Ice Breaker: Two hat tricks in Sunrise, and McDavid keeps counting
Verhaeghe and Bennett each scored three in an 8-3 rout of Seattle, McDavid had five points, and Carolina won its seventh straight.
Two hat tricks in one night in Sunrise. Carter Verhaeghe and Sam Bennett each scored three as the Panthers hung eight on Seattle, and somehow that still wasn't the loudest stat line of a 14-game Saturday. Connor McDavid had five points in Utah and has a point in every game he's played this season.
Last night
Panthers 8, Kraken 3
Bennett scored 65 seconds in and Verhaeghe went three straight from late in the first to early in the second, one of them on the power play. Bennett finished his hat trick in the third, Matthew Tkachuk set up three goals, and Jacob Markstrom stopped 20 of 23. Pabs has the full recap.
Pabs: Two hats on the ice in one night, and they did it while losing two of every three draws. That's three straight wins, and the cats look like themselves again.
Lind's read: Florida went 2-for-3 on the power play and killed all four Seattle chances. Bennett did his damage in 12:24, 7.5 minutes under his previous game per NHL data, because the third period was garbage time.
Sully's chirp: Bennett scored three goals in about twelve minutes. The Kraken defense played like it was waiting for a table at Cheesecake Factory.
Oilers 6, Utah 2
McDavid scored twice and set up three more, and Leon Draisaitl added a goal and an assist. Karel Vejmelka gave up five on 17 shots.
Sully's chirp: McDavid is on pace for something that would get you banned from the video game. Utah's defense watched it happen like tourists at a fountain.
Hurricanes 3, Jets 2
Nikolaj Ehlers scored the winner on the power play in the third, and Carolina went 2-for-2 with the extra man. The Canes outshot Winnipeg 37-23 for their seventh straight win.
Lind's read: Mark Jankowski scored again, his sixth goal and sixth straight game with a point. A depth center carrying that kind of finish usually cools off, so enjoy the run while it lasts.
Islanders 4, Maple Leafs 1
Bo Horvat had a goal and an assist, Simon Holmstrom scored twice, and Ilya Sorokin stopped 28 of 29. Toronto outshot the Isles 29-20 and has dropped to 3-4-2.
Sully's chirp: Twenty-nine shots, one goal. The Leafs treat the net like it's a museum exhibit: look, don't touch.
Blue Jackets 1, Rangers 0 (OT)
Jet Greaves stopped all 29 shots and Kent Johnson ended it at 3:26 of overtime. Dylan Garand was nearly as good, stopping 28 of 29.
Lind's read: Zach Werenski set up the winner and skated 4.8 miles, the league's longest single game this season. That's his whole value in one night: everywhere, all the time.
Stars 4, Blackhawks 0
Jake Oettinger made 19 saves for the shutout and Arttu Hyry scored twice. Dallas has won two straight.
Sully's chirp: Chicago had 19 shots in 60 minutes. I've seen more pucks thrown at a net in a Dunkin' parking lot.
Bruins 4, Kings 1
David Pastrnak had a goal and an assist, and Jeremy Swayman made 25 saves. Boston has won five straight. Los Angeles is 0-4-2.
Lind's read: The Kings scored first on Alex Laferriere and never scored again. Six games without a win is a real problem in October.
Quick shifts: Nikita Kucherov scored twice as Tampa Bay erased a 2-0 hole and beat Vancouver 4-2 on a 35-14 shot edge. Vegas got goals from six different players in a 6-2 win over Pittsburgh. Cole Caufield scored twice in Montreal's 4-3 overtime win over Buffalo, including the winner 54 seconds in.
Detroit came back from 3-1 down in the third and beat San Jose in a shootout, despite three points from Macklin Celebrini. Porter Martone and Matvei Michkov scored as Philadelphia beat Ottawa 3-1. Nashville beat St. Louis 5-2, helped by a Jonathan Marchessault penalty-shot goal. Washington scored four straight to beat New Jersey 4-2.
Three stars of the night
- Connor McDavid, EDM: two goals, three assists.
- Carter Verhaeghe, FLA: hat trick.
- Sam Bennett, FLA: hat trick.
EDGE of the night
Two season bests were set last night.
- Top skating speed: Philip Broberg, STL, 24.3 mph.
- Most distance in a game: Zach Werenski, CBJ, 4.8 miles.
Lind's number
.961. That's Oettinger's save percentage over his last five starts, per NHL data, after his shutout in Chicago. He's at .952 for the season, so Dallas has a goalie playing like the hard part is already handled.
By our count
McDavid has 23 points in eight games and a point in all eight. Tkachuk's three assists stretched his own streak to eight straight games, with 14 points through nine games.
Sully's take
Look, the Leafs are 3-4-2 and Sergei Bobrovsky is stopping pucks at an .891 clip. The good news is it's October. The bad news is it's Toronto, so October counts as a crisis. Buddy, I'm begging you, the net is the big thing with the mesh on it. Aim there.
Kessler's corner
Michigan won 4-3 at Denver, and Western Michigan shut out Notre Dame 4-0 in South Bend. Minnesota and Minnesota Duluth skated to a 2-2 tie.
Pabs' Florida line
The Everblades beat Orlando 3-1 at Hertz Arena. Any night you beat the Solar Bears in an all-Florida game is a good night in Estero. Box score.
Meg's line
Ohio State won 6-5 at Minnesota in the women's game, and Wisconsin put up 12 on Minnesota State.
Tonight
Two games. Columbus visits Minnesota at 6 p.m. ET, a day after Greaves' shutout. Carolina takes its seven-game win streak to Calgary at 8 p.m. ET, where the Flames are 1-6. That's the one to watch.
