* The reigning Art Ross Trophy and Conn Smythe Trophy winners each had three points as the Oilers and Avalanche both improved their chances of clinching a berth in the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
* The Hurricanes scored a March Madness-esque buzzer-beating tying goal and Sebastian Aho capped his hat trick with an overtime winner as Carolina prevented Philadelphia from completing the upset.
* Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand of the League-leading Bruins both factored on the same goal twice to reach the top of an all-time franchise list Saturday.
McDAVID RECORDS 20TH THREE-POINT GAME OF SEASON
Connor McDavid (1-2—3) was one of four Oilers skaters to record a three-point outing, including Evander Kane who recorded his sixth career hat trick, while Zach Hyman secured his first 30-goal season to help the Oilers (39-23-8, 86 points) move within four points of the Kings (40-20-10, 90 points) for second in the Pacific Division.
* McDavid, who tallied his NHL-leading 40th multi-point outing Saturday, became the sixth player in NHL history to record 40-plus multi-point games in consecutive seasons, joining Wayne Gretzky (12 from 1979-80–1990-91), Phil Esposito (4 from 1970-71–1973-74), Guy Lafleur (4 from 1976-77–1979-80), Marcel Dionne (3 from 1978-79–1980-81) and Mario Lemieux (2 from 1987-88–1988-89).
* Hyman (30 years, 282 days) became the second-oldest Oilers player to record a 30-goal season, behind Ryan Smyth who scored his 30th on Feb. 22, 2007 at 31 years and one day old. Hyman also became the fourth Oilers player to reach the mark in 2022-23, marking their first campaign since 1989-90 to feature at least four 30-goal scorers.
* Stuart Skinner made 33 saves to earn his 29th career win and surpass Grant Fuhr for the most by a rookie in Oilers history. Skinner also leads all rookies in wins this season with 22.
MAKAR, MacKINNON HELP AVALANCHE MUSTER THEIR FIFTH STRAIGHT WIN
Nathan MacKinnon (1-2—3) recorded his fifth career 30-goal campaign and Cale Makar (0-3—3) notched his 11th career three-assist game – and fourth of the season – to guide the Avalanche (40-22-6, 86 points) to their fifth straight win as well as their 10th consecutive victory against the Red Wings.
* Makar boosted his 2022-23 totals to 16-45—61 (55 GP) and registered his consecutive 60-point campaign (also 28-58—86 in 2021-22). Only two other active defensemen have had multiple 60-point seasons at age 24 younger: Erik Karlsson (3x; 2011-12, 2013-14 & 2014-15) and Quinn Hughes (2021-22 & 2022-23).
* Colorado, which owns the NHL’s longest active win streak, has gone 21-9-3 since Jan. 1 – a date that saw the club begin the new year 11 points behind top-seeded Dallas in the Central Division. The second-place Avalanche, now with two games in hand, trail the division-leading Stars (38-19-13, 89 points) by only three points.
CANES MOVE THREE POINTS AHEAD OF DEVILS; RANGERS CLIMB WITHIN FIVE OF THEM
The Metropolitan Division-leading Hurricanes (45-15-8, 98 points) rallied past the Flyers to move three points ahead of the second-place Devils (44-18-7, 95 points), while New York (40-19-10, 90 points) blanked Pittsburgh to climb within five points of New Jersey:
* Martin Necas (1-1—2) notched a tying goal with less than a second remaining in regulation and Sebastian Aho completed the hat trick at 0:28 of overtime as Carolina stunned the hosts at Wells Fargo Center. Necas became the third player in Hurricanes/Whalers franchise history to tie a game in the final second of regulation, following Jeff Skinner (March 8, 2016) and Dave Keon (Oct. 19, 1980). Aho (30-28—58 in 61 GP) became the fifth player in club history with four or more 30-goal seasons, joining Eric Staal (5), Geoff Sanderson (4), Blaine Stoughton (4) and Pat Verbeek (4).
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* Igor Shesterkin stopped all 33 shots he faced to record the 10th shutout of his NHL career and Patrick Kane collected two assists as the Rangers extended their point streak to six games (5-0-1). Kane (449-783—1,232 in 1,169 GP) reached 1,232 career points and tied Phil Housley (338-894—1,232 in 1,495 GP) for second place on the League’s all-time list among U.S.-born players. Mike Modano (561-813—1,374 in 1,499 GP) ranks first with 1,374.
* New Jersey fell to Florida (35-27-7, 77 points), with the Panthers potting four unanswered goals to overcome a 2-0 deficit and move within one point of the Penguins (34-25-10, 78 points) who occupy the final Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference. Aleksander Barkov (238-375—613 in 651 GP) had 1-1—2 to reach 613 points in his NHL career and tie former teammate Jonathan Huberdeau (198-415—613 in 671 GP) for the most in franchise history.
WINS BY OTHER DIVISION-LEADING TEAMS FEATURED IN #NHLSTATS: LIVE UPDATES
Saturday’s edition of #NHLStats: Live Updates featured more notes from the 13-game slate, including victories by the first-place Bruins and Central Division-leading Stars:
* David Pastrnak (47-45—92 in 68 GP) moved within three tallies of becoming the Bruins’ first 50-goal scorer since Cam Neely in 1993-94 (50 in 49 GP) as League-leading Boston (52-11-5, 109 points) captured its 52nd win of the season. Patrice Bergeron (1-1—2) and Brad Marchand (0-3—3) both factored on the same goal for the 407th and 408th time in the regular season to pass Phil Esposito and Ken Hodge (406x) for sole possession of the highest such total by a pair of teammates in franchise history.
* Jason Robertson scored the overtime winner to cap a back-and-forth contest in Calgary as Dallas (38-19-13, 89 points) maintained its three-point lead atop the Central Division. Robertson (41-47—88 in 70 GP) tallied earlier in the game to record his second straight 40-goal season.
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QUICK CLICKS
* Bruins give video coaches Mat Myers, Sean Andrake game puck Saturday
* Kraken fan Isola Fiddick attends game after finding bone marrow donor
* Sophie Jaques becomes first Black winner of Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award
* Anthony Duclair meets Future backstage, gifts rapper Panthers jersey
* Lightning honor Phil Esposito, Vincent Lecavalier, Martin St. Louis with new Hall of Fame
Photo via @TBLightning
QUICK EYES PIECE OF U.S. HISTORY IN AFTERNOON ACTION
Jonathan Quick and the Golden Knights (42-21-6, 90 points) continue their playoff push in a contest against the Blue Jackets (21-40-7, 49 points) at T-Mobile Arena. Quick, with 374 career victories to date, sits one shy of passing John Vanbiesbrouck (374) for sole possession of second most by a U.S.-born goaltender in NHL history.
