The Official National Hockey League Appreciation Thread

[KarateKen]

Dallas wins 7-1 of the Penguins in the blowout of the night on Monday.  Other winners were the Flyers, Canadians, Flames, Avs, and Hurricanes. San Jose and Nashville both got standings point in their losses. 

[KarateKen]

Two overtime games on Wednesday, Leafs over the Caps 4-3 and Wings over Pens 3-2 (do you ever wonder why the Wings are not in Buffalo? Don't you think the Sabers should be called the Buffalo Wings?) Other finals were Avs 4-2 over the LAK, Utah 4-1 over Carolina, and Golden Knights 3-2 over Ducks. 

[KarateKen]

Connor McDavid got hit the 1000 career point mark on Thursday in the Oilers 3-2 overtime win against Nashville.  McDavid is the 4th fastest to ever reach the milestone. 

The other winners on Thursday were the Wild, Flyers, Devils, Lightning, Rangers, Islanders, Sabers, Stars, and Kraken. 

[KarateKen]

Toronto's enforcer Ryan Reeves has been suspended five games without pay for his illegal hit on Oiler's defenseman Darnel Nurse on Saturday.  Nurse took a nasty hit to the head in a collision with Reeves which lead to Nurse bleeding on his jersey and Reeves being ejected.  Toronto won the game 4-3 in overtime. 

Reeves is a veteran of the league and a known tough guy.  This is not his first ejection, or his first suspension.  He famously was ejected from a game in 2018 for a late shoulder to shoulder hit that injured Capitals forward Tom Wilson.  He was also suspended for some playoff games a few years back in a scuffle with Ryan Graves of the Avalanche. This five-game suspension will cost Reeves over 35 grand in salary. 

[sensei8]

Ken, I'm nominating you to be KF's Sports Reporter, if KF indeed had such a position. Your coverage is on point and well thought out, especially when it comes to sports. I've enjoyed your sports posts thoroughly!! Thank you!!

Edited Monday at 02:01 PM by sensei8

[KarateKen]

19 hours ago, sensei8 said:

Ken, I'm nominating you to be KF's Sports Reporter, if KF indeed had such a position. Your coverage is on point and well thought out, especially when it comes to sports. I've enjoyed your sports posts thoroughly!! Thank you!!

Well thank you  If that is a real position I accept  

[KarateKen]

Two more goals for Ovechkin tonight in the Capitals 5-2 win in Utah.  Ovi has been on a hot streaking, scoring five goals in two games and only 18 games into the season already has 15 goals, much above his slow start from last year.  At 868, he is now 27 goals behind Gretzky for the record. If Ovi keeps this pace, which is unlikely, he will pass Gretzky this season.  If he does not pass him this year next season seems inevitable.   As the saying goes "records are made to be broken." 

During the win Ovi did suffer a lower body injury in the third period, he tried to come back into the game but was not able to.  The extent of the injury is unknown at this time. As for Utah, they started off strong but have hit a skid, losing five of seven and falling under .500.

Other winners on Monday were the Canadians, Blue Jackets, Ducks, and Avs, the Sharks lead the Red Wings right now in the third. 

[KarateKen]

Update on the Ovechkin injury, he is listed as "week to week" which means his timeline to return is unknown, but unlikely he will play in the Capitals next game which is Thursday. 

The Boston Bruins have fired head coach Jim Montgomery who was in his third season. It has been a slow start for the Bruins 8-9-3, a team that had preseason expectations of competing for the Stanley Cup.  Joe Sacco will take over as the interim coach. 

[KarateKen]

The Jets continue to put the Win in Winnipeg, tonight's 6-3 victory over defending champion Florida puts the Jets at 16-3, their 32 points are the best in the league with Minnesota and Washington next at 27.  The Jets Morgan Barron scored two empty net goals in the third.  It is rare to see a player score two empty netters in one game.  They were the first two goals of the season for Barron, and his first career two goal game.  Barron is a hard-working 4th liner who doesn't score much but does a lot of other stuff to help the team.  He is one of my favorite players and every time I watch him, I see an honest effort.  

Wild win in St. Louis, two goals by Kaprizov, now at 13 for the season, third most in the league.  He is clearly the best player on the Wild and one of the young stars in the league.  Minnesota improves to 12-3-3, second place in the central behind the Jets.  

Lightning win in OT against the Penguins, Oilers beat the Senators 5-2 behind two goals by McDavid (8 and 9), and one by Draisaitl (14). 

Three games active as of this posting.  The Rangers and Canucks tied 2-2 in the first, Islanders lead the Flams 1-0 in the second, and Ducks lead the Blackhawks 3-2 in the third.

 

[KarateKen]

Five games in the NHL on Wednesday, three end in shutouts.  Leafs 3-0 over Knights, Sabers 1-0 over Kings, and Kraken 3-0 over Preds.  Other scores were Stars 5-2 over Sharks and Hurricanes 4-1 over Flyers.  Since it was a slower night in the league that means there is usually a busy one the next day, and there is, ten games on the schedule for Thursday.