Three Stars
1. Anthony Stolarz
The Flyers scored just one goal on Tuesday, and it came 1:40 into their game. The Rangers had plenty of time to at least tie things up, and they certainly tried, firing 38 shots on Stolarz. None of them resulted in a goal, as Stolarz nabbed an impressive shutout.
This marks the second shutout of Stolarz’s career, and the second of this season. He came into Tuesday’s game with just an .880 save percentage in 2018-19, so while the Flyers are generally trending up in net lately, Stolarz needed this.
For more on the Flyers’ win, click here.
2. David Pastrnak/the Bruins’ top line
You can really take your pick from Boston’s tremendous trio.
Pastrnak scored a goal and two assists while firing an impressive six shots on goal. Brad Marchand also generated three points in this one, all of which were assists. Patrice Bergeron didn’t have as many points, yet his two were goals, and they were pretty impressive.
As strong as the performances were from the Boston’s top line, they could only manage a standings point from Tuesday’s game, thanks in part to this guy:
3. Kyle Connor
Last season was Connor’s early-career breakthrough, as he generated 31 goals and 57 points.
He’s on track to generate an even better year in 2018-19. Connor scored two goals on Tuesday, remarkably pushing him to 21 goals (and 40 points) already in 50 games.
One thing that seperates Connor from the other players who managed two points on Tuesday is that Connor also scored the only shootout goal between the Bruins and Jets, so he essentially added the game-winner to his two goals.
Highlight of the Night
That wasn’t necessarily the most impressive moment of that Jets - Bruins shootout, though, as Connor Hellebuyck made a sweet “toe” save.
More from that game:
Factoids
- As Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston notes, Patrik Laine only received 10:55 of ice time with the Jets on Tuesday, which is the second lowest number of ice time so far in his young career. PHT’s Scott Billeck points out that he barely exceeded Brendan Lemieux’s ice time of 10:37.
Over the last seven games, Laine’s generated only one goal and one assist, and has just three points (one goal, two assists) during the last 11.
Things aren’t going great for Laine, and there are some warning signs here and there for the Jets ... but hey, they won. Maybe some early struggles will be worth it in the long run?
- Rasmus Dahlin continues to climb the “How is he just 18?” ranks.
With two assists on Tuesday, Dahlin enjoyed his sixth multi-point game, becoming only the third player to collect at least six before they turned 19. Ahead of him: Bobby Orr at eight and Dahlin’s own coach, Phil Housley ... at 13(!). That’s just one of the more impressive numbers he’s accumulated.
Rasmus Dahlin collected two assists to move past Ray Bourque for the sixth-most points in NHL history by an 18-year-old defenseman – a list topped by @BuffaloSabres head coach Phil Housley. #NHLStats #BUFvsCBJ pic.twitter.com/PvYc0oBPE9
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) January 30, 2019
Scores
BUF 5 - CBJ 4
WPG 4 - BOS 3 (SO)
PHI 1 - NYR 0
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James O’Brien is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @cyclelikesedins.