* Leon Draisaitl tallied three times three different ways to reach the 50-goal mark for the third time in his NHL career and help the Oilers clinch a berth in the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
* Andrei Vasilevskiy and the Lightning also clinched a postseason berth and will officially face the Maple Leafs in the First Round for the second time in as many years.
* Carter Verhaeghe had a career-high four goals to match a single-game franchise record and power the Panthers into a playoff spot.
* Draisaitl and Verhaeghe were two of five players with a hat trick Saturday (also David Pastrnak, Alex Tuch & Noah Gregor). It marked the sixth day in NHL history to feature five hat tricks, following Jan. 18, 1984 (7), Dec. 22, 1917 (6), March 18, 1989 (5), Jan. 18, 1922 (5) and Jan. 10, 1920 (5).
OILERS BECOME SECOND WESTERN CONFERENCE CLUB TO CLINCH POSTSEASON BERTH
Leon Draisaitl (3-0—3) and Connor McDavid (1-1—2) reached 50 goals and 146 points on the season, respectively, as the Oilers (45-23-9, 99 points) blanked the Ducks to clinch a berth in the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
* Draisaitl (50-70—120 in 75 GP) reached the 50-goal mark for the third time in his career (also 2021-22 & 2018-19) and became the fifth different player in NHL history to score 30 power-play goals in a season, while McDavid (62-84—146 in 77 GP) moved within four of becoming the League’s sixth different skater with a 150-point campaign. Click here to read some playoff #NHLStats about Edmonton, including several involving the Oilers’ dynamic duo.
LIGHTNING LOCK UP SIXTH STRAIGHT PLAYOFF BERTH, WILL FACE TORONTO IN ROUND 1
Andrei Vasilevskiy made 38 saves and Brayden Point (48-41—89 in 77 GP) pocketed 1-2—3 to move within two of his first career 50-goal NHL season as the Lightning (45-26-6, 96 points) blanked the Islanders to clinch a berth in the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
* Vasilevskiy has seven shutouts during the postseason including six in series-clinching fashion, placing him one ahead of Clint Benedict and Chris Osgood (both w/ 5) for the most in NHL history. Click here to read more #NHLStats about Tampa Bay.
* The Lightning locking up a berth in the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs also confirmed their First Round opponent with once again be the Maple Leafs (45-20-10, 100 points), who blanked the Senators to maintain their four-point edge on Tampa Bay. Click here for a few #NHLStats on their matchup.
FOUR-GOAL FRENZY BY VERHAEGHE VAULTS PANTHERS INTO PLAYOFF SPOT
Carter Verhaeghe scored four of Florida’s seven goals en route to matching a franchise record for most in game and helping the Panthers (39-31-7, 85 points) leapfrog the Penguins (37-29-10, 84 points) – who lost to the Bruins in regulation – for the second Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference. Pittsburgh (76 GP) holds one game in hand on Florida (77 GP).
* Verhaeghe (40-30—70 in 76 GP), who joined Pavel Bure (59 in 2000-01 & 58 in 1999-00) as just the second player in franchise history with a 40-goal campaign, did so thanks in part to notching three in a span of 9:05. It marked the third-fastest hat trick in Panthers history behind Noel Acciari (3:59 on Dec. 20, 2019) and Steve Reinprecht (5:11 on Oct. 30, 2009).
* Matthew Tkachuk assisted on the game-opening goal and boosted his 2022-23 totals to 38-64—102 (74 GP). He surpassed Sidney Crosby (63 in 2005-06 w/ PIT) and Artemi Panarin (63 in 2019-20 w/ NYR) for the most helpers by an active player in their first season with a franchise (NHL debut or otherwise).
SABRES, PREDATORS STILL WITHIN STRIKING DISTANCE OF PLAYOFF SPOT
Alex Tuch (3-0—3) and Luke Evangelista (1-2—3) propelled the Sabres (37-31-7, 81 points) and Predators (38-29-8, 84 points) to crucial victories in their respective Wild Card races. Buffalo sits four points from the second Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference, while Nashville is three points out in the Western Conference.
* Tuchnetted his second hat trick of the season to help his hometown Sabres keep their playoff hopes alive. Buffalo (75 GP), with fewer games played than both teams in the Eastern Conference Wild Card race (NYI: 87 points in 77 GP & FLA: 85 points in 77 GP), now travels to Florida for a pivotal contest on April 4. Tuchjoined Tage Thompson (4x) as the second Sabres player with multiple hat tricks in 2022-23.
* Evangelista put up a three-point performance and Juuse Saros made 21 saves to earn his 30th win of the season as the Predators defeated the Blues and moved within three points the idle Jets (42-31-3, 87 points), who hold the Western Conference’s final Wild Card spot, with one game in hand. Evangelista is the fourth rookie in franchise history to record multiple outings with three-plus points in the same season, following Craig Smith (4x in 2011-12), Filip Forsberg (3x in 2014-15) and Philip Tomasino (2x in 2021-22).
POINT TOTALS REACHING TRIPLE DIGITS FEATURED IN #NHLSTATS: LIVE UPDATES
Saturday’s edition of #NHLStats: Live Updates featured more notes from the 13-game slate, including one player and two teams reaching the 100-point mark:
* David Pastrnak (56-46—102 in 76 GP) tallied twice to eclipse the 100-point mark and completed the hat trick via a go-ahead goal with 2:26 remaining in regulation as the League-leading Bruins (59-12-5, 123 points) established a single-season franchise record for standings points. Pastrnak (CZE) became the fifth player to reach a triple-digit point total in 2022-23, joining Connor McDavid (CAN), Leon Draisaitl (DEU), Nikita Kucherov (RUS) and Matthew Tkachuk (USA) – it marked the first season in NHL history where each of the first five 100-point scorers had a different nationality.
* Ilya Samsonov (31 saves) recorded his fourth shutout of 2022-23 to propel the Maple Leafs (45-20-10, 100 points) to the 100-point mark in 75 games – the second-fastest pace in franchise history behind only 2021-22 (72 GP). Samsonov’s four shutouts trail only Harry Lumley (10 in 1952-53), Lorne Chabot (10 in 1928-29), Ed Belfour (7 in 2002-03) and Paul Bibeault (5 in 1943-44) for the most by a goaltender in their first season with Toronto.
* Zach Whitecloud’s winner was one of four goals scored by the Golden Knights (47-22-7, 101 points) en route to recording their second 100-point campaign. Vegas achieved its first during its inaugural season (51-24-7, 109 points in 2017-18), which also happened to be the year the Golden Knights made their historic run to the Stanley Cup Final.
LEARN ABOUT DOWD’S CROWD ON WORLD AUTISM AWARENESS DAY
On World Autism Awareness Day, we are highlighting the work Capitals forward Nic Dowd and his wife, Paige, are doing to help children with sensory needs – including Autism – enjoy NHL games in person not only in Washington but at other arenas across the League.
QUICK CLICKS
* Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Clayton Keller named NHL ‘Three Stars’ for March
* Stuart Skinner named NHL ‘Rookie of the Month’ for March
* Patrik Laine donates $52,000 and counting to combat homelessness in Columbus
* Predators wear T-shirts, jersey patches to support shooting victims
* West Lorne, Ontario wins coveted title of Kraft Hockeyville 2023
NINE-GAME SUNDAY OPENS WITH DOUBLEHEADER MATINEE
A nine-game Sunday features a matinee doubleheader broadcast on TNT, SN360 and TVA Sports as the Rangers (44-21-11, 99 points) visit the Capitals (34-33-9, 77 points) and the Blues (35-35-6, 76 points) host the Bruins (59-12-5, 123 points). Additionally, Kris Letang will skate in his 1,000th career game when the Penguins (37-29-10, 84 points) take on the state-rival Flyers (29-33-13, 71 points) at PPG Paints Arena.
* Letang (154-532—686 in 999 GP) is set to become the third player in Penguins history to skate in 1,000 games with the club – he will join longtime teammates Sidney Crosby (1,184 GP) and Evgeni Malkin (1,057 GP). Letang, Crosby and Malkin can become the second trio to all play together as teammates after each has skated in 1,000 or more games for the same franchise, following the Kings combination of Dustin Brown, Anze Kopitar and Drew Doughty. Of note, while Brent Seabrook was still with the Blackhawks at the time of Patrick Kane’s 1,000th game in 2020-21, the trio of Kane-Seabrook-Duncan Keith never played together when each had 1,000-plus outings as Seabrook’s final NHL contest was in 2019-20.
* Letang – who will become the 10th active defenseman in the NHL to hit 1,000 games – has taken a long and winding journey to reach the milestone. A recent article on NHL.com highlighted the veteran blueliner’s accomplishments and the adversity he has faced along the way ahead of the contest.
