* Alex Ovechkin scored the first of five unanswered goals by the Capitals to spur a multi-goal comeback win and help his club earn a crucial two points against an opponent they are chasing for a playoff spot.
* Lukas Dostal stopped 52 shots, which included final-second heroics, and set a Ducks record for most saves in a victory.
* Today’s slate is highlighted by Florida facing Detroit in an ABC Hockey Saturday matinee and four Hockey Night in Canada contests, including one featuring a jersey retirement for Miikka Kiprusoff before puck drop. The Hurricanes also host the Jets in an NHL Saturday presented by Fastenal game on NHL Network as celebrations continue overseas for 2024 Hockey Day in Finland.
CAPITALS EARN COMEBACK WIN IN BIG DIVISIONAL CLASH
Alex Ovechkin started the Capitals’ multi-goal comeback by scoring the first of five unanswered goals as Washington (28-22-9, 65 points) erased a 2-0 deficit to best Philadelphia (31-23-7, 69 points) and move within four points of them for third in the Metropolitan Division. The Capitals still hold two games in hand over the Flyers.
* Ovechkin scored his 48th career goal against the Flyers, his third most against any franchise behind the Jets/Thrashers (53) and Lightning (50). It also marked his 145th goal in the month of March (245 GP), which surpassed Wayne Gretzky (144 in 260 GP) for the most by any player in NHL history.
* Ovechkin skated in his 79th career game in which his team overcame a multi-goal deficit to win, tied for the 11th most in NHL history. The list is led by Paul Coffey (98).
* Hendrix Lapierre factored on two of his club’s five goals and extended his point streak to three games after having found the score sheet in each contest since he was recalled from the AHL’s Hershey Bears on Feb. 23. The last Capitals rookie to post a run of that length was Martin Fehervary (3 GP from Feb. 2-10, 2022) and the last to record a longer one was Travis Boyd (4 GP from Dec. 6-14, 2018).
DOSTAL SETS DUCKS RECORD WITH 52-SAVE WIN
Lukas Dostal stopped 52 of 55 shots he faced, while also preventing Jack Hughes from scoring a game-tying penalty-shot goal in the final three seconds of regulation, and powered Anaheim to a 4-3 victory Friday.
* Dostal’s 52 saves were the most in a win by a goaltender in Ducks history, surpassing the previous benchmark of 51 saves established by Mikhail Shtalenkov on March 22, 1998 and later matched four other times.
* Dostal became just the eighth rookie goaltender on record to collect 52 saves in a win – his second outing of 50-plus saves in 2023-24 (55 on Jan. 3). The last rookie netminder to have multiple 50-save performances in a single season was Byron Dafoe (2x in 1995-96 w/ LAK).
COYOTES QUELL COMEBACK ATTEMPT IN LIVE UPDATES
The latest edition of #NHLStats: Live Updates featured notes from the rest of Friday’s slate which saw the Coyotes quell a three-goal comeback attempt by the Senators.
* Arizona scored three times in the opening period – capped by Nick Schmaltz’s 10th power-play goal of the season – before Ottawa netted three straight to level the game. Schmaltz then assisted on Dylan Guenther’s game winner 4:18 into the third period as the Coyotes surrendered a lead of at least three goals and won in regulation for the first time since March 15, 2022 (8-5 W), which was also against the Senators.
NHL PODCASTS WEEKLY ROUNDUP
* NHL Fantasy on Ice (2/26): Fantasy waiver wire pickups: Week 20
* NHL Fantasy on Ice (2/28): NHL | Action Network collab: Matthews for Hart Trophy?
* La Tasse de Café LNH (2/28): En route vers le repêchage 2024
* NHL @TheRink (2/29): Ken Daniels joins: Red Wings success, Tanev trade more
* NHL Fantasy on Ice (2/29): Fantasy mailbag: Week 20; guest: Jonny Lazarus
QUICK CLICKS
* Auston Matthews, Connor McDavid, Igor Shesterkin named 3 Stars of the Month for February
* Hurricanes goalie Pyotr Kochetkov named NHL Rookie of the Month for February
* Jeff Carter’s kids read Penguins starting lineup before dad’s 1,300th NHL game
* Jacob Markstrom addresses future with Flames 1 week ahead of NHL Trade Deadline
* NHL Cultural Celebrations/Community Theme Nights blog
ACTION-PACKED SATURDAY FEATURES 26 TEAMS IN ACTION
A jam-packed Saturday schedule will see 26 teams hit the ice across 12 hours of continuous action, including a showdown between the NHL-leading Panthers (40-16-4, 84 points) and division-rival Red Wings (33-21-6, 72 points) on ABC and ESPN+ at 3 p.m. ET.
* Sam Reinhart (41-30—71 in 60 GP), who ranks second in the League in goals this season, will look to help the Panthers extend their point streak against the Red Wings to 12 games (10-0-1 dating to March 30, 2021). In the process, Reinhart, who has the second-most points among all Florida players through that span, will look to tie Carter Verhaeghe (42) for the third-most goals in a season in franchise history.
* A four-game Hockey Night in Canada broadcast on Sportsnet will feature the League’s points leader and top goal scorer as Nikita Kucherov (38-66—104 in 61 GP) and the Lightning (32-24-6, 70 points) host the Canadiens (23-28-9, 55 points), while Auston Matthews and the Maple Leafs (34-17-8, 76 points) go head-to-head with the Rangers (40-17-3, 83 points).
* Kucherov, who is on pace for 138 points in 2023-24, needs two goals to become the fourth player to reach the 40-goal mark. Should he score twice against the Canadiens on Saturday, the Lightning forward would become just the second player in franchise history to record three 40-goal seasons – he would join his teammate Steven Stamkos (6).
* Matthews, who is on pace to conclude the season with the highest goal total by an NHL player in more than three decades (74), enters Saturday on the cusp of a points benchmark. The Maple Leafs forward needs two points to reach 80 in a season for the fourth time in his career and has recorded multiple points in each of his previous two games against the Rangers in 2023-24.
FLAMES TO RETIRE KIPRUSOFF’S No. 34 BEFORE FACING PENGUINS
Saturday’s Hockey Night in Canada slate also features Calgary retiring former goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff’s No. 34 during a pre-game ceremony at Scotiabank Saddledome before facing Pittsburgh. He will be the fourth player to have his number retired by the franchise, following Lanny McDonald (No. 9 on March 17, 1990), Jarome Iginla (No. 12 on March 2, 2019) and fellow goaltender Mike Vernon (No. 30 on Feb. 6, 2007).
* Kiprusoff was traded to the Flames by the Sharks on Nov. 16, 2003, and backstopped Calgary to the Stanley Cup Final that season. He won the Vezina Trophy and William M. Jennings Trophy during the following campaign after going 42-20-11 in 74 appearances with a 2.07 goals-against average, .923 save percentage and franchise-record 10 shutouts. That marked the first of his seven straight seasons with at least 70 games played, which are tied with Glenn Hall (7 from 1955-56–1961-62) for the second-longest such run in League history behind Martin Brodeur (10 from 1997-98–2007-08).
* Kiprusoff spent the final nine campaigns of his 12-season NHL career with the Flames and remains the franchise’s all-time leader for games played among goaltenders (576 GP), wins (305) and shutouts (41). His 319 career victories are the second most in League history among Finnish-born netminders behind Pekka Rinne (369).
