Fultz makes up for lost time
Markelle Fultz returned to action on Monday and in only 14:24 of playing time he scored 10 points on five field goals, and handed out eight assists. Over the last 30 years, the only other NBA player to either score or assist on 13 field goals in fewer than 15 minutes of playing time was Tim Duncan, who shot 8-for-8 with five assists in 13:50 of PT on March 19, 2010, when the Spurs defeated the Warriors by 31 points.
Fultz’s average of 66.5 seconds per field goal or assist was the second-highest single-game average for anyone who played 10 or more minutes in a game this season. James Harden averaged 66.1 seconds per field goal or assist in his 56-point, 13-assist game against Utah on Nov. 5.
Walker takes over in OT
Kemba Walker scored 11 points and assisted on three baskets in overtime of the Hornets’ win over the Knicks on Monday. The last player with so many points and assists in an overtime period was LeBron James, who had identical totals in the sixth period of Miami’s win over Sacramento on Feb. 26, 2013.
Morris’s month
Marcus Morris came off the bench to score 20 points in the Celtics’ win over the Suns on Monday. Morris has scored at least 20 points in each of his last three games, his longest streak of 20-point games in his seven NBA seasons. Morris has tied a career high with five 20-point games this month, something he had done previously in December and March of the 2015–16 season.
Jackson makes a difference in Detroit
Reggie Jackson led the Pistons with 20 points in their win over the Lakers on Monday, and Detroit has won three of four games since he returned from a 37-game absence. The Pistons are 22–15 (.595) in the games that Jackson has played this season but they’re 12–25 (.324) in the games he’s missed.
Lakers officially eliminated
The Lakers were officially eliminated from the playoffs after losing in Detroit. It’s the fifth consecutive season in which the Lakers missed the playoffs, after they had failed to make the playoffs only five times during their first 65 seasons in the NBA, and never in more than two straight seasons prior to this stretch.
Ovechkin scores 45th goal
Alex Ovechkin reached the 45-goal mark for the ninth time in his 13 seasons in the NHL when the Capitals beat the Rangers, 4–2, in New York. Ovechkin’s nine seasons with at least 45 goals tie him with Mike Bossy and Wayne Gretzky for the NHL record in that category.
Ovechkin’s goal in Monday’s game at Madison Square Garden was his 30th career goal in regular-season play versus the Rangers. They’re the 10th NHL team against which Ovechkin has scored 30 goals or more. The only other active players who’ve scored at least 30 goals against more than two NHL teams are Patrick Marleau (six) and Sidney Crosby (four).
An Eichel double
Jack Eichel scored two goals for the Sabres in their 3–2 win against the Maple Leafs in Toronto. Eichel’s first goal gave the Sabres a 1–0 lead at the 3:23 mark of the first period and his second goal, which snapped a 2–2 tie in the middle of the third period, was the game-winner for Buffalo. It was 21-year-old Eichel’s fifth multiple-goal game this season and the 15th multi-goal game of his three-year NHL career. That ties him with Boston’s David Pastrnak (also 21 years old) for the most career games with two goals or more by current NHL players age 21 or younger.
Phaneuf scores first goal against Calgary
Dion Phaneuf opened the scoring in Los Angeles on Monday with his first goal against his former team, the Flames, in his 13th game against them. That leaves Vegas as the only NHL team against which Phaneuf has not scored a goal.
Marchessault nets 25th goal
Jonathan Marchessault, who scored 30 goals for the Panthers last season, scored his 25th goal of this season for the Golden Knights on Monday. The only other NHL players to score at least 25 goals for a team this season after netting 25 or more goals for another team last season are Brayden Schenn (Flyers to Blues) and Artemi Panarin (Blackhawks to Blue Jackets).
30-goal Gallagher
Brendan Gallagher became a 30-goal scorer for the first time in his six-year NHL career when he notched the second of his two goals for the Canadiens in their 4–2 win over the Red Wings. Gallagher has scored five goals in his three games versus the Red Wings this season, and two of his three multiple-goal games this season have been against Detroit. Gallagher is the only NHL player with more than one multi-goal game versus the Red Wings in 2017–18, and he’s tied with Nikita Kucherov and Brad Marchand for the most goals against them this season.
Reimer blanks Islanders and sets up a goal
James Reimer notched his 20th win, fourth shutout and first assist of the season when the Florida Panthers beat the Islanders, 3–0, in Brooklyn. Reimer stopped all 32 shots on goal by the Islanders, and he was credited with an assist on the second-period goal by Evgenii Dadonov which wrapped up the scoring in the game. This is the first time that a Florida goaltender earned a shutout and an assist in the same game since Dec. 20, 2010, when Tomas Vokoun did that in a 5–0 whitewashing of the Flyers in Philadelphia. It was the second time Reimer posted a shutout and an assist in the same NHL game, having done so for the Maple Leafs in a 2–0 win versus the Devils in Toronto on April, 15, 2013.
Hertl’s goal streak
Tomas Hertl was one of the three goal-scorers for the Sharks in their shootout win against the Blackhawks in Chicago. Hertl scored only four goals in his first 33 road games this season but he’s scored five goals in the Sharks’ four road games since then, with at least one in each game. That ties him with Joe Thornton (Jan. 15–21) for the longest road goal streak this season by a San Jose player.
Foegele impresses in debut
Warren Foegele, making his NHL debut, scored the first goal and then assisted on another goal for the Hurricanes in their 4–1 win against Ottawa. Foegele is the fifth player to make his NHL debut with the Whaler/Hurricane franchise and register at least two points in his first game. The other players to do that were Hartford’s Randy MacGregor (1–1–2 on Nov. 12, 1981) and Dan Bourbonnais (1–2–3 on Dec. 30, 1981), and Carolina’s Brad DeFauw (2–0–2 on March 10, 2003) and Brock McGinn (1–1–2 on Oct. 16, 2015).
Chychrun’s game-winner
Defenseman Jakob Chychrun notched the first game-winning goal in his two seasons in the NHL when the Arizona Coyotes posted a 4–1 win against the Lightning in Tampa. The 19-year-old Chychrun (he’ll turn 20 years old on Saturday) is the first teenage defenseman ever to score a game-winning goal for the Jets/Coyotes franchise. Before Monday, the youngest original Jets or Coyotes defenseman to score a game-winner was Frederik Olausson, who was 44 days past his 20th birthday when he scored the deciding goal in a Winnipeg victory against the Penguins on Nov. 18, 1986.