Splash brothers making waves
Stephen Curry scored 29 points and Klay Thompson had 28 points in the Warriors’ win at Houston, one night after Curry (32 points) and Thompson (25) spearheaded Golden State’s victory at Dallas. One other pair of teammates led their teams to road wins on back-to-back days this season, by scoring 25 points in each game: Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum, at Brooklyn and Washington in November.
One tandem did that last season: Bradley Beal and John Wall at Sacramento and Portland in March. No duo did so in the 2015-16 season, and only Curry and Thompson turned that trick in the 2014-15 campaign (at Dallas and New Orleans in December).
Warriors improve to 21–0 when Green records triple-double
Draymond Green chipped in with 17 points, 14 rebounds, and 10 assists in Thursday night’s victory, improving the Warriors’ record to 21–0 when Green records a triple-double. That ties the second-longest streak of team wins in a particular player’s triple-doubles in NBA history––at any point in that player’s career. The Lakers won 24 consecutive games when Magic Johnson registered a triple-double, from 1984 to 1987, and the 76ers won 21 straight games when Wilt Chamberlain fashioned a triple double, from 1967 to 1968.
George has Clippers crying a river
Paul George scored a game-high 31 points in the Thunder’s victory at Staples Center. It was his fifth 30-plus-points performance versus the Clippers in his last six games against them. George is averaging 30.6 points per game versus Doc Rivers’ team over the last five seasons (214 points in seven games). That is the highest scoring average against the Clippers in Rivers’ five seasons leading the team by anybody who has played at least two games against them over that span.
Hall against Seguin
Taylor Hall and Tyler Seguin, the top two overall picks from the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, faced off for the 12th time on Thursday as Seguin’s Stars defeated Hall’s Devils, 4–3. Hall, who tallied a goal and two assists in the loss, has produced 13 points in the head to head matchup. Seguin, who scored his 20th goal of the season, has registered 12 points during the 12-game set. This is the first time that Hall has ever held the cumulative head to head points advantage over his draft-class rival.
No two-goal games for Ferland
Micheal Ferland scored the first goal for the Flames in their 4–3 win against the Kings. Ferland has scored 16 goals this season (second-most among Calgary players behind Sean Monahan’s 19 goals), though he hasn’t scored more than one goal in any game. That ties him with Tampa Bay’s Brayden Point for the most goals in the NHL this season among players who haven’t had a multiple-goal game in 2017–18.
Bernier blanks Blue Jackets
Jonathan Bernier posted his second shutout of the season by making 35 saves, including 17 in the third period, in a 2–0 win for the Avalanche against the Blue Jackets in Denver. Bernier’s 17 third-period saves matched the high for a Colorado goaltender in a shutout over the last ten seasons. Peter Budaj stopped 17 shots in the third period of his 4–0 win at St. Louis on Dec. 7, 2009, and Reto Berra did the same in his 1–0 shootout victory against Winnipeg on April 9, 2015.
Rookie scores second OT goal
Rookie Christian Fischer’s second overtime goal this season earned the Coyotes a 3–2 win against the Predators on Thursday. Fischer, who also tallied an OT winner versus the Kings on November 24, is the second rookie in Jets/Coyotes franchise history to score multiple overtime goals in one season. Pat Elynuik scored two overtime goals for the original Winnipeg Jets in 1988–89.
Fast hat trick for Niederreiter
Nino Niederreiter recorded the second hat trick of his NHL career by scoring three goals in the Minnesota Wild’s 6–2 win over the Sabres. Niederreiter scored two goals in the first period and then completed his hat trick at the 4:02 mark of the second period. This was the second-fastest hat trick from the start of a game in Wild history, behind Zach Parise’s three-goal game against Calgary on March 24, 2016. Parise scored his third goal in that game at 16:33 of the first period.
Ward blanks Penguins
Cam Ward recorded his first shutout of the season and the 26th shutout of his NHL career with a 4–0 win against the Penguins in Pittsburgh. This was the third time in Hartford/Carolina franchise history that a Whalers or Hurricanes goaltender posted a shutout in a road game against the defending Stanley Cup champion. The team’s other road shutouts versus a Cup-holding team were by Jason Muzzati on April 4, 1996 for the Whalers at New Jersey (1–0), and by Ward on Feb. 2, 2012 at Boston (3–0).
Provorov ties career highs
Defenseman Ivan Provorov tied his career highs for goals and points in one game when he tallied two goals and one assist for the Flyers in their 6–4 win over the Islanders. This was only the second time in the last seven seasons that a Flyers defenseman produced a multiple-goal game in which he also recorded at least one assist. The only other instance since 2011–12 was when Radko Gudas scored two goals and assisted on two in a 6–0 victory against Columbus on March 5, 2016.
Kadri ends drought
Nazem Kadri ended his 12-game goal drought when he scored on a second-period power play for the Maple Leafs in their 3–2 shootout win against the Sharks. Kadri’s just-ended drought was the third-longest goalless streak of his career, behind his first 20 games in the NHL (spanning 2010 and 2011) and a 15-game dry spell in October/November 2015. When this 12-game skid began on December 2, Kadri had scored 13 goals (in 27 games) this season, tying Auston Matthews for the Toronto team lead.
Price makes 44 saves
Carey Price ended his four-game losing streak by making 44 saves in a 2–1 shootout win against the Lightning in Montreal. This was the seventh time that Price made at least 44 saves in a regular-season game during his NHL career but only the second of those seven games in which he allowed no more than one goal. The other game in which he did that was also against the Lightning in Montreal, on Nov. 12, 2013, though Price ended up losing the shootout in that game after overtime ended with the score tied 1–1. Price is the first Canadiens goaltender to win a game in which he made at least 44 saves and gave up no more than one goal since Jaroslav Halak’s 46-save 5–1 victory at Carolina on Dec. 23, 2009.
Blues mired in scoring slump
The Blues extended their winning streak to three games and brought an end to the Golden Knights’ eight-game winning streak with a 2–1 victory in St. Louis. The Blues earned a win on Thursday but their offense continues to sputter. St. Louis has not scored more than three goals in any of the team’s last 13 games, matching the Blues’ longest such streak over the last 10 seasons (13 games in Nov./Dec. 2015). It’s the second-longest streak of its kind in the NHL this season, behind the Ducks’ 17-game skein from Nov. 19 through Dec. 19.