Player of the Night: James Reimer, Florida Panthers
What if a goalie who’s often an analytics darling saves the season for a sometimes-seemingly-anti-analytics team in the Florida Panthers? If nothing else, Reimer is a catalyst for Florida’s hot streak, as the goalie and team are both on five-game winning streaks after a 2-0 win against the fledgling Montreal Canadiens.
In Saturday’s case, Reimer stopped all 38 shots on goal for his 19th career shutout.
The Panthers have asked quite a bit of Reimer, too, so he deserves a significant chunk of the credit.
Other worthy mentions for player of the night include Alex Ovechkin (three assists), John Carlson (goal, two assists), and Tyler Toffoli (also a goal and two assists).
Best highlights:
Great passing by the Capitals, including Ovechkin:
Connor Brickley generated the celebration of the night:
All of us right now:#CellyOfTheYear pic.twitter.com/nTSvu3908q
— Florida Panthers (@FlaPanthers) December 31, 2017
Meanwhile, this was not the celebration of the night ... or was it?
When high fiving goes wrong pic.twitter.com/K5rELsh81f
— Wyatt Arndt (@TheStanchion) December 31, 2017
Factoids:
Circling back to Ovechkin, his three-assist night generated factoids both obscure and broad. This is a cool one for context, especially when you consider the fact that Ovechkin is such a prolific scorer during a time when it’s tough to put pucks in the net (especially for most other players):
Alex Ovechkin is playing in his 13th NHL season. Thanks to 3 points tonight (all assists), he now finds himself tied for 6th on a list littered with legendary names pic.twitter.com/TTYwykta0v
— StatsCentre (@StatsCentre) December 31, 2017
It was a night of milestones for the Capitals, as Barry Trotz also became the fifth-winningest coach in NHL history.
With a 5-2 win over the New Jersey Devils, Barry Trotz recorded his 737th career win and now ranks fifth all-time in NHL history. pic.twitter.com/f08MQgMAug
— CapitalsPR (@CapitalsPR) December 31, 2017
Scores
Bruins 5, Senators 0
Panthers 2, Canadiens 0
Capitals 5, Devils 2
Blues 3, Hurricanes 2
Predators 3, Wild 0
Kings 4, Canucks 3
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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.