Players of the Night
- Alex Ovechkin set some nice marks and probably deserves consideration for the highlights of the night and factoids of the night with his two goals, but this post already covers that. You’ll probably enjoy what you see there, unless you’re a Hurricanes fan.
- Other two-goal outputs are worth mentioning: Matt Cullen is closing in on 700 points, Oliver Bjorkstrand looked dangerous for Columbus, Eric Staal and Blake Wheeler also found the net twice.
- Josh Manson collected three assists of his own. Manson already has 20 points this season, setting a new career-high in 41 games.
- A bunch of goalies generated shutouts. Jonathan Quick (32 saves), Ryan Miller (31), Marc-Andre Fleury (29), and Andrei Vasilevskiy (29) blanked opponents on Tuesday.
Highlight of the night: Carter Hutton’s ridiculous save.
Camera shot of the night:
The way the camera follows the puck here on the Bjorkstrand goal is masterful.#CBJ pic.twitter.com/KGIl5fA7Gh
— Sam Blazer (@Sam_Blazer) January 3, 2018
Fight of the night?
Puck drop? Gloves drop. Michael Chaput and Chris Wagner have quite a tilt! pic.twitter.com/X6wpyTYAJY
— Hockey Daily 365 l NHL Highlights (@HockeyDaily365) January 3, 2018
Factoids
Fleury’s 29-save shutout helped the Golden Knights beat the Nashville Predators 3-0, helping Vegas set yet another record for a team in its “inaugural” season.
The @GoldenKnights extended their win and point streaks to eight and 13 games (12-0-1), respectively – the longest such runs in NHL history by a team in its inaugural season. #NHLStats #NSHvsVGK pic.twitter.com/P3rZWnFAkS
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) January 3, 2018
Sergei Bobrovsky of the @BlueJacketsNHL earned the 200th win of his NHL career.
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) January 3, 2018
His 60 victories since the beginning of 2016-17 trail only Braden Holtby (65) for the most among goaltenders in that span. #NHLStats #CBJvsDAL pic.twitter.com/oOf8UrdJaJ
And, again, Ovechkin’s work checks off a lot of boxes.
Scores
Lightning 2, Maple Leafs 0
Bruins 5, Islanders 1
Penguins 5, Flyers 1
Capitals 5, Hurricanes 4 (OT)
Sharks 4, Canadiens 1
Blues 3, Devils 2 (SO)
Wild 5, Panthers 1
Blue Jackets 2, Stars 1
Avalanche 3, Jets 2 (OT)
Kings 5, Oilers 0
Ducks 5, Canucks 0
Golden Knights 3, Predators 0
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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.