Sean Monahan led the Flames past the Capitals, Alex Ovechkin still hasn’t leapfrogged Sergei Fedorov and Sidney Crosby had another rough night.
Here are three more things we learned Friday in the NHL.
Fleury is the best player on the Penguins
Marc-Andre Fleury has received his fair share of criticism over the years — some of it deserved, a lot of it not so much — but no one can criticize what he has done this season.
Fleury made 26 saves in a losing effort Friday. Most nights this season he’s gotten little support from his teammates and that was the case against the Blue Jackets when his Penguins scored just once and went 0-6 on the power play. He made a handful of monster saves to keep his team in the game, but it wasn’t enough.
Only three teams (Rangers, Canadiens, Kings) give up fewer goals against per game than the Penguins, but on the flip side, only four teams (Maple Leafs, Hurricanes, Flyers, Ducks) have scored fewer goals per game. The lack of scoring from the Penguins isn’t something hockey fans expected to see this season with the likes of Crosby, Malkin, Kessel, Letang and Hornqvist at their disposal.
Fleury’s counterpart, Sergei Bobrovsky, also had a strong showing on Friday. Since losing his first six games of the season — allowing 26 goals during that stretch — Bobrovsky has won five of his last eight games while his save percentage and goals-against average have improved dramatically.
Datsyuk makes a quiet return
The Red Wings fell 3-2 to the Sharks, but the silver lining to the loss was the fact they got Pavel Datsyuk back. The star centre received a standing ovation as he made his season debut following off-season ankle surgery.
It’s a major boost to a Red Wings team that currently sits fourth the in Atlantic Division. Last season, Datsyuk registered 26 goals and 39 assists in 63 games while dealing with multiple injuries. In his first game back he had zero points, four shots, one hit and uncharacteristically led his team with three giveaways in 20:53 of ice time.
Hockey takes a back seat
It was a quiet night in the NHL with just four games on the schedule, but everything in the sports world took a back seat to the horrifying terror attacks that occurred in Paris.
Condolences poured in from across the globe and the NHL teams in action Friday did their part by honouring the victims.
