I think that's a bit of a stretch. If he does, I'll throw away my Wayne Gretzky jersey. (just kidding )
Yeah I watched the 3rd period. The Stars just choked it up. Typical Hitchcock actually. The Stars aren't used to playing a D-first style of game and it showed as Neal netted 2 late goals to steal the win ON THE ROAD for God's sake. LVK looked pretty good actually....I guess the new draft format will ensure that there aren't any more 10-year learning curves for new franchises.
I agree that 100 goals is a massive stretch (I mean, the
record is 92, and that was by a guy who put up 200+ points four times (a feat no other person has achieved even once)). But I see where Jagr is coming from because I watched that game as well. McDavid can single-handedly create multiple breakaway chances a game, and as Jagr points out, he cannot be held or hooked the way Gretzky and Lemieux were back in the day due to rule changes. So is 100 goals possible? Yes, but extremely unlikely. Is 80 goals possible, I would say yes and I could definitely see that happening one year. And perhaps even 93. He is that damn good.
As for the Vegas-Dallas game, I actually didn't feel that the Golden Knights played that well (but I tuned in for the whole game as opposed to just the third), which doesn't surprise me, but I suppose a win is a win and they should feel good about starting off their franchise in such fashion. The Stars were completely outclassing them for the first two periods, and when Bishop did have to face some shots he stood tall. It was Marc-Andre Fleury who really kept them in the game, something that I don't think he can do again and again and again for 82 games. But then Bishop had to leave the game, bringing in one of the worst goaltenders in the NHL, Kari Lehtonen, who proceeded to give up a weak goal followed by a nice goal, but still a goal wherein the goalie bit first and made a bad save attempt. It's not that surprising that it was the only two guys on the team (Fleury and James Neal) who have been stars in this league who had to bail them out due to a poor effort.
