The Ottawa Senators‘ young stars led the way against the Nashville Predators, Sergei Bobrovsky earned his first shutout of the season and the Anaheim Ducks continued to roll on the road.
Here are the three things we learned in the NHL Monday.
Senators’ youth leads the way
Brady Tkachuk scored his 10th of the season in the Senators’ 4-3 overtime victory over the Nashville Predators. With that goal, the Senators’ rookies have the highest percentage of their team’s goals so far this season league-wide.
Coming into this game, Nashville had not lost against an Eastern Conference team, and while it overcame a 3-0 deficit, the Senators were able to seal the win with Thomas Chabot‘s overtime goal.
Chabot’s winner was also his 10th goal of the season, making him the ninth different Senators defenceman to ever reach double digits. The 21-year-old is on pace for 23 goals, which would set a new franchise record for a defenceman. Erik Karlsson still holds the number to beat thanks to his 21 tallies during the 2014-15 campaign.
Bobrovsky shutout highlights intense battle between Vegas and Columbus
With his 28-save shutout against the Vegas Golden Knights, Bobrovsky earned his first shutout of the season and his 13th since the start of 2016-17. That ties him with Pekka Rinne for the most by any goalie in that period.
Bobrovsky also has the most wins among goalies (91), as well as the third-lowest goals-against average (2.34 GAA) and save percentage (.923) during that stretch.
This wasn’t the only highlight between both teams as they were also engaged in a serious game of Connect Four on Twitter, which Vegas ended up winning. The teams will meet again on Feb. 9, with each looking to settle their scores both on and off the ice.
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we're not winning in the game but we still picked up at least one victory tonight
gg, @BlueJacketsNHL https://t.co/GbIopoY4t7
— Vegas Golden Knights (@GoldenKnights) December 18, 2018
Ducks continue dominant play with another road win
With their 4-2 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Ducks have now won nine of their past 10 games and six straight on the road. The Ducks are now one win away from matching their longest win streak in franchise history away from Anaheim.
9-1-0 in our last 10 games
Four straight wins
Six straight road victories, tying the second-longest record in club history!https://t.co/idNKFpnrHM#LetsGoDucks pic.twitter.com/NRO31F9kEE
— Anaheim Ducks (@AnaheimDucks) December 18, 2018
It has been a battle between the Ducks and Calgary Flames for Pacific Division supremacy this season with the Flames currently holding a three-point lead over Anaheim. After struggling to produce offence at the start of the season, the Ducks have scored three or more goals in seven of their past 10 games.
Ondrej Kase has scored six goals and six assists to lead Anaheim over this dominant stretch with Ryan Getzlaf second with 11 points and Pontus Aberg third with 10. John Gibson continues to make his case for the Vezina Trophy with a 7-1-0 record over his past eight starts, posting a 2.39 GAA and a .929 save percentage.
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