Sidney Crosby’s milestone night, other takeaways from a busy NHL Saturday
Sidney Crosby‘s milestone night was the highlight of a busy Saturday in the NHL.
It was one hell of a Saturday in the National Hockey League as we had a total of 12 games on the schedule, including the first of two Outdoors Games at Lake Tahoe between the Vegas Golden Knights and the Colorado Avalanche, while Sidney Crosby skated in his 1,00th career NHL game for the Pittsburgh Penguins against the New York Islanders.
More from Puck Prose
- Detroit Red Wings 2023 Rookie Camp Has Plenty of Ups and Downs
- This Columbus Blue Jackets rookie doesn’t want to be forgotten
- 2 trades the Boston Bruins must make to secure the Stanley Cup
- 3 reasons the Avalanche won’t win the Stanley Cup in 2024
- This is a big year for Alex Turcotte and the Los Angeles Kings
As to be expected with so many games, there was a plethora of goals, action and storylines and we also had over an eight hour wait between the first and second periods in the game between the Golden Knights and the Avalanche due to issues with the ice.
There were some big wins for some teams who badly needed one, and there were some breathtaking individual displays across the league, while the Detroit Red Wings managed to pull out a win against the Florida Panthers who have been the surprise team of the season so far.
We have already covered the Lake Tahoe showdown between Vegas and Colorado in-depth here, while we have also looked at both Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner and their stellar play for the Toronto Maple Leafs, so today we’re going to look at some other storylines, including a special night for Sid The Kid…
Sidney Crosby’s memorable milestone night and other storylines from NHL Saturday
Special Night for Sid The Kid
It was one hell of a night for Sidney Crosby who skated in his 1,000th career NHL game for the Pittsburgh Penguins against the New York Islanders, and the milestone was celebrated with class by the Pens.
They produced a beautiful tribute video featuring shout outs from former teammates of Crosby’s, as well as players he has played against, he was presented with a silver hockey stick and every single member of the Penguins wore No. 87 jerseys with Crosby on the back for warmups, and every single player also joined their Captain in his usual warmup ritual.
Sidney Crosby's 1,000 @NHL games have been nothing short of sensational. Congratulations, Sid! You deserve it all. pic.twitter.com/pRAN1uYwwx
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) February 21, 2021
It made for a funny and heartwarming sight, and it was another reminder of just how great Sidney Crosby is and how lucky the National Hockey League is to have him. He also marked his 1,000th NHL game in perfect style by recording two assists as the Penguins beat the Islanders 3-2 to improve to 9-6-1 on the year and keep pace in what is an insanely competitive East Division.
It was a big, big win for the Pittsburgh Penguins but it was also a night to remember for Sidney Crosby in more ways than one, and I think the amount of tributes that flooded in for the center are a perfect illustration of just how much Sid The Kid means to the hockey world, and how much we should appreciate what he’s done for this game and for the NHL.
Connor McDavid does Connor McDavid things
We are running out of superlatives to describe what Connor McDavid can do on the ice, I mean he’s a human cheat code and it is almost unfair the kind of things he pulls off on a nightly basis. That was none more evident than on Saturday night.
On a night where the Oilers produced a huge, huge win to thrash the Calgary Flames 7-1 in a mouthwatering Battle of Alberta showdown, McDavid took center stage with a performance for the absolute ages.
He recorded a natural hat trick, which would be an incredible night for any other player, but McDavid had to take it that one step further by also tallying two assists for a five-point night. I mean, this guy is just insane and there is no other way to put it.
And, of course, there was the marquee highlight-reel play we’ve all come to expect from Connor McDavid and it came in the second period when the center stole the puck in the neutral zone before skating in and then and firing just a ridiculous no-look shot past Jacob Markstrom. I mean, it was just insane and we shouldn’t be surprised that McDavid leads the NHL in points with 37 (12 G, 25 A) in just 20 games. Just incredible.
It probably wasn’t the goal of the night due to what Nathan MacKinnon did at Lake Tahoe, but it was just yet another crazy play by Connor McDavid to add to his lofty collection, and it is looking like he (and Leon Draisaitl) will drag this Edmonton Oilers team to the postseason.
Problems with the Tampa Bay Lightning?
Back before the 2020-21 NHL season commenced, I think the consensus was that the Tampa Bay Lightning would run riot in what looked to be a weak Central Division. While that may still be the case, it isn’t panning out that way right now.
I mean, the Carolina Hurricanes are an impressive 7-2-1 in their last 10 and are top of the division, the Florida Panthers have been the surprise story of the year and are second and the Chicago Blackhawks, who were supposed to be rebuilding, are sitting in third with Tampa Bay in fourth.
So, what is going on?
Again, we’re only a quarter of a way through the season and every team will go through rough stretches so there is plenty of time for the Lightning to figure things out, but they are struggling right now and their offense drew a big blank on Saturday night.
They were shutout in a tough 4-0 loss to the Hurricanes, and it was the second time they had been shutout by the Canes who were playing the second game of a back-to-back. Alex Nedeljkovic was superb as he made 24 saves to record his first career shutout in the NHL, and the Hurricanes are red hot right now.
The Lightning have been anything but hot as of late and, while they are still ranked third in the NHL in Goals For Per Game (3.60), it is slightly concerning that they have now been blanked twice by Carolina this year. It is also safe to say that they just played a sloppy hockey game on Saturday and they will need to tidy up on certain things and learn from their mistakes if they are to avoid losing out on the top seed in the Central to a team like the Carolina Hurricanes, who look the real deal right now.
Coming up big
A common theme throughout a busy night in the NHL on Saturday was a number of teams coming up with huge wins that they absolutely needed to have. It seemed to happen a lot and we saw it in the Battle of Alberta with the Edmonton Oilers beating the Calgary Flames 7-1 thanks to another typical Connor McDavid show, a game we covered in a previous slide.
But there were plenty more examples, including in New Jersey where the Buffalo Sabres beat the Devils 3-2 in what was a must win for a team flirting with not making the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the 10th consecutive year.
Taylor Hall, making his return to The Garden State, tallied an assist and Sam Reinhart scored twice with the Devils unable to complete the comeback despite both Kyle Palmieri and P.K. Subban lighting the lamp in the third period.
We also saw a really impressive win for the New York Rangers who played arguably their best hockey of the year to beat the Washington Capitals 4-1 at Capital One Arena, a game in which everything seemed to click for the Blueshirts.
Alexis Lafreniere recorded his second goal of the year from a sublime pass from Artemi Panarin, who has 18 points (5 G, 13 A) in 14 games, while Mika Zibanejad also scored a huge, huge goal with an empty-netter. Igor Shesterkin stopped 26 of the 27 shots he faced and the Rangers will need to build off this performance and this win now.
Next. Don't sleep on Mitch Marner. dark
There were also notable wins for the Detroit Red Wings who beat the Florida Panthers 2-1, the San Jose Sharks who knocked off the St. Louis Blues 5-4 and the Nashville Predators got a huge boost by beating the Columbus Blue Jackets 4-2, so it was a busy and very entertaining Saturday in the NHL overall and there was something for everyone.