Watch: Kris Letang exits penalty box, scores on breakaway

That's one way to redeem yourself after a trip to the penalty box.

Pittsburgh Penguins defender Kris Letang found his quick redemption by way of a well-timed breakaway tally to put Pittsburgh up 2-0 in its tilt against the St. Louis Blues on Saturday night.

Letang's silky go-ahead goal also served as the first NHL point for Pittsburgh's Carter Rowney, who set up the tally.

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Watch: McQuaid lands decisive blow in spirited tilt with Martin

There may be fewer specialists, but there sure are heavyweights.

Adam McQuaid and Matt Martin - two players that meet the requirements for the division - exchanged punches at center ice in the second period Saturday in Boston after the Bruins defender wiped out Auston Matthews.

McQuaid landed the decisive right hand before the intervention, sending the bloodied Martin in for repair, and presumably to enter concussion protocol.

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Nylander nets 1st career hat trick as Maple Leafs chase Rask

The Toronto Maple Leafs have a lot of good rookies. William Nylander is one of them.

After notching the equalizer in the first period, the Maple Leafs' freshman recorded two more, completing his first NHL hat trick.

Here's goal No. 2:

And No. 3:

Joining Nylander on the score sheet was James van Riemsdyk, as three Maple Leafs' goals in roughly two minutes chased Bruins' starter Tuukka Rask midway through the second period.

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Watch: Crosby scores top-shelf backhander from 1 knee

Sidney Crosby continues to do Sidney Crosby things.

The Pittsburgh Penguins captain tallied his league-leading 29th goal of the year in impressive fashion Saturday, finishing off a pass from Chris Kunitz in style.

Top shelf, backhand, one-timer, from one knee. Sure, why not.

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Solid win over Jets encouraging, frustrating for Avalanche

The Colorado Avalanche didn't look like the historically awful team they've been all season on Saturday afternoon. They scored five times (incredibly, for the first time since opening night), answered the bell physically, and limited an ambitious Winnipeg Jets team to 24 shots in an eventual 5-2 triumph.

Colorado's first win in close to a month comes as a welcomed reprieve for a group of players who have indicated in recent weeks that it's become more and more difficult to come to the rink motivated.

However, they failed to completely shake that omnipresent discontent.

"We kind of showed why we had success early on in the season. It might make things even more frustrating because we can show what we can do," Matt Duchene said, according to Terri Frei of the Denver Post.

"We showed what we can do tonight, we beat a team that's desperate to stay in the playoff run and that's not an easy thing to do. We did a lot of good things, everyone pulled their weight tonight."

Duchene said it was the first time in a "long, long time" the Avs felt like a good team.

With the trade deadline less than four weeks away, the last-place Avalanche likely won't have many more opportunities to experience that feeling together.

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Watch: Nylander’s cut-back fools Rask en route to terrific goal

Transitions: they're important.

A blended Mike Babcock line proved just that Saturday, as Auston Matthews stole the puck in the neutral zone before finding Nazem Kadri, who promptly spotted a streaking William Nylander.

The rookie's quick shift to the forehand fooled an over-committed Tuukka Rask, and ultimately tied the game at one.

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Watch: Okposo dangles Senators’ defense for nifty goal

Kyle Okposo, a man of many moves.

The Buffalo Sabres winger showcased his skills Saturday versus the Ottawa Senators, driving to the net and deking the Ottawa defense before going backhand to beat netminder Mike Condon.

The tally marked Okposo's 16th of the season, and second in his past five games.

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Watch: Devils capitalize after Werenski loses stick

Well that didn't take long.

Just 3 ½ minutes into their tilt with the Columbus Blue Jackets, the New Jersey Devils got on the board with a gorgeous tally from winger Taylor Hall.

Hall and Travis Zajac linked up after Blue Jackets rookie Zach Werenski was left to try to defend the pair alone and without a stick. Not a great combination.

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Blue Jackets’ Wennberg emerging as 1 of NHL’s best playmakers

Take a look at the top five assists leaders in the NHL, and the first four won't raise many eyebrows - Connor McDavid, Nicklas Backstrom, Erik Karlsson, and Patrick Kane.

It's the fifth name on that list that will likely cause a few double takes, as 22-year-old Alexander Wennberg rounds out that elite group.

Through 50 games this season, the Columbus Blue Jackets' pivot has amassed 34 assists, stating his case as one of the game's most dangerous distributors while emerging as one of the Jackets' top weapons.

The 2016-17 campaign has been a dominant one for Columbus. After finishing eighth in their division last season, the Jackets have righted the ship in a big way - putting together a historic win streak and climbing all the way into a tie for second-most points in the NHL.

While the club has a slew of rising stars flourishing this season, Wennberg has been at the center of it all, seeing the most minutes of any Blue Jackets forward (18:25 per game) and doing his part to bolster his teammate's goal totals on a nightly basis.

With 10 goals and 44 points, Wennberg has already crushed his previous career-high campaign. He upped his stat line from four goals and 20 points as a rookie to eight goals and 40 points last season.

Now in the midst of a career year, he's on pace to reach 16 goals and 72 points by the season's end, with his elite total of 34 assists projected to climb as high as 56 by the 82-game mark.

In 2015-16, no Blue Jackets player reached 56 points in total.

One key aspect of Wennberg's rise has been his proficiency on the power play. The third-year standout has ranked as one of the NHL's best on the man-advantage all season long.

As Columbus heads into the final third of their schedule, Wennberg sits tied with Backstrom for the fourth-most points on the powerplay (20), just three off of the league lead.

Time to take notice, as Wennberg clearly isn't going away any time soon. The young gun's quick start hasn't faded, and with Columbus on the cusp of reaching the postseason for just the third time in franchise history, the Jackets will be relying heavily on their star centerman down the stretch.

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Predators acquire Fiddler from Devils

The Nashville Predators have acquired forward Vernon Fiddler from the New Jersey Devils in exchange for a fourth-round pick in the 2017 draft.

Fiddler has appeared in 39 games with the Devils this season, recording three points and a minus-10 rating.

The 36-year-old is a pending unrestricted free agent, carrying a $1.25-million cap hit.

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