Tuesday night was not the best of nights for goaltenders. Three of the 11 games played saw the cage change gloves among netminders with teams hungry for action after a mild Monday evening.
NHL scores 2015: Goals aplenty as Panthers, Wild and Stars steamroll opponents
It was a big night for our feline friends of the league.
Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
Two of the three teams who were able to chase out goaltenders were the Minnesota Wild and the Dallas Stars, who each won their games by a decisive four goals each. It each took 40 minutes of game time for their opponents -- the Canucks and Blue Jackets, respectively -- to swap netminders, despite Ryan Miller and first time NHLer Joonas Korpisalo each letting in more than four goals each. Miller was given the longest leash, surrendering all six goals in the first two periods before getting yanked.
The Islanders also kept netminder Jaroslav Halak in net for all five goals he surrendered, despite facing just 16 shots on net from the Florida Panthers. New York doubled up on the shots and then some against Florida with 36 but were still unable to come away with anything besides one goal on Roberto Luongo.
Aaron Ekblad's goal just 20 seconds after the Islanders had cut the Panthers lead to one was the big killer for Halak, who took New York's second loss in just nine games.
It was a goal scorer's night across the league, with six of the evening's 11 games hitting four goals or more from at least one of the teams involved.
The league is looking for more excitement from the game, but it was a bad evening for the defenders and the goaltenders of more than a few teams. There's always next game, guys.
Scores
Florida Panthers 5, New York Islanders 1
Philadelphia Flyers 4, Carolina Hurricanes 3 (OT)
Tampa Bay Lightning 5, Toronto Maple Leafs 4 (OT)
Calgary Flames 2, Nashville Predators 1 (OT)
Minnesota Wild 6, Vancouver Canucks 2
Dallas Stars 5, Columbus Blue Jackets 1
3 things we learned
1. Shayne Gostisbehere now leads all NHL rookie defensemen in goals
One rookie you might not be hearing about it is Flyers defenseman Gostisbehere. The young blue liner has played just 15 games in the NHL this year, but his sixth goal Tuesday evening has rocketed him up the rookie leaderboard for the top spot among defensemen. The kid possesses an offensive skill set that has taken the city of Philadelphia by storm. With hands like these, it's hard not to see why he's so good.
2. Edmonton's winning streak is over
It took half a month, but the Oilers finally have a loss in the month of December. Coming up against a New York Rangers team looking for a spark, it was kind of inevitable for the Oilers to bow out of their longest streak of the season. Their rate of play had declined over the past few games and while they matched pace with the Rangers, falling just one shot below them through three periods, there was little doubt that New York would finally break free for just their second win of the month.
3. Toronto really, really wants Steven Stamkos to head home
Or at least this radio station does, which owns part of the Maple Leafs. These signs were then banned by the arena due to unauthorized sponsorship, adding an even crazier wrinkle to the Stamkos narrative over the past week.
.@TSN1050Radio handing out these #SignStamkos signs at the #Leafs #TBLightning game in #Toronto tonight: pic.twitter.com/9sLwzsEmAp
— NHL EXPERT PICKS (@NHLexpertpicks) December 15, 2015 Impact Moment
Jeff Skinner had his second hat trick in three games and he now has nine goals in six games in one of the biggest tears in the last week.
Stat of the Night
Patrick Kane’s points streak ended at 26 against the Avalanche during Colorado’s 3-0 shutout of Chicago. There’s some history between Colorado and Chicago when it comes to ending streaks.
You may remember it was the Avalanche who also ended Chicago's 24-game point streak to start the 12-13 season. Avs = CHI streak killers.
— Dan Rosen (@drosennhl) December 16, 2015 Post-to-Post
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