A well-deserved winner, a trio reunited, a career-first and more. Here are five things we learned in the NHL Wednesday night.
Marner’s persistence pays off
Wednesday night’s showdown between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Florida Panthers featured a great night of goaltending.
Frederik Andersen and Roberto Luongo faced a combined 87 shots on the night, with Andersen’s Leafs just barely surviving the Panthers’ third-period rally before winning 3-2 in the shootout.
The victory was the first shootout win of the season for the young Maple Leafs and their fourth straight victory on the road. Fittingly, it was rookie Mitch Marner who scored the game-winning goal.
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Following a strong game with a career-high nine shots on net, let’s just say Marner was due for a goal.
Fellow rookie Auston Matthews was also impressive (what else is new?), registering a goal and an assist to bring his point total up to 28.
Can crosby get 50?
On Tuesday, Sidney Crosby scored his 25th goal of the season, bringing him halfway to 50 markers on the season.
One night later, he was at it again, scoring the Pittsburgh Penguins‘ first goal in their eventual 3-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes.
That’s 41 points in 31 games, and first place in NHL goals and points.
A Stanley Cup victory, a Conn Smythe Trophy, World Cup gold and now a red-hot start to the season. Safe to say, 2016 has been a good year for Sid and his stat line.
He’s currently riding a six-game point streak, and has been held off the score sheet just five times all season.
Captain Crosby’s scoring spree has some in the hockey world wondering if maybe — just maybe — he might take a run at that elusive 50-in-50 mark.
Stay tuned.
Return of The Triplets
The Triplets are back.
The Tampa Bay Lightning edged the Montreal Canadiens in overtime, thanks to Tyler Johnson’s sudden-death tie-breaker—and thanks to a healthy boost of offence injected back into their lineup.
Ondrej Palat and Nikita Kucherov both returned to the lineup after missing five and six games respectively, and they didn’t waste time making an impact.
The wingers both assisted on Johnson’s gorgeous first-period goal, showing off their clear chemistry with a slick passing play:
Then in the third period, Kucherov earned his second assist of the night on Victor Hedman’s goal, which was followed by Ondrej Palat’s game-tying power-play marker just a few minutes later.
If not for Carey Price’s impressive paddle save earlier in the game, Palat could’ve made it a three-point game.
Big game for the Blues
Sometimes a little rest can go a long way. That certainly seemed to be the case with St. Louis Blues forward Robby Fabbri on Wednesday night.
After five days of rest thanks in part to a brief Christmas break, Fabbri was full of energy, and he showed it by scoring three goals for his first career NHL hat trick.
As pointed out by Blues beat reporter Jeremy Rutherford, Fabbri was in desperate need of a break.
Fabbri’s first goal came at the tail end of the first period, and the second two came in the third period as part of a four-goal barrage.
Aside from Fabbri’s impressive individual effort, St. Louis’ third-period surge was a new look for the Blues, who haven’t found much offence late in games.
The Blues take on the Nashville Predators on Friday, and then will get a few more days of rest before a matinee matchup on outdoor ice against the Chicago Blackhawks during the NHL’s Winter Classic on Jan. 2.
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Canucks owe win to Miller
The Vancouver Canucks slipped by the Los Angeles Kings 2-1 on Wednesday night, and they have goaltender Ryan Miller to thank for those two important points.
Miller stopped all but one of the 37 shots fired his way, and held strong throughout a two-period long rallying effort from the Kings to get the W.
The Canucks’ troubles on offence have been obvious all season, but they were especially evident when you look at Wednesday’s lop-sided shot count. The Kings out-shot the Canucks 13-4 in the second period and 18-4 in the third.
