Tuesday Night Hockey

As the regular season hurtles to an end, we had another busy night in the NHL with 10 games and 20 teams taking to the ice.

The night’s games did not leave us disappointed, we saw three overtime victories, three penalty shootouts and 55 goals!

 

3-4 (OT)

The Boston Bruins extended their point streak to 17 games with their fourth consecutive win, a 4-3 overtime victory over the Carolina Hurricanes.

Sebastian Aho scored twice, Justin Williams once, and Curtis McElhinney made 34 saves for the Canes, who have won five in succession, including four in a row on the road. Carolina sit third in the Metropolitan Division, tied in points with the Pittsburgh Penguins, who hold the first wild card in the east.

Aho scored his 29th goal of the season, tying his career-high. The Finn also has 9pts in his last four games against the Bruins and has eight points (5g, 3a) in a six-game point streak.

David Krejci scored the winner at 1:46 of overtime. Chris Wagner also scored for Boston and Patrice Bergeron netted on the shorthand in the third period. Jaroslav Halak made 34 saves for the hosts, who have won their last eight at home. They also lead  the Toronto Maple Leafs by 3pts for second in the Atlantic Division.

Bergeron passed Wayne Cashman for sixth place on Boston’s points list with 794 and Halak is now 5-0-2 in his past seven games.

The first period was full of old style hockey hits and numerous fights. Carolina’s Micheal Ferland made a perfectly timed, shoulder-to-shoulder hit on Marcus Johansson, before dropping the gloves and fighting with David Backes.

Johansson didn’t return to the game after sustaining an upper-body injury, most likely a dislocated shoulder from the hit. Micheal Ferland also sustained an upper-body injury in the first period and did not return.

Up Next:

Jets v Canes – Friday, March 8th (7:30pm)

Panthers v Bruins – Thursday, March 7th (7pm)

 

2-1 (SO)

Cam Atkinson and Artemi Panarin scored in the shootout as the Columbus Blue Jackets won for the first time in three games.

Atkinson scored early in the first period and Sergei Bobrovsky made 29 saves in his eighth start for Columbus, who moved into the second wild card slot in the east, well for a few hours anyway. It didn’t last long as the Montreal Canadiens defeated the L.A. Kings to move back into that second wild card position.

Bobrovsky made the save on Blake Coleman and Drew Stafford in the shootout.

Travis Zajac scored in regulation, and Cory Schneider made 17 saves for the Devils, who have lost four in succession.

SHOOTOUT

** Winning Shot

Up Next:

Blue Jackets v Penguins – Thursday, March 7th (7pm – NBCSN)

Devils v Capitals – Friday, March 8th (7pm)

 

Ottawa Senators v New York Islanders

4-5 (SO)

Barry Trotz became just the fourth coach in NHL history to win 800 games as his New York Islanders defeated the Ottawa Senators 5-4 in a shootout.

The Stanley Cup winning head coach joins Scotty Bowman (1,244), Joel Quenneville (890) and Ken Hitchcock (841) as the only coach with 800 NHL victories.

Brock Nelson, Devon Toews, Anders Lee and Ross Johnston scored for the Isle, who moved into a tie with the Washington Capitals for top spot in the Metropolitan Division.

Robin Lehner mad 21 saves before having to leave the game with 4:40 remaining after a collision with Brady Tkachuk. Thomas Greiss made two saves in relief. 

Mathew Barzal and Jordan Eberle were the only to convert their penalties in the shootout. Greiss made saves against Bobby Ryan and Thomas Chabot.

Brain Gibbons, Oscar Lindberg, Zack Smith and Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored, and Craig Anderson made 34 saves for the Senators, who have lost eight of their last nine.

SHOOTOUT

** Winning Shot

Up Next:

Islanders v Senators – Thursday, March 7th (7:30pm)

 

Florida Panthers v Pittsburgh Penguins

2-3 (OT)

Jake Guentzel scored one in regulation and another 2:44 into overtime to hand the Pittsburgh Penguins a much needed 3-2 victory over the Florida Panthers.

Sid Crosby had three points (1g, 2a), including his 1,200th in the NHL and Matt Murray made 32 saves for the Penguins, who are 7-2-2 in their last 11 and hold the first wild card from the Eastern Conference.

Of the 48 players in NHL history to record 1,200 regular-season points, Sid Crosby required the 11th fewest games to reach the milestone (927).

The Canadian wasn’t the only one having a special day for Pittsburgh, forward Matt Cullen became the second American-born player to play 1,500 NHL games – Chris Chelios played 1,651 games from 1984-2010. In honor of this achievement, his teammates each wore a No.7 jersey with his name on the back during the pregame warmups.

Henrik Borgstrom and Vincent Trocheck scored, Mike Hoffman recorded two assists and Roberto Luongo made 34 saves for the Panthers, who have lost five in a row and trail the Canadiens by 11pts for the second wild card from the East.

Up Next:

Panthers v Bruins – Thursday, March 7th (7pm)

Blue Jackets v Penguins – Thursday, March 7th (7pm – NBCSN)

 

Winnipeg Jets v Tampa Bay Lightning

2-5

Nikita Kucherov had two assists to tie the Tampa Bay Lightning record for most points in a season with a 5-2 victory over the Winnipeg Jets.

The Russian is the NHL leader in points with 108 (31g, 77a) and ties with Vincent Lecavalier (56g, 52a in 2006/07).

Tampa, who are 12-1-0 in their last 13, lead the NHL with 106pts and lead the Boston Bruins by 17pts for first in the Atlantic Division. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 29 saves for his 10th successive win.

The Bolts have outscored opponents 56-26 in their past 13 games and are the first team in NHL history to feature multiple goaltenders each with a win streak of 10+ games in a season.

Blake Wheeler and Jacob Trouba scored for the Jets, who, on entering the game, had a one-point lead on the Nashville Predators for top spot in the Central Division. They now trail them by 1pt.

Connor Hellebuyck made 32 saves for Winnipeg and left the game briefly in the second period after a shot from Kucherov hit him in the mask. Laurent Brossoit gave up a goal on two shots in relief.

 

Up Next:

Jets v Canes – Friday, March 8th (7:30pm)

Wild v Lightning – Thursday, March 7th (7:30pm)

 

Minnesota Wild v Nashville Predators

4-5 (SO)

Viktor Arvidsson had a goal and an assist as the Nashville Predators recovered to defeat the Minnesota Wild 5-4 in the shootout.

Ryan Johansen scored the deciding goal in the fourth round of the shootout after Kevin Fiala tied it 4-4 for the Wild.

Craig Smith, Brian Boyle and Roman Josi scored and Pekka Rinne made 29 saves for Nashville, who defeated Minnesota in a shootout for the second time in three days. The result sees them lead the Winnipeg Jets by a point for top spot in the Central Division.

Fiala scored twice against his former team, Pontus Aberg and Eric Fehr also scored, and Devan Dubnyk made 21 saves for the Wild, who lead the Arizona Coyotes by 3pts for the second wild card place in the Western Conference.

Up Next:

Wild v Lightning – Thursday, March 7th (7:30pm)

Canes v Predators – Saturday, March 9th (8pm)

 

New York Rangers v Dallas Stars

0-1

Ben Bishop made 28 saves for his fourth shutout this season and 28th of his NHL career, to help the Dallas Stars secure a 1-0 victory over the New York Rangers.

John Klingberg scored for the Stars, who have won three in a row and lead the Minnesota Wild by 1pt for the first wild card from the Western Conference.

Klingberg is the fourth defenseman in Dallas/North Stars history to score the winning goal in consecutive games. The others; Lou Nanne (Dec 26-28, ’73), Paul Cavallini (Nov 20-21, ’93), Trevor Daley (Dec 10-13, 2011).

Alexander Georgiev made 31 saves for the Rangers, who have lost five consecutively. They are 14pts behind the Montreal Canadiens for the second wild card spot in the East.

Up Next:

Rangers v Red Wings – Thursday, March 7th (7:30pm)

Avalanche v Stars – Thursday, March 7th (8:30pm)

 

Detroit Red Wings v Colorado Avalanche

3-4 (OT)

Nathan MacKinnon scored 2:29 into overtime to win it for the Colorado Avalanche, who rallied for a 4-3 comeback win over the Detroit Red Wings.

Mikko Rantanen had a goal and two assists, MacKinnon and Tyson Barrie each had a goal and an assist, and Semyon Varlamov made 20 saves for the Avs, who had lost two in a row and are 2pts behind Minnesota for the second wild card from the Western Conference.

Filip Zadina scored his first NHL goal, whilst Danny DeKeyser and Niklas Kronwall, who hadn’t played since December, scored and Jonathan Bernier made 30 saves for Detroit, who have been outscored 37-20 in their eight-game losing streak (0-5-3).

Up Next:

Rangers v Red Wings – Thursday, March 7th (7:30pm)

Avalanche v Stars – Thursday, March 7th (8:30pm)

 

Anaheim Ducks v Arizona Coyotes

3-1

Jakob Silfverberg, Adam Henrique and Troy Terry scored for the Anaheim Ducks to secure a 3-1 victory over the Arizona Coyotes.

Ryan Miller made 22 saves for the Ducks, won won their second in a row and ended the Coyotes’ six-game winning streak.

Anaheim’s Ryan Kessler played his 1,000th NHL game.

Lawson Crouse scored the lone goal and Darcy Kuemper made 28 saves for the hosts, who haven’t won seven in a row since February 2011, are 3pts behind the Minnesota Wild for the second wild card from the Western Conference.

Kuemper lost for the first time in his past eight starts.

Up Next:

Blues v Ducks – Friday, March 8th (10pm – NBCSN)

Flames v Coyotes – Thursday, March 7th (9pm)

 

Montreal Canadiens v Los Angeles Kings

3-1

Carey Price tied Jacques Plante for most wins by a goalie in Montreal Canadiens history (314) with a 3-1 victory over the L.A. Kings.

Price, who is 314-220-67 in 12 season with the Canadiens, made 26 saves. Plante, a Hockey Hall of Famer, went 314-133 with 107 ties for the Canadiens.

Brendan Gallagher scored for the fourth game in a row, Shea Weber and Jordan Weal also netted for Montreal, who are tied in points with the Pittsburgh Penguins for the first wild card in the Eastern Conference and lead the Columbus Blue Jackets by two points for the second wild card.

Matt Luff scored a late consolation and Jonatan Quick made 21 saves for L.A., who are 1-7-4 in their last 12.

Up Next:

Canadiens v Sharks – Thursday, March 7th (10:30pm – ESPN+)

Blues v Kings – Thursday, March 7th (10:30pm)

 

KEY

 

ALL TIMES U.S. EASTERN