Nylander goes commercial, Byfuglien goes fishing, and the mascot goes wild.

This is the US Thanksgiving edition of NHL Best & Worst. Thanks again for some great hockey action this week, including some nifty moves, some historic coaching, and some mascot moves.

Here’s everything you missed or need to watch again over the past week.

This week’s goals

take a bow, zach benson. Regardless of this week’s goal, this may be the goal for this season. The player selected 13th overall in the 2023 NHL Draft is buffalo sabers After coming out of training camp and scoring this emotional first goal of his NHL career, it would be hard to see him returning to the WHL anytime soon.

This week’s savings

What a revelation! samuel montembo I’ve done it for montreal canadiens Over the last few seasons. deprived of immunity from florida panthers In 2021, the local boy saw his game evolve under the tutelage of Canadian goalkeeping coach Eric Raymond, and now he seems ready for it. get an extension With my boyhood team. If he keeps making saves like this, anaheim ducksthat would be money well spent for Bleus, Blancs and E Rouges.

Had a 2-goal, 6-point night. carolina hurricanes Kucherov, who scored 35 points in just 20 games in Friday’s blowout win over the Tampa Bay Lightning, skyrocketed up the NHL scoring leaderboard and led the way with a whopping 143 points. Kucherov has been a little out of the spotlight lately due to a series of injuries and injuries. Suspicious LTIR stint — He has finished outside the top 10 in Hart voting each of the past three seasons — but he appears to be back for good.

story continues

this week’s hits

It’s rare to see a forward return as the last man on an odd-man rush, and even rarer to see them play the same way. Adrian Kempe I will do so here. The 6-foot-2 sniper absolutely plays in line like a burly defenseman from the ’90s. frank vatrano It delivers equally shocking and gorgeous hits at center ice.

This week’s dish

After a slow start to his NHL career, quinton byfield He has overcome the unwarranted suspicions and is becoming a threat at power forward in his own right. Los Angeles Kings. But it’s not hard to dream of a 21-year-old with pillow-soft hands like this continuing to develop as he continues to adjust to the NHL game.

This week’s needle

of winnipeg jets They have won eight of their past 10 games, moved into second place in the eternally tough Central Division, and are making great strides. That’s largely thanks to the electric play of stars such as: mark scheifele and Kyle ConnorBut that doesn’t mean you should sleep. Nikolai Ehlers. The Danish winger has struggled over the past two seasons, but there’s little to deny his skill when he’s at his best, and if he’s going to continue scoring such disgusting goals against the Panthers on Friday. Let’s hope for sunny skies for this game. Jets.

Worst thing this week

tyson barryHis dynamic offensive game has slowed down a bit since he helped run the team. edmonton oilersAlongside the historic power play conor mcdavid, but this could be rock bottom for the right-shot blueliner. In an effort to keep his play alive on the line, Barry tries out plays that probably won’t make it onto a mixtape anytime soon.

This week’s statistics

of boston bruins It’s still completely ridiculous, but it shouldn’t surprise anyone at this point.Even without bergeron and crazyBoston is well on its way to competing and still making history overall, with the latest feather in its cap credited to head coach Jim Montgomery.

Willy’s new commercial

send the leaf forward William Nylander Through the first two months of the NHL campaign, the star Swede appears to be finishing his contract year on track with a strong start to the season. It took him until the 18th game of the season to finally hold him scoreless. It’s not because there’s no chance.his viral snap ride the subway was such a big hit that they even cashed in on this cute Rogers commercial starring the family.

new hobby

After quietly retiring after the 2018-19 season, Dustin Byfuglien He largely fell off the map, choosing to live out of the spotlight during his post-playing career. But this week, Big Buff made headlines as his lifelong competitor started feeling the itch again. Instead of returning to the ice, the Minnesota native decided to stick with water in its liquid state and apparently became a competitive fisherman. There’s no word on whether he’s laying down bodies at the same prolific pace he had during his NHL days.

Will Gritty find love?

Gritty, the infamous Philadelphia Flyers mascot, struck a deal with a young fan during a break in play. The child probably regrets his decision. Let the video speak for itself.

The weirdest thing I’ve seen this week

For some reason, Gritty’s cougar-adjacent adventures aren’t the weirdest or most fascinating activities the NHL mascot has done during Thanksgiving. In honor of Turkey Day in the United States, check out this bizarre video shot by the coyote mascot Howler.

french fry man

When you’re sitting right behind the bench and your mug is sure to be featured on national television, it’s best to make it memorable.this dallas stars Fans got the memo and rocked what can only be described as the world’s weirdest septum piercing.

royal code

Some royals head to Rogers Arena to watch the fiery game vancouver canucks, head coach Rick Tocchet had the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to introduce himself to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. It seems he has decided on a unique method to welcome the powerful duo.

dad’s boy

Bruins annual father’s trip, we got a lot of great dad content from Beantown with the team running all over Florida. But of all the clips, this absolute roast fest by Matthew Poitras’ father takes the cake, with Phil Poitras completely eviscerating his poor son.

the sun is good for you

There’s a level of absurdity in Toronto’s media market, considering the intense scrutiny the players are under.So maybe it’s not shocking Mitch Marner When the club returned to North America, he was asked how important the sun was to him.He took it in his stride and even laughed at his interaction with the netminder. joseph wal.

Uptrend: Los Angeles Kings, 8-1-1, 5 wins

The Kings are rapidly looking like a force with a league-high five-game winning streak and quick wins over the defending champions. vegas golden knights.Behind the dynamic duo of Kempe and Kempe Kevin Fialathe Kings have been thriving on both ends, currently ranking third in the NHL with 76 goals and second with 47 goals.

What’s even more impressive is that no player in the NHL has been as dynamite in possession as the Kings, leading the NHL by a wide margin with an expected goal rate of 58.3% (with the same 3% cushion over second-place Edmonton). and 11th). Ten years after winning two Stanley Cups in three seasons, it might be time to start thinking big about the City of Angels.

Downtrend: Anaheim Ducks, 3-7-0, L5.

A few hours south on Interstate 5, things don’t go much better for the Anaheim Ducks. The Ducks, on a five-game losing streak, have fallen out of the postseason stage after a surprising start to the season.