LUES, AVALANCHE MAKE GAINS IN WILD CARD RACE

The Blues (35-26-4, 74 points) and Avalanche (34-24-5, 73 points) secured victories on Wednesday to gain ground in the crowded Western Conference playoff race, where three teams on the outside looking in are within one point of the idle Ducks (31-21-12, 74 points) for the final Wild Card position.

* Blues captain Alex Pietrangelo (1-0—1) scored his 19th career game-winning goal while skating in his 600th NHL game to help St. Louis snap a seven-game slide (0-6-1) and move into a tie with the Ducks – in terms of points – for the final Wild Card spot in the Western Conference. Carter Hutton made 35 saves to boost his record to 16-7-2 this season and improve his NHL-best goals-against average to 1.99 and save percentage to .935 (min. 22 GP).

* Nathan MacKinnon and Tyson Barrie each collected 1-1—2 to help the Avalanche rally from a 2-0 deficit to win and move within one point of the Ducks for the final Wild Card position in the Western Conference. MacKinnon collected multiple points for the second time in as many contests to surpass 70 points in a season for the first time in his career (29-42—71 in 55 GP).

DID YOU KNOW?

MacKinnon became the 11th skater to reach the 70-point mark this season, the most through 981 games of a campaign since 2008-09 (11).

GILMOUR MAKES RANGERS HISTORY…

The Rangers (28-30-6, 62 points) surrendered 3-0, 4-3 and 5-4 leads before John Gilmour scored 1:22 into overtime to help New York snap a seven-game slide (0-6-1). Gilmour, who scored his second career goal while skating in his 10th NHL game, became the first rookie defenseman in Rangers franchise history to score a regular-season overtime goal.

* Gilmour joined the Blues’ Vince Dunn (Jan. 16 at TOR) and Bruins’ Charlie McAvoy (Feb. 27 vs. CAR) as the third rookie blueliner to score in overtime this season.

* Henrik Lundqvist matched a career high with 50 saves in the effort, a feat he first accomplished on Mar. 4, 2010. He also became the sixth goaltender to post a 50-save effort this season and third in the month of February.

. . . ROOKIE CLASS CONTINUES TO CONTRIBUTE
Canucks forward Brock Boeser (2-0—2), Islanders forward Mathew Barzal (1-0—1) and Lightning forward Yanni Gourde (0-1—1) each found the score sheet Wednesday to continue their impressive rookie campaigns.

* Boeser, who leads all rookies in goals (29-25—54 in 60 GP), sits one tally shy of becoming the third rookie in Canucks history to reach 30 goals in a season (Pavel Bure: 34 in 1991-92; Trevor Linden: 30 in 1988-89).

* Barzal collected his 18th goal to push his season totals to 18-49—67 in 64 GP. Barzal (1.05 P/GP) has held the outright lead in rookie scoring since Jan. 14 and is just the third Islanders rookie to average more than a point per game (min. 40 GP). The others: Mike Bossy (1.25 P/GP) and Bryan Trottier (1.19 P/GP).

* Gourde has collected at least one point in 12 of his last 14 games (5-11—16) and sits third in rookie scoring with 22-27—49 in 64 GP. He sits one point shy of becoming just the fourth rookie in Lightning franchise history to collect at least 50 points in a single season.

VANCOUVER TO HOST 2019 NHL DRAFT
The Vancouver Canucks will host the 2019 NHL Draft at Rogers Arena from June 21-22, 2019. The event will help the Canucks launch their 50th NHL season in 2019-20, which will include other special events to commemorate their historic milestone. Click here for more information.

QUICK CLICKS

· Family push in NHL Sled Series (via Amalie Benjamin)

· Stadium Series to salute military service, feature Naval Academy's musical ensembles

· Time lapse of Stadium Series rink build at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium

· David Poile ahead of his time, man of his word (via Scott Hartnell)

· Paul Stastny ready to help Jets soar (via Tim Campbell)

SNEAK PEEK AT THURSDAY’S ACTION

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FLYERS AIM TO EXTEND WIN/POINT STREAKS

The Flyers (34-19-10, 78 points) look to extend their win and point streaks to seven and 13 games, respectively, when they host the Hurricanes (27-25-11, 65 points) at Wells Fargo Center. Philadelphia – who sits one point behind Washington (36-21-7, 79 points) for the top spot in the Metropolitan Division – owns the longest active win (6-0-0) and point (10-0-2) streaks in the NHL.

* The Flyers, who put together a 10-game winning streak last season (10-0-0 from Nov. 27 – Dec. 14, 2016), can earn a point inmore than 12 consecutive games for the first time since a 15-game run from Dec. 12, 1998 – Jan. 13, 1999 (10-0-5).

PREDATORS, WILD LOOK FOR SIXTH STRAIGHT WIN

The Predators (39-14-9, 87 points) and Wild (36-20-7, 79 points) each look to extend their respective winning streaks to six games on Thursday.

* The Western Conference and Central Division-leading Predators aim to win six consecutive games for the first time since an equal run during the 2014-15 season (6-0-0 from Feb. 7 – 17, 2015) when they visit the Oilers. With a Nashville victory, David Poile would surpass Glen Sather (1,319) for the most regular-season wins by a general manager in NHL history.

* The Wild, who rank third in the Central Division, have won five consecutive games overall and four straight on the road. Minnesota forward Eric Staal enters the contest on a five-game point streak (7-5—12), including a goal in four consecutive games.

HALL CAN MAKE DEVILS FRANCHISE HISTORY

Devils forward Taylor Hall enters Thursday’s contest on a 15-game point streak (10-10—20) which began upon his return from a three-game absence on Jan. 30. In addition, Hall has recorded at least a point in 22 consecutive appearances (15-17—32), which amounts to every game he has dressed for in the calendar year of 2018.

* Hall can become the first player in franchise history to record a 16-game point streak – his current 15-game run equals the mark set by Patrik Elias (15-9—24 in 15 GP from Dec. 27, 1999 – Jan. 29, 2000) and matched by Brian Gionta (12-13—25 in 15 GP from Mar. 21 – April 18, 2006).

the information above was supplied by the NHL PR department