The Nashville Predators were looking to continue their dominance on the road while the Boston Bruins looked to slow down the high-powered Toronto Maple Leafs in their first matchup of the season.
Here are five things we learned in the NHL during an action-packed Saturday night.
Predators cement road-warrior status
With a 5-4 overtime win over the Dallas Stars, Nashville is the only NHL team to maintain a perfect 8-0 record on the road this season.
The Predators were in danger of seeing it come to an end but Roman Josi tied the game with under a minute to go in regulation. Mattias Ekholm would finish off a great pass from Kyle Turris to give Nashville the win after it trailed 3-1 going into the third period.
A big part of the Predators’ success on the road can be attributed to them only surrendering 11 goals over their eight games away from Bridgestone Arena.
Nashville had the best road record in the NHL last season, going 25-9-7 with a .606 winning percentage. They also tied the Los Angeles Kings for the fewest goals against with 104 in 41 games during the 2017-18 season.
Bruins top line a nightmare for Leafs
Boston’s top line continued its usual dominance of the Leafs with seven points including a hat trick from David Pastrnak. In his last 19 games against Toronto, Pastrnak has 13 goals and 14 assists for 27 points.
Pastrnak was a force for the Bruins in the first round against the Leafs this past spring scoring five goals, eight assists and 13 points in seven games. He has the third-highest points per game (1.42) against the Leafs in both the regular season and playoffs combined with a minimum 10 games played against Toronto, trailing only Phil Esposito and Jean Ratelle.
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With his three goals against the Leafs, Pastrnak now leads the NHL in goals with 15 in 16 games. Since the 2016-17 season, the 22-year-old has 84 goals, 87 assists for 171 points in 173 games. In that same stretch, linemate Brad Marchand has 78 goals, 111 assists for 189 points in 178 games.
Tkachuk and Senators offence firing on all cylinders
It looks like picking Brady Tkachuk fourth overall is paying off for the Ottawa Senators, as he has eight points (four goals, four assists) in the first six games of his career. He is second behind Elias Pettersson in points per game among rookies at 1.33 and they are the only two averaging over a point per game.
The 19-year-old was forced to miss time with a torn ligament in his leg but hasn’t let that slow down his progress. The Senators have been a surprise in the early going this season with a 7-7-3 record despite trading away captain Erik Karlsson and Mike Hoffman during the off-season.
Tkachuk isn’t the only young player stepping up for Ottawa so far this season. Thomas Chabot leads the team in scoring with 22 points in 16 games. Mark Stone leads the NHL in scoring so far in the month of November with 11 points in his past five games.
Mike Hoffman enjoying life in the sunshine state
Hoffman is off to a strong start with the Florida Panthers with 12 points (seven goals, five assists) in 13 games. After failing to score in his first two games of the season, Hoffman has settled in and found his offensive game.
If the 28-year-old can continue to score at his current pace he could set a new career-high in goals (44), assists (32) and points (76) over an 82-game schedule.
The Senators will be in town on Sunday marking the first time Hoffman has played against his former team since being dealt in the off-season under ugly circumstances.
Don’t count out the Red Wings
Not only have the Detroit Red Wings won their past three games but they have done so in impressive fashion.
For a third straight game, Detroit has had to overcome a two-goal deficit, doing so on Saturday with a 4-3 shootout win over the Carolina Hurricanes. Jonathan Bernier made 49 saves on 52 shots to earn his second win of the season.
The past five games for the Red Wings have been decided by a single goal with Detroit winning four of them.
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