Kukla's Korner Hockey

Kukla's Korner Hockey

NHL Short Notes

03/22/2018 at 7:59am EDT

NHL MORNING SKATE

WEDNESDAY’S RESULTS

Home Team in Caps

Arizona 4, BUFFALO 1

PITTSBURGH 5, Montreal 3

ST. LOUIS 2, Boston 1 (OT)

Anaheim 4, CALGARY 0

BRUINS EARN POINT TO CLINCH POSTSEASON BERTH
The Bruins (45-17-10, 100 points) earned a point in an overtime loss to the Blues to become the third team overall and second in the Eastern Conference to clinch a berth in the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs.


* The Bruins, who clinched a postseason berth for the second consecutive campaign and 71st time in franchise history, will make their ninth trip to the Stanley Cup Playoffs in the last 11 seasons – including a Stanley Cup championship in 2010-11 and a trip to the Stanley Cup Final in 2012-13.

* Boston also reached 100 points for the first time since 2013-14 – when the club captured its second Presidents’ Trophy. TheBruins have reached the 100-point mark for the 22nd time in franchise history, more than any other NHL team.


CROSBY, MALKIN POWER PENGUINS TO VICTORY
Sidney Crosby (1-1—2) and Evgeni Malkin (1-1—2) were among four Pittsburgh skaters to record multiple points as thePenguins (42-27-5, 89 points) earned their fourth consecutive victory at PPG Paints Arena to move within two points of the idle Capitals (42-24-7, 91 points) for first place in the Metropolitan Division.

* Crosby – who scored a highlight-reel goal that saw him juggle the puck in midair – collected an assist to become the 53rd player in NHL history to reach 700 career assists. He is just the third active NHL player to hit the mark behind Joe Thornton (1,030) andHenrik Sedin (824). Mario Lemieux (1,033) is the only other player in Penguins franchise history to reach the mark.


* Evgeni Malkin (41-50—91), who sits in a tie for second place in the Art Ross Trophy race with Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon(38-53—91), eclipsed the 90-point and 50-assist mark for the first time since 2011-12 (50-59—109 in 75 GP). The Penguins are the only team to have three players record at least 50 assists this season (Crosby: 55, Phil Kessel: 53 and Malkin: 50).

* Derick Brassard scored his second goal since joining Pittsburgh to become the sixth Penguins player to reach the 20-goal mark this season, one ahead of the Lightning, Golden Knights and Blackhawks (five apiece) for the League lead.

DUCKS, BLUES CLIMB WESTERN CONFERENCE STANDINGS
The Ducks (38-24-12, 88 points) and Blues (40-28-5, 85 points) both secured wins on Wednesday to leapfrog teams in the Western Conference playoff race:

* Ryan Getzlaf (0-2—2) and Francois Beauchemin (1-1—2) each recorded multi-point games and John Gibson (29 saves) earned his fourth shutout of the season to guide the Ducks to their fourth consecutive victory. With the win, Anaheim passed Los Angeles (40-27-7, 87 points) for third place in the Pacific Division. The Ducks have four divisional games remaining this season, including one against the Kings (March 30 vs. LAK).


* Jaden Schwartz (2-0—2) tied the game in the third period and scored 30 seconds into overtime to lift the Blues to a 5-1-0 record in their past six contests. St. Louis rallied from a third period deficit to win for the third consecutive game, all of which have been decided in overtime. This marks the first time in Blues history the team has won three consecutive regular season games in overtime and the first time in franchise history they have won three consecutive games in which they trailed in the third period. With the win, St. Louis passed Dallas (38-28-8, 84 points) in the Western Conference standings and moved within two points of the Kings for the final Wild Card spot.


KELLER CONTINUES IMPRESSIVE ROOKIE CAMPAIGN
Rookie Clayton Keller (0-2—2) assisted on two of four Arizona goals to help the Coyotes (25-37-11, 61 points) improve to 7-3-1 in their last 11 contests. Keller notched his 11th multi-point game of the season to push his totals to 20-35—55 and tie Canucks forward Brock Boeser (29-26—55 in 62 GP) for third in rookie scoring.

* Keller’s 35 assists and 55 points are the most by a Coyotes rookie since the team moved to Arizona in 1996-97, surpassing marks set by Max Domi (34 assists in 2015-16) and Peter Mueller (22-32—54 in 2007-08).

QUICK CLICKS

· GMs propose to have NHL Situation Room decide goalie interference

· NHLPA agrees to recommended change to Rule 78.7 (II)

· Monique Lamoureux-Morando joins NHL Network as studio analyst

· Jim Rutherford excited for chance to three-peat with Penguins (via Dan Rosen)

· Mike Fisher of Predators feeling good during comeback (via Mike Zeisberger)


SNEAK PEEK AT THURSDAY’S ACTION

NBC Sports Channel Finder | Sportsnet Channel Finder | NHL Network Channel Finder

GOLDEN KNIGHTS AIM FOR HISTORIC 100-POINT SEASON

The Golden Knights (47-21-5, 99 points) look to become the first team in NHL history to reach 100 points in its inaugural season when they visit the Sharks (41-23-9, 91 points), who have won five consecutive games, in a battle between the top two teams in the Pacific Division. The current benchmark for fewest NHL seasons to reach 100 points is three, set by the Oilers in 1981-82. Excluding teams to merge from the WHA, the record for fewest seasons to reach 100 points is four, set by the Islanders in 1975-76.

BLUE JACKETS LOOK TO PUSH WIN STREAK TO TEN

The Blue Jackets (41-28-5, 87 points) look to extend their winning streak to 10 games when they host the Panthers (37-27-7, 81 points). Columbus can become just the third team this season to record a 10-game winning streak (COL: 10-0-0 from Dec. 29 – Jan. 22; NSH: 10-0-0 from Feb. 19 – March 8). Prior to March 4, when the Blue Jackets started their current run, they sat just outside a playoff spot and tied - in terms of points - with the Hurricanes for the final wild card position in the Eastern Conference. They now rank third in the Metropolitan Division with a six-point buffer over Florida – who sit one point back of the Devils (37-28-8, 82 points) for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

thanks to the NHL PR department for the information above

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Paul Kukla founded Kukla’s Korner in 2005 and the site has since become the must-read site on the ‘net for all the latest happenings around the NHL.

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