2018 in NHL filled with plenty of highlights

The NHL certainly had a memorable 2018.

The year began on a frigid day in New York City, continued with a memorable night at the U.S. Naval Academy and saw its greatest prize, the Stanley Cup, awarded to the Washington Capitals in an arena on the Las Vegas Strip.
There were amazing highlights, unimaginable tragedy and individual accomplishments and accolades no one will ever forget.
With the 2019 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic less than a week away, let's take a look back at 18 of the top highlights from 2018.

1. Lundqvist saves, Miller scores, Rangers win Classic -- Jan. 1

The decor for the 2018 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic was true New York City. There were subway stops and taxi cabs outside the rink at a frigid Citi Field, home of the New York Mets, but the action in a
3-2 overtime win by the New York Rangers against the Buffalo Sabres
was hot.
Before the game began, Ace Frehley, the original lead guitarist for the band Kiss, performed "New York Groove," and Challenger the Bald Eagle took flight across the field during a stirring rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner" by New York City-based Every Voice Choirs.
Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist made 31 saves and J.T. Miller scored on the power play with 2:17 remaining overtime to lift the Rangers to the win.

2. Kucherov's fake fools Holtby at All-Star -- Jan. 28

NHL All-Star Weekend in Tampa Bay was filled with highlights.
There was the Stanley Cup being rescued by pirates in the annual Gasparilla Pirate Festival, and defensemen Victor Hedman of the Lightning and Erik Karlsson, then of the Ottawa Senators, showing up to the 2018 GEICO NHL All-Star Skills Competition dressed as pirates.
Don't forget the standing ovation New Jersey Devils forward, cancer survivor and former Lightning player, Brian Boyle received during introductions the skills competition.
But the main highlight, at least for the locals, had to be Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov's no shot goal against Washington Capitals goalie Braden Holtby in the semifinal matchup between the Atlantic and Metropolitan Divisions. It was Kucherov's hat-trick goal to boot.

3. Luongo's emotional speech -- Feb. 22

Roberto Luongo took the microphone and spoke from the heart, delivering
an impassioned, emotional, pleading speech
prior to the Florida Panthers' first home game since 17 people were killed in a shooting at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. on Feb. 14.
Luongo, the Panthers goalie, lives in Parkland.
"It's time for us as a community to take action," Luongo said. "It's enough. Enough is enough. We've got to take action."
Luongo made 33 saves in a 3-2 win against the Washington Capitals.

4. Ovechkin scores 40th in Stadium Series win -- March 3

Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin picked quite a setting to score his 40th goal of the season, scoring it at 6:19 of the first period in the 2018 Coors Light NHL Stadium Series game against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.
It was the NHL's first game at a service academy and the festivities around the game delivered on the theme. The Capitals won 5-2, with Ovechkin's goal, the 598th of his career, being arguably the biggest highlight of the game.

5. Ovechkin scores 600th goal -- March 12

Ovechkin scored two goals in a 3-2 overtime win against the Winnipeg Jets at Capital One Arena, becoming the 20th player in NHL history to
score 600 goals
and the fourth to do it in fewer than 1,000 games (990), joining Wayne Gretzky (718), Mario Lemieux (719) and Brett Hull (900).
Ovechkin finished the season with 49 goals, winning the Rocket Richard Trophy for the seventh time.

6. Foster, an accountant, plays goalie for Blackhawks -- March 29

Scott Foster
, the 36-year-old accountant from Oak Park, Illinois, got into an NHL game against the Jets
as the Blackhawks emergency goalie
, making seven saves in 14:01 in Chicago's 6-2 win. It was the first time an NHL emergency goalie made a save.
Foster was told earlier in the day that the Blackhawks needed him to dress for the game because Anton Forsberg was injured and unable to dress, and Corey Crawford was out for the season with a concussion. Chicago's starter,
Collin Delia
, had to leave the game with cramping in the third period, forcing the accountant into the game.

7. Sedin to Sedin, in overtime, in final home game -- April 5

In the
last home game for Henrik Sedin and Daniel Sedin
, who announced their retirements in a letter to Vancouver Canucks fans three days earlier, the twins delivered by combining on two goals, including the overtime winner in a 4-3 victory against the Arizona Coyotes.
Daniel scored 33 seconds into the second period, with Henrik getting the secondary assist. Daniel scored again 2:33 into overtime, this time off a pass from Henrik.
The Sedins finished their 17-season NHL careers first and second in Canucks scoring, Henrik with 1,070 points (240 goals, 830 assists) and Daniel with 1,041, including a Vancouver-best 393 goals.

8. Stealing the show ahead of Game 1 -- May 28

The scene at Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final at T-Mobile Arena was pure Las Vegas.
Outside at Toshiba Plaza, Grammy winner Lil John performed a free concert for the thousands who mobbed the area.
Inside the arena, the base blared, showgirls in full headdress lined the glass behind the net the Capitals were shooting at in warmups, and the five-minute "Game of Thrones" style pregame show, with the golden knight, sword fighting, pyrotechnics and the Drumbots, was something we simply had not yet seen in the NHL.
Michael Buffer announced the lineups to give Game 1 the feel of a prized fight. Carnell Johnson belted out the national anthem. Then the Golden Knights defeated the Capitals, 6-4.

9. Holtby's save on Tuch in Game 2 -- May 30

With the Capitals leading 3-2 in Game 2, Holtby was on the left side of his crease when he was forced to reach back to his right with his stick. He used it to rob Golden Knights forward Alex Tuch of what looked like a sure goal with 1:59 remaining in the third period.
Holtby dragged the puck under him to freeze it. The save preserved a 3-2 win for the Capitals that tied the best-of-7 series at 1-1.

10. Capitals win Stanley Cup -- June 7

Ovechkin and the Capitals kicked off a summer-long party by defeating the Golden Knights 4-3 in
Game 5 of the Cup Final
at T-Mobile Arena. Lars Eller scored the Cup-winning goal at 12:23 of the third period after Devante Smith-Pelly tied the game 3-3 at 9:52.
Ovechkin, the Capitals' captain since 2009, finally got to take the Cup from NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman's hands and raise it over his head. He gave the Cup to Nicklas Backstrom, his longest tenured teammate (11 seasons). They raised the Cup together.
T.J. Oshie gave the Cup to his father, Tim, who has Alzheimer's disease. Oshie held back tears on national television as he spoke about the moment.
The Capitals lost their first two games in the Stanley Cup Playoffs against the Columbus Blue Jackets in the Eastern Conference First Round but rallied to win four straight. They had to slay their biggest nemesis, the Pittsburgh Penguins, in a six-game, second-round series that was capped by Evgeny Kuznetsov's series-clinching overtime goal in Game 6. They needed seven games to defeat the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Eastern Conference Final and rebounded from a Game 1 loss against Vegas to win four straight.

11. Broncos memorial at NHL Awards -- June 20

Tragedy struck on April 6, when the bus transporting the Humboldt Broncos of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League was struck by a semi-trailer truck. Sixteen people were killed and 13 others injured.
The hockey world came together with tributes and vigils in the aftermath, many leaving sticks on their doorsteps. The NHL honored them and their coach, Darcy Haugan, who died in the crash, at the 2018 NHL Awards presented by Hulu at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.
Ten survivors, Broncos players Jacob Wassermann, Xavier LaBelle, Brayden Camrud, Bryce Fiske, Graysen Cameron, Matthieu Gomercic, Tyler Smith, Derek Patter, Ryan Straschnitzki and Kaleb Dahlgren, were welcomed on stage. Dahlgren said they were there representing teammates Layne Matechuk, Morgan Gobeil and Nick Shumlanski, who were still recovering in the hospital and couldn't be there.
Christina Haugan, Darcy's widow, accepted the inaugural Willie O'Ree Community Hero Award on the coach's behalf. She stood in front of the Broncos players and delivered an acceptance speech hugging each of them after, before a video honoring the 16 who died played.

12. Tavares goes home to Toronto -- July 1

John Tavares, the biggest catch in the 2018 unrestricted free agent pool, kept everyone guessing until just after the signing period opened at noon ET on July 1, when he announced he was going home, signing a seven-year, $77 million contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Tavares, the No. 1 pick by the New York Islanders in the 2009 NHL Draft who spent nine seasons there, even tweeted a picture of him as a kid sleeping in his bed adorned with a Maple Leafs blanket and sheets set. He called it his childhood dream to play for the Maple Leafs.

13. Karlsson heads west -- Sept. 13

Months of speculation ended when the Senators traded Karlsson, their captain and two-time Norris Trophy-winning defenseman, to the San Jose Sharks. Karlsson is in the final year his contract and turned down a contract extension offer from the Senators on July 1.
Karlsson was traded with forward Francis Perron for forwards Chris Tierney and Rudolfs Balcers, defenseman Dylan DeMelo, the rights to unsigned forward Joshua Norris, a first-round pick in the 2019 or 2020 NHL Draft, a second-round pick in the 2019 draft and two conditional picks.

14. Stanley Cup sees the Great Wall -- Sept. 8

The Stanley Cup made its first visit to China ahead of the 2018 O.R.G. NHL China Games featuring the Calgary Flames and Boston Bruins. It was the 27th country the Cup has visited in its storied history.
The Cup, accompanied by its keeper, Phil Pritchard, started in Beijing, went on to Hong Kong and finished its tour in Shenzhen. It wowed tourists at the Great Wall of China and was a showstopper at an NHL Fan Fest in Shenzhen.
In addition, Wayne Gretzky was a star attraction in China in advance of the China Games. He held clinics that were part of the Gretzky Hockey School in Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen. He also visited the Forbidden City and the Great Wall of China.
The Flames and Bruins, who each made separate trips to the Great Wall, played preseason games in Shenzhen and Beijing.

15. Laine scores hat trick in Finland, starts huge November -- Nov. 1

Patrik Laine, the Winnipeg Jets forward, had a memorable homecoming with a hat trick to help the Jets defeat the Florida Panthers 4-2 in the first of two games of the 2018 NHL Global Series at Hartwall Arena in Helsinki, Finland.
Laine scored 18 goals in November, becoming the 11th player in NHL history to score at least that many in a calendar month and the first since Pavel Bure did it in March of 1994. He became the first player in NHL history to have a hat trick in three countries (Finland, Canada, United States) in the same season.
He scored three goals in a 6-3 win at the Vancouver Canucks on Nov. 19 and a single-game NHL career-high five goals on five shots in an 8-4 win at the St. Louis Blues on Nov. 24. Laine was the NHL's First Star of the Month.

16. Boyle scores hat trick on Hockey Fights Cancer night -- Nov. 5

Less than two weeks after announcing his cancer was in remission, Boyle celebrated by getting his first NHL hat trick on Hockey Fights Cancer night at PPG Paints Arena.
The Devils forward scored three goals, including two on the power play in the second period, in a 5-1 win against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Boyle told NHL.com
on Oct. 24 that his cancer, chronic myeloid leukemia, was in remission.
Less than five months earlier, Boyle won the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy for his perseverance and dedication to hockey at the NHL Awards.
He powered through an emotional acceptance speech about his trying year, which included his son, Declan, now four years old, requiring multiple operations for an arteriovenous malformation of his jaw, a rare condition that impacts blood flow and oxygen circulation.

17. O'Ree, Bettman inducted as part of Hall of Fame's Class of 2018 -- Nov. 12

Willie O'Ree, the first black player in NHL history, was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame along with Commissioner Bettman and four other members of the Class of 2018.
O'Ree, who is the diversity ambassador for the League's Hockey Is For Everyone program, made his NHL debut with the Boston Bruins on Jan. 18, 1958. He and Commissioner Bettman, who has served in that role since Feb. 1, 1993, were inducted in the Builder's category.
Martin Brodeur, Martin St. Louis, Alexander Yakushev and Jayna Hefford were inducted in the Players' category.

18. Seattle named NHL's 32nd team -- Dec. 4

One year after announcing the NHL would accept an expansion application to bring a team to Seattle, Commissioner Bettman officially welcomed
Seattle as League's 32nd team
following a unanimous vote from the Board of Governors in Sea Island, Georgia.
The yet-to-be-named team will begin play in the 2021-22 season. The ownership group, led by private equity CEO David Bonderman, will pay a $650 million expansion fee. They are also paying approximately $800 million to privately finance a renovation for the Seattle Center Arena, formerly known as KeyArena, which will be the team's home.
The Board of Governors also approved a realignment plan that calls for the Arizona Coyotes to move into the Central Division, making way for the new Seattle team to play in the Pacific Division.