NHL BRIEF – NOV 29, 2016: Canucks Win 6th In Last 10, Predators Win 4th In Last 5

EDMONTON, AB - NOVEMBER 29: Connor McDavid #97 of the Edmonton Oilers faces off against Auston Matthews #34 of the Toronto Maple Leafs on November 29, 2016 at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. (Photo by Codie McLachlan/Getty Images)
EDMONTON, AB – NOVEMBER 29: Connor McDavid #97 of the Edmonton Oilers faces off against Auston Matthews #34 of the Toronto Maple Leafs on November 29, 2016 at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. (Photo by Codie McLachlan/Getty Images)

TUESDAY’S RESULTS

Home Team in Caps
NY RANGERS 3, Carolina 2
COLUMBUS 5, Tampa Bay 1
PHILADELPHIA 3, Boston 2 (SO)
Buffalo 5, OTTAWA 4
DETROIT 3, Dallas 1
WINNIPEG 3, New Jersey 2
CHICAGO 2, Florida 1 (SO)
Nashville 5, COLORADO 3
Toronto 4, EDMONTON 2
VANCOUVER 5, Minnesota 4
ANAHEIM 2, Montreal 1
SAN JOSE 2, Arizona 1 (OT)

MAPLE LEAFS EMERGE (AGAIN) IN MATTHEWS-MCDAVID SHOWDOWN

Auston Matthews (1-0—1) scored the opening goal less than six minutes into his second NHL meeting against Connor McDavid (1-1—2) to spur the Maple Leafs to their second straight victory.

* Matthews, who ranks second among rookies with 10 goals, has scored in three straight games (4-1—5) after going 13 contests without a goal. He ranks second among rookies in points (10-8—18), behind Patrik Laine (13-6—19) and teammate Mitch Marner (7-12—19).

* McDavid, meanwhile, extended his point streak to six games (6-6—12) with his ninth multi-point effort of the campaign to increase his League-leading point total to 11-20—31 (24 GP). He ranks second in the NHL with 1.14 points per game since the start of last season, behind last year’s leading scorer Patrick Kane (1.22).

* Nazem Kadri (1-0—1), who stole the spotlight with 2-0—2 including the overtime winner in the first Matthews-McDavid showdown on Nov. 1, again scored the game-winning goal for Toronto.

NO. 2 PICKS ALSO SHINE

While the past two top picks faced off in Edmonton, the most recent No. 2 picks, Jack Eichel (2015) and Patrik Laine (2016), also found the score sheet in victories:

* Eichel, who skated in his first contest since sustaining a knee injury in practice on opening day, tallied 1-1—2 within the first 10 minutes of the game to spark the Sabres to victory, halting their road losing skid and the Senators’ overall win streak at four games apiece. He has collected a point in each of his past six NHL games dating to March 31 vs. TOR (2-6—8).

* Laine scored the eventual game-winning goal in the third period to help the Jets extend their home win streak to five games. He shares second in the NHL with 13 goals this season (tied w/ David Pastrnak and teammate Mark Scheifele) and paces the League with 11 goals on home ice, one more than Washington’s Alex Ovechkin.

BURNS COMES UP CLUTCH YET AGAIN

Brent Burns scored his ninth career overtime goal just 19 seconds into the extra frame to power the Sharks to a 4-1-1 record in their past six contests.

Elias notes that Burns (820 GP) is tied with Mike Green (672 GP) for the second-most overtime goals by a defenseman in NHL history, trailing only Scott Niedermayer (13 in 1,263 GP).

SAN JOSE, CA - NOVEMBER 29: SJ Sharkie and Brent Burns #88 of the San Jose Sharks celebrate after a NHL game against the Arizona Coyotes at SAP Center at San Jose on November 29, 2016 in San Jose, California. (Photo by Don Smith/NHLI via Getty Images)
SAN JOSE, CA – NOVEMBER 29: SJ Sharkie and Brent Burns #88 of the San Jose Sharks celebrate after a NHL game against the Arizona Coyotes at SAP Center at San Jose on November 29, 2016 in San Jose, California. (Photo by Don Smith/NHLI via Getty Images)

NOVEMBER TO REMEMBER

The Blackhawks (10-3-2, 22 points) and Rangers (10-4-1, 21 points) each closed November with their League-leading 10th win of the month, while the Blue Jackets (9-2-3, 21 points) and Predators (9-3-2, 20 points) also wrapped an impressive month on a high note:

* Corey Crawford made 38 saves through overtime as the Blackhawks finished November with the NHL’s best record in terms of points. The Blackhawks also extended their home point streak to 11 games (9-0-2), aided by a 5-0-1 mark this month.

Elias notes that this is Chicago’s longest home point streak since a 12-game run from Jan. 22 – March 6, 2013 (11-0-1).

* Rick Nash tied the game 24 seconds into the third period and set up Jimmy Vesey for the game-winning goal to help the Rangers erase an early 2-0 deficit and pick up their 12th consecutive home win against the Hurricanes (dating to Jan. 5, 2011; CAR: 0-9-3).

Elias notes that the head-to-head home win streak vs. CAR is the longest such run against one opponent in franchise history, surpassing an 11-game home win streak against the Flyers that stretched from Jan. 14, 1990 – Nov. 4, 1992.

* Sergei Bobrovsky (26 SV) guided the Blue Jackets as the club improved to 8-1-1 in its past 10 home games and finished the month by establishing franchise records for both wins and points in November. Bobrovsky, who shares the League lead with nine wins this month, has been the goaltender of record for all 12 of Columbus’ wins this season.

* Pekka Rinne made 37 saves to backstop the Predators to their fourth win in their past five outings and ninth victory overall this month. Rinne went 9-1-2 with a 1.49 goals-against average, .949 save percentage and one shutout in November after beginning the season with just one victory in his first six appearances (3.22 GAA, .906 SV%).

LOOSE PUCKS

Both the Canucks and Wild erased two-goal deficits before Sven Baertschi scored the game-winning goal with 2:35 remaining in regulation to help Vancouver improve to 4-1-1 in its past six games . . . Philadelphia’s Steve Mason made 45 saves through overtime and another eight in the shootout en route to victory, while Anaheim’s John Gibson made 39 saves in defeating the League-leading Canadiens . . . Senators forward Mike Hoffman (3-1—4) registered his first career hat trick and four-point game . . . Blackhawks forward Richard Panik (1-0—1) snapped point and goal droughts of 13 and 17 games, respectively, before scoring the decisive shootout marker . . . Sharks captain Joe Pavelski (2-5—7) extended his point streak to seven games, while Oilers forward Milan Lucic (2-6—8) and Canucks forward Bo Horvat (3-4—7) pushed theirs to five contests . . . Devils forward Miles Wood (4 GP) scored his first NHL goal . . . Head coach Claude Julien served his 727th game behind the Bruins bench to surpass Milt Schmidt (726) for sole possession of second place in franchise history, behind Art Ross (772) . . . The Rangers celebrated Garden of Dreams Night with a special performance of the U.S. anthem on guitar by 17-year-old Paul Deandre Manning and with a ceremonial puck drop by 11-year-old Bryce Rogerson, who was named honorary coach for Tuesday’s game . . . Red Wings legend Ted Lindsay was on hand to watch the club extend its point streak to four games (3-0-1).

DETROIT, MI - NOVEMBER 29: Hall of Famer and former Detroit Red Wing Ted Lindsay drops the ceremonial first puck between captain Jamie Benn #14 of the Dallas Stars and captain Henrik Zetterberg #40 of the Detroit Red Wings prior to an NHL game at Joe Louis Arena on November 29, 2016 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Dave Reginek/NHLI via Getty Images)
DETROIT, MI – NOVEMBER 29: Hall of Famer and former Detroit Red Wing Ted Lindsay drops the ceremonial first puck between captain Jamie Benn #14 of the Dallas Stars and captain Henrik Zetterberg #40 of the Detroit Red Wings prior to an NHL game at Joe Louis Arena on November 29, 2016 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Dave Reginek/NHLI via Getty Images)

SNEAK PEEK AT WEDNESDAY’S ACTION

All Times Eastern
Pittsburgh @ NY Islanders, 8 p.m., TVAS, NBCSN
Toronto @ Calgary, 8:30 p.m., SN
San Jose @ Los Angeles, 10:30 p.m., NBCSN
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NOVEMBER CLOSES WITH NBCSN DOUBLEHEADER

The final day of November features three games, highlighted by two divisional matchups on NBCSN’s Wednesday Night Rivalry.

The doubleheader opens with an all-Metropolitan contest in Brooklyn, where the Islanders (7-10-4, 18 points) welcome the Penguins (13-6-3, 29 points) for their third meeting this season (PIT: 2-0-0, NYI: 0-1-1).

The night closes in Los Angeles, when the Kings (12-9-1, 25 points) put their five-game win streak on the line against the Pacific Division rival Sharks (13-9-1, 27 points).

Source: NHL Public Relations