NHL Rink Wrap: Four-goal nights from Bergeron, Nelson

By Nov 5, 2021, 8:53 AM EDT
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Top players from Thursday in the NHL

Patrice Bergeron, Bruins / Brock Nelson, Islanders

Thursday presented a rare night in the NHL: there were two four-goal performances.

Heading into Thursday’s NHL action, Patrice Bergeron hadn’t yet scored a goal in 2021-22. Through seven games, the perennial Selke Trophy candidate managed a mere three assists. He wasn’t knocking down the door with 17 shots on goal through those seven games, but he was “due.” Patrice collected against the Red Wings. He broke that slump with a natural hat trick. At the end of the game, he added one more. Brad Marchand collected four assists on Bergeron’s goals, so certainly give him an honorable mention.

(Curiously, David Pastrnak didn’t collect a single point.)

If you could legally only name one player of the night for Thursday in the NHL, you’d maybe lean toward Bergeron. That’s because, after generating a hat trick, Brock Nelson’s fourth goal was an empty-netter. We’re generous here at PHT, so huzzah: Bergeron and Brock both get the nod.

Highlights from Thursday in the NHL

Well, duh, might as well feature Patrice Bergeron’s four-goal night:

And then you compare/contrast with Nelson’s four:

Robin Lehner is a large human. Some go as far as to call him a panda. That big goalie can move though:

Jordan Eberle made history on Thursday by recording the first hat trick in Seattle Kraken history:

Thursday’s NHL takeaways

Ovechkin not just scoring goals, might be a vampire

Uh, don’t look now, but Alex Ovechkin is very much in the Maurice Richard Trophy race. Heck, he’s not that far behind Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid in the Art Ross race, either.

Part of Thursday’s NHL takeaway is that the Panthers made another statement by beating the Capitals in OT. Florida won that Southeast Division reunion.

But … whoa, did Ovechkin find a fountain of youth? Did he drain a previous one, only to find another?

He’s been red-hot to start the season. In the Capitals’ OT loss to the Panthers, Ovechkin generated a goal and two assists. That places Ovechkin at 10 goals in as many games played.

It’s no secret Ovechkin can still score goals, but grabbing eight assists for 18 points is worth noticing. Consider that, in 2019-20, Ovechkin scored 48 goals  … but just 19 assists.

If teams need to respect Ovechkin’s (often-underrated) passing more, it will only open up more space for him to unleash bombs. He’s even scoring when he’s leaving his “office,” persumably not just when he wants some coffee.

Eh, maybe the Sabres didn’t get that great a Jack Eichel trade return

No doubt, when Kevin Weekes tweeted about the Flames dangling Matthew Tkachuk and actually good futures, it felt a bit like someone strategically leaking something to Weekes. Maybe the Sabres thought that tweet would squeeze out a little extra from the Golden Knights. Perhaps some other tomfoolery was afoot.

Frankly, it was still fun to imagine that trade. Will Matthew Tkachuk or Jack Eichel bring more value in the mid and long-term? The answer matters less if the question isn’t framed around the Flames trading for Eichel.

Instead, the Golden Knights made the Eichel trade work, sending the Sabres a package including Alex Tuch, Peyton Krebs, and picks with a lottery protection caveat or two.

Not bad. Especially if Tuch either jumps a level, or is packaged in another trade down the line.

But it was kind of … anticlimactic. In particular, it’s hard to believe that a Jack Eichel trade wouldn’t have been more lucrative for the Sabres during the offseason. Unless something leaks, perhaps we’ll never know.

(And we’ll certainly never know every possible Eichel trade. That’s for few beyond Kevyn Adams to know.)

Senators still have a long way to go

By winning two of their first three games, the Senators inspired some hope that they might stride away from a full-blown rebuild. Recent events paint a different picture.

Normally, the Golden Knights would be big favorites against the Senators. Yet, with a massive injury list, the Golden Knights arguably stood as the underdogs on Thursday. At minimum, Ottawa’s rarely been on such even footing with Vegas.

While it wasn’t a light night for Robin Lehner (38 saves), the Senators often made it too easy for the undermanned Golden Knights.

In three consecutive losses, the Senators have allowed five goals in each contest. They’ve also lost six of seven to slip to 3-6-1 overall.

No, the Senators weren’t expecting to soak in that “unparalleled success” in 2021-22. They were likely hoping to finally convert some of that potential into actual on-ice production, though. Maybe these stumbles translate to growing pains — or maybe the young birds won’t learn how to fly anytime soon.

Friday’s big story

A fun test for the Oilers and Rangers

Maybe call it “The Lottery Bowl?”

Few teams have enjoyed draft lottery bounces quite like the Oilers (8-1-1) and Rangers (6-2-2) have recently. (More recent for the Rangers than Oilers, but still.)

While that may leave Steve Yzerman and plenty of fans grumbling, the rest of us can enjoy a nice, star-filled temperature check.

Can the Rangers stop the juggernaut that is the Connor McDavid – Leon Draisaitl combination? Perhaps they’ll just use Artemi Panarin, Adam Fox, and those lottery winnings to outscore those issues? (Also: Igor Shesterkin can steal another one.)

Either way, Oilers – Rangers should be fun. If we’re lucky, it might give us a better idea of where these two teams are headed.

Thursday’s NHL scores

Bruins 5, Red Wings 1
Maple Leafs 2, Lightning 1 (OT)
Islanders 6, Canadiens 2
Golden Knights 5, Senators 1
Panthers 5, Capitals 4 (OT)
Penguins 3, Flyers 2 (OT)
Stars 4, Flames 3 (OT)
Kraken 5, Sabres 2
Blues 5, Sharks 3

More hockey news

chytil rangers
Rangers sign Filip Chytil to 4-year extension
Blackhawks’ Jonathan Toews returns to ice, hints at retirement
Budding Wild star Matt Boldy more willing to shoot, and it shows

—

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.

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    Rangers sign Filip Chytil to 4-year extension

    Associated PressMar 30, 2023, 7:53 PM EDT
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    Eric Hartline/USA TODAY Sports
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    NEW YORK — The New York Rangers have signed forward Filip Chytil to a four-year contract extension worth $17.75 million, locking up another member of their core long term.

    The team announced the deal Wednesday night. Chytil will count just under $4.44 million annually against the salary cap through the 2026-27 season.

    Chytil, 23, is in the midst of a career year. He has set career highs with 22 goals, 20 assists and 42 points in 66 games for the playoff-bound Rangers.

    The Czech native is the team’s sixth-leading scorer and ranks fourth on the roster in goals. The 2017 first-round pick has 144 points in 342 NHL regular-season and playoff games. He was set to be a restricted free agent with arbitration rights this summer.

    New York already had top center Mika Zibanejad signed through 2030, No. 1 defenseman Adam Fox through 2029, veteran Chris Kreider through 2027, winger Artemi Panarin through 2026 and reigning Vezina Trophy-winning goaltender Igor Shesterkin through 2025.

    General manager Chris Drury’s next order of business is an extension for 2020 top pick Alexis Lafrenière, who is only signed through the remainder of this season and can be a restricted free agent.

    Blackhawks’ Jonathan Toews returns to ice, hints at retirement

    Associated PressMar 29, 2023, 9:51 AM EDT
    Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports
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    CHICAGO — Longtime Chicago Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews returned to the ice but hinted his stellar NHL career could be winding down after 15 years.

    Toews, 34, skated with teammates prior to Chicago’s game with the Dallas Stars. It was his first time practicing with them since a game in Edmonton on Jan. 28.

    He made a statement through the team on Feb. 19 saying he would be stepping away because of the effects of Chronic Immune Response Syndrome and “long COVID.”

    In meeting with reporters, Toews stopped short of saying he hoped to play in any of last-place Chicago’s nine remaining games. His eight-year, $84 million contract is set to expire at the end of the season.

    Toews said he’s feeling stronger, but isn’t sure if he’ll be able to play again for the Blackhawks or another team.

    “Both if I’m being fully honest,” Toews said. “I feel like I’ve said it already, that I’ve gotten to the point where my health is more important.

    “When you’re young and you’re playing for a Stanley Cup and everyone’s playing through something, that means something and it’s worthwhile. But I’m at that point where it feels like more damage is being done than is a good thing.”

    Toews, the Blackhawks’ first-round draft pick (third overall) in 2006, joined the team in 2007 and was a pillar of Stanley Cup championship clubs in 2010, 2013 and 2015.

    At the peak of his career, he was one of the NHL’s top two-way centers, winning the Selke Trophy as the league’s top defensive forward in 2013.

    In 1,060 regular-season games, Toews has 371 goals and 509 assists. In 139 playoff games, he’s posted 45 goals and 74 assists, and he won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP in 2010.

    Toews missed the entire 2020-21 season with Chronic Immune Response System, which caused debilitating inflammation and fatigue.

    He appeared in 71 games in 2021-22, then started this season with renewed energy before slowing and eventually shutting himself down.

    Entering this season, it looked as if Chicago might deal him, as it did fellow star Patrick Kane, before the March trade deadline. But Kane went to the New York Rangers and Toews to injured reserve.

    Toews believed he was progressing before a relapse in January left him so sore and tired that he could barely “put on my skates or roll out of bed to come to the rink.”

    Toews said his progress over the past month has been “pretty encouraging” and he’s delighted to be back among his teammates. He has no timetable beyond that.

    “We’re just going to go day by day here,” Chicago coach Luke Richardson said. He deserves anything he wants to try to achieve here.”

    Richardson hoped Toews “can take that next step later in the week and hopefully (he) gives us the green light to go in a game.”

    But Toews emphasized his long-term health and ability to lead a “normal life” is most important. He wants to go out on a positive note and not hit the ice for a game playing through excessive pain and dysfunction.

    “It’s definitely on my mind that this could be my last few weeks here as a Blackhawk in Chicago,” Toews said. “It’s definitely very important for me to go out there and enjoy the game and just kind of soak it in and just really appreciate everything I’ve been able to be part of here in Chicago.”

    Budding Wild star Matt Boldy more willing to shoot, and it shows

    Associated PressMar 29, 2023, 9:48 AM EDT
    Nick Wosika-USA TODAY Sports
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    ST. PAUL, Minn. — Matt Boldy was unable to resist a smile in the aftermath of his second hat trick in five games for the Minnesota Wild, a young right wing and reluctant star trying to make sense of a remarkable hot streak.

    Does the puck feel as if it’s automatically going in the net these days each time he shoots?

    “Yeah, it does,” Boldy said in the locker room after leading the first-place Wild to a 5-1 win over Seattle. “My linemates are playing great. Hopefully you guys are giving them a lot of credit. You look at some of those goals – just putting it on a tee for me.”

    This non-attention-seeker has found himself squarely in the NHL spotlight. Boldy has 11 goals in nine games since Wild superstar Kirill Kaprizov was sidelined with a lower-body injury to raise his goal total to 28, in part because he’s been more willing to shoot. With vision and stickhandling as strengths and the humility of being a second-year player, it’s easy to be in a pass-first mindset.

    “Everybody kind of took turns talking to him. But it’s not that he didn’t want to. A lot of times a situation like that where a guy’s got that skillset, it’s a real unselfish quality, right?” coach Dean Evason said. “But I think he gets now that he helps the team a lot when he scores goals.”

    The Wild were confident enough in Boldy’s scoring ability to commit a seven-year, $49 million contract extension to him earlier this winter, after all.

    “I think I’ve always had that mentality, but sometimes you just get into spots and it comes off your stick good,” Boldy said. “When things are going well, the puck goes in the net.”’

    The Wild are 6-1-2 without Kaprizov. Boldy is a big reason why.

    “You go through the slumps, you learn what you need to do to score. I think he’s found a good way to be in the right spot and shoot the puck when he had a good opportunity,” center Joel Eriksson Ek said.

    The Wild have only won one division title in 22 years, the five-team Northwest Division in 2007-08. They’re leading the eight-team Central Division with eight games to go, with both Colorado and Dallas too close for comfort. They haven’t won a playoff series since 2015.

    With Kaprizov due back before the postseason and Boldy on this heater, a Wild team that ranks just 23rd in the league in goals per game (2.93) ought to have a better chance to advance. Eriksson Ek and Marcus Johansson have been ideal linemates for the Boston College product and Massachusetts native.

    Since the Wild entered the league in the 2000-01 season, only five NHL players have had more hat tricks at age 21 or younger than Boldy with three: Patrik Laine (eight), Marian Gaborik (five), Steven Stamkos (five), Alex DeBrincat (four) and Connor McDavid (four). Boldy turns 22 next week, so there’s still time for one or two more.

    “He’s big. He controls the puck a lot. He’s got a good shot, good release. He’s smart. He switches it up. He’s got good moves on breakaways. He’s a total player,” goalie Marc-Andre Fleury said. ”Fun to watch him grow this year.”

    Pezzetta scores shootout winner; Canadiens beat Sabres 4-3

    Associated PressMar 27, 2023, 11:57 PM EDT
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    Timothy T. Ludwig/USA TODAY Sports
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    BUFFALO, N.Y. ⁠— Brendan Gallagher and the Montreal Canadiens rallied back to avoid playoff elimination with less than three weeks left in their season. The Buffalo Sabres, meanwhile, are running out of chances to stay in the Eastern Conference wild-card hunt.

    Gallagher forced overtime by scoring his 200th career goal, and Michael Pezzetta scored the decisive shootout goal in a 4-3 win over the Sabres on Monday night.

    “It’s one of those things I think we earned that chance. We weren’t fantastic but we did enough on the road tonight to get a win,” Gallagher said. “Smiles all around.”

    The Canadiens could laugh, especially after Pezzetta celebrated his goal by putting his stick between his legs and riding it like a wooden horse — much like former NHL tough guy Dave “Tiger” Williams did during his 14-year NHL career spanning the 1970s and 80s.

    “I’m not sure we’ll see that again. One of a kind,” said Gallagher. “I’d be worried about falling over.”

    Pezzetta scored by driving in from the right circle to beat Eric Comrie inside the far post. Buffalo’s Jack Quinn scored in the fourth shootout round, but was matched by Montreal’s Jesse Ylonen, whose shot from in tight managed to trickle in through Comrie.

    Jordan Harris and Alex Belzile also scored for Montreal, and Jake Allen stopped 30 shots through overtime, while allowing one goal on six shootout attempts.

    Montreal would have been eliminated from playoff contention for a second straight season – and two years removed from reaching the Stanley Cup Final – with any type of loss.

    The Sabres squandered a 3-2 third-period lead to drop to 3-6-3 in their past 12. Buffalo also blew a chance to move to within four points of idle Pittsburgh, which holds the eighth and final playoff spot.

    “Just a little hesitation,” forward JJ Peterka said of the Sabres third-period lapse. “We didn’t play with much energy and we didn’t play that aggressive as we played the two periods before. I think that was the difference.”

    Buffalo’s Lukas Rousek scored a goal and added an assist while filling in for leading scorer Tage Thompson, who did not play due to an upper body injury. Peterka and defenseman Riley Stillman also scored, and Comrie stopped 38 shots through overtime, and allowed two goals on six shootout attempts.

    Montreal blew two one-goal leads to fall behind 3-2 on Stillman’s goal at the 8:31 mark of the second period.

    Gallagher scored on the fly by using Sabres defenseman Rasmus Dahlin as a screen to snap in a shot inside the far left post. With the goal, Gallagher tied Bobby Rousseau for 24th on the Canadiens career scoring list.

    “I liked the way we corrected ourselves, it’s a sign of maturity, in the way we stayed on task,” Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis said, in recalling how the Canadiens recently unraveled in an 8-4 loss two weeks ago to Colorado, which plays a similar up-tempo style as Buffalo.

    PRIDE NIGHT

    The Sabres hosted their third Pride Night, with Russian D Ilya Lyubushkin electing not to participate in warmups by citing an anti-gay Kremlin law and fears of retribution at home in Moscow, where he has family and visits in the offseason. The remainder of the team wore dark blue jerseys with the Sabres logo on the front encircled by a rainbow-colored outline.

    During the first intermission, the Sabres broadcast a video in which GM Kevyn Adams said: “This is about recognizing someone’s humanity and true identity. We know there are people out there struggling with who they are, and we want them to know that they have an ally in the Buffalo Sabres.”

    UP NEXT

    Canadiens: At the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday night.

    Sabres: Host the New York Rangers on Friday night.