Nhl Morning Skate – Nov. 30, 2018 Thursday's Results
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NHL MORNING SKATE – NOV. 30, 2018 THURSDAY’S RESULTS Home Team in Caps BOSTON 2, NY Islanders 1 (SO) COLUMBUS 4, Minnesota 2 OTTAWA 3, NY Rangers 0 TAMPA BAY 5, Buffalo 4 Arizona 3, NASHVILLE 0 WINNIPEG 6, Chicago 5 EDMONTON 3, Los Angeles 2 Vegas 4, VANCOUVER 3 LAINE ECLIPSES 20-GOAL MARK IN 2018-19, 100-GOAL MARK IN CAREER Jets forward Patrik Laine scored twice to become the first 20-goal scorer this season (21-3—24 in 24 GP) and reach the 100-goal mark in his NHL career (101-57—158 in 179 GP). Laine’s 101 career goals are more than any other player in the League since his debut in 2016-17. * Aided by his five-goal performance Saturday in St. Louis, Laine became the 11th different player in NHL history to score 18 or more goals in a calendar month, posting the ninth such performance since 1984-85. * Laine (20 years, 224 days) became the fourth-youngest player in League history to score 100 career regular-season goals, behind only Wayne Gretzky (20 years, 40 days) on March 7, 1981, Jimmy Carson (20 years, 116 days) on Nov. 13, 1988 and Brian Bellows (20 years, 179 days) on Feb. 27, 1985. * Laine matched the Jets/Thrashers franchise record for fewest team games required to reach the 20-goal mark in a season (24 GP), a mark set by Ilya Kovalchuk exactly 11 years prior on Nov. 29, 2007 (w/ ATL). In addition to Laine and Kovalchuk, only one other player in franchise history reached the 20-goal mark before the conclusion of November: Marian Hossa on Nov. 30, 2006 (w/ ATL). * Laine has scored 18 of his 21 goals this season since Nov. 1, including 13 in his last six games (2.16 G/GP). * Nikolaj Ehlers scored the third hat trick of his NHL career (also Jan. 26, 2016 vs. ARI and Oct. 9, 2017 at EDM), while Blake Wheeler and Mark Scheifele each collected three assists. Wheeler leads the Jets with 32 points this season (4-28—32 in 32 GP), while Scheifele ranks second with 29 (13-16—29 in 24 GP). LIGHTNING SNAP SABRES’ WIN STREAK, CLAIM FIRST IN EASTERN CONFERENCE In a game that featured four lead changes, Cedric Paquette scored the go-ahead goal with 5:41 remaining in regulation as the Lightning snapped the Sabres’ win streak at 10 contests. Tampa Bay improved to 18-7-1 (37 points) this season to leapfrog Toronto (18-8-0, 36 points) and Buffalo (17-7-2, 36 points) for first place in the Eastern Conference standings. * Nikita Kucherov collected a goal and an assist to establish a career high for most points in a calendar month (5-18—23 in 15 GP), eclipsing the previous mark of 22 he set in March 2017 (12-10—22 in 14 GP). The franchise record for points in a month is 25, a mark set by Martin St. Louis in January 2004 (13-12—25 in 16 GP) and matched by Vincent Lecavalier in November 2007 (9-16—25 in 14 GP). INSIDE THE NUMBERS: BUFFALO’S 10-GAME WIN STREAK The Sabres recorded 10 consecutive victories from Nov. 8-27 to match the franchise record for longest win streak, a mark set from Jan. 4-23, 1984 and equaled from Oct. 4-26, 2006. * Nine of the Sabres’ 10 wins were decided by a one-goal margin, including seven that required extra time. Through the 10 games, Buffalo was tied for 276:01 (45%), led for 213:14 (34%) and trailed for 132:55 (21%). * Only one other team in NHL history has recorded as many one-goal victories as part of a win streak of 10 or more games – Pittsburgh won nine one-goal games during a 15-game run from March 2-30, 2013. STANDINGS JAM UP IN PACIFIC DIVISION AS THREE CLUBS SECURE WINS The Golden Knights (14-12-1, 29 points), Oilers (12-11-2, 26 points) and Coyotes (11-11-2, 24 points) each secured wins to gain ground in the Pacific Division standings, where only six points separate seeds Nos. 1-7. * Max Pacioretty scored twice and Marc-Andre Fleury made 33 saves as the Golden Knights extended their win streak to five games. Pacioretty extended his point streak to seven games (8-3—11) to match a career high achieved twice before (2011-12 and 2014-15 w/ MTL). Pacioretty began his streak on Nov. 18, ranking second in the League in goals in that span behind Patrik Laine (13-0—13). With the victory, Fleury improved to 6-0-0 in six appearances during that same span (1.82 GAA, .937 SV%, 2 SO). * Oscar Klefblom (1-1—2) scored the go-ahead goal with 2:20 remaining in regulation and Mikko Koskinen made 30 saves to improve to 7-2-1 through his first 11 appearances with the Oilers. It marked the second straight game-winning goal for Klefbom, a feat he also achieved from Nov. 19-21, 2016. Sheldon Souray (Dec. 22-26, 2008) and Darnell Nurse (Jan. 12-13, 2018) are the only other Edmonton defensemen to post the decisive marker in consecutive team games. * Adin Hill turned aside all 29 shots he faced to record the first shutout of his NHL career and backstop the Coyotes past the Western Conference-leading Predators. Hill (22 years 202 days) became the fourth-youngest goaltender in Coyotes/Jets franchise history to record his first NHL shutout, and the youngest to do so since the club relocated to Arizona in 1996-97. ATKINSON, DUCHENE CONTINUE TO ROLL * Cam Atkinson scored to extend his point streak to nine games (10-5—15) and help the Blue Jackets (15-8-2, 32 points) move into first place in the Metropolitan Division standings. Atkinson, who owns the longest active point streak in the NHL, matched his career high set from Dec. 5- 23, 2016 (7-7—14 in 9 GP) and equaled from March 19 – April 5, 2018 (8-5—13 in 9 GP). * Matt Duchene (1-1—2) factored on two of three goals to help the Senators improve to 8-0-0 in their last eight home games against the Rangers dating to Jan. 24, 2016 (regular season and playoffs combined). Duchene shares the sixth-most points in the NHL this season (12-21—33 in 26 GP), accumulating 22 of those points in November (8-14—22 in 15 GP) to trail only Nathan MacKinnon (9-14—23 in 13 GP) and Nikita Kucherov (5-18—23 in 15 GP) in scoring this month. BRUINS RETIRE RICK MIDDLETON’S No. 16 AT TD GARDEN The Bruins retired former forward Rick Middleton’s No. 16 in a pre-game ceremony at TD Garden prior to their shootout win over the Islanders. He became the 11th player in franchise history to have his number retired by the Bruins. * One of the greatest players in franchise history, Middleton collected 402-496—898 over his 12 seasons with the Bruins (881 GP) and ranks among the top five in franchise history for both goals and points. QUICK CLICKS * TravelNationHockey.com launch offers fans ability to create ultimate NHL road trip experience * Hockey Fights Cancer month strikes emotional chord with NHL.com editor (via John Kreiser) * Wayne Gretzky, Jonathan Toews experiences part of Jumpstart Charities contest * Vic Hadfield's Rangers legacy cemented by having number retired (via Dave Stubbs) SNEAK PEEK AT FRIDAY’S ACTION AVALANCHE, CAPITALS LOOK TO EXTEND WIN STREAK TO SEVEN The Avalanche (15-6-4, 34 points) and Capitals (14-7-3, 31 points) each look to extend their win streaks to seven games. Colorado and Washington own the longest active runs in the League. * Avalanche forwards Nathan MacKinnon (9-14—23 in 13 GP) and Mikko Rantanen (6-16— 21 in 13 GP) look to close out the month of November and extend their streaks with multiple points to seven contests apiece. There have been four instances in Avalanche/Nordiques franchise history of a player recording two or more points in at least seven straight team games: Peter Stastny in 1981-82 (8 GP), Jacques Richard in 1980-81 (7 GP), Real Cloutier in 1981- 82 (7 GP) and Joe Sakic in 1991-92 (7 GP). * Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin scored the 625th goal of his NHL career on Monday (1,027 GP) and is one shy of passing Jarome Iginla and Joe Sakic for sole possession of 15th place on the League’s all-time list. Only three players in NHL history required fewer games than Ovechkin to score 625 career goals: Wayne Gretzky (752 GP), Mario Lemieux (758 GP) and Brett Hull (965 GP). .