Ice Breaker: McDavid hits 18 straight, Necas lights up Detroit

Connor McDavid had three more assists in Edmonton, and his point streak is now 18 games, every game he's played this season, by our count. The Panthers dropped a matinee in Washington and turn around for Boston at 1 p.m. today. Colorado and Martin Necas had the most fun of anybody.

Capitals 4, Panthers 3

Florida drew a five-minute major 8:55 in, cashed it once through Brady Tkachuk for a 2-1 lead, and never led again, as Alex Tuch, Aliaksei Protas and Pierre-Luc Dubois scored the next three. Pabs has the full recap with Maurice's postgame.

Pabs: You don't get handed a major and two late minors and leave with nothing. The cats did, and losing Sandis Vilmanis two minutes into his night made a short bench shorter.

Lind's read: Matthew Tkachuk played 23:55, up 8.7 minutes from Wednesday, and Sam Reinhart played 24:45, up 6.7, per NHL data. That's a heavy bill to carry into a 1 p.m. start the next day.

Sully's chirp: Florida went 1-for-5 on the power play, and the one came on a five-minute major. Washington handed them the car keys and they parked it in the Potomac.

Lightning 4, Wild 3 (OT)

Minnesota led 3-1 in the third on two goals from Maxim Shabanov before Jake Guentzel scored his second, Charle-Edouard D'Astous tied it on the power play, and Nikita Kucherov won it on another one at 3:23 of overtime.

Lind's read: Tampa went 3-for-6 on the power play and outshot Minnesota 34-22, and Kucherov put nine shots on goal, which is what carrying a night looks like.

Avalanche 4, Red Wings 0

Martin Necas had two goals and two assists, Cale Makar and Nathan MacKinnon had three points each, and Mackenzie Blackwood stopped all 27 shots in a game that was scoreless after one period.

Sully's chirp: Detroit took 19 penalty minutes and scored zero goals, which is a lot of sitting for a team that never needed the rest.

Oilers 4, Canucks 2

Leon Draisaitl scored twice, including the winner, McDavid set up three, and Devon Levi made 20 saves.

Lind's read: McDavid has 47 points in 18 games, per NHL data. A streak that long usually bends on a quiet night, and he hasn't had one.

Devils 5, Islanders 4 (OT)

The Islanders led 4-2 into the third before Luke Evangelista and Dougie Hamilton tied it. Jack Hughes won it 1:18 into overtime, with his brother Luke on the assist, after Ilya Sorokin had made 45 saves to keep New York alive.

Sully's chirp: Sorokin made 45 saves and lost, which is like cooking Thanksgiving for twelve and getting yelled at about the stuffing.

Hurricanes 9, Blackhawks 2

Jordan Martinook and Andrei Svechnikov scored twice each, Sebastian Aho had a goal and two assists, and Spencer Knight was pulled after allowing six goals on 17 shots.

Lind's read: Carolina got points from 15 different skaters, per NHL data, and that's not a top line beating you, that's a lineup.

Canadiens 4, Maple Leafs 2

Alex Newhook scored twice in the first, Chris Kreider made it 3-0, and Zachary Bolduc sealed it on the power play. Gavin McKenna and William Nylander scored for Toronto.

Sully's chirp: Montreal had a three-goal lead and actually kept it this time, which is growth. Toronto is 8-7-2, and the parade route is under review.

Penguins 5, Kings 2

Sidney Crosby and Tommy Novak scored twice each, Evgeni Malkin had three assists, and Sergei Murashov made 26 saves.

Lind's read: Pittsburgh scored five times on 19 shots while Darcy Kuemper stopped 14 of 18, and that gap was the whole game.

Stars 4, Sharks 3

Dallas scored three power-play goals, the last from Thomas Harley for the winner. Macklin Celebrini had three assists in more than 28 minutes.

Sully's chirp: Celebrini played 28 minutes, so they might as well put his name on the lease.

Rangers 4, Kraken 3

New York built a 4-0 lead and then hung on as Seattle scored three times in the third, with Joonas Korpisalo making 25 saves.

Lind's read: Berkly Catton had two assists and has a point in eight straight games, by our count. He's in the middle of everything Seattle does right now.

Senators 4, Utah 2

Utah outshot Ottawa 32-21, but Samuel Ersson made 30 saves and Nick Cousins scored the winner with 2:18 left.

Sully's chirp: Utah took 32 shots and scored twice, and they had the puck so long they should've been charged rent.

Predators 3, Blues 1

Juuse Saros stopped 25 of 26, Steven Stamkos scored on the power play, and Roman Josi added two assists.

Lind's read: Nashville held St. Louis to one goal on 26 shots. When Saros sees everything, that's usually enough.

Three stars of the night

1. Martin Necas, COL: two goals, two assists in a 4-0 win.
2. Connor McDavid, EDM: three assists, and the point streak is at 18.
3. Mackenzie Blackwood, COL: 27 saves for the shutout.

By our count

McDavid has a point in all 18 of his games, while Sam Reinhart's assist in Washington stretched his streak to six, and Jackson Blake has points in nine straight for Carolina.

Lind's number of the night

32. That's how many penalty minutes the Islanders took, and they got zero power plays of their own. Outshot 50-23, they still forced overtime, which says plenty about Sorokin and not much about the plan.

Sully's take of the morning

Look, a loss in Washington is fine, but a loss in Washington followed by the Bruins at 1 p.m. the next day is a hazing. Boston is 12-4-1 and didn't play yesterday. Buddy, I'm begging you, shoot the puck on the power play today, because it's not a family heirloom. I said what I said.

Kessler's corner

Top-ranked Wisconsin went into Minnesota and won 6-0, as loud as a Border Battle gets, while No. 3 Michigan State blanked No. 13 Boston University 5-0, and No. 10 North Dakota beat No. 5 Western Michigan 4-1.

Pabs' Florida line

The Everblades beat Jacksonville 4-1. An in-state win in November is the kind of result that starts to count twice once the South Division race tightens in the spring. Box score.

Meg's line

Princeton beat Cornell 2-1 in overtime, and Harvard blanked Yale 3-0 on the night Yale beat Harvard in overtime on the men's side. The Ivies split the bragging rights.

Tonight

The Panthers are at Boston at 1 p.m. ET on NHL Network. Vegas is at Buffalo at 3:30, Tampa is at Winnipeg at 6, and Pittsburgh is at Anaheim at 8.

The one to watch is New Jersey at Toronto at 7 on NHL Network. The Devils are coming off a 50-shot overtime win, and the Leafs are coming off a loss to Montreal. Philadelphia is at Calgary at 7, too.