After nights like Saturday, hockey needs its own RedZone channel… call it NHL Power Play

Jesse Spector|published: Sun 31st January, 09:25 2021

Crosby, Ovechkin, and McDavid all lit it up last night. credits: Getty/SN

Not only did Sidney Crosby, Alex Ovechkin, and Connor McDavid all score overtime goals on Saturday night…

...all three of those game-winners came in a span of 12 minutes.

That’s not to mention the overtime tally by Scott Laughton in Philadelphia, scored about five minutes before Crosby hit the net at Madison Square Garden...

...or the goal scored by Aleksi Heponiemi, in his NHL debut, to lift the Florida Panthers in Detroit.

That’s five overtime goals in 20 minutes, a dizzying stretch of hockey that makes you wonder: why isn’t there an NHL Power Play channel to match the NFL’s RedZone extravaganza?

Maybe not every night through the hockey season, but certainly on Saturdays, it would be amazing. The NHL had 12 games on Saturday, and can play as many as 15 — it’ll be 16 once Seattle enters the league. On NHL Network, On The Fly often provides live look-ins, but what’s really needed, and would be incredible on a night like Saturday, is a nonstop curated viewing experience, including the multi-screen views that are a staple of RedZone.

When a team goes on a power play, Power Play would naturally tune in. Games heading to overtime? You bet, Power Play is on it. McDavid is on the ice? There’s a thought!

Yes, every time McDavid is on the ice, it should be on television. Because he just might do this:

Every sport should have its own version of the RedZone channel. It’s 2021, why are we still living like this, holding remote controls in our hands? Get on it, science.

Oh, and the NBA’s channel would automatically go to the last minute of any Blazers game within single digits, so long as Damian Lillard exists.

Steph Curry and the injured Klay Thompson had some fun.

Nothing snarky to say there. It’s just nice and enjoyable. As was Thompson moments earlier as Rodney McGruder of the Pistons got feisty after the game.

Draymond Green, also delightful.

That whole thing really is stupid, but what a nice reminder that Wayne Ellington is still in the NBA! Always liked watching that guy.

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