James Neal is the exact type of player the Nashville Predators have been lacking since, well, probably since they entered the league. A goal-scorer with a lethal shot that is a threat to put the puck in the back of the net every time it is on his stick. After coming over from the Pittsburgh Penguins in an offseason trade for Patric Hornqvist and Nick Spaling, Neal had a bit of a slow start out of the gate in 2014-15 but has recently gone on a tear that reached a boiling point on Thursday night when he scored all three goals in a 3-2 win over the Chicago Blackhawks.
NHL Scores: James Neal hat trick leads Predators, Sabres still can’t score
James Neal was a one-man wrecking crew for the Nashville Predators on Thursday night as they improved their record to 5-0-2, while his former team let a two-goal lead late in the third period turn into a 4-3 overtime loss.
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The win improves Nashville to 5-0-2 on the season and leaves them as the only team yet to lose a game in regulation this season.
And it was Neal doing all of the damage, with his second goal being a particularly stunning shot.
With that effort on Thursday he is now up to five goals in seven games this season.
Things were not quite as good for Neal's former team as the Pittsburgh Penguins turned a 3-1 lead against the Detroit Red Wings with three minutes to play into a 4-3 overtime loss.
In what might be the least shocking development of the night, the Buffalo Sabres were shutout by the Los Angeles Kings, making it already the third time in eight games this season they have been kept off the scoreboard (more on that in a bit).
All the NHL Scores
Red Wings 4, Penguins 3 (OT)
Predators 3, Blackhawks 2
Flames 5, Hurricanes 0
Blue Jackets 5, Sharks 4
Three Things We Learned
1. The Bruins might be in some trouble. Like the rest of the teams in the Eastern Conference, the Bruins entered the season with their share of flaws. But when you have one of the best defenseman of this era logging 25 minutes a night, some of those flaws can get masked. Unfortunately for the Bruins, they’re going to have to see what life is like without Chara for a few weeks following his injury during their 3-2 loss to the New York Islanders on Thursday. With Chara having missed only 17 games since joining the team before the 2006-07 season, that is something Boston has not experienced much. It may not go well.
2. The Hurricanes might be really bad. Like, really, really, really bad. Not only have the yet to win a game this season, but they were just completely blown out by the Calgary Flames. The Sabres might have some serious competition in the race for the worst record this season.
3. The puck doesn't lie. After Ryan Johansen had a potential hat trick and game-winning goal waived off on a controversial goalie interference call, the Columbus Blue Jackets still ended up getting the winner less than a minute later when Mark Letestu deflected in a David Savard shot with 20 seconds to play to give them a 5-4 win in San Jose. Justice was served.
Impact Moment
Detroit’s rally all started when Mike Babcock went with the extra attacker with three minutes to play with his team down by two goals, a move straight out of the Patrick Roy playbook from last season. And it worked. Henrik Zetterberg’s goal shortly after started the snowball rolling for the Detroit comeback and helped the Red Wings steal two points in the standings.
Stat of the Night
Sure, we used the Sabres in the stat of the night last night as well, but you have to admit, this stuff is pretty crazy. Their 2-0 loss to the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday was already the third time they have been shut out this season in only eight games. There were seven teams that went all of last season and were shut out three times or fewer. On the season, they have as many goals as a team (eight) as two individual players (New York Rangers forward Rick Nash and Anaheim Ducks forward Corey Perry). In their last four games they have scored one goal which did not come until there were only five minutes to play against the Ducks on Wednesday night. This is incredible stuff.
Post to Post
- The Connor McDavid Power Rankings are here.
- Vancouver Canucks forward Zack Kassian attempted to go to the wrong bench on Thursday night and a good laugh was had by all. Except for the Blues.
- Pittsburgh still thinks Sean Couturier is bad at hockey. And that is really strange.
- Patience is needed for the Dallas Stars defense.
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