The NHL’s inmates ran the asylum on Saturday.
NHL scores 2015: Underdogs vanquish the contenders in a night of upsets
A handful of lowly NHL teams rose up at once on Saturday.
James Guillory-USA TODAY Sports
Three heavily outmatched teams managed to upset three of the league’s best teams this year in quick succession. And two of those games weren’t even really all that close.
It started way out west in Winnipeg, where the Jets dueled with the Washington Capitals. The Capitals are the odds-on favorites to win the Stanley Cup, but you wouldn't know it by their parade to the penalty box. Washington was penalized for 17 minutes, giving the Jets ample time to both quell the Capitals' offense and secure the overtime win for themselves.
Later on, the Carolina Hurricanes managed to show their best perseverance of the season against the league's best team. When the Habs scored the first goal of the game just minutes into the first, the Hurricanes buckled down and evened the score. When the Habs took the lead back in the second, Carolina roared back minutes later to knot things again. Jeff Skinner cashed in for the second time in the third to pay off his teammates for a well-fought victory.
And leave it to the Toronto Maple Leafs to turn in their best game of the season against a Central Division powerhouse. Nazem Kadri refused to be shoved around by the challenging Blues, and the rest of the Leafs followed his lead to the tune of a 4-1 win over the St. Louis Blues.
It’s doubtful so many quality teams would fall to their lesser competitors on the same night very often. So if you enjoy chaos, I hope you cherished last night.
Scores
Winnipeg Jets 2, Washington Capitals 1 (OT)
Carolina Hurricanes 3, Montreal Canadiens 2
Detroit Red Wings 5, Nashville Predators 4 (OT)
Ottawa Senators 3, New York Islanders 2 (OT)
Toronto Maple Leafs 4, St. Louis Blues 1
3 things we learned
1. Erik Karlsson is running away in the Norris Trophy race
Sure, the Norris Trophy has tended to favor offensive skills more than defensive quality over the last few years. Maybe that should change. But if Erik Karlsson keeps up this pace his stats will be impossible to ignore come voting time. Karlsson's three-point night gave him 32 points in 26 games this year. In other words, he's on pace for 101 points. As a defenseman. The last time that happened was when Denis Potvin reached that mark in 1979.
2. Nazem Kadri found some luck
Only five players had more shots than Nazem Kadri (101) heading into Saturday night: Alex Ovechkin, Taylor Hall, Tyler Seguin, Max Pacioretty and Brent Burns. And Kadri only had 11 points to show for it. Even from my outsider's, objective perspective it's been a maddening season to watch. So Kadri's performance against St. Louis was good to see: two goals, four more shots and impact plays up and down the ice. Most importantly, it earned his coach's rare approval.
Mike Babcock: "I thought Kadri was a star for me tonight, big-time star, competitive, hard."
— Jonas Siegel (@jonasTSN1050) December 6, 2015
3. No legs were safe on Saturday
The sheer amount of odd/shocking leg injuries last night made me question whether I was watching hockey or football.
First, Steve Ott probably tore every groin-area muscle he had.
Ott was unable to make it to the locker room on his own, needed help walking from trainer. it hurts to watch pic.twitter.com/KbPEQXXzJ9
— Stephanie (@myregularface) December 6, 2015 Then the Wild lost Devan Dubnyk.
Dubnyk just took himself out of the game during a tv timeout pic.twitter.com/cvogLVELKZ
— Stephanie (@myregularface) December 6, 2015 And down went Kyle Turris...
Turris just left the game with a leg injury...and it looks bad pic.twitter.com/potMMluH6c
— Stephanie (@myregularface) December 6, 2015 ...and so, too, did Luke Schenn.
WHAT IS WITH THE FREAK LEG INJURIES TONIGHT? Schenn needed help to the locker room after this pic.twitter.com/kmqlfYmesd
— Stephanie (@myregularface) December 6, 2015 Bonus: You can apparently squirt water at referees without any consequences!
Ellis yells and squirts water at the ref pic.twitter.com/ZLgbVX44ig
— Stephanie (@myregularface) December 6, 2015 Impact Moment
I could chose any number of the overtime winners scored on Saturday. Or I could choose INCREDIBLE BEHIND-THE-BACK WINDMILL SAVE.
I chose the latter. You’re welcome.
Rookie of the Night
Dylan Larkin now leads all rookies in goals with 11. I still like him for the Calder over Artemi Panarin. Come at me, Blackhawks fans.
Stat of the Night
No defenseman in the last 20 years has reached 85 points in a season. John Klingberg is on pace for 82. Erik Karlsson is on pace for 101.
— GhostofChristmasPat (@Pat_Iversen) December 6, 2015 Post-to-Post
- There's no love lost between the Canucks and Bruins, apparently.
- Eric Staal needs a hug.
- Hockey parents continued to be the best.
See More:
