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McDavid Draisaitl Eichel
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The Buzzer: McDavid, Draisaitl, Eichel can’t be stopped

By James O'BrienDec 22, 2019, 2:48 AM EST
3 Comments

Three Stars

1. Auston Matthews, Toronto Maple Leafs

Gauging which player was the best of Saturday’s three-point men is difficult. Matthews (two goals, one assist) isn’t a certain choice for the top player on his team, as Zach Hyman also scored two goals and an assist in Toronto’s win.

That said, Matthews presents a worthy argument. He generated a primary assist, and offered up the game-winner.

The 22-year-old extended his multi-point streak to three games (4G, 3A). While Toronto’s been dysfunctional with injuries and inconsistency, Matthews keeps delivering, producing 23 goals and 41 points through 37 games.

Matthews could catch Jimmy Carson for a milestone among U.S.-born snipers if he keeps this up.

2. Jaden Schwartz, St. Louis Blues

The Blues scored two empty-net goals, but Schwartz didn’t feast on either of them. Instead, Schwartz served all steak, no sizzle: two primary assists and the game-winner.

(OK, Schwartz probably dished out at least some sizzle.)

With at least one point in four of five games (2G,4A), Schwartz has 28 points in 37 games. Maintaining such a pace would place at about 62 points over 82 games. Of course, Schwartz must stay healthy to flirt with that type of production.

3. Connor Hellebuyck, Winnipeg Jets

Hellebuyck came into Saturday as one of the league’s GSAA leaders, bailing out Winnipeg frequently. The netminder bumped that up with a 31-save shutout against Minnesota.

Yes, the Jets winning 6-0 takes some of the shine off of that. Not all, though, and Hellebuyck deserves recognition for saving Winnipeg’s season during certain stretches. Josh Morrissey serves as another Winnipeg option, as he collected three assists.

Highlight of the Night

Connor McDavid failed to make the three stars, but he was great as usual. McDavid scored another highlight reel against the Canadiens, rendering Max Domi and his highlight reel goal just a bit short of the mark.

Oopsie of the Night

Jaroslav Halak ranks as one of the NHL’s best backups, and plenty of teams wouldn’t mind employing him as their starter. After seeing this, I’d argue he should probably not try to evoke Hasek thwarting breakaways again anytime soon, though:

Naughty and nice

Factoids

Scores

BUF 3 – LAK 2
ANA 6 – NYI 5 (SO)
WPG 6 – MIN 0
NSH 4 – BOS 3 (OT)
TOR 4 – DET 1
PHI 5 – OTT 4 (SO)
WSH 3 – TBL 1
FLA 4 – CAR 2
CBJ 5 – NJD 1
EDM 4 – MTL 3
CHI 5 – COL 3
VAN 4 – PIT 1
STL 5 – SJS 2

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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.

The Buzzer: Islanders, others make Saturday strong for streaks

By James O'BrienNov 24, 2019, 2:04 AM EST
4 Comments

Happy streaks continue, sad ones end

The Sharks beat the Islanders 2-1 in overtime, ending the Isles’ latest winning streak at five. You may notice that it took OT to make that happen, though, so the Islanders’ franchise-record point streak grows to 17 games (15-0-2).

Dallas isn’t all that far behind the Islanders, as the Stars have won six games in a row, and are now 13-1-1 in their past 15 games.

Two six-game losing streaks ended on Saturday, as the Flames should thank David Rittich, while the Predators won but must cross their fingers about Viktor Arvidsson‘s health.

Three Stars

1. Patrice Bergeron, Boston Bruins

It’s difficult to pick between Bergeron (four assists) and his teammate Torey Krug (overtime game-winning goal, two assists). Feel free to swap them in your mind if that suits your taste, but either way, Boston’s biggest names continue to propel them to wins.

Bergeron hasn’t been as spectacular as Brad Marchand (1G, 1A on Saturday) and David Pastrnak (no points) this season, but he’s still playing well, as this outburst gives him 24 points in 21 games. The 34-year-old also has a four-game point/assist streak going, with seven during that span.

2. Leon Draisaitl, Edmonton Oilers

Draisaitl and Connor McDavid combined for another dominant performance, as they’re wont to do.

McDavid scored two goals, while Draisaitl piled up three assists, all primary. That extra point gives Draisaitl (47) the season points lead over McDavid (46), and also gets Draisaitl the mention as the second star instead of 97. McDavid will probably work through this setback.

3. Anton Khudobin, Dallas Stars

There seems to be a theme running. At some point, the Islanders have to cool off a bit, right? McDavid + Draisaitl and the Bruins’ top line can’t dominate every game, can they?

We’re at the point where the Stars duo of Khudobin and Ben Bishop are inspiring similar questions (and serving as parallels to the Isles’ goalies), as they just keep getting it done. Dallas needed all of Khudobin’s 38 saves through regulation and overtime to win in a shootout where Khudobin turned aside both Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews.

Robin Lehner deserves a mention, as stopped 40 out of 41 shots but didn’t get the W. Lehner’s essentially playing like an amazing MLB ace who is getting basically zero run support most nights with the Blackhawks.

Highlight of the Night

This is a dazzling bit of wizardry from the Rangers, who managed to storm back from an 0-4 deficit to beat the Canadiens 6-5 in regulation:

Ewww

If you’re anxious about an upcoming dentist visit, don’t hit play. Or if you’re squeamish, really. Keith Yandle is a hockey player, thus he returned …

Factoids

  • Sportsnet points out that Draisaitl and McDavid are the first teammates with at least 45 points each in their team’s first 25 games since Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr managed the feat for the Penguins in 1995-96. The full list of pairings to pull that off is quite small.
  • Josh Morrissey and Nathan Beaulieu were injured during the Jets’ game, and so was the night’s starter, Laurent Brossoit. Winnipeg still managed a win.
  • Andrei Vasilevskiy set a Lightning franchise record with his 132nd win. That face doesn’t necessarily say “Wow, that’s not a very impressive franchise record,” but its nondescript nature is even more amusing if you imagine in that way.

  • NHL PR notes that the Rangers’ comeback win from down four goals ranks as the fifth such comeback win already this season, which already ties the league’s single-season record. Feel free to make jokes about how a four-goal lead has replaced a two-goal lead as the “worst lead in hockey.”

(You actually really don’t have to.)

Scores

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

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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.

The Buzzer: van Riemsdyk helps Flyers rally; Drouin continues great start

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By Adam GretzOct 27, 2019, 1:55 AM EDT
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Three Stars

1. James van Riemsdyk, Philadelphia Flyers. With less than 10 minutes to play the Flyers trailed by a pair of goals and looked to be headed to a tough a loss against the Columbus Blue Jackets. It was at that point that they rallied with five goals in the remaining nine minutes to steal a 7-4 win and win their third game in a row. van Riemsdyk was one of the many stars for the Flyers, scoring a pair of goals and adding an assist in the win. His second goal of the game was the game-tying goal late in the third period.

2. Jonathan Drouin, Montreal Canadiens. Big win for the Canadiens on Saturday night as they handed their arch-rivals from Toronto a 5-2 loss. Drouin played the starring role with a pair of goals to continue what has been a great start to the season for him. He is now up to five goals and 10 total points in the Canadiens’ first 11 games and looks like he could be on his way to a much-needed breakout season in Montreal.

3. Roman Josi, Nashville Predators. Josi has been outstanding for Nashville so far this season and had one of his best games on Saturday with a goal and two assists in a come-from-behind 3-2 overtime win against the Tampa Bay Lightning. That performance gives him 13 points on the season and puts him in a tie for the team lead in scoring alongside Ryan Ellis. That puts the Predators in the rather uncommon position of having their top two-scorers both being defenders.

Other notable performances on Saturday

  • Andrei Svechnikov scored a pair of goals for the Carolina Hurricanes as they handed the disappointing Chicago Blackhawks another defeat. Read all about the Blackhawks’ struggles here.
  • David Pastrnak scored his league-leading 11th goal and Tuukka Rask recorded his second shutout of the season to help the Boston Bruins defeat the St. Louis Blues in a Stanley Cup Final rematch. Read more about it here.
  • The Pittsburgh Penguins were able to get a couple of forwards — Bryan Rust and Nick Bjugstad — back on Saturday night and they made an immediate impact. Rust scored one of their goals in a 3-0 win over the Dallas Stars. Matt Murray stopped all 25 shots he faced to record the shutout.
  • Alex Stalock stopped 30 shots and five different Minnesota Wild players scored goals in a 5-1 win over the Los Angeles Kings.
  • Adam Henrique scored his sixth goal of the season for the Anaheim Ducks as they picked up an impressive 5-2 win over the Colorado Avalanche.
  • Josh Morrissey and Bryan Little scored the goals for the Winnipeg Jets as they rallied late to defeat the Calgary Flames in the 2019 Heritage Classic in Regina, Saskatchewan. Read more about the game here.

Highlights of the Night

Kevin Hayes was one of the Flyers’ big offseason acquisitions, signing a massive contract after his free agent rights were acquired in a trade. He made a big impact on Saturday, scoring a shorthanded game-winning goal. It was an absolutely beautiful play, too.

Speaking of beautiful game-winning goals, here is Montreal’s Joel Armia scoring just seven seconds into the third period against Toronto.

Ellis scored the game-winning goal for Nashville on the power play, and he made it look easy.

Blooper of the Night

Dominik Kahun scored his first goal as a member of the Penguins on Saturday night and it officially goes in the books as the game-winning goal. It was a pretty bizarre play.

Factoids

  • The bright spot for the Avalanche on Saturday is Nathan MacKinnon extending his season-opening point streak to 11 games, the fifth-longest in franchise history and longest since the team relocated to Denver. [NHL PR]
  • Pastrnak is the eight player in the past 27 years to score at least 11 goals in his team’s first 10 games. [NHL PR]
  • Dougie Hamilton has 12 points for the Hurricanes in their first 11 games, the most for a Hurricanes/Whalers defender through the same number of games since the 1984-85 season. [NHL PR]
  • Saturday was the anniversary of Wayne Gretzky, then a member of the Los Angeles Kings, becoming the first and only player in NHL history to record his 2,000th career point. [NHL PR]
  • Flames goalie David Rittich stopped 43 out of 45 shots on Saturday night, the most saves ever made by a goalie in an NHL outdoor game. It is also one save shy of his career high. [NHL PR]

Scores

Carolina Hurricanes 4, Chicago Blackhawks 0
Boston Bruins 3, St. Louis Blues 0
Montreal Canadiens 5, Toronto Maple Leafs 2
Nashville Predators 3, Tampa Bay Lightning 2 (OT)
Philadelphia Flyers 7, Columbus Blue Jackets 4
Pittsburgh Penguins 3, Dallas Stars 0
Minnesota Wild 5, Los Angeles Kings 1
Anaheim Ducks 5, Colorado Avalanche 2
Winnipeg Jets 2, Calgary Flames 1 (OT)

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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.

Jets rally to take Heritage Classic from Flames: 3 takeaways

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By Adam GretzOct 27, 2019, 1:33 AM EDT

The Winnipeg Jets needed this one.

They entered Saturday’s Heritage Classic against the Calgary Flames in Regina, Saskatchewan having lost five of their past six games and were less than five minutes away from heading to what would have almost certainly been another frustrating defeat.

But a Josh Morrissey goal with 4:11 to play sent the game to overtime where Bryan Little scored the game-winner to lift the Jets to a 2-1 win.

What stood out about this game? Here are three quick takeaways.

1. This was the result this game deserved. First, the Jets played really well. They ended up finishing the game with a pretty significant edge in shots on goal and were right there with the Flames all night.

There is also the fact that the Flames’ only goal — and for a while it looked like it might have been the only goal in the game — came with a little bit of controversy.

Elias Lindholm put the Flames on the board in the second period only to have the Jets challenge the play because they felt Matthew Tkachuk kept the play alive with a high stick. The play was reviewed and at first glance it looked like it may have been a high-stick, but the NHL determined that it agreed with the on-ice officials ruling that Tkachuk’s stick “was at or below the normal height of his shoulders when he contacted the puck prior to Elias Lindholm’s goal.” (Official wording from the league right there.)

It infuriated Jets coach Paul Maurice and the Jets’ bench, but that was the call.

Here is the play. You be the judge on whether or not that is a high stick on the puck or not.

Fortunately for the Jets they were able to rally and take the two points.

2. Even with the win the Jets’ offense has still cooled off. If the Jets are going to have a chance to compete this season with the current state of their defense they are going to need their forwards and offense to carry a lot of the weight. Lately that has been a struggle. Even with Saturday’s win the Jets have managed just nine goals in their past six games, and have not scored more than two goals in a game in two weeks. It is not a surprise they have lost four of those games. Even in the two games they did win offense has been nearly impossible to come by. Their 1-0 win against the Edmonton Oilers was a shootout win (meaning they scored zero goals in regulation or overtime) and even on Saturday they managed just two goals. It could just be a simple cold streak, or it could still be the result of the undermanned defense not being able to get the puck to the forwards to generate offense. A lot of offense in the NHL starts with your blue line. Either way, two goals (or less) per game is not going to cut it for anyone long-term.

3. Adam Lowry‘s hit on Oliver Kylington was scary. Tough moment at the end of the second period when Winnipeg’s Adam Lowry was penalized for boarding Calgary’s Oliver Kylington with a scary hit from behind into the glass. The way Kylington dropped to the ice and remained down was concerning, but the good news for him and the Flames is that he was able to return to the game. Lowry was given a two-minute minor for boarding. It will no doubt be reviewed for supplemental discipline by the NHL’s Department of Player Safety, but they have been fairly quiet so far this season so Lowry may be able to get away with just the penalty.

Jets’ defense takes yet another blow ahead of game vs. Penguins

By Adam GretzOct 8, 2019, 1:02 PM EDT
1 Comment

When the Winnipeg Jets had their 2018-19 season end this past April, their defense was made up of the following players: Dustin Byfuglien, Jacob Trouba, Josh Morrissey, Tyler Myers, Ben Chiarot, and Dmitry Kulikov. Not a great group by any means, but a formidable one that was good enough to help make the Jets a playoff team.

How many of those players will be in the lineup for them on Tuesday night when they visit the Pittsburgh Penguins?

Zero.

None of them.

Due to a series of roster moves and unfortunate circumstances the entire defense the team used a year ago is not available as the team prepares to open its current four-game road trip.

Trouba, Myers, and Chiarot all left the team over the summer (Trouba was traded to the Rangers; Myers and Chiarot departed in free agency), while Byfuglien stepped away just before the start of training camp to reportedly consider his future in the NHL.

All of that alone was enough to decimate their blue line.

The departures continued on Tuesday when the Jets announced that Kulikov has been given a personal leave from the team.

Morrissey, meanwhile, suffered an injury during warmups before the team’s most recent game against the New York Islanders and was held out of Sunday’s game. After practicing on Monday, coach Paul Maurice announced on Tuesday that the team is going to hold Morrissey out for at least another game (Tuesday in Pittsburgh) as a precaution.

This all means the Jets’ defense on Tuesday is going to include Sami Niku, Carl Dahlstrom, Neal Pionk, Ville Heinola, Anthony Bitetto and Tucker Poolman.

Combined NHL games for those six players: 350.

Heinola, 18, was the team’s first-round draft pick this past season and has played just three games so far, while Dahlstrom was claimed on waivers a week ago from the Chicago Blackhawks. Pionk is the “experienced” member of that group and was acquired over the summer from the Rangers in the Trouba trade. Calling that group a “makeshift defense” would be a monumental understatement.

Even though they are facing a Penguins team that is without two of its top three centers (Evgeni Malkin and Nick Bjugstad) it is still a dangerous team offensively with the Sidney Crosby and Jake Guentzel occupying the top line.

The Jets’ defense was always going to be a massive question mark this season, and it just seems to keep finding ways to get even more shorthanded. Starting goalie Connor Hellebuyck is going to need to play the best hockey of his career to keep this thing together.

MORE:
• Your 2019-20 NHL on NBC TV schedule

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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.