Posted on by Guest Writer
NHL Recap November 1 2018, NHL Recap December 9 2018
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Dec

NHL Recap December 16 2018

SUNDAY’S RESULTS – Home Team in Caps

  • Vegas 4, NY RANGERS 3 (OT)
  • CAROLINA 3, Arizona 0
  • Calgary 7, ST. LOUIS 2
  • Buffalo 4, BOSTON 2
  • San Jose 7, CHICAGO 3
  • WINNIPEG 5, Tampa Bay 4 (OT)
  • VANCOUVER 4, Edmonton 2

JETS SNAP LEAGUE-LEADING LIGHTNING’S WIN STREAK

Mark Scheifele (1-2—3) scored the overtime winner for a second straight game as the Jets snapped the League-leading Lightning’s win streak at eight contests. Winnipeg, which extended its own win streak to five games, improved to 22-9-2 (46 points) this season and moved within six points of Tampa Bay (25-7-2, 52 points).

  • Scheifele, who has collected three points in each of his last three outings (4-5—9), became the second player in Jets/Thrashers franchise history to score a regular-season overtime goal in consecutive team games; he joined teammate Kyle Connor, who accomplished the feat last season from March 20-23. Scheifele became the second player in franchise history to record at least three points in three consecutive team games, joining Atlanta’s Marc Savard from Nov. 9-12, 2005 (1-9—10 in 3 GP).
  • Scheifele leads the Jets with 46 points this season (21-25—46 in 33 GP) and is two goals shy of equaling his 60-game total from 2017-18 (23). His career high for most goals in a season is 32, a mark set in 2016-17 (79 GP).

SABRES RECORD 20TH WIN OF THE SEASON

Jeff Skinner (2-0—2) scored the go-ahead goal with 3:31 remaining in regulation as the Sabres recorded their 20th win of the season and leapfrogged the idle Maple Leafs (21-10-2, 44 points) for second place in the Atlantic Division standings. Buffalo required 34 or fewer games to reach the 20-win mark in a season for the 12th time in franchise history and first since 2009-10 (31 GP; 20-9-2, 42 points).

  • Skinner scored his 23rd and 24th goals of the season (34 GP) to match his 82-game total from 2017-18 and move within five of tying Alex Ovechkin (29) for the League lead. His career high for most goals in a season is 37, a mark set in 2016-17 (79 GP).
  • Jack Eichel (2-2—4) recorded his fifth career game with four or more points and first since March 31 (0-5—5 at NSH). He became the fifth player in franchise history to post at least five such outings in the regular season before celebrating his 23rd birthday, joining Pierre Turgeon (6x), Dave Andreychuk (5x), Richard Martin (5x) and Alexander Mogilny (5x).
  • Sam Reinhart (0-3—3) extended his career-high point streak to 10 contests (5-11—16), the longest by a Sabres player since Eichel registered an 11-game run from Feb. 14 – March 7, 2017 (5-11—16).

ANOTHER HIGH-SCORING PERIOD LIFTS FLAMES

The Pacific Division-leading Flames raced to a 4-0 lead in the opening 20 minutes en route to their third consecutive win. Calgary, which scored at least seven goals in a game for the fourth time in 2018-19, ranks tied for second in the NHL with 122 goals for this season.

  • The Flames scored at least four goals in a period for the sixth time this season, the highest such total in the NHL. Three teams have achieved the feat four times in 2018-19: Colorado, Florida and Philadelphia.
  • Calgary has scored a shorthanded goal in each of its last three games dating to Dec. 12 and have recorded nine this season overall, trailing only Arizona (11) for the most in the NHL. The franchise record for most shorthanded goals in a season is 23, a mark set in 1987-88.
  • The Flames scored at least one shorthanded goal in three or more consecutive games for the eighth time in franchise history and first since Feb. 14-20, 2011 (3 GP). The franchise record for most consecutive games with at least one shorthanded goal is four, a mark set from Nov. 13-19, 1987.

FLEURY CLIMBS ALL-TIME WINS LIST

Golden Knights goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury (27 saves) earned the 423rd regular-season win of his NHL career to tie Tony Esposito for ninth place on the League’s all-time list. Fleury improved to 27-15-9 in 52 career head-to-head regular-season matchups against Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist, who occupies seventh place on the NHL’s all-time regular-season wins list (441).

BURNS REACHES 600-POINT MILESTONE

Brent Burns collected three assists to reach the 600-point milestone (186-414—600 in 995 GP) and help the Sharks pick up their fourth straight win. San Jose, which scored at least seven goals in a game for the second time this season (also 8-2 W on Oct. 9 at PHI), improved to 18-11-5 (41 points) and surpassed the idle Ducks (18-11-5, 41 points) for second place in the Pacific Division standings.

  • Burns became the 38th player in NHL history listed as a defenseman to reach the 600-point milestone and just the second active blueliner to do so, joining Zdeno Chara (198-434—632 in 1,441 GP).

YOUTH HELP CANUCKS, HURRICANES PICK UP WINS

The Canucks and Hurricanes each picked up wins on Sunday via goals from young players:

  • Twenty-year-old Elias Pettersson (1-0—1) extended his point streak to seven games (4-9—13) and leads all rookies in goals and points this season (17-18—35 in 30 GP), while teammate Brock Boeser (1-2—3), who will celebrate his 22nd birthday on Feb. 25, 2019, factored on three of four Vancouver goals.
  • Warren Foegele, Andrei Svechnikov and Sebastian Aho, who are all under 23 years of age, each scored to help the Hurricanes blank the Coyotes. Svechnikov is one of five rookies with exactly nine goals this season (9-8—17 in 32 GP), trailing only Pettersson for the League lead.
  • Did You Know? Not including shootout winners, 668 of 3,148 goals this season have been scored by players 22 years old or younger (21.2%). The last campaign to conclude with a higher such percentage was 1987-88 (1,607 of 6,237; 25.8%).

MONDAY’S GAMES

Anaheim@ Pittsburgh 7:00 PM ET
 Vegas@ Columbus 7:00 PM ET
 Boston@ Montréal 7:30 PM ET
 Nashville@ Ottawa 7:30 PM ET
 NY Islanders@ Colorado 9:00 PM ET

RANTANEN LOOKS TO EXTEND POINT STREAK TO 15 GAMES

Mikko Rantanen (8-19—27 in 14 GP) looks to extend his point streak to 15 games on Monday when the Avalanche host the Islanders at Pepsi Center. Rantanen (15-41—56 in 33 GP), whose run is tied for the longest active point streak in the NHL (w/ Alex Ovechkin), leads the League with 56 points this season.

  • Rantanen aims to become the eighth different player in Avalanche/Nordiques franchise history to record at least one point in 15 or more consecutive team games and just the third to do so since the club relocated to Colorado for the 1995-96 season. He would join Alex Tanguay from Feb. 6 – March 7, 2003 (10-16—26 in 16 GP) and Paul Stastny from Feb. 3 – March 17, 2007 (11-18—29 in 20 GP).
  • Did You Know? Rantanen, Nathan MacKinnon (21-31—52) and Gabriel Landeskog (21-19—40) are the first trio of teammates to combine for at least 148 points through the first 33 team games in a season since Mario Lemieux (29-47—76), Jaromir Jagr (29-39—68) and Ron Francis (17-42—59) did so with the Penguins in 1995-96. Lemieux would go on to capture his fifth career Art Ross Trophy that year after concluding the season with 161 points (69-92—161 in 70 GP).

Ovechkin, Scheifele and Eichel Named NHL ‘Three Stars’ of the Week Ending Dec. 16, 2018

Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin, Winnipeg Jets center Mark Scheifele and Buffalo Sabres center Jack Eichel have been named the NHL’s “Three Stars” for the week ending Dec. 16.

FIRST STAR – ALEX OVECHKIN, LW, WASHINGTON CAPITALS

Ovechkin paced the NHL with seven goals in three games (7-0—7), highlighted by back-to-back hat tricks, to propel the Metropolitan Division-leading Capitals (20-9-3, 43 points) to a perfect week and their fifth straight win overall. Ovechkin scored three times in each of his first two outings, a 6-2 victory (including the game-winning goal) against the Detroit Red Wings Dec. 11 and a 6-5 shootout triumph over the Carolina Hurricanes Dec. 14. Those served as the 21st and 22nd hat tricks of Ovechkin’s career, moving him into a share of 11th place in NHL history (w/ Teemu Selanne). It also marked the second time Ovechkin has registered hat tricks in consecutive team games, a feat he achieved in the first two contests of the 2017-18 season. Ovechkin closed the week with one goal in regulation as well as the shootout winner in a 4-3 victory against the Buffalo Sabres Dec. 15. That extended his point streak to a career-high 14 games (17-6—23) and his goal streak to six contests (10-1—11), one off Ovechkin’s personal best set during his rookie season (Feb. 10 – March 8, 2006: 8-5—13 in 7 GP). The 33-year-old Moscow, Russia, native and seven-time Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy winner tops the NHL with 29 goals in 32 total outings this season (29-14—43), five more than the next-closest player.

SECOND STAR – MARK SCHEIFELE, C, WINNIPEG JETS

Scheifele led the NHL with 5-6—11 in four games, including back-to-back overtime goals, to lift the Jets (22-9-2, 46 points) to their fifth consecutive win overall and into first place in the Central Division. He posted 1-1—2 in 6-3 triumph over the Chicago Blackhawks Dec. 11. Scheifele then recorded three straight three-point performances, started by 1-2—3 (including the primary assist on the overtime winner) in a 5-4 victory against the Edmonton Oilers Dec. 13. He scored the overtime winner in the following two contests, a 4-3 triumph over the Blackhawks Dec. 14 (2-1—3) and a 5-4 victory against the Tampa Bay Lightning Dec. 16 (1-2—3). In doing so, Scheifele became the second player in Jets/Thrashers history to register an overtime goal in consecutive team games as well as the second player in franchise history to post three straight three-point outings. The 25-year-old Kitchener, Ont., native ranks fifth in the NHL with 21-25—46 in 33 contests this season, highlighted by multiple points in each of his last five games (5-9—14).

THIRD STAR – JACK EICHEL, C, BUFFALO SABRES

Eichel ranked second in the NHL with 5-4—9 in four games to power the Sabres (20-9-5, 45 points) to a 3-0-1 week and into second place in the Atlantic Division. He collected 1-1—2 (including an assist on the overtime winner) in a 4-3 triumph over the Los Angeles Kings Dec. 11. Eichel then picked up one helper in a 3-1 victory against the Arizona Coyotes Dec. 13, followed by two goals in a 4-3 shootout loss to the Washington Capitals Dec. 15. Eichel capped the week with 2-2—4, his fifth career four-point performance, in a 4-2 win over the Boston Bruins Dec. 16. The 22-year-old North Chelmsford, Mass., native sits seventh in the NHL with 14-31—45 in 34 appearances this season, including 9-4—13 during an active six-game point streak.

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Guest Writer