Three stars
1. Brayden Point, Tampa Bay Lightning
Three goals in 91 seconds, all on the power play. What a night and what a way to score your first career hat trick.
Point becomes the second fastest player to score three goals on the power play after the late, great Jean Beliveau (he did it in 44 seconds back in 1955). He also now ranks sixth all-time in terms of the fastest hat-trick.
Point also shot up the goal-scoring rankings for this season, now sitting in a tie for third place with 12 goals. Oh, and the Lightning bested the Penguins 4-3 to boot.
2. Anthony Beauvillier, New York Islanders
Beauvillier scored his first career hat trick and added an assist in 7-5 Islanders win against the New York Rangers.
Beauvillier had just one goal coming into the game and no assists. His first apple of the season came on Leo Komarov’s third-period goal, which stood as the game winner.
Perhaps Thursday’s game will get Beauvillier going again. He had 21 goals in 71 games last season but had just one tally through 16 games entering Thursday.
3. Keith Kinkaid, New Jersey Devils
The man known as ‘Blockaid’ on Twitter lived up to his handle on Thursday night, steering aside all 29 shots he faced from the Philadelphia Flyers in a 3-0 win.
Kinkaid is now tied for the NHL lead in shutouts at three with Marc-Andre Fleury. It wasn’t just a standard, run-of-the-mill night for Kinkaid, either. As you will see below, Kinkaid had to pull out a miraculous save to preserve the goose egg.
Other notable performances
- Nikita Kucherov assisted on all three of Point’s goals.
- Patric Hornqvist was great for the Penguins, scoring a brace and adding an assist in a losing effort.
- Craig Anderson stopped 34-of-35 in a 2-1 win for the Ottawa Senators at home to Detroit, including shutting the door on two penalty shots within seconds of each other.
- Michael Grabner scored his league-leading fourth shorty of the year and the 10th of the season for the Coyotes. The league record for more shorthanded goals in a season is 36. Arizona is well on their way to eclipsing that.
- Speaking of Arizona, Darcy Kuemper was a bloody stud on Thursday, stopping 44-of-45 shots he faced -- a new career high -- in a 2-1 win against the Nashville Predators. Twelve of his saves came on on the penalty kill and he took a penalty himself for good measure.
- Mikko Koivu was gifted a goal and added two helpers as the Minnesota Wild ran over the Vancouver Canucks 6-2.
- Cary Price made 43 saves to help the Montreal Canadiens to a 3-2 win against the Calgary Flames.
- Mitch Marner assisted on the game-winner and then put the game to bed with his sixth of the season as the Toronto Maple Leafs prevailed in a 5-3 win against the San Jose Sharks.
Highlights of the night
Kinkaid’s shutout-preserving save:
.@Blockaid1 making sure to preserve that zero. pic.twitter.com/SAwh5m7dW2
— NHL GIFs (@NHLGIFs) November 16, 2018
Point’s hatty:
All it took was 91 seconds for @BraydenPoint19 to grab the @Enterprise hatty... 91 seconds. https://t.co/zWI6pUAuRy
— NHL (@NHL) November 16, 2018
Beauvillier’s hatty:
An appropriate level of excitement from @titobeauvi21 after his first career @Enterprise hatty. https://t.co/BdIp5YmqV3
— NHL (@NHL) November 16, 2018
You always remember your first time:
First game. First goal.@drrakebatherson getting his family with all the feels right here. #NHLFirsts https://t.co/fmoLfZeZAC
— NHL (@NHL) November 16, 2018
Factoids
Fastest 3 PPG by a Player:
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) November 16, 2018
0:44 - Jean Beliveau (Nov. 5, 1955)
1:31 - @BraydenPoint19 (Nov. 15, 2018)
The season after Beliveau achieved the feat, the NHL implemented the rule allowing a player serving a minor penalty to return to the ice after an opposing team's goal. #NHLStats pic.twitter.com/QjUu7ZdUBu
Fastest Hat Tricks: NHL History
— Sportsnet Stats (@SNstats) November 16, 2018
Bill Mosienko Mar 23, 1952 :21
Jean Beliveau Nov 5, 1955 :44
Jack Darragh Jan 16, 1919 1:00
Derek King Oct 15, 1991 118
Harry Oliver Jan 11, 1927 1:25
Brayden Point Thursday 1:31
Most shorthanded goals through first 18 games of a season, since 1933-34:
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) November 16, 2018
11 – PHI (1973-74)
11 – EDM (1988-89)
10 – STL (1975-76)
10 – @ArizonaCoyotes (2018-19)#NHLStats pic.twitter.com/qnbvczdYLY
Scores
Islanders 7, Rangers 5
Devils 3, Flyers 0
Lightning 4, Penguins 3
Blue Jackets 7, Panthers 3
Senators 2, Red Wings 1
Wild 6, Canucks 2
Canadiens 3, Flames 2
Coyotes 2, Predators 1
Maple Leafs 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