Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner continued their dominant play for the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Nashville Predators made quick work of the Chicago Blackhawks and Shea Weber had a vintage performance for the Montreal Canadiens.
Here are five things we learned on an action-packed Saturday night in the NHL.
Matthews and Marner add their name to Leafs record books
Saturday’s win over the Minnesota Wild was a historic one for the Leafs in many ways starting with Marner passing Doug Gilmour with 32 assists in his first 27 games.
Marner set up Matthews for the opening goal of the game and his 13th of the season, making him the fifth Leafs player score 13 or more goals in his first 13 games.
Since returning from his shoulder injury, Matthews has three goals and an assist in two games. Going into Saturday, Leafs last won a game in Minnesota back on March 22, 2011 when they beat the Wild 3-0. With the 5-3 victory, they improved to 11-3 against the Western Conference this season.
Not only did the Leafs bust out of a seven-year slump in Minnesota, but they also set a new franchise mark with 10 wins in their first 13 games on the road. They also have 19 wins in their first 27 games this season, which matches a mark they achieved back in 1934-35.
Predators offence strikes quickly over Blackhawks
Going into their game on Saturday, the Predators received some tough news as leading goal scorer Filip Forsberg is expected to miss the next four to six weeks with an upper-body injury.
That didn’t seem to be an issue as their offence came out firing against the Blackhawks scoring three goals in the opening five minutes which is the first time they’ve accomplished that in franchise history.
It was a nice bounce-back performance for Nashville, coming off a shutout loss to the Arizona Coyotes. It has been a tough go for the Blackhawks lately as they’ve lost three straight, allowing five or more goals over that stretch and are sitting near the bottom of the Central Division.
The Predators continue to lead the Western Conference with 37 points despite the absences of Forsberg, Viktor Arvidsson, P.K. Subban and Kyle Turris.
Weber turns back the clock against Rangers
In just his second game back with the Montreal Canadiens, Weber made his presence felt in a big way with two goals against the New York Rangers. This was the first time the 33-year-old scored a goal in almost a year.
The Canadiens captain only played 21 games last season after it was cut short after a foot injury which required season-ending surgery. Since arriving in Montreal, Weber has 25 goals, 36 assists and 61 points in 106 games.
Huberdeau catching up to Bure
With a goal and an assist against the Tampa Bay Lightning, Jonathan Huberdeau extended his multi-point streak to five consecutive games which has him closing in on Pavel Bure for the longest streak in Panthers history.
This would be the second time a Panthers forward has erased a franchise mark set by Bure after Mike Hoffman broke his consecutive point-streak. In 25 games this season, Huberdeau leads Florida with six goals, 22 assists and 28 points.
The Panthers’ third-overall pick from the 2011 draft is tied with Nathan Horton for fourth on the Panthers’ all-time scoring list with 295 career points.
Point turns up another clutch performance for the Lightning
Whenever the Lightning need a big goal they can usually count on Brayden Point to deliver. With his overtime goal against the Panthers on Saturday, the 22-year-old scored his 15th game-winning goal since the 2017-18 season which is the most in the NHL over that stretch.
Last season, Point tied Nathan MacKinnon for the top spot in the league with 12 game-winning goals. He also had four overtime winners which were second behind Brad Marchand.
In 27 games this season, the Lightning’s third-round pick from 2014 is fifth in the NHL in goals with 19 while adding 15 assists for 34 points, which are second behind Nikita Kucherov for the team lead in scoring.
He is a restricted free agent at the end of the season.
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