EVANDER’S FIRST-PERIOD HATTY
Kane scored the franchise’s first hat trick in the opening frame Wednesday night. He became the ninth Sharks player to score three goals in a single period and the first since Patrick Marleau in 2016-17. This was Kane’s second career hat trick.
An @Enterprise hatty in the first?
Oh yeah, @evanderkane_9 did just that. 🎩🎩🎩 pic.twitter.com/Cqd8EpcUJ5
— NHL (@NHL) October 17, 2019
MCDAVID’S 5-POINT NIGHT
Wednesday Night, Connor McDavid tied a career-high with five points and established a new career-best with four assists in a 6-3 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers. The Edmonton Oilers Captain is now the second player in franchise history to earn 17 points through the first seven games of a season. He joins Wayne Gretzky, who did it five times in the 1980s.
CAPITALS GOALIE SITUATION
The Washington Capitals started rookie goaltender Ilya Samsonov over veteran Braden Holtby Wednesday night. Holtby was recently pulled from his last start after allowing three goals on three shots and has a .846 save percentage.
“It’s not a goaltending controversy at this point. Braden’s our No. 1 goalie,” head coach Todd Reirden said.
Samsonov was a first-round pick of the Caps in 2015 and spent four years in the KHL and one in the AHL. The 22-year-old owns a .944 save percentage in three games, prior to Wednesday night.
The Capitals beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 4-3, Wednesday night for their first home win of the season.
RITCHIE FINED
Anaheim’s Nick Ritchie has been fined $4,121.86, the maximum allowable under the CBA, for Roughing Buffalo’s Vladimir Sobotka. During the second period of Wednesday night’s match, Sobotka had a clean hit along the boards to Ritchie during play. As Sobotka skated to bench after the whistle, Ritchie jumped him. Ritchie was assessed two minor penalties for roughing.
Here’s that Nick Ritchie incident. Really unnecessary, only got 4 minutes for it. Refs lost control of that game really quickly after that Rowney hit on Olofsson. #Sabres50 #LetsGoDucks https://t.co/N47sHd7vDZ pic.twitter.com/xXeO6rPR5O
— NHL News (@PuckReportNHL) October 17, 2019
JAMES NEAL SCORING OFTEN
The Edmonton Oilers forward passed his goal total from last season after scoring his eighth marker on Monday against the Chicago Blackhawks.
Neal stays hot with his 8th in six games & 6th on the PP. #LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/Zq47eZqfz8
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) October 15, 2019
ZYKOV SUSPENDED
The Vegas Golden Knights issued the following statement Thursday afternoon regarding the suspension of Valentin Zykov:
“We were notified by the NHL and NHLPA that Valentin has violated the terms of the NHL/NHLPA Performance Enhancing Substances Program. We monitor the nutrition, supplement intake, and overall diet of our athletes on a continual basis throughout our entire season. Valentin knowingly used a banned substance without the consent, recommendation or knowledge of our team. We support the NHL/NHLPA Performance Enhancing Substances Program and respect the decision here.”
Zykov has been suspended for 20 games, without pay.
TAVARES OUT 2 WEEKS
The Toronto Maple Leafs announced Thursday afternoon that captain John Tavares will miss a minimum of two weeks after sustaining a broken finger in Wednesday’s loss to the Washington Capitals.
The @MapleLeafs announced today that centre John Tavares sustained a broken finger late in last night’s game in Washington.
He will be out of the lineup for a minimum of two weeks, at which point he will be reassessed by the team's medical staff.
— Leafs PR (@LeafsPR) October 17, 2019
John Tavares will miss a minimum of two weeks with a broken finger.
Was this the play that caused the injury? pic.twitter.com/avHAtssJZm
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) October 17, 2019