Top player from Sunday in the NHL
Troy Terry, Anaheim Ducks
The Anaheim Ducks have now won four games in a row and have a point in six straight thanks to their impressive 4-1 win over the St. Louis Blues on Sunday night. Troy Terry again played a starring role in that game, scoring a goal and adding an assist. That also extends his current point streak to 11 games, giving him at least one point in all but one game this season (the Ducks’ season opening game). He has already set a new career high in goals (eight goals) and and is only five points away from matching his previous career high of 20 points set a season ago in 48 games. He has reached his current level of production this season (eight goals, seven assists, 15 total points) in only 12 games for the Ducks.
Highlights from Sunday in the NHL
This Elias Pettersson shot might be one of the most ridiculous shots in the league so far this season. You can not even see it.
Alex DeBrincat’s game-winning goal in overtime for the Chicago Blackhawks to give Derek King his first win as the team’s new interim head coach.
Pettersson is not the only player in Vancouver that made a highlight reel worthy play on Sunday night, as starting goalie Thatcher Demko makes the save of the night on Dallas Stars forward Jamie Benn. The Canucks were big winners on Sunday, earning a 6-3 victory over the Dallas Stars.
Three Takeaways from Sunday in the NHL
Chicago plays its best game of season in Derek King’s coaching debut
Alex DeBrincat scored just 37 seconds into overtime to lift the Chicago Blackhawks to a 2-1 win over the Nashville Predators in Derek King’s head coaching debut with the team. It was not only a much-needed win and two points for Chicago, it might have been its best overall game of the season. The question is going to be whether or not it can be duplicated and they can stack some wins together, or if it was just a random blip in the first game after a coaching change.
The Red Wings are building something
Very impressive win for Detroit as it beat the Vegas Golden Knights by a 5-2 margin. It was another big game for rookies Lucas Raymond and Moritz Seider, while Robby Fabbri also added a goal in the win. The Red Wings have some outstanding young players, almost no long-term salary cap commitments or major contracts, and a ton of salary cap flexibility to work with in future seasons. If they manage this correctly they could get this thing turned around and be back on the right track very shortly.
Another big third period for Wild
The Minnesota Wild are 8-3-0 on the season, and they owe a lot of that record to their success in the third period of games. They had two big third periods this weekend. On Saturday they scored two late goals in Pittsburgh to steal a 5-4 shootout win from the Penguins, and then scored four unanswered goals on Sunday night in a 5-2 come-from-behind win against the New York Islanders in Zach Parise’s first visit back to Minnesota as an opposing player. You do not want to get into a habit of needing to rely on come-from-behind wins to collect points, but the Wild are at least building a nice cushion for themselves in the standings early in the season here.
Monday’s big story
The big game of the night is in New York where the Rangers are hosting the NHL’s best team, the Florida Panthers. The Panthers are coming off an impressive win over the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday night and are entering the game with a league-best 10-0-1 record. It is not only the best start in franchise history for the Panthers, it is one of the best starts in recent NHL history. The Panthers are boasting one of the league’s most balanced rosters and getting exceptional goaltending from Sergei Bobrovsky. The Rangers have a franchise goalie of their own in Igor Shesterkin and a couple of superstars throughout their lineup. Pressure is on for this team to make the playoffs this season, and they are off to a very strong start.
Sunday’s NHL scores
Detroit Red Wings 5, Vegas Golden Knights 2
Chicago Blackhawks 2, Nashville Predators 1 (OT)
Minnesota Wild 5, New York Islanders 2
Anaheim Ducks 4, St. Louis Blues 1
Vancouver Canucks 6, Dallas Stars 3
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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.