There were a slew of matinee hockey games on Monday with it being Martin Luther King Jr. Day in the United States which set up an exciting evening of hockey.
From an onslaught of goals in Pittsburgh to some fun between San Jose and Winnipeg and some trade talk in between, here’s four things we learned in the NHL on Monday:
Goals galore!
If you’re a fan of run-and-gun style hockey then Monday’s Pittsburgh vs. Washington matchup was the game for you.
A total of 15(!) goals were scored and the game had to be decided by Conor Sheary in overtime. For context, nine goals were scored in the second period alone.
Lost in the scoring explosion was Evgeni Malkin‘s hat trick and Sidney Crosby‘s goal and three helpers. Fun fact: Crosby now has 988 points, which ties him for 87th on the all-time scoring leaders list.
The game got the attention of the hockey Twitter community, prompting this funny tweet from Florida Panthers goaltender Roberto Luongo:
Troubles in net
It was a rough afternoon for both goalies in San Jose’s 5-2 win over the Winnipeg Jets.
The goaltender struggles started in the second period when Michael Hutchinson was playing a puck that went off the boards behind his net. As the Jets goalie went to slide back towards his post, he took the puck with him and it ended up giving the Sharks a 3-0 lead.
The fun stuff didn’t end there as Martin Jones got a bit too fancy late in the matchup, appearing to attempt a shot on the empty Winnipeg net.
This did not end well for Jones…
The Jets have now lost five of their last six and goaltending hasn’t helped along this rough patch. Sportsnet’s Steve Dangle and Andrew Berkshire examined whether Winnipeg coach Paul Maurice makes his goalies worse than they actually are.
Impressive season continues
It’s no secret that Brent Burns is having a special season.
The San Jose Sharks defenceman scored his fourth game-winning goal of the season against Winnipeg, which matched his single-season career high from 2007-08 and 2015-16.
Burns has 18 goals and 27 assists through 44 games and is on pace for 33 goals and 84 points. Only Paul Coffey in 1988-89 reached the 30 goals and 80 points plateau when he scored 30 goals and 113 points.
Erik Karlsson and Nicklas Lidstrom are the only two defencemen in the last 20 years to have eclipse 80 points in a season.
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Trade talks
Looking for a veteran right-winger for your playoff run? Shane Doan is available.
The Arizona Coyotes veteran opened up about the possibility of being traded to Sportsnet’s Mark Spector.
“It would have to be so perfect, so right. It’s pretty hard for it all to line up perfectly,” he said in the article.
Doan played 14:31 against the Edmonton Oilers on Monday night, which the Coyotes lost 3-1, and failed to produce a point.
The NHL trade deadline is Feb. 28.
