Three stars
1. Patric Hornqvist, Pittsburgh Penguins
He scored the Pittsburgh Penguins’ fastest-ever hat trick on hat night.
Not bad from the 230th and final player drafted in the 2005 NHL Draft.
Hornqvist’s goals came pretty much the same way they always do: by working hard. He cleaned up some trash in front of the net, had a knuckle puck fool a goalie and then saw his shot on the hat trick goal re-direct off a defenseman. Hornqvist added an assist for the four-point night.
2. Sean Monahan & Johnny Gaudreau, Calgary Flames
Look, I have to cheat here. Tuesday was a wild night and the wildest game came in Calgary (highlights here), where the Flames won 9-6 against the Columbus Blue Jackets. That’s right, 15 goals, and Monahan and Gaudreau each had four-point nights to help propel the Flames past their Blue Jackets.
Both Monahan and Gaudreau scored twice and added two helpers in the game. Matthew Tkachuk had a goal and two assists. Mark Giordano had three helpers.
3. Roberto Luongo, Florida Panthers
Luongo has dealt with a couple injuries now this year and still comes back with a vengeance each time.
Lu returned from a five-game hiatus due to a knee injury and stopped 33 shots for his 77th career shutout (and first of the season) in a 5-0 win against the Boston Bruins.
Luongo returned after a month off in early November and steered the Panthers to a win against the Winnipeg Jets in Finland. He plays well in these games coming off a layoff, but the Panthers need him to stay healthy from here on out. Tuesday was a good example as to why.
Other notable performances:
- Cam Atkinson extended his point streak to 11 games with a hat trick of his own. On any normal night in the NHL, Atkinson would be among the three stars. Tuesday wasn’t a normal night.
- Ditto for Frans Nielsen, who scored a natural hatty. [Video]
- Auston Matthews scored an incredible goal in overtime to help the Toronto Maple Leafs past the Buffalo Sabres by a 4-3 margin. Matthews scored earlier in the game and added an assist. He’s got 15 goals in 14 games this season and five goals and two assists in three games since returning from injury.
- Jack Eichel scored twice, bringing the Sabres from 2-1 down to a 3-2 lead in the third period.
- Eddie Pasquale, 28, got his first win in his NHL debut. It wasn’t pretty, but he turned aside 19 of 24 shots in through 65 minutes and two of three Red Wings shooters in the shootout. [Highlights]
- Max Domi had two goals and an assist as the Montreal Canadiens downed the Ottawa Senators 5-2.
- Sticking in Tampa, Mathieu Joseph had two goals and an assist in the Lightning win.
- Mike Hoffman had two goals for the Panthers. Jonathan Huberdeau had a goal and two assists.
- Evgeni Malkin had a goal and an assist. [Highlights]
- Adin Hill keeps winning. He’s now 4-0-0 in five games played this season after making 25 saves.
- Nate Schmidt scored twice and added an assist in a 5-3 win over his former team in the Washington Capitals.
Highlights of the night
Hornqvist makes history:
Auston Matthews doing the impossible:
Matheson goes coast-to-coast:
Out here coastin', @mmatheson19 style. 😎 https://t.co/PFdspW7eUr
— NHL (@NHL) December 5, 2018
One-handed:
Chasing pucks. 😧 pic.twitter.com/wWD2kj01uW
— NHL (@NHL) December 5, 2018
Factoids
Auston Matthews (15 G in 14 GP) became the second player since 1996-97 to score 15 or more goals within his first 14 games of a season (also Simon Gagne in 2005-06: 16 G in 14 GP). #NHLStats #TORvsBUF pic.twitter.com/sCxwbCYp5K
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) December 5, 2018
2018-19 marks the third time that @ovi8 has reached 20 goals in 27 or fewer team games in a season (also 2013-14: 24 GP; 2007-08: 27 GP). He scored at least 51 goals in each of the other two campaigns, including a career-high 65 tallies in 2007-08. #NHLStats #WSHvsVGK pic.twitter.com/KxTp1n85OO
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) December 5, 2018
Calgary recorded the eighth instance this season of a team erasing a deficit of three or more goals to win - and fourth in as many days. The @NHLFlames also achieved the feat on Nov. 1 against the Avalanche. #NHLStats #CGYvsCBJ pic.twitter.com/GjVWbfcZ0Q
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) December 5, 2018
The @ArizonaCoyotes scored their NHL-leading 11th shorthanded goal of 2018-19.
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) December 5, 2018
They have scored 11 or more SHG in an entire season on two occasions since 1995-96: 14 in 1999-00 and 11 in 2007-08. #NHLStats pic.twitter.com/j9uNTqdmNY
Scores
Panthers 5, Bruins 0
Jets 3, Islanders 1
Penguins 6, Avalanche 3
Flames 9, Blue Jackets 6
Maple Leafs 4, Sabres 3 (OT)
Canadiens 5, Senators 2
Lightning 6, Red Wings 5 (SO)
Wild 3, Canucks 2
Golden Knights 5, Capitals 3
Coyotes 2, Kings 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