Three stars
1. Nikita Kucherov, Tampa Bay Lightning
Kucherov extended his point streak to 10 games in style with a four-point night as the Lightning crushed the New Jersey Devils 5-1.
Kucherov scored the game’s opening goal and then assisted on three of the team’s next four goals. No. 86 has five goals and 24 points during his 10-game heater.
2. Kevin Fiala, Nashville Predators
Goals had been few and far between for Fiala up until last week. Since Nov. 27 -- four games now -- Fiala has three goals in that span and now five on the season.
Fiala’s second-period marker proved to be the game winner as Pekka Rinne did the rest, stopping 21 shots to put Nashville alone atop the Western Conference standings.
3. Brayden Point, Tampa Bay Lightning
Kucherov being an assist machine as of late has certainly benefitted those around him, including Point, who was the beneficiary of another Kucherov pass on the power play to give Point his 20th goal of the season -- one back of Patrik Laine.
Kucherov has assisted on 11 of Points 20 goals, but Point isn’t too bad at dishing out the apples himself. His two assists in the game were his 16th and 17th of the season to put him third on the team in that category.
Highlights of the night
Totally meant to do that:
Apparently busted twigs are useful now. https://t.co/FnPpgf74Mn
— NHL (@NHL) December 4, 2018
Kind of not fair:
We're 40 minutes down and the @TBLightning keep racking it up. https://t.co/SasmvXCT6h
— NHL (@NHL) December 4, 2018
Ditto with this one:
Together, @86Kucherov and @BraydenPoint19 are straight up disgusting. https://t.co/QE7XoXdeCE
— NHL (@NHL) December 4, 2018
Factoids
Nikita Kucherov is the 12th active player to record a point streak of 10+ games in consecutive seasons. The only active players to do so in three or more straight campaigns:
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) December 4, 2018
Sidney Crosby - 4@emalkin71geno - 3
Ryan Getzlaf - 3
Jason Spezza - 3#NHLStats pic.twitter.com/iXMFBQfpkM
With a 2-1 victory, the @PredsNHL held their opponent to no more than one goal for the ninth time this season (including three shutouts).
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) December 4, 2018
Nashville leads the League with a 2.34 team goals-against average and ranks fourth with a .918 team save percentage. #NHLStats pic.twitter.com/IoXVQY5T09
Connor McDavid (illness) will not play for the first time since January 2016.#Oilers went 14-18-5 without him in 37 games in 2015-16
— Sportsnet Stats (@SNstats) December 4, 2018
Scores
Lightning 5, Devils 1
Predators 2, Sabres 1
Stars 4, Oilers 1
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