* It was an avalanche of accomplishments for Colorado as Nathan MacKinnon’s overtime goal secured him his first 100-point season and helped the defending Stanley Cup champions become the 12th team to clinch a postseason berth. The Avalanche sat outside the playoff bracket three months ago but have now won 27 of 40 games since Jan. 4 – the second most in the League through that span.
* Four teams in the Wild Card race between both the Eastern and Western Conference earned wins Tuesday, with the Panthers pulling off the biggest move jumping from outside the playoff picture into the first Wild Card seed in the east.
* The Hurricanes became the second team to reach the 50-win mark this season and achieved the feat for the third time in franchise history, allowing head coach Rod Brind’Amour toadd his name to a short list.
AVALANCHE CLINCH SIXTH PLAYOFF SPOT IN WESTERN CONFERENCE
Nathan MacKinnon (2-1—3) recorded his first-ever 100-point season after establishing a franchise record with his 10th career overtime goal as the defending Stanley Cup-champion Avalanche (46-24-6, 98 points) clinched a berth in the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs by collecting at least one point against the Sharks and with the Flames losing to the Blackhawks in any fashion. Colorado also took over first place in the Central Division.
* After trailing the division leader by as many as 14 points this season (Jan. 12, Jan. 13 & Jan. 15), Colorado moved into first place in the Central Division and created a three-way tie – in terms of points – among the top three teams in the division (DAL w/ 42-21-14, 98 points & MIN w/ 44-23-10, 98 points). Colorado, Dallas and Minnesota combined for the second instance in NHL history of the top three teams in a division all having the same number of points at this stage of a season (at least 90% of schedule completed). The other was in 2016-17 when the Ducks, Sharks & Oilers all had 91 points through March 25, 2017 (all w/ 74+ GP); Anaheim eventually pulled away to claim the Pacific Division.
* Colorado became the eighth consecutive reigning Stanley Cup champion to qualify for the postseason. In the NHL’s expansion era (from the 1968 Canadiens to the 2022 Avalanche), 50 of 54 champions have reached the playoffs the next season – the only exceptions in that span are the 1969 Canadiens (missed in 1969-70), 1995 Devils (missed in 1995-96), 2006 Hurricanes (missed in 2006-07) and 2014 Kings (missed in 2014-15).
* Click here to read more about the Avalanche’s sixth straight trip to the postseason – and 28th overall – as Colorado will aim to become the NHL’s fourth repeat Stanley Cup champion in the past 30 years, following the Lightning (2020 & 2021), Penguins (2016 & 2017) and Red Wings (1997 & 1998).
HERE’S WHERE THE WILD CARD RACE STANDS
The Eastern and Western Conference Wild Card races continued to intensify Tuesday, with a number of clubs picking up crucial wins:
* Alex Lyon (39 saves) outdueled former Panthers draft pick and current Sabres rookie Devon Levi (34 saves) as Florida earned a crucial regulation win against Buffalo to leapfrog the Islanders and Penguins into the first Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference. Lyon, who won the Calder Cup with the AHL’s Chicago Wolves in 2021-22 and captured the Harry Holmes Memorial Award for lowest goals-against average, earned his fourth straight victory and has posted a 1.25 goals-against average, .959 save percentage and one shutout through that span.
* David Perron (2-1—3) factored on three of his team’s five goals while Ville Husso made 24 saves to earn his fourth shutout of 2022-23 as Detroit picked up a win at Bell Centre to keep pace in the Eastern Conference Wild Card race. The last Red Wings goaltender with more in a season was Jimmy Howard (5) a decade ago.
* Matty Beniers (1-0—1) scored one of his team’s five goals as the Kraken erased a 2-0 deficit to earn their 25th road victory of the season – trailing only the Bruins (29) and Devils (27) for the most – and maintained their position in the top Wild Card spot. Beniers’ goal marked his 22nd of 2022-23, moving him past Dallas’ Wyatt Johnston and Columbus’ Kirill Marchenko (both w/ 21) for the most among all rookies.
* After Tommy Novak put Nashville up 2-0, Western Conference-leading Vegas evened the score but Novak factored on the overtime winner to help lift the Predators to their 22nd one-goal victory of the season – the Golden Knights (25) and Hurricanes (25) are the only teams with more – and move within three points of the Jets for the final Wild Card spot. Novak recorded his fifth three-point game of the season – tied with Roman Josi and Matt Duchene for the most among all Predators players.
BRIND’AMOUR AND CO. CAPTURE 50TH WIN OF 2022-23
The Metropolitan Division-leading Hurricanes (50-18-9, 109 points) withstood a multi-goal comeback as Martin Necas scored his fourth overtime goal of the season with 41 seconds remaining in the extra frame to lift Carolina to its 50th win.
* The Hurricanes have captured 50 wins in a season for the third time in franchise history and second under head coach Rod Brind’Amour (also 54 in 2021-22). Only two head coaches in NHL history have had more 50-win campaigns within their first five career seasons behind the bench.-05023832.png)
* Brind’Amour has also been gaining coaching experience working as an assistant coach alongside his former teammate, Justin Williams for the 11-and-under Junior Canes – a team that includes Brind’Amour’s son, Brooks, Williams’ daughter, Jade, and Brent Burns’ son, Jagger. Brind’Amour, who has expressed that coaching minor hockey has brought him great joy despite sometimes receiving “eye rolls” from 11-year-olds, is hands-on in gym and video sessions while also watching games and practices online when he can’t be there in person.
DRAISAITL’S THREE-POINT NIGHT HELPS OILERS REACH 100 POINTS IN 2022-23
Leon Draisaitl (1-2—3) collected his second consecutive three-point game and pushed his point streak to 13 games (10-17—27), while Ryan Nugent-Hopkins became Edmonton’s fourth player to score 15 power-play goals in 2022-23 as the Oilers (46-23-9, 101 points) secured their second straight 100-point campaign and leapfrogged the Kings (45-23-10, 100 points) for second in the Pacific Division.
* Draisaitl can match a number of personal feats when he takes the ice again Wednesday against the Ducks. He can tie the longest point streak of his career (14 GP in 2018-19) and can record three-plus points in three straight games for just the second time, after first doing so last season (3 GP from Nov. 1-5, 2021).
GREAVES SETS FRANCHISE RECORD IN #NHLSTATS: LIVE UPDATES
The Tuesday edition of #NHLStats: Live Updates featured notes from the full 11-game slate, including Columbus netminder Jet Greaves stopping 46 shots to set a Blue Jackets record for most saves in a goaltender’s first career game with the club.
* Greaves, who hails from Cambridge, Ont., around 60 miles from Toronto, made his debut in front of friends and family at Scotiabank Arena – a place that made him aspire to play in the NHL after going to watch the Maple Leafs play there as a teenager.
QUICK CLICKS
* CHEL Intel – Issue No. 10
* Patrick Kane talks being comfortable after trade to Rangers in Q&A with NHL.com
* Islanders home becoming leader in environmental sustainability
* Women’s hockey exhibit opens at Hall of Fame ahead of World Championship
* Bruins-Penguins game on April 1 draws biggest viewership on ABC this season
THE WILD, WILD WEST: WILD CARD MATCHUP READY FOR NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT
The Jets (43-31-3, 89 points) and Flames (36-27-15, 87 points) will go head-to-head in a contest broadcast nationally in Canada as the race for the final Wild Card spot in the Western Conference intensifies – a day after five teams battled it out for positioning in the Eastern Conference. Winnipeg has held a playoff position for 165 of 180 days this season and every day since Oct. 27, 2022.
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