NHL Review February 4, 2021
PASTRNAK RALLIES BRUINS WITH FOUR POINTS, NINTH CAREER HAT TRICK
After David Pastrnak (3-1—4) opened the scoring 12 seconds into the first period, the Flyers rallied with three straight goals, but the 2019-20 Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy winner tallied twice more to tie the game before factoring on the game-winning goal in overtime.
Pastrnak (393 GP), who shared the NHL lead with four hat tricks in 2019-20, tallied his first such performance of the season and ninth of his regular season career. He now trails only Phil Esposito (26 in 625 GP), Cam Neely (14 in 525 GP) and Johnny Bucyk (12 in 1,436 GP) on the Bruins’ all-time list.
Less than 400 games into his regular season career, Pastrnak already shares sixth among active NHL players in career hat tricks – playing between 418 and 857 fewer games than every other active player with at least nine to their credit.
Pastrnak, who has at least one point in each of his three games played in 2020-21 (5-2—7), has scored multiple goals in consecutive Bruins games for the fourth time in his career.
BRUINS MARK FRANCHISE-FIRST WITH THIRD STRAIGHT MULTI-GOAL COMEBACK
The Bruins have recorded at least a point in three straight games after trailing by multiple goals in each contest for the first time in franchise history. Boston trailed 3-1 on Wednesday against Philadelphia (4-3 W) after salvaging at least one point in consecutive games against Washington on Feb. 1 (trailed 3-0 in 5-3 W) and Jan. 30 (trailed 3-0 in 4-3 OTL).
This marks the 11th time in franchise history that the Bruins have posted consecutive wins after trailing by multiple goals in each contest; the only other instances in the last 25 seasons came in 2018-19 (March 5 & 7, 2019) and 2003-04 (Oct. 18 & 19, 2003). Boston has never posted a streak of three straight multi-goal comeback victories; the feat has been accomplished only eight times in NHL history.
LIGHTNING, VASILEVSKIY EXTEND STREAKS VS. DETROIT
Victor Hedman (1-1—2) scored 94 seconds after the opening face-off and the Lightning tallied three times in the first 4:54 of the game en route to extending their season-opening home win streak to five contests. Tampa Bay, who is set to play Detroit again Friday, extended its point streak against the Detroit Red Wings to 18 games dating to Feb. 3, 2016 (17-0-1).
Andrei Vasilevskiy (15 saves) remained perfect in his career against Detroit, improving to 9-0-0 against the Red Wings to mark the longest win streak against one opponent in his NHL career. He is one of four goalies with an active run of nine or more consecutive wins in regular-season appearances versus one opponent.
EXCITING ROOKIES ON DISPLAY THURSDAY
Many of the NHL’s top rookie performers of 2020-21 are expected to be in action as part of Thursday’s slate:
The Blackhawks feature three rookies who have had an early impact on their team this season. A pair of Swiss forwards, Pius Suter (4-2—6 in 11 GP) and Philipp Kurashev (4-1—5 in 10 GP), are tied for most goals by a rookie this season. Chicago is the first team in NHL history to have two Swiss-born rookies appear for a team in the same season. First-year netminder Kevin Lankinen has started his career with a 3-1-3 record and ranks among the top 10 in the NHL with a .935 save percentage (5th) and 2.09 goals-against average (10th; min. 3 GP).
Capitals goaltender Vitek Vanecek was named NHL ‘Rookie of the Month’ for January alongside frontline healthcare hero Mary ‘Dani’ Dell’Isola. Vanecek (5-1-2), who became the 11th goaltender in League history to begin his career with a point streak of at least seven games before falling to the Bruins on Feb. 1, could be staring down the rink from another rookie netminder in Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin (2-2-1).
Senators forward Tim Stützle (3-0—3 in 7 GP) enters Thursday’s contest with a goal in each of Ottawa’s last two games. He can become the first Senators rookie in nearly six years to record a goal streak of three or more games – Mark Stone (4 GP) and Mike Hoffman (3 GP, 2x) both did so in 2014-15.
Twenty-year-old Canucks forward Nils Hoglander has collected 3-3—6 in 13 games this season. Vancouver (3) trails only Philadelphia (6), Carolina (5) and New Jersey (5) for the most goals scored by players 20 or younger in 2020-21.
Wild Games Postponed
(The National Hockey League announced that as a result of five additional Minnesota Wild Players being added today to the NHL’s COVID Protocol Related Absence List, the team’s games will be postponed at least through Tuesday, Feb. 9.
The team’s training facilities have been closed, effective immediately, and will remain so until further notice. The League is in the process of reviewing and revising the Wild’s regular season schedule.
The Wild organization has, and will continue to follow, all recommended guidelines aimed at protecting the health and safety of its Players, staff and community at large as set by the NHL, local, state and national agencies.
“NHL European Game of the Week” Returns
For the third straight season, the National Hockey League and 20 international broadcast partners will deliver more than 31 games live in primetime every weekend throughout the 2020-21 season to fans in 25 countries and territories across Europe. NHL European Game of the Week™ presented by SAP will make its season debut with the Colorado Avalanche-St. Louis Blues game broadcast, set for Saturday, Feb. 6. The full broadcast schedule is available here.
NHL international broadcast partners NENT Group in the Nordics, PULS 24 in Austria, Yandex.Efir in Russia, SPORT+1 and DAZN in Germany, blue Sport in Switzerland and Nova Sport 1 in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, among others, will broadcast games live in primetime locally throughout the regular-season, including Saturday’s Avalanche-Blues game. NHL Network™, SN1, Fox Sports Midwest, Altitude and NHL.TV will carry Saturday’s Avalanche-Blues game live at 3 p.m. ET in North America.
“NHL European Game of the Week has been a tremendous success in serving hockey fans across Europe,” said NHL Senior Executive Vice President of Media & International Strategy David Proper. “Our commitment to meeting the demand for more games in European primetime from our fans and our media partners is paramount to our long-term international growth. And this season, we are proud to introduce game feeds produced specifically for our European viewers. These NHL European Game of the Week presented by SAP productions will include targeted graphics and many other uniquely international elements for an enhanced viewing experience.”
Since its introduction in 2018, NHL European Game of the Week broadcasts have showcased the NHL’s biggest stars in primetime to their home countries. International broadcast partners have super-served fans in Europe with comprehensive coverage, including live pre-game and post-game studio shows. Additionally, as part of its presenting sponsorship, SAP will provide statistical insights for use in game broadcasts.
In addition to this season’s NHL European Game of the Week presented by SAP broadcast schedule, the NHL and its international broadcasters will present NHL Outdoors at Lake Tahoe™, the two regular-season outdoor games along the south shore of North America’s largest alpine lake, on the border of California and Nevada, in Stateline, Nev., and featuring the Colorado Avalanche and the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday, Feb. 20 and the Philadelphia Flyers and the Boston Bruins on Sunday, Feb. 21. Fans in the U.S. and Canada will be able to watch both games live at 3 p.m. ET on NBC, Sportsnet and TVA Sports, respectively.