It was another busy Saturday night in the NHL. The Winnipeg Jets picked up an impressive win over the Columbus Blue Jackets while the St. Louis Blues, Washington Capitals, and Los Angeles Kings all recorded overtime victories in exciting fashion on Halloween.
The Toronto Maple Leafs were shut out in Phil Kessel‘s return to the Air Canada Centre and Kris Letang was upset about a lack of any sort of video tribute.
Here are five things we learned on Saturday night:
Zetterberg makes history: The Detroit Red Wings‘ 5-3 victory over the Ottawa Senators was a special night for veteran forward Henrik Zetterberg.
Detroit’s captain recorded two assists to become just the seventh player in franchise history to register 500 career assists and 800 total points.
His teammates undoubtedly appreciated the moment.
Stars cap off strong October: The Dallas Stars were considered to be a bit of disappointment in 2014-15, but Lindy Ruff’s squad has come flying out of the gates to start this season.
The Stars lead the Western Conference in wins, goals, and goal differential after going 9-2 in October to match the best start in franchise history through 11 games.
It’s not just the star players that are contributing (Jamie Benn leads the NHL in points), as goaltender Antti Niemi chipped in Saturday with 26 saves to pick up a victory over his former team while defenceman John Klingberg registered a point for the seventh-straight game.
The Stars have a roster of full of exciting talent and the early returns have been promising.
Bruins really good on the road: It’s still a small sample size to draw from, but the Boston Bruins have been a much tougher team to play against away from home during the first month of the season.
The Bruins, who have quietly won four straight games, beat the Tampa Bay Lightning Saturday to remain undefeated on the road (5-0-0) while the club is just 1-3-1 this season at TD Garden. Strange, huh?
Other than Boston, only the Washington Capitals and Los Angeles Kings have yet to lose a road game since the 2015-16 season began.
Milestone for Marc-Andre: Most of the talk heading into Toronto’s match-up with the Pittsburgh Penguins focused on Kessel, but the night was much more memorable for goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury.
Fleury made 21 saves en route to his second shutout of the season and chipped in other areas as the veteran netminder added an assist in the 4-0 victory.
According to NHL PR, it was the second time in Fleury’s career that he recorded a shutout and an assist in the same game (the other being in 2014), becoming the only goalie in franchise history to do so on multiple occasions.
Frolik’s Halloween hat trick: Three power play goals. Two disallowed goals. And one heartbreaker of a game-winner for poor Cam Talbot. Saturday’s Battle of Alberta — the second such matchup this season — was an eventful contest, with plenty of highlight-worthy performances. (We see you, Taylor Hall and Leon Draisaitl.)
But the story of the night in Edmonton was Michael Frolik, and his Halloween Hat Trick.
Frolik found the back of the net three times for his carer hat trick — not to mention, his first goal with the Flames.
His third goal came with just seconds left in the game, when he sent a fluky shot past Talbot to bring the Oilers’ comeback to a screeching halt.
