With 10 games on the schedule, there was a plethora of highlight-reel plays in the NHL Thursday. There were comebacks, failed comebacks, huge hits, huge saves, ridiculous goals, a few solid scraps and this scary hit on Jonathan Toews.
Here are five things we learned from Thursday’s action:
Bruins are better without Chara in the lineup
Okay, no team in the NHL is so good that they’d actually be better without a player like Zdeno Chara, but surprisingly this season the Bruins aren’t as good when the 2009 Norris Trophy winner plays. The six-foot-nine blueliner returned to the Bruins lineup for the first time since tearing the PCL in his left knee Oct. 23 and his team fell 3-2 to the Blackhawks in a rematch of the 2013 Stanley Cup final.
The Bruins went 11-8-1 without Chara in the lineup and are just 4-6 with him. In 10 games this season, Chara has just three points and is a minus-two. It doesn’t quite make sense, but the fact is Bruins have been better without Chara so far this season.
Sabres goalies hurting chances at getting top pick
If you’re a Buffalo Sabres fan hoping to win the Connor McDavid sweepstakes, or you’ve got your eyes set on Jack Eichel, you might not like what you’re about to read.
By handing the Flames a third-straight loss, the Sabres have now won eight of their last 11 and are showing signs of turning things around. Through the first 18 games of season the Sabres’ goal differential was an embarrassing minus-43, but over their last 11 games they have a respectable plus-four goal differential.
A major reason for the improved play has been quality goaltending – something that was absent early in the season. Jonas Enroth was the difference Thursday making 42 saves.
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Hockey is better when stars make plays like this
Bobby Ryan with what could be the Goal of the Year…
Jonathan Quick with a Save of the Year candidate…
Cam Ward comes up big…
Braden Holtby flashes the leather…
Senators can’t get one for their new coach
In the first game since Paul MacLean was fired, the Ottawa Senators tried desperately to get a win for new head coach Dave Cameron, but ran into the defending Stanley Cup champion Los Angeles Kings. Ottawa put forth a solid effort, but ended up with the loss, which is a common trend when it comes to the Sens and debuting coaches.
Clashing captains are cool
It’s always a sight to behold when two captains drop the gloves, especially when those captains seldom do it. That’s what we saw Thursday when Gabriel Landeskog and Andrew Ladd decided the throw haymakers at one another to spark the fans and their respective teams. Well, it worked, as the crowd and benches erupted when this scrap was over.
The tilt was Ladd’s second fight of the season and his 13th in 640 career regular season games; it was Landeskog’s first fight of the year and just the third of his NHL career.