Three Stars
1. Brayden Point, Tampa Bay Lightning. Point was a big part of the Lightning’s dominant offensive showing in Chicago on Sunday night when they scored six goals and put 55 shots on goal. Point was a factor in three of those goals, scoring one of them and assisting on two others to give him five goals and eight total points on the season. We know the Lightning have superstars at the top of the lineup, but it is the emergence of secondary players like Tyler Johnson, Ondrej Palat and Point himself over the past four years that have made this team such a force in the Eastern Conference.
2. David Rittich, Calgary Flames. With Mike Smith struggling in the early part of the season could backup David Rittich start to steal some playing time away from him? He has certainly made a strong case for himself over his past two starts, including Sunday’s game in New York where he stopped 43 out of 44 shots in a 4-1 Flames win. In his two starts this season he has now stopped 67 out of 70 shots.
3. Kyle Okposo, Buffalo Sabres. The Sabres ruined the Ducks’ celebration of Paul Kariya on Sunday night by scoring four consecutive goals to erase what was a two-goal deficit midway through the second period. Kyle Okposo started the rally with his first goal of the season late in the period, and then helped complete when he set up Rasmus Ristolainen’s game-winning goal early in the third period. Okposo had recorded just three assists in his first eight games before Sunday, so it was a much-needed big night for him on the scoresheet.
Ducks defense looks awful again
The Anaheim Ducks have been relying on their goalies -- particularly starter John Gibson -- more than any other team in the league this season, surrendering shots and chances at an unsustainable rate.
So far, Gibson has been able to keep them in it and steal a bunch of wins.
This weekend Gibson and Ryan Miller were not able to bail them out.
After getting outshot by a 45-18 margin in a 3-1 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday night, they were outshot 45-28 in their 4-2 loss to the Buffalo Sabres on Sunday. That is 90-46 over two games in 48 hours. That is ... terrible.
They are giving up more than 37 shots on goal per game and have been outshot by a ridiculous margin on the young season.
This team looks like a house of cards teetering on the verge of a collapse if their goalies slip up even a little bit. This is, quite simply, not a good hockey team right now no matter what their record says.
Highlights of the Night
Johnny Gaudreau was a big part of the Flames’ win in New York on Sunday night by scoring a pair of goals, both of them coming on wonderful individual efforts. His second goal -- which was also his 300th career point -- was the best of the two.
The Lightning were dominant all night and it started very early with this slick Nikita Kucherov goal to put them on the board first.
He made that look easy.
Factoids
The Tampa Bay Lightning set an NHL record for most shots in a single period when they recorded 33 in the second period (we highlighted that here). They also set a franchise record for most shots on goal in a game.
The @TBLightning established a franchise record for most shots on goal in a game, eclipsing the mark of 52 set on Nov. 18, 2008 vs. FLA. #NHLStats #TBLvsCHI pic.twitter.com/X835wR1SVD
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) October 22, 2018
The Calgary Flames won their first game at Madison Square Garden since 2008.
The @NHLFlames earned their first win at Madison Square Garden since Dec. 7, 2008 (3-0 W), snapping a six-game slide (0-5-1). #NHLStats #CGYvsNYR pic.twitter.com/odv7JcsIvf
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) October 22, 2018
Scores
Tampa Bay Lightning 6, Chicago Blackhawks 3
Calgary Flames 4, New York Rangers 1
Buffalo Sabres 4, Anaheim Ducks 2
MORE: Your 2018-19 NHL on NBC TV schedule
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Adam Gretz is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @AGretz.