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29
Dec

NHL Recap – Dec. 29, 2021

POINT’S RETURN HELPS LEAD LIGHTNING PAST CANADIENS
Brayden Point (2-1—3) tallied twice in his first game since Nov. 20 and factored on Corey Perry’s tying goal with 20 seconds left in the third period to send the contest to overtime, where Ondrej Palat would find the back of the net to lead the NHL-best Lightning (21-6-4, 46 points) to their seventh straight home win.

NHL FIRSTS HIGHLIGHT
Rafael Harvey-Pinard and Kale Clague each scored their first NHL goal during the Montreal Canadiens back-and-forth affair with Tampa Bay. They became the fifth pair of Canadiens teammates in the NHL’s expansion era (since 1967-68) to each score their first career goal in the same game and first since Victor Mete and Nick Suzuki (Oct. 17, 2019).

SHARKS OUTLAST COYOTES IN HIGHEST-SCORING GAME OF 2021-22
Timo Meier (1-1—2) and captain Logan Couture (1-1—2) were two of 15 Sharks skaters with at least a point as San Jose (16-14-1, 33 points) outlasted Arizona (6-21-3, 15 points) in the NHL’s highest-scoring game of 2021-22.

  • The Sharks, who scored at least eight goals in a contest for the 15th time in franchise history and first since Oct. 9, 2018 (8 at PHI), joined the Blue Jackets (Oct. 14 vs. ARI), Toronto Maple Leafs (Dec. 1 vs. COL), Jets (Dec. 3 vs. NJD) and Senators (Dec. 14 at FLA) as the fifth team to hit the mark this season.
  • San Jose’s offensive output also featured a pair of second-period goals in a span of seven seconds – tied for the fastest two goals in franchise history (also Nov. 5, 1992). Only one team has tallied two goals in a faster span this season (TBL: 0:05 on Nov. 30).
  • Meier leads all Sharks players with 13-18—31 in 2021-22 (26 GP). Only two players in franchise history hit the 30-point mark in a season in fewer games: Joe Thornton (19 GP in 2005-06, 24 GP in 2009-10, 25 GP in 2008-09 & 2007-08) and Owen Nolan (23 GP in 1999-00).

GOLDEN KNIGHTS TAKE OVER FIRST IN WEST WITH SIX-GOAL OUTING
Jonathan Marchessault (2-1—3) posted his 13th career three-point game with the Golden Knights as Vegas (21-12-0, 42 points) leapfrogged idle Minnesota (19-9-2, 40 points) and moved into top spot in the Western Conference standings. Only one team has registered more outings with six-plus goals in 2021-22 than Vegas (4): Colorado (8).

  • The Golden Knights, the NHL’s highest-scoring team in 2021-22, traded four first-period goals with the Kings in a span of 76 seconds and extended their road win streak to six games – tied for the longest such run in franchise history.
  • Marchessault’s 13 performances with three or more points are tied with Max Pacioretty and William Karlsson for the most by a Golden Knights player since the franchise’s inaugural season in 2017-18.

BLUES SET TO CONTEST FINAL GAME BEFORE WINTER CLASSIC
The Blues (17-9-5, 39 points) are scheduled to play their final game before facing the Wild at the 2022 Discover NHL Winter Classic when they welcome the Oilers (18-11-0, 36 points) to Enterprise Center.

PREDATORS LOOK TO PUSH WIN STREAK TO EIGHT
The Predators (19-10-1, 39 points) will put their seven-game win streak on the line Wednesday when they visit the Capitals (18-6-7, 43 points). Nashville has only posted a win streak of eight or more games twice: 10 GP in 2017-18 and 8 GP in 2005-06. Additionally, the Predators will look to win six consecutive road games for the first time since an eight-game run in 2018-19.

DETROIT REASSIGNS WITKOWSKI AND BRATTSTROM
The Detroit Red Wings today reassigned defenseman Luke Witkowski and goaltender Victor Brattstrom to the American Hockey League’s Grand Rapids Griffins from the team’s taxi squad.

NHL and NHLPA Agree to Modify COVID Protocol
The National Hockey League Players’ Association (NHLPA) and the National Hockey League (NHL) announced today a modification to their COVID-19 Protocol. The modification will reduce the isolation period after a positive test from 10 days to five days for fully vaccinated Players who meet the required conditions. It also applies to fully vaccinated Hockey Operations staff, including coaches. The change was made in response to the new isolation guidelines for COVID-positive individuals issued on Monday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

While the changes apply on a League-wide basis, all personnel will still have to comply with the applicable health and safety regulations in their jurisdictions, including the Federal and Provincial COVID health and safety mandates in Canada, which may be more restrictive than the Protocol.

Specifics of the changes to the Protocol after a positive test include:

  • Isolate for five days;
  • If the individual has a fever, continue to isolate until their fever resolves;
  • If the individual has no symptoms or their symptoms are resolving after five days, they can leave isolation and return to practices and games, provided the following conditions are met:
  • A lab-based PCR test that is negative, or a lab-based PCR test that has a CT value >30, or two negative molecular point of care tests collected >2 hours apart; and,
  • Medical clearance from the individual’s Club physician; and,
  • Such exit is permitted by their local health authority.
  • The individual shall continue to always wear a mask around others for five additional days, other than for practices and games.

All other aspects of the Protocol remain in place.

The NHL’s and NHLPA’s medical experts will re-evaluate these measures on or before Jan. 12.

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Guest Writer