Monday Night Hockey

We start our last week of the regular season with a busier than normal Monday; we were treated to eight games, 49 goals, one overtime and a shootout.

The Toronto Maple Leafs are also the latest team to clinch a spot in the Stanley Cup Playoffs by defeating the New York Islanders 2-1.

 

Washington Capitals v Florida Panthers

3-5

The Washington Capitals missed the chance to clinch first place in the Metropolitan Division, with a 5-3 loss to the Florida Panthers.

The Capitals lead the second-placed New York Islanders by three points with two games remaining for each side. The Isles also lost, 2-1 to the Toronto Maple Leafs, had Washington won they’d have clinched the division.

Facing a four goal deficit, thanks to goals from Frank Vatrano, Jonathan Huberdeau, Vincent Trocheck and Troy Brouwer, the Caps scored three straight goals in the third period to get within one, but the hosts held on to complete their first season series sweep of the Capitals, following victories at Capital One Arena in October (6-5 SO) and February 9 (5-4 OT).

Nicklas Backstrom, Evgeny Kuznetsov and Jakub Vrana scored for Washington, who lost for the first time in five games. Pheonix Copley, who was making his first start since March 19, made 29 saves. 

Trocheck had two goals, including an emptynetter with 27 seconds remaining, Aleksander Barkov had three assists to tie Pavel Bure‘s Panthers record of 94 points in a season, set in 1999-2000, and Roberto Luongo made 26 saves in his third consecutive start. 

Up Next:

Canadiens v Capitals – Thursday, April 4 (7pm – NBCSN)

Islanders v Panthers – Thursday, April 4 (7pm)

 

New York Rangers v New Jersey Devils

2-4

Connor Carrick broke a tie late in the third with his first goal for the New Jersey Devils in their 4-2 win over the New York Rangers.

The defenseman, who was acquired in a trade with the Dallas Stars for Ben Lovejoy in February, helped the Devils defeat the Rangers for the first time in four attempts this season.

Miles Wood, Travis Zajac and Joey Anderson (emptynetter) scored, and Mackenzie Blackwood made 30 saves for New Jersey. 

Brett Howden and Filip Chytil scored for the visitors, who are 3-3-0 in their last six games. Henrik Lundqvist made 37 saves, failing in his fifth straight start to win his 450th NHL game.

Up Next:

Senators v Rangers – Wednesday, April 3 (7:30pm)

Devils v Canes – Thursday, April 4 (7pm)

 

Toronto Maple Leafs v New York Islanders

2-1

The Toronto Maple Leafs secured a spot in the Stanley Cup Playoffs with a 2-1 win against the New York Islanders.

John Tavares scored against his former team for the first time. It has taken the forward, who signed a seven-year, $77m contract with the Leafs last summer after nine season with New York, three games to do so. It was his 46th goal of the season and 87th point, both NHL career highs. 

Calle Rosen scored his first NHL goal and Frederik Andersen made 28 saves for the Leafs, who made it to the playoffs for a third straight season.

Jordan Eberle scored, and Robin Lehner made 36 saves for the hosts, who remain three points behind first-placed Washington in the Metro Division. The Isles are two points ahead of the Pittsburgh Penguins. 

Toronto will play the Boston Bruins in the Easter Conference First Round; they trail the Bruins by four points for second place in the Atlantic.

Up Next:

Canes v Leafs – Tuesday, April 2 (7:30pm)

Islanders v Panthers – Thursday, April 4 (7pm)

 

Tampa Bay Lightning v Ottawa Senators 

5-2

The Tampa Bay Lightning became the third team in NHL history to win 60 games in one season with their 5-2 victory over the Ottawa Senators.

They join the 1976/77 Montreal Canadiens (60-8, with 12 ties) and the 1995/96 Detroit Red Wings (62-13, with 7 ties).

Nikita Kucherov had three assists and is two points way from tying the NHL single-season record for points by a Russian-born player, set in 1992/93 by Alexander Mogilny (127pts for the Buffalo Sabres).

Yanni Gourde had two goals and an assist, Mikhail Sergachev scored one and assisted one, Brayden Point and Steven Stamkos also scored, and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 22 saves for the Bolts.

Brady Tkachuk and Max Veronneau scored, and Craig Anderson made 21 saves for the Sens, who have already been eliminated from Stanley Cup Playoff contention.

Up Next:

Lightning v Canadiens – Tuesday, April 2 (7:30pm)

Senators v Rangers – Wednesday, April 3 (7:30pm)

 

Colorado Avalanche v St Louis Blues

2-3 (SO)

The St Louis Blues moved into second place in the Central Division with a 3-2 shootout win over the Colorado Avalanche.

The Blues, who have won two in a row are tied in points with the Nashville Predators, but have one more regulation/overtime win. Jordan Binnington made 24 saves for his 22nd win, tying Jake Allen (2014/15) for the most by a rookie in Blues history. 

Jaden Schwartz and Vladimir Tarasenko scored in regulation for St Louis, and Ryan O’Reilly scored the only goal of the shootout in the second round. 

The Avalanche, who are 6-0-2 in their last eight, lead the Arizona Coyotes by two points for the second western wild card.

Gabriel Landeskog scored one and assisted one, whilst Alexander Kerfoot also scored, and Philipp Grubauer made 25 saves for Colorado.

St Louis have won all four games against the Avs this season, the first time they’ve swept a season series against the Avalanche/Quebec Nordiques since 1991/92.

Up Next:

Oilers v Avalanche – Tuesday, April 2 (9pm)

Blues v Blackhawks – Wednesday, April 3 (8pm – NBCSN)

 

Winnipeg Jets v Chicago Blackhawks

4-3 (OT)

The Winnipeg Jets moved back into first place in the Central Division with a 4-3 overtime win against the Chicago Blackhawks.

Kevin Hayes scored 3:38 into overtime for Winnipeg, who are two points ahead of the Nashville Predators and St Louis Blues. All have three games remaining, but the Jets have 44 regulation and overtime wins, three more than the Blues and four more than the Preds. 

Jack Roslovic had two goals, Adam Lowry scored, and Connor Hellebuyck made 25 saves for the visitors, who have won for the first time in four games. 

Dylan Strome had two goals, Jonathan Toews had a goal and an assist, and Corey Crawford made 35 saves for Chicago, who trail the Colorado Avalanche by six points for the second western wild card. Both teams have three games remaining. Erik Gustafsson had three assists. 

Toews set a new NHL career high for points in a season with his goal. 77pts – 34 goals, 43 assists. He had 76pts (32g, 44a) in 2010/11. Patrick Kane played his 900th NHL game.

 

Up Next:

Jets v Wild – Tuesday, April 2 (8pm)

Blues v Blackhawks – Wednesday, April 3 (8pm – NBCSN)

 

Edmonton Oilers v Vegas Golden Knights

1-3

The Vegas Golden Knights ended their five-game losing streak with a 3-1 win over the Edmonton Oilers.

It was the first win since a 5-0 victory over the Winnipeg Jets on March 21, and the longest in their two seasons in the NHL for Vegas, who will play the San Jose Sharks in the Western Conference First Round.

Cody Eakin, Jonathan Marchessault and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare (emptynetter) scored, and Malcolm Subban made 18 saves for his first win in six starts.

Connor McDavid scored and Mikko Koskinen made 28 saves for Edmonton, who were eliminated from Stanley Cup Playoff contention when the Colorado Avalanche earned a point in a 3-2 shootout loss to the St Louis Blues earlier in the night. Its the second consecutive season they’ve missed the playoffs.

Up Next:

Oilers v Avalanche – Tuesday, April 2 (9pm)

Coyotes v Knights – Thursday, April 4 (10pm)

 

Calgary Flames v Los Angeles Kings

7-2

The Calgary Flames won their 50th game of the season, 7-2 against the L.A. Kings.

The only other Calgary/Atlanta Flames to reach such a feat was the team of 1988/89, who went 54-17-9.

Derek Ryan scored twice, Mark Jankowski had a goal and two assists, James Neal had a goal and an assist, and Sam Bennett, Johnny Gaudreau and Andrew Mangiapane also scored for Calgary, who have won three in succession. David Rittich made 23 saves.

Anze Kopitar had an assist in his 1,000th NHL game for the Kings, Kyle Clifford and Dustin Brown scored and Jonathan Quick was pulled in the third period after allowing seven goals on 25 shots. Jack Campbell made five saves in relief.

The result sees the already eliminated Kings’ three-game home winning streak end.

Up Next:

Flames v Ducks – Wednesday, April 3 (10:30pm)

Kings v Coyotes – Tuesday, April 2 (10pm)

 

KEY

 

ALL TIMES U.S. EASTERN