Today is Saturday, December 29th, 2018 and these are your news and notes.
There were three games on the docket yesterday.
Friday night is even better when hockey is involved. https://t.co/6OP6EViU8M pic.twitter.com/w4vyaZ1yep
— NHL (@NHL) December 28, 2018
Montreal’s Tomas Tatar would score twice in the contest and would help the Canadiens tame the Florida Panthers by the score of 5-3 in Sunrise, Florida last night.
Canadiens goaltender Artemi Niemi would register 23 saves on 26 shot attempts whereas Florida goaltender would also have 23 shots but on 27 shot attempts.
Montreal would net the empty-netter at 19:37 when Jonathan Drouin would score.
ICYMI: The holiday break seems to have served Tomas Tatar and the Canadiens well, as they beat the Panthers in Florida last night.
WATCH ➡️ https://t.co/itNJmbHPkR
— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) December 29, 2018
Le premier but de Tomas Tatar a mis fin à une séquence de plus de trois matchs sans marquer face aux Panthers.
Tomas Tatar's first goal of the game ended a goalless drought against the Panthers spanning more than three games.#GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/8ufpNQUHGr
— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) December 29, 2018
NY Islanders Mathew Barzal would have a three-point performance last night when he scored two goals and assisted on another goal.
Barzal’s two goals would give the Islanders for good. Barzal has 10 games of registering at least three points through 120 games played for the Islanders.
Mathew Barzal became the sixth player in @NYIslanders history to post at least 10 three-point performances in his first 120 career NHL games. #NHLStats #OTTvsNYI pic.twitter.com/sA0q4cC9dv
— NHL Public Relations (@NHLPR) December 29, 2018
With the Islanders come from behind win, it would mark the 77th time this season that a team would win the game after being behind by multiple goals. This ties a mark for the second-most through 582 games played on the season.
The @NYIslanders' victory marked the 77th time this season that a team won a game in which it trailed by multiple goals, tied for the second-most through 582 games in NHL history (also 77 in 1986-87; 79 in 1985-86). #NHLStats pic.twitter.com/XTcuouA1Ft
— NHL Public Relations (@NHLPR) December 29, 2018
Toronto Maple Leafs F John Tavares would score twice in the first period and would boost the Maple Leafs to the 4-2 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena last night.
Starting the weekend with a win as Leafs make it five in a row!
Check out tonight's @OntarioLottery Game Winning Numbers.#LeafsForever #That649Feeling pic.twitter.com/YtGG2SF0pX
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) December 29, 2018
Columbus’ Artemi Panarin became the first undrafted player to have 100 career regular-season goals in 280 games played or fewer since John Cullen achieved the mark in 275 games played during the 1991-92 NHL season.
Among undrafted NHL players, @9Artemi (279 GP) is the first to score 100 career goals in 280 career games or fewer since since John Cullen (275 GP) in 1991-92. #NHLStats pic.twitter.com/XswMtjjjnk
— NHL Public Relations (@NHLPR) December 29, 2018
For the Maple Leafs, Mitch Marner would become the first player in the long and storied history of the Maple Leafs to begin his career with at least 40 assists in three consecutive seasons. Only five other active players have been able to achieve this feat.
Mitchell Marner became the first @MapleLeafs player to begin his career with 40+ assists in three consecutive seasons. Only five other active NHL players have achieved the feat:
Nicklas Backstrom
Patrick Kane
Evgeni Malkin
Alex Ovechkin
Sidney Crosby#NHLStats #TORvsCBJ pic.twitter.com/rHW0rxr2hW— NHL Public Relations (@NHLPR) December 29, 2018
Finally for the Maple Leafs, Patrick Marleau played in his 1,613th regular-season game in his career. Marleau passed Hall of Famer Ray Bourque for sole possession of 10th place on the League’s all-time games played list.
Patrick Marleau is skating in his 1,613th regular-season game of his NHL career, eclipsing Ray Bourque (1,612) for sole possession of 10th place on the League’s all-time list. #NHLStats: https://t.co/IXn35bZSHr pic.twitter.com/vhCB04RbGD
— NHL Public Relations (@NHLPR) December 29, 2018
Today we have a 15-game schedule on the docket in the NHL.
In regards to the 15-game slate today, this will be the second one on the season and just the 15th one to occur in League history. There will be one final 15 game slate to occur this season and that will not happen until the final day of the regular season on April 6th, 2019.
The second 15-game day of the season is upon us.#NHLStats from the previous 14 such days in League history: https://t.co/LBCC3gbUfh pic.twitter.com/p0CbEPPnd5
— NHL Public Relations (@NHLPR) December 29, 2018
Today the St. Louis Blues will join the Los Angeles Kings, Pittsburgh Penguins, Dallas Stars, and Philadelphia Flyers in the 4,000 regular season games played list, all of which occurred in the last week.
NWHL action resumes today with the NWHL Twitter Game of the Week featuring the Buffalo Beauts taking on the Minnesota Whitecaps at 1 p.m., CT/2 p.m. ET. You can watch the game LIVE on Twitter at twitter.com/NWHL.
Can't make it to @KeyBankCtr tomorrow? We've got you covered!
The @Twitter Game of the Week returns as the @BuffaloBeauts host @WhitecapsHockey at 2 PM ET on Saturday!
📺 https://t.co/nZAyiD2GTf
🎟 https://t.co/Ivz8vYrPkl pic.twitter.com/hWKPJXhABh— PHF (@PHF) December 28, 2018
Today is also Day 4 of the 2019 World Junior Championships taking place in Vancouver, BC, Canada and is Victoria, BC, Canada.
On to Day 4 of group play at the #WorldJuniors!
🎟️ 📅 📺 : https://t.co/W3M84BSX23 #REPRESENT pic.twitter.com/XnAHUJzjSI
— #WorldJuniors (@WorldJuniors) December 29, 2018
In NHL news…
It was announced yesterday that Boston Bruins David Backes has been suspended for three games for his illegal check to the head of New Jersey Devils F Blake Coleman.
Boston’s David Backes has been suspended for three games for an illegal check to the head on New Jersey’s Blake Coleman. https://t.co/hpBwU4gKmK
— NHL Player Safety (@NHLPlayerSafety) December 28, 2018
For a full recap of news, notes, info, and stats, please go the following page.
NHL Morning Skate: Saturday, Dec. 29, 2018
▪ @91Tavares scores twice ahead of first meeting with @NYIslanders
▪ @Barzal_97 leads New York to another multi-goal comeback win
▪ @_EPettersson aims for 20th goal, 40th point in 34th NHL game#NHLStats: https://t.co/nOVegeKOiN pic.twitter.com/LvkL9PUTqq— NHL Public Relations (@NHLPR) December 29, 2018