Three stars
1. Jordan Martinook, Carolina Hurricanes
Martinook put the Hurricanes on his back with a hat-trick on seven shots that helped them to their third straight win. It took Martinook 269 NHL games to get it, scoring his third into an empty net late in the game to make sure the Florida Panthers had no chance of getting back into the game.
2. Calvin Pickard, Philadelphia Flyers
The Flyers needed this one. A 31-save shutout by Pickard helped the Flyers end a four-game skid. The Flyers looked the part of a team determined, putting up 46 shots in their 4-0 win. For all that Philly’s crease has endured this season, Pickard provided a bright spot in Friday’s matinee on NBC.
3. Jeff Skinner, Buffalo Sabres
Who are you going to call when you need another late comeback? Well, it’s gotta be one of the hottest players in the NHL at the moment. Jeff Skinner scored his 16th with 2:26 remaining in the third period to send Buffalo to overtime against the Montreal Canadiens and then scored 3:06 into the extra frame on the player to notch his 17th goal of the season and, more importantly, Buffalo’s eighth straight win.
Other notable performances:
- It’s not every night a shutout doesn’t cut it as a star, but it’s not every night that there is the maximum number of games in the NHL. Marc-Andre Fleury regained the shutout lead in the NHL with his fourth in a 29-save effort for the Golden Knights. He did so against the Flames, who had 13 goals in their previous two games.
- Speaking of shutouts, Aaron Dell posted his second in as many starts after making 19 saves in a 4-0 win for the Sharks over the Canucks. He blanked the St. Louis Blues on Nov. 17.
- Two goals and an assist for Sean Couturier in the Flyers win. He’s on a three-game point streak.
- Another strong outing for John Gibson, stopping 27 shots in a 2-1 win for the Ducks over Edmonton in overtime.
- Rickard Rakell had the OT winner in that game and also assisted on the Ducks’ other goal in regulation.
- Nino Niederreiter took a fourth-line demotion in stride, scoring a goal and adding an assist on Eric Staal’s game-winner as the Wild came back from 2-0 down in the third period to beat the Jets 4-2.
- Tom Wilson had a goal and an assist to push his point streak to four games. He’s got three goals and five assists in six games this season.
- Thomas Griess stopped 39 shots in a 4-3 overtime win for the Islanders over the Devils.
- Cam Atkinson has scored in six straight games.
- Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen and Gabriel Landeskog each recorded two-point nights because that’s what they do.
- Craig Anderson faced 54 shots, stopping 48 of them as Ottawa decided not to play defense in front of their starter.
- Erik Karlsson had a goal and two assists for the Sharks.
Injury news
- Roberto Luongo can’t catch a break. He was forced from the game after apparently tweaking something in his right leg on Martinook’s first goal of the night. As bad as it looked on the ice, with Luongo clutching his knee for a while before skating off under his own power, he’s reportedly day-to-day at this point.
Highlights of the night
For this one, we go back to one of the day’s matinees
This would tear the average man's groin. #mnwild pic.twitter.com/l017wmelbX
— Ryan Carter 👃 (@Ryan_Carter22) November 23, 2018
Eat your heart out, Brian Burke:
The Dub Dominoes!
— Carolina Hurricanes (@Canes) November 24, 2018
Tonight's Storm Surge gets even crazier #TakeWarning pic.twitter.com/4SuZoDzAQW
Martinook’s hatty:
You're never going to forget your first career @Enterprise hatty.
— NHL (@NHL) November 24, 2018
Just ask @Martyman17. https://t.co/B74gTqeP57
Boyle scores on Hockey Fights Cancer night in New Jersey:
#HockeyFightsCancer night in New Jersey is MUCH more special when @BriBrows22 scores. 💜😈 https://t.co/ps7bZVv9zF
— NHL (@NHL) November 23, 2018
Madness in Minnesota:
Composite timeline look at the bench scrap between the Wild & Jets and the elbow from Lowry to Eriksson-Ek that started it pic.twitter.com/nCtYNPaeTP
— CJ Fogler account may or may not be notable (@cjzero) November 23, 2018
Factoids
Marc-Andre Fleury of the @GoldenKnights earned the 52nd shutout of his NHL career to pass Curtis Joseph, Dave Kerr, Rogie Vachon and Tomas Vokoun for sole possession of 24th place on the League’s all-time list. #CGYvsVGK #NHLStats: https://t.co/cgq69fdazp pic.twitter.com/vGs0nsBwVB
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) November 24, 2018
J.T. Compher became the 20th player to score two shorthanded goals in a span of two minutes or less since 1933-34 and just the fourth in the past 15 years: also Michael Grabner (2013-14), Tobias Rieder (2014-15) and Chris Tierney (2017-18). #NHLStats pic.twitter.com/loodsPYVY2
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) November 24, 2018
Joe Thornton of the @SanJoseSharks collected the 1,034th assist of his NHL career to pass Mario Lemieux (1,033) for sole possession of 11th place on the League’s all-time list.#NHLStats: https://t.co/8nmkW1c23O #VANvsSJS pic.twitter.com/v89UCb2SO1
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) November 24, 2018
Highest Percent of Team Goals Involved In Since Start of 2016-17:#Oilers McDavid - 44.8%#Avs MacKinnon - 36.3%#Blackhawks Kane - 36.1%#Flyers Giroux - 35.2%#TBLightning Kucherov - 35.2%
— Sportsnet Stats (@SNstats) November 23, 2018
Scores
Flyers 4, Rangers 0
Ducks 2, Oilers 1 (OT)
Wild 4, Jets 2
Sabres 3, Canadiens 2 (OT)
Islanders 4, Devils 3 (OT)
Capitals 3, Red Wings 1
Golden Knights 2, Flames 0
Blue Jackets 4, Maple Leafs 2
Bruins 2, Penguins 1 (OT)
Lightning 4, Blackhawks 2
Hurricanes 4, Panthers 1
Avalanche 5, Coyotes 1
Blues 6, Predators 2
Stars 6, Senators 4
Sharks 4, Canucks 0
Scott Billeck is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @scottbilleck
