NHL Thursday: Blackhawks down Coyotes, Pens beat Capitals

There were eleven games on the NHL schedule Thursday night, and almost all of them were happening at the exact same time. You almost certainly missed some of what went down, so read this and get yourself up to speed.

Get caught up on last night’s NHL scores with recaps from our network of SB Nation team blogs. Here’s a quick glance at the full night of action:

Playing in his second NHL game, Miller scored his first career goal on the game’s first shot, one minute and twenty-nine seconds into the first period. That’s a lot of firsts.

The Rangers have to be hoping that Miller can provide an offensive boost to the team, which entered Thursday’s game tied for 26th in the NHL in goals per game.

Each day, we ask five questions that need to be answered during the night of NHL action. Check here for Thursday’s full NHL schedule.

1. Will the Blackhawks retaliate against Raffi Torres?

Both sides have downplayed the situation, so the prospects of a bench clearing brawl appear slim. However, Torres might find a member of the Blackhawks looking for a fight to put an end to the situation.

Here’s a full look at the schedule and tonight’s starting goaltenders:

It will be the third of five meetings between the Central Division rivals this season.

In the two previous meetings between these teams, the winning club has scored at least five goals. On opening night, the Blues shut out the Red Wings 6-0. In their most recent meeting last Friday, the Red Wings beat the Blues 5-3.

It will be the second of three meetings between the two teams this season and the second meeting this week.

Having met on Sunday afternoon in NBC’s nationally televised game of the week, the Penguins managed a 6-3 victory over the struggling Capitals.

It will be the second of three meetings between the two teams this season.

Torres left his feet during the hit, which concussed Hossa and forced him to miss the rest of the series. Torres was suspended a total of 25 games for the action, but later had that total dropped to 21 games following an appeal by the NHL Players’ Association.

Hossa suffered a concussion and was unable to play in the remainder of the series. Torres was suspended for 25 games (later shortened to 21 games after appeal) and was still serving the suspension when the two teams met on Jan. 20.

On Wednesday, Torres stated that he was a changed man since serving the suspension and explained that he has a new perspective on how to play the game, via the Chicago Sun-Times: