Top-5: Five-point night for MacKinnon and Rantanen

Dose
Crédit: PITTSBURGH, PA - DECEMBER 10: Mikko Rantanen #96 of the Colorado Avalanche celebrates his gat-trick goal during the third period against the Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG PAINTS Arena on December 10, 2024 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Joe Sargent/NHLI via Getty Images)

There was a lot of action last night in the NHL.

Goals, saves, big checks…

Let’s take a look at what happened in the eleven games played around the league:

1: Five-point night for MacKinnon and Rantanen

When Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen are in form… they’re hard to stop.

The Penguins got some wicked proof of that last night.

The duo had a great time against a poor Pittsburgh outfit, with both players collecting five points apiece.

A goal and four assists for MacKinnon… And three goals and two assists for Rantanen, who completed his hat trick:

Sidney Crosby and his gang didn’t stand a chance in the game.

The Avalanche finally prevailed by a score of 6-2… And let’s note that Scott Wedgewood was again solid in front of his net, stopping 25 of the 27 shots directed at him.

2: Yes, again…

I’ve seen enough.

Matvei Michkov is already one of the NHL’s top players.

The Flyers player took advantage of his club’s visit to Columbus to add two assists to his record, so that he now has 27 points in as many games.

That pass on Morgan Frost’s goal is sick:

This is (already) the 9th time this season we’ve seen Michkov have a game of two points or more.

We’ll be hearing his name a lot in Montreal over the next few years…

The Flyers won the game 5-3.

Sean Monahan (a goal) and Kent Johnson (a goal and an assist) stood out for Columbus.

3: Holy McDavid

Connor McDavid is no stranger to crazy highlights.

We’ve seen him score goals in every possible way… And he added one to his collection last night.

The Oilers’ captain carved a path through the Lightning’s defense and then outwitted the goalie.

Andrei Vasilevskiy and the Tampa Bay defenders looked a little crazy on the sequence:

Leon Draisaitl scored the Oilers’ other goal of the game, and it was enough to beat the Lightning 2-1.

Draisaitl’s goal was his 20th of the season, making him the first NHL player to reach the 20-goal plateau since the start of the campaign.

He’s not slowing down.

4: The action in Winnipeg

There was emotion on the ice at the Bruins-Jets game.

Visibly frustrated at being washed out in Winnipeg, the Bruins lost it in the third period, and it made for a pretty special moment.

Back-to-back fights, coaches yelling at each other, referees at a loss for words…

It all added up:

There was clearly frustration on the Bruins’ side, who were never in the game in the end.

The Boston team lost by a score of 8-1 (!!!) and the Jets, with the victory, regain 2nd place in the overall NHL standings.

Mark Scheifele (two goals, one assist) and Kyle Connor (one goal, two assists) were the most productive players for the Jets in the win.

5: Boom!

Max Pacioretty isn’t known as a super-physical player.

But he’s enjoying his new supporting role in Toronto, and yesterday he did what he could to help his club.

The former Habs captain served up a borderline check to Jack Hughes, who never saw it coming :

Both clubs played tight hockey throughout the game.

The Devils and Leafs are both offensive teams, after all… But it was 1-1 at the end of the third period and overtime was needed to determine a winner.

Leafs captain Auston Matthews put an end to the debate: A

Anthony Stolarz had a good game, stopping 38 of the Devils’ 39 shots.

It was a little more complicated for Jacob Markström (14 saves on 16 shots)…

Overtime

– Wow.

– Nice goal.

– Coming up.

– Let’s see!

– He’s a good one.

– It takes talent!

– Top scorers of the night :

(Credit: NHL.com Screenshot)

– Two games only tonight :

(Credit: Google screenshot)