It was an up-and-down night for goaltenders, with some bouncing back from rough starts and others just having an off-game.
Mix in a phenom’s milestone and a Hall of Famer being honoured, and here are five things we learned in the NHL on Wednesday night.
Ahead by a century
Oilers captain Connor McDavid reached a milestone 100 career points in Edmonton’s 4-3 overtime win against the Florida Panthers.
McDavid picked up an assist by delivering a sweet pass onto the stick of Zack Kassian for a first period goal. He added another assist on Edmonton’s second goal to give the Oilers a 2-0 lead.
The 20-year-old sophomore now has 15 goals and 39 assists in 47 games and leads the NHL in points with 54.
McDavid also scored the winner on a breakaway in overtime to cap off the special night.
The Price is currently wrong
It’s been a tough run of late for elite NHL goaltenders, Carey Price included.
Price allowed four goals on 26 shots in Montreal’s 4-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins. It’s the eighth time in 10 games that the Canadiens goaltender has given up three or more goals in a game.
Sportsnet’s Andrew Berkshire wrote earlier on Wednesday about some of the reasons behind Price’s struggles.
Habs honour Raines
The Canadiens took a few minutes out of their loss to the Penguins to honour Montreal baseball great Tim Raines.
The former Expos outfielder was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame Wednesday night after receiving 86 per cent of first place votes. Raines spent 13 of his 23 MLB seasons with Montreal and joins Andre Dawson and Gary Carter as the only players to enter the Hall representing the Expos.
So now the questions is: when does former Expos turned Canadiens mascot Youppi! get the call to the Hall?
(Not so) Welcome back, Ondrej…
Ondrej Pavelec could have thought of a million other ways to begin his first start since April 9, 2016.
Pavelec, who was recalled from AHL Manitoba on Tuesday, allowed a goal on the first shot he faced but his Winnipeg Jets were able to rebound for a 6-3 win over the Arizona Coyotes.
The 29-year-old finished the game with 30 saves and halted Winnipeg’s four-game losing streak.
The Jets had placed Pavelec on waivers Oct. 10 after coach Paul Maurice decided to roll with Connor Hellebuyck and Michael Hutchinson. Both Hellebuyck and Hutchinson have been inconsitent so far this season, though, which led to Pavelec’s recall.
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Back to reality
It’s a start that Jared Coreau would soon like to forget.
The Detroit Red Wings goaltender was rocked for three goals on seven shots in 8:50 against the Boston Bruins before giving way to Petr Mrazek. The Red Wings recovered for a thrilling 6-5 shootout victory.
Coreau, 25, was coming off his second shutout of the season in Monday’s 1-0 win over Montreal. The Bruins struck early and often on the rookie, with Frank Vatrano and Brandon Carlo scoring within the first 2:27 of the first period.
The Perth, Ont., native has been having an otherwise solid first season with the Red Wings, going 5-1-1 with a 3.04 goals-against avergage and .901 save percentage while also starting in the Centennial Classic against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Jan. 1.
