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The Buzzer: Oilers give Hitchcock winning start behind the bench

By Sean LeahyNov 21, 2018, 1:42 AM EST

Three Stars

1. Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers: It was the captain’s second assist of the night that helped set up the overtime winner during a 4-3 victory over the San Jose Sharks. It was his goal that started the scoring for Edmonton that was the 100th of his NHL career. With three points, McDavid now has 31 on the season.

2. Leon Draisaitl, Edmonton Oilers: Along with a pair of helpers, Draisaitl scored his sixth career overtime winner 51 seconds into the extra period. He now has 13 tallies on the year.

3. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Edmonton Oilers: His goal early in the second period knotted the score at two and gave him three points in his last four games and 20 on the season.

Highlights of the Night

• In his 230th NHL game, McDavid hit the 100-goal mark in his career. Per the NHL, he’s the second-youngest (21 years, 311 days) player to achieve the feat, behind only Wayne Gretzky (20 years, 40 days).

 

• Joe Thornton’s assist on Marcus Sorensen’s goal tied him with Mario Lemieux (1,033) for 11th on the all-time NHL list.

• Logan Couture notched his seventh on the season, thanks to a sweet dangle around Adam Larsson. He now has 19 goals against the Oilers in his career, the most versus any team.

Factoid of the Night

Per the NHL, “McDavid became the fifth different player in franchise history to reach the 30-point mark in a season in 21 or fewer team games and first since Mark Messier in 1989-90 (19 GP). The franchise record for fewest team games to record 30 points in a season is 10, a mark set by Gretzky in 1984-85.”

Tuesday’s result
Oilers 4, Sharks 3 (OT)

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Sean Leahy is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @Sean_Leahy.

WATCH LIVE: Oilers visit Sharks as Hitchcock returns behind the bench

Getty Images
By Sean LeahyNov 20, 2018, 10:00 PM EST
1 Comment

NBCSN’s coverage of the 2018-19 NHL season continues with Tuesday night’s matchup between the San Jose Sharks and Edmonton Oilers at 10 p.m. ET. You can watch the game online and on the NBC Sports app by clicking here.

Ken Hitchcock makes his return to coaching Tuesday night hours after the Oilers announced that Todd McLellan had been relieved of his duties. There’s a lot to be fixed in Edmonton.

• After starting the year 8-4-1, the Oilers have lost six of their last six games, with all six losses coming in regulation.

• Edmonton is allowing 3.30 goals per game this season (t-24th in NHL)

• When Connor McDavid scores 2 or more points, Edmonton is 6-1-1

• When McDavid scores 1 or fewer points, Edmonton is 3-9-0

It’s a top heavy team, as evidenced by the 28 goals and 70 points recorded by McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. The other 22 skaters? 29 goals and 81 points.

“It seems like when we get down we get down too much,” said defenseman Adam Larsson. “The lows seem to be really low right now. If we can just get that out of our game and keep it an even keel we should be good…it’s Game 20 and we’re right in the hunt. I don’t sense anything like the team we had last year. This is a hungry group.”

[WATCH LIVE – 10 P.M. ET – NBCSN]

What: Edmonton Oilers at San Jose Sharks
Where: SAP Center
When: Tuesday, November 20th, 10 p.m. ET
TV: NBCSN
Live stream: You can watch the Oilers-Sharks stream on NBC Sports’ live stream page and the NBC Sports app.

PROJECTED LINEUPS

OILERS
Drake Caggiula – Connor McDavid – Leon Draisaitl
Ryan Spooner – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Alex Chiasson
Milan Lucic – Cooper Marody – Ty Rattie
Jujhar Khaira – Kyle Brodziak – Zack Kassian

Oscar Klefbom – Adam Larsson
Darnell Nurse – Kris Russell
Kevin Gravel – Matthew Benning

Starting goalie: Mikko Koskinen

[Can Ken Hitchcock save the Oilers?]

SHARKS
Evander Kane – Joe Pavelski – Joonas Donskoi
Tomas Hertl – Logan Couture – Timo Meier
Marcus Sorensen – Joe Thornton – Kevin Labanc
Barclay Goodrow – Antti Suomela – Melker Karlsson

Joakim Ryan – Brent Burns
Marc-Edouard Vlasic – Justin Braun
Brenden Dillon – Erik Karlsson

Starting goalie: Martin Jones

Randy Hahn (play-by-play) and Bret Hedican (‘Inside-the-Glass’ analyst) will call Oilers-Sharks from SAP Center in San Jose.

MORE: Your 2018-19 NHL on NBC TV schedule

PHT Morning Skate: O’Ree’s Hall call; landing spots for Quenneville

By Sean LeahyNov 8, 2018, 9:22 AM EST
7 Comments

Welcome to the PHT Morning Skate, a collection of links from around the hockey world. Have a link you want to submit? Email us at phtblog@nbcsports.com.

• The Remembrance Day jerseys that the ECHL’s Brampton Beast will wear this Sunday are phenomenal.

• The Washington Capitals held a 50/50 raffle during Wednesday night’s game and raised over $19,000 for Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh. [RMNB]

• It’s been 60 years since Willie O’Ree broke the NHL’s color barrier. Now he’s finally getting the call to the Hockey Hall of Fame. [SI.com]

• Jakub Voracek is no fan of the Uber driver who released that video of Ottawa Senators players ripping their coach: “Who gives a s—? He’s a f—ing idiot. Do your job. You’re an Uber driver, drive cars. Don’t try to sell copies to make some money. Get the f— out of here. You know what I mean, he’s a loser.” [NBC Philadelphia]

• Meanwhile, the Senators are demanding that the Ottawa Citizen take the video down. The paper will not do that. [CBC]

• “Following a report that the Coyotes would soon change ownership, the team has said that it is open to opportunities to improve its organization but would not say that any changes are imminent.” [Arizona Sports]

• The New York Islanders are off to a great start, but will it last? [The Hockey News]

• Five possible landing spots for Joel Quenneville. [Featurd]

• Jimmy Howard is playing well for the Detroit Red Wings, which might just earn him an extension. [MLive]

• Marcus Sorensen is really coming on for the San Jose Sharks. [NBC Bay Area]

• Brody Roybal, a two-time Paralympic gold medalist and the PyeongChang hockey tournament MVP, climbed Willis Tower’s 2,149 stairs using his upper body, arms and hands on Sunday. [Olympic Talk]

• Elias Pettersson has some around the NHL believing he’s a young Pavel Datsyuk. [NHL.com]

• James Neal’s tough start with the Calgary Flames boils down to a lack of opportunities. [Sportsnet]

• Jussi Jokinen has joined Swiss side EHC Kloten until Dec. 5. [Swiss Hockey News]

• “Mika Zibanejad and the case of being a true 1C” [Blue Seat Blogs]

• Shorter video reviews and other changes the NHL should make. [Jets Nation]

• Nate Schmidt joined his Vegas Golden Knights teammates for practice on Wednesday. He’s eligible to return on Nov. 18. [Review-Journal]

• The update on Erik Haula is that he’ll travel with the Golden Knights on their current road trip and not play in their next three games. More information will be available soon, according to Gerard Gallant. [TSN]

• Finally, what’s Mike Fisher been up to in his second retirement? Well…

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Sean Leahy is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @Sean_Leahy.

The Buzzer: Stone puts up a five-spot; O’Reilly cashes in first-career hat trick

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By Scott BilleckNov 7, 2018, 1:30 AM EST
1 Comment

Three Stars

1. Mark Stone, Ottawa Senators

Stone had to face the music on Tuesday morning for an incident he wasn’t even a part of. By the end of the night, Stone had displayed his leadership qualities both on and off the ice after recording a five-point night as the Senators took it to the New Jersey Devils in a 7-3 thumping. The Senators forward has six goals and 12 assists in 15 games now this season.

2. Ryan O'Reilly, St. Louis Blues

Normally, a first-career hat trick would be sufficient enough for the top star, but given what Ottawa has gone through over the past 24 hours, and the way Stone played, O’Reilly’s three-goal game comes in a close second. The hatty helped the Blues get back to winning ways. O’Reilly now has seven goals and 19 points in 16 games in his first season in St. Louis.

3. Marcus Sorensen, San Jose Sharks

Sorensen had one goal and two assists to help the Sharks to a 4-3 win against the Minnesota Wild. The Sharks have won two straight and have points in eight of their past 10 games.

Other notable performances: 

  • Thomas Chabot was in that now infamous Uber ride taken by the Ottawa Senators. He didn’t speak before the game but continued his torrid pace with another goal (his fourth) and two more assists (his 15th and 16th). Chabot is the top scoring defenseman in the NHL right now.
  • Robby Fabbri scored his first goal of the season and first in 23 months. Injuries have played Fabbri during that time.
  • Chad Johnson got the nod for the Blues against the shot-happy Hurricanes. He made 38-of-39 saves.
  • Ilya Kovalchuk has a goal and two assists to help the Kings to a 4-1 win against the Anaheim Ducks in Willie Desjardins first game in as the bench boss in L.A.
  • Freddie Andersen made 36 saves (seven on the power play) in a 3-1 win for the Toronto Maple Leafs against the Vegas Golden Knights.
  • Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov each produced three-point nights as the Lightning trounced the Edmonton Oilers 5-2.
  • Jimmy Howard stopped 40 pucks for the Red Wings in regulation and overtime and stopped all three shooters in he faced in the shootout in a 3-2 Detroit win over Vancouver.

Highlights of the Night

Robby Fabbri’s first goal in 23 months. Welcome back.

Elias Pettersson has it all:

He Pionk’d on ’em:

Nice outlet pass:

Factoids

Scores

Maple Leafs 3, Golden Knights 1

Rangers 5, Canadiens 3

Blue Jackets 4, Stars 1

Senators 7, Devils 3

Red Wings 3, Canucks 2 (SO)

Lightning 5, Oilers 2

Blues 4, Hurricanes 1

Sharks 4, Wild 3

Kings 4, Ducks 1

Scott Billeck is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @scottbilleck

WATCH LIVE: Winning streaks on the line as Predators host Sharks

Getty Images
By Sean LeahyOct 23, 2018, 7:40 PM EST

NBC’s coverage of the 2018-19 NHL season continues with Tuesday night’s matchup between the San Jose Sharks and the Nashville Predators at 8 p.m. ET. You can watch the game online and on the NBC Sports App by clicking here.

Pekka Rinne is on injured reserved, opening the door for Juuse Saros to take the reins as the starting goalie for the Predators. When Nashville hosts the Sharks on Tuesday, it’ll be the first time that the 23-year-old netminder will have started consecutive games in his young NHL career.

Saros has 46 starts in his career, and working with Rinne for the past couple of seasons has provided him plenty of confidence to handle an extended workload when called up.

“Juuse is very calm,” said Predators head coach Peter Laviolette via the Tennessean. “He’s got a great guy to sit next to him in the room in Pekka. Approaches life the same way. They lead with their work ethic.”

As the Predators look to extend their five-game winning streak, they’ll face a Sharks team have won two in a row and scored nine goals over their last two games. Logan Couture has scored four of those nine goals and is one of the bevy of weapons that head coach Peter DeBoer can deploy every night.

[Your 2018-19 NHL on NBC TV schedule]

WHAT: San Jose Sharks at Nashville Predators
WHERE: Bridgestone Arena
WHEN: Tuesday, October 23rd, 8 p.m. ET
TV: NBCSN
LIVESTREAM: You can watch the Sharks-Predators stream on NBC Sports’ live stream page and the NBC Sports app.

PROJECTED LINEUPS

SHARKS
Evander Kane – Joe Pavelski – Kevin Labanc
Tomas Hertl – Logan Couture – Timo Meier
Marcus Sorensen – Antti Suomela – Joonas Donskoi
Barclay Goodrow – Rourke Chartier – Melker Karlsson

Marc-Edouard Vlasic – Erik Karlsson
Joakim Ryan – Brent Burns
Brenden Dillon – Justin Braun

Starting goalie: Martin Jones

[WATCH LIVE – 8 P.M. ET – NBCSN]

PREDATORS
Filip Forsberg – Ryan Johansen – Viktor Arvidsson
Kevin Fiala – Kyle Turris – Craig Smith
Calle Jarnkrok – Nick Bonino – Ryan Hartman
Zac Rinaldo – Colton Sissons – Frederick Gaudreau

Roman Josi – Ryan Ellis
Mattias Ekholm – P.K. Subban
Dan Hamhuis – Yannick Weber

Starting goalie: Juuse Saros

MORE: Rusev and Lana turn Predators stars into WWE superstars