NHL Evening Skate for December 21

F1 São Paulo GP 2026 – Practice 1

Story by

Yahoo Sports Staff

Fri, Dec 21, 2018

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Heading into this evening's action, here are the day's top NHL storylines:

Bad news for Wild as Dumba set to miss 'significant time'

The Wild announced on Friday that defender Mathew Dumba will undergo surgery next week for an "upper-body injury" and is set to miss a significant amount of time. The 24-year-old Dumba is not only one of the team's most important players, he is having one of the best seasons of his career and was on track to set new career highs across the board while playing close to 24 minutes of ice-time per night. [More]

Lamp-lighters

Auston Matthews is the best goal scorer on earth right now

If you have to put your money on one player to score in a single game, or on a single shift, today, that guy is Auston Matthews. No one in the NHL is more dangerous right now. [Here's why]

Joe Pavelski cementing himself as the king of the dirty areas in his old age

Since NHL.com began recording data on shot type in 2009-10, Joe Pavelski leads the league in both shots (297) and goals (60) from tips and deflections. So when I tell you he's been extraordinary at shooting and scoring close to the net this season, it shouldn't come as a surprise, but the magnitude might. Pavelski has always been a lord of the dirty areas. Now he's the king. [Check this out]

If the Ducks make the playoffs, Gibson should win the Hart

Even though it's early, and even though the league is generally reticent to give the MVP to a goaltender unless they play for the Canadiens , you gotta say John Gibson getting this Ducks team anywhere near the playoffs would be a Hart-caliber performance. [More]

Carter Hart giving Flyers much-needed boost in goal

If you haven't heard, things have been pretty messy in Philadelphia this season. They're the only team in the NHL that has fired their GM and coach in 2018-19. It's been bad … really, really bad. So when the Flyers decided to recall top prospect Carter Hart, many wondered whether or not the team was putting him in position to succeed. But so far, so good. [More]

Game of the night

Buffalo Sabres at Washington Capitals

Less than a week after losing in a shootout, the Buffalo Sabres will seek a measure of revenge Friday when they return to D.C. to face the Washington Capitals . In that 4-3 defeat on Dec. 15, Buffalo couldn't figure out a way to slow Alexander Ovechkin, who netted the tying goal and registered the shootout winner. Stopping the Capitals' veteran would again seem to be the primary goal for Buffalo, which is coming off a 5-2 loss to the Panthers in which they lost for the first time all season when leading after two periods. Ovechkin saw his 14-game point streak come to end Wednesday, but in 46 games against Buffalo, he has 47 points, including 30 goals. And with Wilson, Evgeny Kuznetsov and Nicklas Backstrom all having solid years, the Sabres are aware of the dangers when facing the Capitals. [Full preview] [Follow on Yahoo Sports]

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