Steven Stamkos' return wasn't enough for the Tampa Bay Lightning, while Nathan MacKinnon kept his point streak going for the Colorado Avalanche.
It was a night of blowouts, big moments, and punishing hits.
The night the Red Wings honored Nicklas Lidstrom in Detroit ended with a frustrating overtime loss by the Red Wings' to their long-time bitter rivals. Steven Stamkos' return to the Tampa Bay lineup coincided with his new role as team captain and ended with a 3-1 loss to the Buffalo Sabres.
Brandon Saadcontinued to show why he is one of the NHL's rising stars in a blowout Chicago win over Columbus, The Canucks continued their lousy play and a record held by Wayne Gretzky fell.
The Sharks erased an early 2-0 deficit against Pittsburgh and dominated the final two periods in a 5-3 win.
All the NHL Scores
Bruins 3, Capitals 0
Kings 3, Jets 1
Sabres 3, Lightning 1
Avalanche 3, Red Wings 2
Blackhawks 6, Blue Jackets 1
Stars 6, Canucks 1
Five Questions
On Thursday we asked you five burning questions about the days games. These are your cool, soothing answers.
1. How will the new-look Lightning play?
Probably better than the final score showed. They generated a ton of shots and chances but simply could not beat Jhonas Enroth. Ryan Callahan had a solid game for Tampa Bay but didn't really stand out, while Stamkos seemed to be flying his return to the lineup.
2. What will Marian Gaborik do for the Kings?
He spent time on a line with Anze Kopitar and Justin Williams and finished with three shots on goal in more than 16 minutes of ice-time. His debut with the Kings was overshadowed a bit by Mike Richards and Dustin Brown scoring goals in the win. Those two guys getting going offensively will be just as big as whatever offense Gaborik can provide following his trade from the Columbus Blue Jackets.
3. What will Braden Holtby do after being pulled on Wednesday?
He allowed two goals in a 3-0 loss to the Boston Bruins (the third Bruins goal was an empty net goal) but let's face it, this wasn't on him. The Capitals finished the game with a season-low 16 shots on goal. That's just not going to get the job done. This team has much bigger problems than whichever goalie is between the pipes on a given night.
4. Will the Canucks keep losing?
Yes. And it just keeps getting uglier. There really isn't anything else to say about this team right now except ... blah.
5. Will Nathan MacKinnon continue his point streak?
It did, and what a way to do it. MacKinnon's assist on Francois Benoit's overtime game-winner extended his point streak to 13 games, and in the process broke the record for longest point streak by an 18-year-old that had previously been held by Wayne Gretzky. That's kind of a big deal.
Impact Moment
The one play or moment from Thursday that is going to be making headlines over the next couple of days
Steven Stamkos was already the best player on the Tampa Bay Lightning and the face of the franchise, and now he has the "C" on his jersey. Tampa Bay named Stamkos their next captain on Thursday just one day after trading their previous captain, Martin St. Louis, to the New York Rangers.
Stat of the Night
Tyler Seguin is having an unbelievable season and he continued it on Thursday with his fifth four-point game of the year (it was also his second five-point game). The only players in the NHL this season to have even three four-point games are Anaheim's Ryan Getzlaf and Chicago's Jonathan Toews. Even if you go back to the start of last season nobody in the league has five four-point games. Alex Ovechkin has four, while Nicklas Backstrom and Jonathan Tavares also have three. What is really scary for the rest of the NHL is that Seguin has probably yet to play his best hockey. Important to remember that he is still only 22 years old.
His hat trick on Thursday had a linesman wearing a cowboy hat.
How about a bonus stat of the night: Sidney Crosby with 0 points and a minus-5 rating against the Sharks. Quite possibly the worst game he has ever played in the NHL.
Post to Post
- The top-5 storylines from the NHL trade deadline.
- Nicklas Lidstrom night didn't go the way the Detroit Red Wings wanted it to go.
- Speaking of Lidstrom, did you know that when he first arrived in Detroit he originally wanted to wear No. 9? No way that was happening in Detroit.
- The Ales Hemsky era came to an end in Edmonton. He was the lone bright spot on a terrible, terrible team.