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The Buzzer: Bruins, Flyers stay hot; Habs finally win

New York Islanders v Montreal Canadiens

MONTREAL, QC - DECEMBER 3: Phillip Danault #24 of the Montreal Canadiens celebrates after scoring a goal against the New York Islanders in the NHL game at the Bell Centre on December 3, 2019 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. (Photo by Francois Lacasse/NHLI via Getty Images)

NHLI via Getty Images

Three Stars

1. Jonathan Marchessault, Vegas Golden Knights

It’s felt like the Golden Knights haven’t had the greatest luck at times so far this season, and Marchessault fits into that argument, carrying what would be a career-high 5.3 shooting percentage into Wednesday’s game. It’s now at 7.7 percent after Tuesday.

That’s the least dramatic way of saying that Marchessault generated the third hat trick of his career. He turned that game on its head, spoiling the Devils’ first game after firing John Hynes with a natural hat trick.

Alex Tuck presents an alternate option, collecting three assists during this win. Marchessault now has five points in his past three games, while Tuck is at six.

2. John Carlson, Washington Capitals

While Marchessault crept into Tuesday a little cold, Carlson has been ghost pepper-hot for basically all of 2019-20. Carlson scored one goal and two assists during Washington’s win against San Jose, pushing the defenseman to a whopping 40 points in just 29 games. No other defenseman has reached 30 points yet (Dougie Hamilton is second with 28).

Carlson isn’t quite hanging with the absolute top scorers in the NHL any longer, but he’s still holding up pretty well, standing at sixth right now.

For more context on just how special Carlson’s start has been, check the factoids. To help his cause for a strong Tuesday, both of Carlson’s assists were primary assists, and his goal was the game-winner.

3. Kyle Connor, Winnipeg Jets

Connor Hellebuyck has easily been the most important part of the Jets surviving (and thriving) despite massive talent losses on defense. Key forwards are coming through too, though.

Patrik Laine has been dicing up Dallas for some time, but Connor was a standout on Tuesday, collecting a goal and two assists as the Jets beat the Stars.

Connor now has 24 points in 28 games this season. He’s been heating up lately, in particular, with three goals and three assists for six points during his last four games.

Highlights of the Night

Two examples of serious burst stand out tonight. First, there’s Jason Zucker for the Wild:

Then, Miro Heiskanen finds another gear for the Stars:

Factoids


  • NHL PR has some impressive John Carlson stats. Carlson is the first defenseman to reach 40 points in 29 games or less since Al MacInnis did so in 1990-91. Also, only three other defensemen beyond Carlson and MacInnis managed to generate at least 40 points in 29 games or less: Bobby Orr (who absurdly did so six times), Denis Potvin (twice), and Paul Coffey once. Yeah, pretty solid, Carlson.
  • The Montreal Canadiens beat the New York Islanders on Tuesday, ending an eight-game winless streak. The Boston Bruins were the last team to beat the Habs, and after blanking the Hurricanes, the Bruins are now on an eight-game winning streak. The Flyers are on a smaller-but-still-impressive five-game winning streak, which is notable also because of how sore the Maple Leafs were about it.
  • Wild goalie Kaapo Kahkonen almost earned a three stars nod with 44 saves on Tuesday, the most saves in a game for any rookie goalie in the franchise’s history.
  • The Canucks inducted Alexandre Burrows into their Ring of Hono(u)r on Tuesday.

Scores

BOS 2 - CAR 0
MTL 4 - NYI 2
MIN 4 - FLA 2
VGK 4 - NJD 3
PHI 6 - TOR 1
ARI 4 - CBJ 2
TBL 3 - NSH 2 (OT)
WPG 5 - DAL 1
VAN 5 - OTT 2
WSH 5 - SJS 2

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.