A full night of action in the NHL tonight, and it started early with an afternoon match up where I finally got see a Vegas Golden Knights game. They beat Ottawa 5-4, using a 4th string goalie that would barely be an AHL backup. I’m looking forward to Blue Jackets vs Tampa tonight, Tortorella returns to Tampa and is honored for the Lightning’s Stanley Cup win. The Jackets thrashed the Florida Panthers on Thursday and I’m sure Torts is looking forward to a revenge tour with upcoming games against the Lightning and the Rangers.
Incredible - I don’t know if I’ve ever heard of a team requiring a fourth goalie in only their 13th game of the season. The Knights share the AHL Chicago Wolves with the Blues for this season - I just hope the Wolves reserve their goalies for VGK!
Watched my deadbeat Canucks last night surprise the Pens to bring their record to a 7-4-1 start, which I definitely wasn’t expecting. Then again, last season they started 4-0 and ended up with their usual mediocre standing. Nice to see rookie sensation Brock Boeser get his first career hat-trick in what is only his 19th game in the big leagues. The Pens, meanwhile, have been on the road more than anyone else so far, going 1-3-1 on their western swing.
Manoman the Cauncks could use a John Tavares - so underrated, that guy.
Fuck I’m grossed out - does Derek Dorsett shave his fucking eyebrows?
I have no idea WHAT is going on with the Pens – yeah, it’s early in the season, blah blah blah, but this is no way to get a three-peat. (Seriously, what the HELL?)
The Sharks look like they might not be quite as awful as they looked at the beginning of the season. I guess we’ll have to see.
Jesus Christ. Ottawa’s GMs need to be banned from looking at a player’s statistics more than three years old when making a trade. Dealing Turris, a player just drafted out of the first round, an unprotected first round pick and a third for a player who hasn’t outperformed Turris over the past 3 years is madness.
It’s not like we got a significantly younger player – Duchene is only 1 year younger. It’s not like we got a player with significantly more control – Duchene has 2 seasons left on his contract, Turris 1.
Like Bobby Ryan, Ottawa’s management has fallen in love with a player based off of his peak, and once again are going to pay bitterly for the mistake.
Blackhawks vs Bruins in the 2019 winter classic? The NHL isn’t even trying to mix things up
http://www.nbcsports.com/chicago/blackhawks/it-looks-blackhawks-are-back-2019-nhl-winter-classic-boston-bruins-notre-dame-stadium
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The Black Hawks certainly had their lion’s share of Winter Classics. I guess there’s only so many original six combos they can come up for this (along with outliers like Philly, Buffalo, Pittsburgh). I think they should be careful in having too many outdoor games in general - kinda dilutes the novelty a bit. A friend went to the first Heritage Classic, between the Oilers and Habs, at Edmonchuk’s Commmonwealth Stadium in 2003, and said it was around -25 with apparently face-peelingly insane wind chill. His beer froze.
Outdoor games have completely lost their novelty with all of the stadium series. The only reason I even watch the winter classic is because college football has so diluted the bowl schedule that there’s often no interesting bowl matchups on January 1
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The NHL just announced they’ve confirmed that the 2019 Winter Classic will be Blackhawks vs Bruins at Notre Dame stadium. I have no idea if the South Shore trains usually run on New Year’s Day, but I’m sure they’ll have to have service to and from Chicago for this game.
My surprisingly-not-quite-as-abysmally-drecky-as-usual Canucks just did a sweep of Pennsylvania, taking it to my equally betrothed Flyers, and then the Pens, with rookie sensation Brock Boesser scoring two goals in both games. His release is absolutely insane. “He has a great shot, which he uses all the time. He’s one of the purest finishers I’ve seen.” - Henrik Sedin. He’s the Canucks’ top point-getter and as of today he’s pulled a point ahead of the Coyotes’ Clayton Keller to lead rookie scoring.
The Mike Sullivan / Dennis Quaid thing. 
The next Connor McDavid is here (well, not to the NHL yet, but possibly as early as next year) - in the form of 17 year-old SwedeRasmus Dahlin. Currently he’s a kid playing amongst men, and DOMINATING. There’s already talk that Montreal should just outright tank (a practice I’m a little :dubious: about) so they can draft him next year.
Reminds me of when pundits were urging Columbus to tank in 2015 so they could get the best shot of drafting Connor McDavid or Jack Eichel.
And indeed,if they’d been able to draft either of those generational talents, they’d be doing as fabulously well as Edmonton and Buffalo are this season.
Anton Khudobin beats Pittsburgh 4-3 in a matinee for his fourth straight win between the pipes for Boston.
I’m not holding out much hope for tonight’s game. Seriously, forget a three-peat, at this rate we’ll be lucky to make the play-offs.