Lots of bonus hockey Friday with five games going the distance.
The Philadelphia Flyers earned their first four-game win streak with an OT win over the New Jersey Devils, the Buffalo Sabres scored at least four goals in a game for the fourth straight time in their win over the Arizona Coyotes, and Jonathan Bernier pitched a shutout (more on that later.)
Here are six things we learned in the NHL Friday.
1. John Scott is somebody’s hero
Prior to the Sabres-Coyotes match, John Scott made a superfan’s day by autographing their sign.
Scott, meanwhile, still leads the league in fan ballots for the 2016 All-Star game.
Later, Scott did what he truly does best which is antagonize and infuriate.
(Side tangent: what if Steve Downie and John Scott were in a remake of this popular film?)
2. World Junior coincidence
On the day that it was announced that Buffalo would be the host of the 2018 World Junior Championship, two 2015 gold medal-winning teammates shone in Sabres country.
In a 5-2 Sabres win, Coyotes forward Max Domi scored both Arizona goals while his golden buddy Sam Reinhart potted his own marker.
Here’s Max doing his thing:
Domi’s goals were his ninth and 10th while Reinhart scored his seventh of the season. They were the second and third stars respectively.
3. Two things we learned in the AHL
Firstly, the recently demoted Jonathan Bernier recorded a shutout in his debut with the AHL’s Toronto Marlies. The goaltender is on a conditioning stint after a string of poor performances with the Maple Leafs.
It was Bernier’s first win – in either league – since April 5 and his first AHL game since 2010.
Secondly, his backup was a zamboni driver. That’s right — after James Reimer re-injured himself in the Leafs’ game against the Minnesota Wild Thursday, the NHL club called up goaltender Antoine Bibeau to back up Garret Sparks. This meant there was a vacancy on the Marlies’ bench.
Enter 38 year old David Ayres.
The building operations manager of the Mattamy Athletic Centre (née Maple Leaf Gardens) in Toronto, Ayres signed a one-day contract with the club and watched them win 4-0 over the Rochester Americans.
How many people had “48 hours” in the pool asking how long it would take for the Leafs’ goalie situation to get back to warm-and-fuzzy?
4. Mike Cammalleri’s dad loves his son a little extra this year
The 33-year-old Cammalleri is playing out of his mind this season and his father has similarly gone BA-NA-NAS.
That was after the Devils forward tied the game against the Flyers with one minute left in regulation. The Flyers won 4-3 in OT but Cammalleri earned the second star of the game.
The Toronto native is having an incredible season with 26 points in 25 games. He hasn’t scored at this pace since 2008-09 with the Calgary Flames when he scored 82 points in 81 games. He recently spoke with Hockey Night in Canada about his stick and shot which are both (fire emoji) this year.
5. Eberle gets that huge monkey off his back
You’d be hard-pressed to find a player who needed a goal more than Edmonton Oilers skater Jordan Eberle.
The diminutive forward has played in just 13 games after missing time due to injury, had just two goals before tonight’s game, and remains a minus-11 on the season.
But how a single goal can wash all of that away. After blowing a two-on-one opportunity earlier in the game against the Dallas Stars, Eberle sniped the OT winner over the shoulder of former zamboni driver Antti Niemi.
The Oilers beat the Stars 2-1. Wait, what? The Stars and Oilers played a 2-1 game?
6. The Flames of old are the Flames of today
The Calgary Flames and Boston Bruins punched and counter-punched Friday night, playing a 3-3 game until Brad Marchand scored on a penalty shot in the third period to give Boston the lead.
“What lead?” the Flames asked.
Looking like the comeback kids of 2014-15, Jiri Hudler scored with 1.2 seconds left on the clock to force the game into overtime.
In OT, Johnny Gaudreau – who recorded three points in regulation – finished off the game in dramatic fashion, scoring his hat-trick goal on an assist from – oh, yes – former Bruin Dougie Hamilton.
Whew…
