NHL Recap December 19 2018

WEDNESDAY’S RESULTS – Home Team in Caps

  • Pittsburgh 2, WASHINGTON 1
  • COLORADO 2, Montreal 1

CROSBY LEADS PENGUINS PAST CAPITALS IN METROPOLITAN DIVISION SHOWDOWN
Sidney Crosby (1-1—2) factored on both goals as the Penguins improved to 6-3-1 in their last 10 contests to snap the Capitals’ five-game win streak. Crosby tied the game in the second period and collected a helper on the go-ahead goal to boost his totals to 22-46—68 in 48 head-to-head contests in the regular-season against Alex Ovechkin (PIT: 29-17-2; WSH: 19-22-7).

* Crosby recorded his 23rd multi-point game against the Capitals Wednesday. The Penguins captain has only registered more multi-point outings against the Islanders (33) and Flyers (32). Among all active NHL players, Crosby (344) trails only Joe Thornton (380) for the most such performances, including 12 more instances than Ovechkin (332).

* Matt Murray made 31 saves – including turning away five Ovechkin shots to snap the Washington captain’s goal streak at six contests and his career-high point streak at 14 games – to earn his sixth career win against the Capitals (6-4-0), tied for his highest total against any team (6-1-1 vs. CBJ).

TRIO LEADS AVALANCHE TO ANOTHER VICTORY

The trio of Mikko Rantanen (1-1—2), Nathan MacKinnon (0-2—2) and Gabriel Landeskog (1-0—1) factored on both Colorado markers to propel the Avalanche to 19-10-6 (44 points) – the tenth time in franchise history the team has earned 19 or more wins in its first 35 games of a season and first time since 2013-14.

* Rantanen, MacKinnon, and Landeskog have now combined for 60-95—155 in 2018-19. Their total sits 25 points higher than the next closest trio: Tampa Bay’s Steven Stamkos, Nikita Kucherov and Brayden Point (53-77—130).

* The last time a trio of teammates had a 25-point lead on the next closest trio from another team entering play on Dec. 20 was 1995-96, when Pittsburgh’s Mario Lemieux, Jaromir Jagr and Ron Francis (74-126—200) had a 57-point gap over Colorado’s Peter Forsberg, Joe Sakic and Valeri Kamensky (50-93—143).

* In addition to Colorado and Tampa Bay, only three other teams in 2018-19 see its top trio combine for 120 points: Calgary’s Johnny Gaudreau, Sean Monahan and Matthew Tkachuk (50-74—124); Edmonton’s Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (46-76—122); Winnipeg’s Mark Scheifele, Blake Wheeler and Patrik Laine (49-71—120).

* Landeskog scored his League-leading seventh game-winning goal of the season, the highest total of his NHL career. Brayden Point (12) and Nathan MacKinnon (12) tied for the most game-winning goals in 2017-18. MacKinnon’s 2017-18 campaign trailed only Michel Goulet (16 in 1983-84) for the most game winners in a season in Avalanche/Nordiques franchise history.

THURSDAY’S GAMES

Anaheim@ Boston 7:00 PM ET
 Florida@ Toronto 7:00 PM ET
 Nashville@ Philadelphia 7:00 PM ET
 Minnesota@ Pittsburgh 7:00 PM ET
 Detroit@ Carolina 7:00 PM ET
 New Jersey@ Columbus 7:00 PM ET
 Chicago@ Dallas 8:30 PM ET
 Tampa Bay@ Calgary 9:00 PM ET
 Montréal@ Arizona 9:00 PM ET
 St. Louis@ Vancouver 10:00 PM ET
 NY Islanders@ Vegas 10:00 PM ET
 Winnipeg@ San Jose 10:30 PM ET

DOMI RETURNS TO ARIZONA FOR FIRST TIME

Max Domi, who was traded to Montreal by Arizona for Alex Galchenyuk on June 15, will return to Gila River Arena for the first time when the Canadiens visit the Coyotes. Galchenyuk, who played first six NHL seasons with Montreal, is also set to face the Canadiens for the first time since being acquired by Arizona.

* The resurgent Domi, who was selected with the 12th overall pick by the Coyotes in the 2013 NHL Draft, has collected 14-19—33 through his first 34 games in a Montreal uniform to surpass his goal total from 2017-18 (9-36—45 in 82 GP). The last player to require 36 or fewer personal games to score his first 15 career goals with the Canadiens (NHL debut or otherwise) was Benoit Pouliot in 2009-10 (32 GP).

* Domi is one of six players skating on a new team in 2018-19 to have already surpassed the 30-point mark, joining Sabres forward Jeff Skinner (25-12—37 in 35 GP), Flames forward Elias Lindholm (17-20—37 in 35 GP), Maple Leafs forward John Tavares (21-15—36 in 34 GP), Blues forward Ryan O’Reilly (13-19—32 in 32 GP) and Panthers forward Mike Hoffman (15-16—31 in 32 GP).

LIGHTNING, FLAMES SET TO SQUARE OFF IN HIGH-OCTANE SHOWDOWN

Two of the highest-scoring teams in 2018-19 face off at Scotiabank Saddledome when Nikita Kucherov and the League-leading Lightning (26-7-2, 54 points) travel to Calgary to battle Johnny Gaudreau and the Flames (22-11-2, 46 points), who sit tied with the Jets (22-10-2, 46 points) and Predators (22-11-2, 46 points), in terms of points, atop the Western Conference.

* Kucherov has collected at least one point in 16 of his last 17 contests dating to Nov. 15, posting an NHL-best 8-24—32 over that span en route to reaching the 50-point mark Tuesday. Meanwhile, teammate Steven Stamkos has goals in six of his last eight appearances ahead of his 700th career game on Thursday. Stamkos has 365 goals in 699 career NHL games, one shy of surpassing Martin St. Louis (365 G in 972 GP) for sole possession of second place on Tampa Bay’s all-time list.

* The Flames have tallied a shorthanded goal in each of their last three contests (Mark Giordano: Dec. 12 and Dec. 15 and Elias Lindholm: Dec. 16) and sit one game shy of matching the longest such run in franchise history: 4 GP from Nov. 13-19, 1987.

* A team has scored a shorthanded goal in four or more consecutive games just 19 times in NHL history, with only three of those instances occurring in the past 20 years including Arizona earlier this season from Oct. 25 – Nov. 2. The other two since 1998-99: New Jersey (Jan. 6-11, 2012) and Detroit (Oct. 18-24, 2003).

* A pair of legendary offenses own the longest run of consecutive games with a shorthanded goal – both the 1986-87 Oilers (Dec. 7-17, 1986) and 1992-93 Penguins (April 3-14, 1993) tallied shorthanded markers in six consecutive contests.

Oilers’ Khaira Suspended Two Games for Cross-Checking

Edmonton Oilers forward Jujhar Khaira has been suspended for two games, without pay, for cross-checking St. Louis Blues defenseman Vince Dunn during NHL Game No. 524 in Edmonton on Tuesday, Dec. 18, the National Hockey League’s Department of Player Safety announced today.

The incident occurred at 9:03 of the third period. Khaira was assessed a major penalty for cross-checking as well as a game misconduct.

Under the terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement and, based on his average annual salary, Khaira will forfeit $7,258.06. The money goes to the Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund.

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