Matthews takes goals lead; Chara passes Chelios
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Thursday’s top NHL players
J.T. Miller, Canucks on night of blowout upsets
Consider this an alternate takeaway for Thursday’s NHL games: not just upsets, but blowouts in those upsets. (Sometimes styled JT, not J.T.) Miller contributed to one of the biggest ones. Miller scored two goals and two assists as the Canucks clobbered Calgary 7-1.
Quite a way for the Flames’ 10-game winning streak to go up in smoke.
That constituted the largest margin of defeat in these upset-blowouts. There were other eyebrow-raising results, however. It’s unlikely people saw it coming when the Devils pulverized the Penguins 6-1. The margin was smaller, but a 6-3 win for the Blue Jackets over the Panthers? Not expected.
Either way, a big night for Jonathan Tanner (J.T.) Miller.
That four-point flame-out leaves Miller with 20 goals and 57 points in 51 games. As strong as his first season was with the Canucks, this is probably the best Vancouver’s seen of J.T. Miller. Rank Miller as one of those players who’s either pumping up their trade deadline value or making them too hard for their current teams to give up.
Thursday NHL highlights
By playing his 1,652nd NHL game, Zdeno Chara passed Chris Chelios for the most games played by a defenseman. In a fun moment, Chelios discussed Chara passing him. More on Chara – Chelios in the takeaways.
Watch the Predators retire Pekka Rinne’s number 35 in this video. If you’re a Predators fan, prepare a tissue. (Though you probably already saw it by now? Maybe?)
I keep saying this, but Patrik Laine keeps scoring. In this case, Laine extended his point streak to 11 games, and extended my line of questioning for the Blue Jackets. What will Laine’s next contract look like? Does it make sense for him to make that money in Columbus? If not, should they shop him around? The gap to gain a playoff spot seems too large, so this might be a good thing that messes up the greater good of building for the future (by being bad in the present).
Source : yahoo
