After a quiet night on Wednesday, Thursday’s slate was loaded with action.
Dan Bylsma came back to Pittsburgh for the first time with his new club, the Winnipeg Jets put an end to the Chicago Blackhawks’ winning streak, while the Edmonton Oilers won a highly entertaining affair with the Montreal Canadiens.
Here’s five things we learned in the NHL on Thursday.
Connor McDavid extends point streak: Remember the concern about Connor McDavid’s “slow” start to his NHL career? Well, that was freaking silly.
McDavid is on an absolute tear for the Edmonton Oilers, recording points in seven straight games and now has 11 points in total over that stretch.
The 2015 No. 1 overall pick displayed his offensive talent Thursday with a two-point performance to help lift his team to a comeback victory over the first-place Montreal Canadiens.
The Oilers might not have a perfectly built team yet, but watching this generational talent perform should be a pleasure for any hockey fan.
Zatkoff stars in Bylsma’s return: Marc-Andre Fleury was Pittsburgh’s best player on Wednesday night and it was another Penguins goalie that excelled on Thursday.
Jeff Zatkoff, a 28-year-old netminder who appeared in 20 games for the Penguins in 2014-15, made 50 saves in his first start of the season to spoil Bylsma’s return to Pittsburgh. The former Penguins coach, and 2008-09 Stanley Cup champion, got a nice ovation from the crowd and saw an inspired performance from his team who outshot Pittsburgh 53-29. However, Zatkoff’s performance was the difference.
Pittsburgh, despite a relatively inconsistent offence, has now won six of its past seven games after dropping three straight to start the season.
Where are the goals for Anaheim?: The Anaheim Ducks continued their miserable start to the season, dropping a 2-1 contest to the St. Louis Blues to fall to 1-7-2 on the season.
The Ducks are in dead last in the Western Conference, which has to be considered a huge surprise given the talent on their roster and previous success. But the bigger shock has been the lack of any consistent goal scoring.
Through 10 games, the Ducks have a total of just 10 goals which, in case math isn’t your strong suit, is an average of just one per game. They have been shut out five times already and are not getting enough from their best players.
Yes, Ryan Getzlaf is out of the lineup recovering from an appendectomy, but that’s not enough of an excuse for their overall lousy production. The advanced metrics indicate things should eventually even out, but it will be tough to overcome this early season hole.
Iginla still achieving milestones: Sometimes, you just need to sit back and appreciate the career of an esteemed player such as Jarome Iginla.
The Colorado Avalanche forward — even at the age of 38 — is still a relatively effective offensive player. Entering the night’s action, the veteran forward had recorded seven points (three goals and four assists) through nine games and Iginla added two more assists in Colorado’s 2-1 road victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning.
The two points helped Iginla surpass soon-to-be Hall of Famer (next week, actually) Phil Housley for 38th on the all-time scoring list with 1,233 career points, per NHL PR.
The Stars are ridiculous at 3-on-3: Some teams aren’t built for the wildly exciting addition of 3-on-3 overtime. See the Ottawa Senators, for example.
However, it was a pleasure to watch a team with the offensive talent of the Dallas Stars in the new overtime format.
The Stars were moving the puck up and down the ice with star forwards Tyler Seguin and Jason Spezza, and the Vancouver Canucks had no answer as NHL point leader Jamie Benn potted the game-winner.
It was Dallas’s first ever 3-on-3 OT goal, and if you weren’t able to watch it live, you missed a tremendous display of talent.
