A trio of NHLers scored their first NHL goals, Patrice Bergeron continues to move up in the Boston Bruins record books and the Vancouver Canucks experienced some deja-vu.
Here are four things we learned in the NHL on Thursday.
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Deja vu for the Canucks in Boston
Vancouver endured the worst of starts in Boston, allowing four goals in the first period en route to a 4-1 loss to the Bruins.
The Canucks had not conceded four first-period goals in more than four years, but the last time this situation occurred against the Bruins was in Game 6 of the 2011 Stanley Cup final, when Vancouver lost 6-3.
Boston hasn’t actually been all that rough for Vancouver in recent years. Both teams have split the last six meetings at TD Garden since the Stanley Cup final six years ago.
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Bergeron hits more milestones
Patrice Bergeron may be one of the most underrated players in recent memory, but he will surely retire as an all-time great in Bruins history.
On Thursday, Bergeron became the fifth player in franchise history to reach 900 games with the Bruins. The other four players on the list are Ray Bourque (1,518), John Bucyk (1,436), Don Sweeney (1,052) and Wayne Cashman (1,027).
The 32-year-old also moved into seventh on the Bruins’ all-time points list.
Bergeron signed an eight-year, $52-million contract in the summer of 2013, so he can still overtake more players on both lists when all is said and done.
A night of firsts
Oct. 19, 2017 will go down as a memorable day for three players.
Nico Hischier finally scored his first NHL goal, which came in the first period against the Ottawa Senators. The 2017 first-overall pick added his second of the night just three minutes later to help the New Jersey Devils beat the Senators 5-4 in overtime.
Ironically enough, Hischier is the second straight first-overall pick to notch his first career tally against Craig Anderson after Auston Matthews had four goals versus Anderson last year. The Senators netminder will probably want to avoid the top draft choices from here on out.
Elsewhere, Mikhail Sergachev also buried his first goal in the NHL, and two on the night, as the Tampa Bay Lightning edged the Columbus Blue Jackets 2-0. Mathew Barzal completed the trio of first-time scorers in the New York Islanders’ 4-3 shootout victory over the New York Rangers.
Connor McDavid is a real-life video game
Okay, we already knew McDavid was a cheat code, but sometimes he still leaves our jaws on the floor.
Case in point: His spinning backhanded assist to Patrick Maroon against the Chicago Blackhawks. Not only does McDavid execute this at full speed, but he is still stick-handling while doing so.
We’re running out of superlatives to describe him.
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