Las Vegas finally has a team name, a potential goal of the year candidate and St. Louis takes on a familiar face.
Here’s five things we learned Tuesday night in the NHL:
The wait is over
We finally learned the name of the Las Vegas NHL franchise and it may come as a surprise to some: the Vegas Golden Knights.
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and majority owner Bill Foley were on hand at T-Mobile Arena to make the announcement, which had some difficulty getting going due to some technical difficulties.
The Golden Knights and general manager George McPhee can now turn their attention to getting a roster together for the 2017 season. Between the expansion draft and NHL Draft in June, Vegas will be busy over the next few months.
So what do you think? Are you a fan of the name?
Goal of the year candidate
Stop what you’re doing. I think we have a legit goal of the year candidate.
Canadiens forward Alexander Radulov helped Montreal gain a 2-1 advantage at 7:39 of the second period when he absolutely undressed Ottawa’s Mike Hoffman and then finished with a beauty on Craig Anderson.
It was just Radulov’s fourth of the season but the Russian has made a huge impact offensively for the Habs this year and provided some contagious energy.
Speaking of Hoffman…
Milestone for Karlsson
Just two minutes before Radulov’s jaw-dropping goal, Hoffman tied the game 1-1 with a one-timer off a feed from Mark Stone.
Also assisting on the goal was Senators captain Erik Karlsson. The Swede, playing in his 498th career game, recorded his 400th point on the play.
Karlsson would add the winner in the third period for good measure.
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Hot Hurricanes
Don’t look now, but the Carolina Hurricanes (!) have won five in a row. Carolina (8-6-4) beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 2-1 and has quietly had a good start to the season.
Defencemen Jaccob Slavin and Justin Faulk have played a huge part of that early success, chipping in both offensively and defensively. Slavin logged 23:22 against Toronto with two shots on goal and — get this — he’s only 22-years-old. Faulk also recorded two shots on net and played 18:44. He’s just two years older at 24.
Slavin and Faulk are leading a young defence corps that’s being built into something special, but they’re just the tip of the iceberg. The entire Carolina team has been quietly impressive this season, ranking fourth in the NHL with a 53.27 CF% (Corsi For Percentage). Only Los Angeles, Boston and St. Louis have higher rates.
Welcome back, Backes
Well, that must feel nice.
Former Blues captain David Backes, now playing with the Boston Bruins, scored in his first game against his former team. It wasn’t pretty, but they count just the same.
The 32-year-old forward played the past 10 seasons in St. Louis and served the last five as team captain. Backes signed a five-year deal with the Bruins as a free agent on July 1 worth US$30 million.
Backes wore his heart on his sleeve while playing with the Blues and there’s no better example of that than during last season’s Western Conference final when St. Louis was eliminated by the San Jose Sharks.
Backes also made sure that his ex-teammates were well fed prior to puck drop and American Thanksgiving.
