As the St. Louis Blues were relaxing at home one night after embarrassing the Edmonton Oilers, every other team in the league took to the ice in a jam-packed Wednesday night in the NHL.
In fact, it was just the 10th time in NHL history where there were 15 games on the schedule. Here are seven things we learned during the busiest possible night hockey has to offer.
Boeser makes it four in a row
Brock Boeser isn’t merely the top goal-scorer on the Vancouver Canucks. He’s quickly becoming one of the more clutch snipers in the entire league, regardless of his relative inexperience. The 20-year-old scored twice against the Philadelphia Flyers Tuesday and continued his hot streak on his team’s Pennsylvania road trip with his 10th and 11th of the season.
The 23rd-overall pick from 2015 beat Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Matt Murray with a beauty shot in the first period to become the third Canucks rookie since Pavel Bure broke into the league in 1991 to score in four consecutive games. Bure accomplished the feat three separate times in his first year while Jason King did it in 2003. Boeser also became the first Canucks rookie to register 10 goals in his team’s first 22 games since King.
His release is something to marvel at.
Boeser added another midway through the second on a one-timer with the man advantage to become the only rookie this season with three multi-goal games.
‘Johnny Point Streak’ is back to being plain old ‘Johnny Hockey’
Calgary Flames star Johnny Gaudreau had eight goals and 11 assists during a 10-game point streak heading into Wednesday’s game against the Columbus Blue Jackets, including five consecutive games with at least two points. That impressive run ended, however, as the Flames fell 1-0 in overtime. He was the first Flames player with five straight multi-point games since Jarome Iginla managed the feat in 2002.
Bobrovsky is in Vezina form
Sergei Bobrovsky stopped all 22 Flames shots he faced to pick up his third shutout of the season. When you look at his past five starts it’s no secret why he’s playing with about as much confidence as a goalie can play with.
The Russian is 5-0-0 with only four goals against and boasts a .973 save percentage on his current streak.
If the season ended today, Bobrovsky would in all likelihood beat out Andrei Vasilevskiy and Corey Crawford for his second consecutive Vezina Trophy. The last netminder to win the Vezina two years in a row was Martin Brodeur in 2007 and ’08. If Bobrovsky does it this year, though, he’d be the youngest goalie to win back-to-back Vezinas since a fresh-faced Patrick Roy did it in ’89 and ’90.
MacKinnon finds himself in in Sakic territory
Nathan MacKinnon registered an assist on every one of his team’s goals as the Avalanche blanked the Stars 3-0. It was his eighth multi-point game of the season and he has 20 points in his past 10 games. Streaks like that don’t happen often, especially for players in Colorado.
Niemi played well but it shouldn’t have been a surprise
When the Canadiens claimed goaltender Antti Niemi off waivers from the Panthers, fans in Montreal laughed. Niemi began this season with the Penguins but was waived after allowing 16 goals in three games then was picked up by Florida, but made just two appearances there before being waived yet again.
His 6.74 GAA and.822 save percentage weren’t exactly what the doctor ordered for a struggling Habs team dealing with injuries to Carey Price and Al Montoya, which is why his admirable performance against the Nashville Predators — his first start with the Canadiens — was a surprise to many.
The 34-year-old stopped 31 of 33 shots faced as he kept his team in the game and helped the Habs secure one point in a shootout loss.
While he has struggled mightily this year, Niemi has historically played quite well against the Preds. He was 5-1-0 with a 1.90 GAA, .939 save percentage and two shutouts in his previous seven starts against Nashville prior to Wednesday.
“We were buzzing pretty good in the game at times and I thought he was exceptional,” Predators goalie Pekka Rinne told reporters after the game. “He played a really strong game, kept them in the game at times. I was happy to see that. Obviously he’s a fellow Finn, and I know him, but just being a goalie I’ve been through stretches where the results aren’t there and I get a lot of heat. So you feel for the guy. But for years and years I’ve played against Antti and he’s been a solid goalie in the NHL for years. So hopefully tonight he was able to show a little bit of what he can do.”
Islanders are the best home team in the NHL at the moment
The New York Islanders sit third in the Metropolitan Division following a 4-3 OT victory over the Philadelphia Flyers. Thanks in large part to Josh Bailey’s three-point night, the win improved the Isles’ record at Barclays Center to 7-0-2 and Doug Weight’s club remains the only team in the league yet to suffer a regulation loss at home. It’s too bad not many fans are watching it happen. Only the Carolina Hurricanes have a lower home attendance average than the Islanders so far this season.
Kreider is money early in periods
Chris Kreider scored 52 seconds into the first period of the New York Rangers’ 6-1 win over the Hurricanes. The forward netted his second goal of the game on the power play 20 seconds into the third stanza. Turns out his performance put him in some rare company.
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