Three Stars
1. Mathew Barzal, New York Islanders. No John Tavares for the New York Islanders? No problem on Saturday night. Mathew Barzal was the big star in their 4-0 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs with a natural hat trick in the Islanders’ first game against their former captain.
2. Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins. The Pittsburgh Penguins power play was a perfect 4-for-4 on Saturday night in a 6-1 rout over the St. Louis Blues. At the center of that was Sidney Crosby who opened the scoring with a power play goal in the first minute on his way to another three-point game. It is his third consecutive multi-point game (a stretch that has seen him record eight points) and he now has 13 points in his past eight games, including three multi-point games.
3. MacKenzie Blackwood, New Jersey Devils. Goaltending has been a big issue for the New Jersey Devils this season, but 22-year-old rookie MacKenzie Blackwood has given them a nice lift in recent weeks with a .939 save percentage in his first four appearances. That number only went up on Saturday with a 37-save shutout, the first of his career, in a 2-0 win over the Carolina Hurricanes.
Other notable performances from Saturday
-- The Vancouver Canucks young stud forwards continued to shine in their 3-2 win over the Calgary Flames as Brock Boeser scored his 14th goal of the season and Elias Pettersson scored his 19th.
-- The Florida Panthers scored two goals in the final six minutes to pick up a 2-1 win over the Philadelphia Flyers. Jonathan Huberdeau set up the game-tying goal and scored the game-winning goal.
-- Patrick Kane scored two goals for the Chicago Blackhawks, including the game-winner in overtime, to lift his team to a win over the Colorado Avalanche.
-- The Dallas Stars were big winners a day after their CEO ripped the their two best players.
-- Big night for Washington Capitals defender Tyler Lewington as he scored his first NHL goal, recorded an assist, and got into a fight. Yes, he had a Gordie Howe Hat Trick.
-- Malcolm Subban stopped 30 shots to help lift the Vegas Golden Knights to another win over the Los Angeles Kings. William Karlsson scored his 14th goal of the season and Paul Stastny had two assists for a Golden Knights team that is making a serious push for the top spot in the Pacific Division.
-- Without Brad Marchand, Charlie McAvoy, and David Backes the Boston Bruins were able to pick up a 3-2 overtime win in Buffalo. Marchand and McAvoy were injured while Backes was serving the first game of his three-game suspension.
Highlights of the Night
Connor McDavid scored what may have been the most beautiful, yet pointless goal you will see this season. This came with less than 10 seconds to play in a game the Oilers would lose to the San Jose Sharks by a 7-4 margin. Look at him just tip the puck into the net, mid-air, as Martin Jones was going to catch it.
Mathew Barzal was obviously the big star of the night for the New York Islanders, but the goal of the night for the Islanders belonged to Valtteri Fippula for splitting through the Toronto Maple Leafs’ defense.
Alexander Edler helped the Vancouver Canucks top the Calgary Flames in overtime.
Factoids
The St. Louis Blues gave up six goals at home on Saturday night. This is something that has happened a lot lately.
This is the FOURTH time in the last EIGHT home games the Blues have given up SIX or more goals. #stlblues
— Jeremy Rutherford (@jprutherford) December 30, 2018
Injuries are really taking their toll on the Nashville Predators right now.
During their six-game losing streak, the Predators have lost to the following teams based on today's standings: 27th (OTT), 29th (CHI), 25th (PHI), 12th (BOS), 17th (DAL) and 20th (NYR).
— Adam Vingan (@AdamVingan) December 30, 2018
Mika Zibanejad had a huge night for the New York Rangers in their win over the Nashville Predators.
Mika Zibanejad is just the third @NYRangers player in the last 10 years to record four assists in a game. The others:
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) December 30, 2018
Artem Anisimov (Jan. 19, 2011)
Marian Gaborik (Jan. 19, 2010).#NHLStats #NYRvsNSH pic.twitter.com/NLrLoxVD8C
Of course Nikita Kucherov had yet another multi-point game.
Kucherov’s 15 points through five games (4-11—15), are the most by any @TBLightning player over a five-game span, besting the previous mark set by Vincent Lecavalier from Nov. 8-19, 2007 (6-8—14). #NHLStats #MTLvsTBL pic.twitter.com/dp4LEYnVDh
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) December 30, 2018
Nice rally for the Arizona Coyotes against the Anaheim Ducks.
The @ArizonaCoyotes overcame a multi-goal deficit in the third period and Nick Schmaltz netted his first career regular-season overtime goal to lift his club to its third win in four contests. #NHLStats #ARIvsANA https://t.co/DQKhr8vplF
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) December 30, 2018
Scores New Jersey Devils 2, Carolina Hurricanes 0 Vegas Golden Knights 4, Los Angeles Kings 1 San Jose Sharks 7, Edmonton Oilers 4 Minnesota Wild 3, Winnipeg Jets 1 Boston Bruins 3, Buffalo Sabres 2 (OT) New York Islanders 4, Toronto Maple Leafs 0 Washington Capitals 3, Ottawa Senators 2 Tampa Bay Lightning 6, Montreal Canadiens 5 Florida Panthers 2, Philadelphia Flyers 1 Pittsburgh Penguins 6, St. Louis Blues 1 New York Rangers 4, Nashville Predators 3 Dallas Stars 5, Detroit Red Wings 1 Chicago Blackhawks 3, Colorado Avalanche 2 (OT) Arizona Coyotes 5, Anaheim Ducks 4 (OT) Vancouver Canucks 3, Calgary Flames 2 (OT)
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.