Daniel Alfredsson’s retirement ceremony stole all the headlines, but that wasn’t the only storyline of the night.
With 11 games on the schedule, here are five things we learned during Thursday’s NHL action:
Eddie Lack’s mom is wise: The Vancouver Canucks goaltender got some unwanted attention when his mother tweeted out a picture of a timid penguin in a message to him before his start in Pittsburgh. Turns out, his mom gave him some motivation, as the Canucks goalie made 21 saves en route to his second win of the year and his fifth-career shutout. In the end, Lack admitted that he appreciated the extra pressure.
Semin still knows how to score: At 30-years-old, Alexander Semin isn’t quite the 30-goal scorer he once was in Washington. In fact, he hadn’t registered a goal all season before tonight’s game against his former club. However, the nifty Russian still has some pretty hands. He put those on display on a beautiful backhand shot past Braden Holtby to pick up his first goal of the year and his 500th career point.
Brodeur holds up in first start: Just days after signing a one-year deal with the St. Louis Blues, Martin Brodeur didn’t embarrass himself at all in his season debut. The 42-year-old looked sharp, stopping a breakaway early on, before allowing four goals on 24 shots in a 4-3 loss to the Nashville Predators. The Blues can’t reasonably expect much more from the four-time Vezina winner at this point in his career.
Blue Jackets have some defensive issues: It took a herculean effort from Sergei Bobrovsky for the Columbus Blue Jackets to defeat the Florida Panthers 4-3 in a shootout. Bobrovsky made 52 saves, a Blue Jackets record, on a night where the Panthers managed 55 shots. Despite the win, Columbus has to be deeply concerned with its team defence. The club has allowed more goals than any team in the Eastern Conference and only the Buffalo Sabres and Edmonton Oilers have a lower goal differential.
Halak breaks Billy Smith’s franchise record: We touched on Halak’s brilliance earlier this week, but the New York Islanders goalie was worthy of a mention again. Halak spoiled Alfredsson’s retirement party with a 20-save, 2-1 win to break Billy Smith’s Islanders franchise record for consecutive victories. Smith set the record in 1982 before Halak earned his 11th straight win Thursday night in Ottawa.