Top-5: 1000 points for Brad Marchand (and a photo with Alex Ovechkin)
Credit: Screenshot / X

There was plenty of action in the National League last night.

The Habs, taking on the Stars at the Bell Centre, ate a hearty one. More on that later…

Let's take a look at what happened elsewhere in the NHL, though:

1: 1000 points for Brad Marchand

Hate him all you want… but Brad Marchand is one hell of a hockey player.

The Panthers' little pest reached the 1,000-point plateau yesterday in his club's 6-3 win over the Washington Capitals. It was truly a momentous occasion for Marchand… and his teammates were there to congratulate him.

Well done, Brad.

After the game, Marchand and Alex Ovechkin met in the hallways of the Panthers arena.

The two guys took a photo together and exchanged jerseys: it made for a great photo.

Also of note was Sam Reinhart's performance in the game, who finished his night's work with a fine two goals and one assist.

It was a second straight win for the Panthers.

2: Martin Necas takes care of the Sabres

Martin Necas is able to use his speed to create things offensively.

Yesterday, it took… 52 seconds to see him use his skate to get all alone in front of the Sabres goalie. And, just like that, it was 1-0 to the Avalanche:

The Sabres were no match for the best team in the National League last night.

Colorado won 6-3 and can thank Necas, who scored four points in the club's victory. And hats off to Nathan MacKinnon, who always finds a way to put in a good word for himself:

MacKinnon (33 points) and Necas (24 points) have been on fire all season. They form one of the best duos in the National League… and the Avalanche don't seem to miss Mikko Rantanen too much right now.

Ironic to say, but there you go…

3: A shutout… for the Flames?

Yes, you read that right.

The Flames, who had won only four of their first 18 games of the season, beat the Sharks last night by a score of 2-0.

Dustin Wolf, who has had a truly catastrophic start to the season (like the rest of his club), only had to make 16 saves to earn his first shutout of the campaign.

I imagine this win will do Calgary a world of good.

I wonder if this can whip the Flames into shape going forward.

The club has been truly atrocious so far this season, as evidenced by their 5-12-2 record. The Flames have the worst differential in the NHL at minus-18, and it's hard to imagine that a simple win over the Sharks will get the club back on the winning track on a consistent basis…

4: Shea Theodore scores a magnificent goal

Shea Theodore is such an underrated player.

We don't often talk about him because he plays in the West… but damn is he good. And this sequence is proof of that:

Wow!

A defenseman scoring a goal like that, you don't see that every day. Not really, in fact.

Note that the game between the Golden Knights and the Islanders was close, really close… and that overtime was necessary to determine a winner between the two clubs.

Jean-Gabriel Pageau was the hero for the Isles, who won 4-3:

The Islanders have been surprising so far this season.

They're 9-6-2… and they'd be in the playoffs if it started tonight in the NHL. I didn't have that on my bingo card before the campaign started.

5: Another defeat for the Leafs

The Leafs have been inconsistent since the start of the campaign.

They just can't seem to find success on a regular basis… and we saw the club lose again last night. The Leafs had the lead in the third period, but the Kings tied it with just under seven minutes left in the game.

Great.

The game went into overtime… and it was Quinton Byfield who stood up.

Byfield, who was born in Ontario, spoiled himself by scoring a magnificent goal to give his team the win (4-3) :

The Kings have now won their last three games… while it's a fourth straight loss for the Leafs.

Will Toronto ever get back on track?


Prolongation

– Bang.

– Whew.

– Nice goal.

– Great night for Shane Pinto.

– Top scorers of the night :

(Credit: Screenshot / NHL.com)

– Four games tonight in the league :

(Credit: Screenshot / Google)