THREE HARD LAPS: QUICK HITS FROM SUNDAY

* The idle Flames celebrated St. Patrick's Day by punching their ticket to the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

* The Flyers joined company as rare as a four-leaf clover with another comeback win over the Penguins.

* Although Sunday was a global celebration of Irish culture, it was Swedish rookies who left their mark.

IDLE FLAMES CLINCH BERTH IN 2019 STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS

The idle Flames (44-21-7, 95 points) became the first Western Conference team to clinch a berth in the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs by virtue of the Islanders’ 3-2 overtime win over the Wild. Calgary will make its 29th all-time postseason appearance and first since 2017.

FLYERS DEFEAT PENGUINS AGAIN VIA ANOTHER LATE RALLY

James van Riemsdyk tied the game with 18.8 seconds remaining in regulation and Sean Couturier (1-1—2) scored with 3.4 left in overtime as the Flyers rallied past the Penguins. Philadelphia improved to 35-29-8 (78 points) this season and are six points back of Columbus (40-28-4, 84 points) for the final Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference standings.

* The Flyers’ comeback win on Sunday was 23 days after they defeated the Penguins in the 2019 Coors Light NHL Stadium Series, whereJakub Voracek tied the game with 20 seconds remaining in the third period and Claude Giroux scored the overtime winner. Philadelphia became the second team in NHL history to defeat the same opponent multiple times in a season in games where they scored a tying goal in the final 30 seconds of regulation and first since 2015-16, when Carolina earned two such wins over Ottawa (3-2 OT W on Nov. 7 and 4-3 SO W on March 8).

MacKINNON ECLIPSES 90-POINT MARK AS AVALANCHE BLANK DEVILS

Tyson Barriescored twice and Nathan MacKinnon collected 1-1—2 to help the Avalanche blank the Devils and snap a two-game slide (0-2-0). Colorado improved to 31-29-12 (74 points) this season and sit four points shy of Arizona (36-30-6, 78 points) for the final Wild Card spot in the Western Conference standings.

* MacKinnon (37-54—91 in 72 GP) eclipsed the 90-point mark for the second straight campaign (also 39-58—97 in 2017-18). He became the fifth player in Avalanche/Nordiques franchise history to reach the 90-point mark in at least two straight seasons and first since Peter Forsbergfrom 1997-98 (25-66—91 in 72 GP) to 1998-99 (30-67—97 in 78 GP).

* MacKinnon has recorded a combined 188 regular-season points since the beginning of 2017-18 (76-112—188 in 146 GP), trailing only Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov (74-143—217 in 152 GP) and Oilers captain Connor McDavid (77-136—213 in 150 GP) for the most among all players in that span.

DID YOU KNOW?

Avalanche forward Nathan MacKinnon became the seventh player to reach the 90-point mark this season. The 2018-19 campaign marked the first season to feature seven or more 90-point scorers on the day after St. Patrick's Day since 2006-07, when seven players had also reached the plateau (Sidney Crosby, Vincent Lecavalier, Joe Thornton, Marian Hossa, Martin St. Louis, Dany Heatley and Marc Savard).

SWEDISH ROOKIES PETTERSSON, DAHLIN HELP CANUCKS, SABRES SECURE WINS

Swedish rookies Elias Pettersson (27-33—60 in 61 GP) and Rasmus Dahlin (8-30—38 in 72 GP) found the score sheet on Sunday to help the Canucks and Sabres each secure shootout wins. Pettersson ranks first among all rookies in points this season, while Dahlin leads rookie defensemen in scoring.

* Pettersson collected an assist to become the first rookie to reach the 60-point mark this season. He became the third rookie in franchise history to record exactly 60 points in a season, joining two others who were also born outside of North America.

* Dahlin (born April 13, 2000) collected an assist to move into a tie with Bobby Orr (13-25—38 in 56 GP) for the second-most points in NHL history by an 18-year-old defenseman – a list topped by Sabres head coach Phil Housley, who had 57 before turning 19 (17-40—57 in 66 GP).

* Only one season in NHL history has concluded with Swedish-born players ranking first among all rookies and rookie defensmen in points; this occured in 1995-96, when Ottawa’s Daniel Alfredsson (26-35—61 in 82 GP) paced all rookies in scoring and San Jose’s Marcus Ragnarsson(8-31—39 in 71 GP) ranked first among rookie defensemen in points.

GOLDEN KNIGHTS RECORD SECOND 40-WIN SEASON

Jonathan Marchessault (2-0—2), William Karlsson (0-2—2) and Reilly Smith (0-2—2) each collected two points to help the Golden Knights (40-27-5, 85 points) reach the 40-win mark for the second time in as many NHL seasons (also 51-24-7, 109 points in 2017-18). Vegas occupies third place in the Pacific Division standings.

* The Golden Knights’ 91 combined regular-season wins are by far the most by a franchise through its first two NHL seasons, 27 more than the next-closest club.

^The St. Louis Blues had 64 combined wins at the conclusion of the 1968-69 season (64-56-30, 158 points)

QUICK CLICKS

* Connor McDavid records multiple points in eighth straight game

* Jakob Silfverberg's late goal gets Ducks past Panthers

* NHL teams break out the green for St. Patrick's Day weekend

* Jacques Plante legacy with Canadiens revisited as Carey Price passes him on wins list

SNEAK PEEK AT MONDAY’S ACTION