Edmonton Oilers' Connor McDavid Criticizes On-Ice Officials After A Dangerous Hit: The Hockey News Morning Skate

Welcome to The Hockey News Morning Skate, where we give a quick recap of all the action from the NHL every weekday morning so you stay up to date.

Thursday night featured an 11-game slate with 22 teams in action.

Let's run through the biggest storylines that emerged from last night, and make sure to check out the video version of this story below.

Montreal Canadiens center Nick Suzuki returned to the lineup after missing six games with a hand injury and posted three points (one goal, two assists), which included a helper on Cole Caufield’s game-winner 30 seconds into overtime in a 5-4 win against the Utah Mammoth at the Bell Centre.  

In spite of being out more than two weeks, the Canadiens captain is just one back of leading scorer Lane Hutson with 15 points (six goals, nine assists) this season. Montreal went 5-0-1 in Suzuki’s absence, with the only loss being their improbable late collapse against Winnipeg on Tuesday. The Habs are now 10-3-3 and just two points behind the Boston Bruins for top spot in the Atlantic Division.

As for Suzuki, he is now on pace for 134 points this season and is second on the team in scoring, one point back of Hutson — having played six fewer games.

Despite the loss to Montreal, Utah’s Logan Cooley scored his fifth career hat trick, surpassing NHL all-time leading goal scorer Alex Ovechkin as the fastest active player to reach five career hat-tricks in just 228 games. 

The Edmonton Oilers lost 5-4 to their Pacific Division rival, the Anaheim Ducks, at home on Thursday. But on the plus side, they avoided losing leading scorer Connor McDavid to serious injury.

McDavid was driven into the goal post by Ducks defenseman Drew Helleson, upending the net and sending the NHL’s leading scorer to the ice. 

McDavid was uninjured on the play, but the hit spurred an act of retribution from teammate Vasili Podkolzin, who lay a beating on Helleson. Podkolzin received 27 minutes in penalties (an instigator, a fighting major and two misconducts), while Helleson only received a minor for unsportsmanlike conduct.

After the game, Mcdavid called into question how the on-ice officials saw the incident and the danger of shoving him into the net.  

"I think people have me pegged as some type of robot, but I've got feelings and emotions too," he told reporters. I wish we treated the net like we treat the end wall. If I do that to him, going Mach One into the end wall, that’s a five-game suspension. The net is just as dangerous."

Nikita Kucherov’s request for a trade has not affected the Tampa Bay Lightning’s performance on the ice. The reigning Hart Trophy winner was held pointless in the 4-1 Tampa victory over the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday. But Kucherov has five assists in three games since he made his trade request, with Tampa Bay going 2-0-1 in that span.   

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