brian Elliott didn’t have much luck against the Kings tonight, but he produced quite the glove save:
Factoid of the Night:
Brad Marchand of the @NHLBruins registered 1-1—2 to extend his career-high point streak to nine contests (6-8—14). #NHLStats #CBJvsBOS pic.twitter.com/XgoutGTyI5
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) December 19, 2017
MISC:
- Kings forward Tyler Toffoli scored his 100th career NHL goal. Toffoli has 16 goals this season. He had 16 goals all of last season.
- Speaking of the Kings, they stopped the Philadelphia Flyers six-game winning streak in a 4-1 win.
- Quirky stat: This goal from Ryan Strome was the 10,000th goal in Edmonton Oilers history.
- Another day, another star player going down with an injury, this time it’s Montreal Canadiens defenseman Shea Weber.
- December hasn’t been a great month for the Penguins
- Semyon Varlamov had a close call tonight.
Scores:
Kings 4, Flyers 1
Devils 5, Ducks 3
Bruins 7, Blue Jackets 2
Avalanche 4, Penguins 2
Oilers 5, Sharks 3
Scott Billeck is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @scottbilleck