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The Buzzer: Tavares delivers in the clutch

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Three Stars

1. Kevin Labanc

Six players generated three points on Saturday, so you could make cases for plenty of players outside of tonight’s picks. Labanc was the only player who generated a hat trick, however, and it’s the first hat trick of the 23-year-old’s career.

Labanc’s been enjoying a pretty effective season. He has nine goals and 36 points in 56 games, leaving him four points short of last season’s career-high of 40.

All three of his shots on goal ended up finding the mark.

2. Alex Galchenyuk

It’s been an up-and-down first season in Arizona for “Chucky,” who’s watched as Max Domi’s been flourishing in Montreal.

Saturday served as one of his best games with the Coyotes, as Galchenyuk generated two goals (including the game-winner) and an assist. He fired five SOG and had a +1 rating. About the only bummer of his game was that he only won 20 percent of his faceoffs.

3. Patrice Bergeron

When it comes to Galchenyuk and Bergeron making the top three, game-winners tipped the scales.

Bergeron’s three points came by way of that GWG, plus two assists. As you’d expect from Bergeron, it was quite the all-around performance; the Bruins center fired seven SOG, had a +3 rating, and won 54.2 percent of his draws. One of his three points came shorthanded, too.

It’s fair to ask what kind of major awards Bergeron might be pushing for if he hasn’t been dealing with some injuries. Despite being limited to 39 games this season, Bergeron has 20 goals and 50 points. In 2017-18, Bergeron generated 63 points in 64 contests.

You might be shocked to hear that he’s excellent.

Highlight of the Night

If Maple Leafs fans want some assurance that all of that salary cap worrying they shouldn’t be doing is worth it, they merely need to watch Mitch Marner show great instincts and timing by setting up John Tavares, who scored an excellent overtime-winner with a backhander.

Factoid


  • Sidney Crosby passed Mario Lemieux for 916 games played, the most in Penguins franchise history. It really highlights that injuries, cancer, and that pesky first retirement really deprived hockey fans of more Mario. The Penguins celebrated it in a cool way.


  • Speaking of Crosby, he’s part of a rare club. Elias Pettersson reached 50 points in 45 games, becoming one of just four players who generated at least 50 points in 45 games since he was born in 1998. The full group is Pettersson, Crosby, Alex Ovechkin, and Evgeni Malkin.
  • In helping Labanc get a hat trick, Joe Thornton collected his 1,049th career assist, tying him with Gordie Howe for ninth all-time.
  • Click here to read about the record Flyers rookie goalie Carter Hart tied on Saturday.
  • In that same game, the Ducks lost their seventh in a row, providing evidence that this nightmare might just keep going.

Scores

BOS 5 - LAK 4 (OT)
BUF 3 - DET 1
MIN 4 - NJD 2
NYI 4 - COL 3 (OT)
PHI 6 - ANA 2
OTT 5 - WPG 2
STL 3 - NSH 2
ARI 3 - DAL 2
TOR 4 - MTL 3 (OT)
TBL 5 - PIT 4
FLA 5 - WSH 4 (OT)
SJS 5 - EDM 2
VAN 4 - CGY 3 (SO)
CBJ 4 - VGK 3

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.