Kukla's Korner Hockey

Kukla's Korner Hockey

NHL Short Notes

01/31/2015 at 10:45am EST

IGINLA RECORDS 1,200TH CAREER POINT IN WIN OVER PREDATORS
Jarome Iginla (1-0—1) recorded the 1,200th point of his NHL career in the Colorado Avalanche’s 3-0 shutout win over the Nashville Predators. The Avalanche improved to 21-18-11 (53 points) this season, two points behind the Calgary Flames, who currently hold the final wild card spot in the Western Conference. Colorado extended its season-high home winning streak to four straight games and is 6-1-0 in its last seven games at the Pepsi Center.

* With his team-leading 16th goal of the season, Iginla became the 47th player in NHL history to record 1,200 points (576-624—1,200) and tied Dino Ciccarelli for 46th on the NHL’s all-time points list. With 576 career goals, Iginla is only one shy of tying Mark Recchi for 19th on the NHL’s all-time goals list.

* Iginla has scored in three consecutive games and netted a team-high seven goals in the month of January. Additionally, Iginla has recorded 60 points (35-25—60) in 55 career games against Nashville, the second-most points all-time against the Predators franchise, trailing only Pavel Datsyuk (71 points).

* Semyon Varlamov stopped all 23 shots he faced to record his fourth shutout of the season, which tied a career-high set during the 2011-12 season. Varlamov has started in 14 of the club’s last 15 games and improved to 8-4-2 during this span. He finished the month of January with a record of 7-3-2, a 2.06 goals-against average and .938 save percentage.

* Nathan MacKinnon (0-2—2) posted his fourth multi-assist game and is tied for third on the club in helpers this season (20). Maxime Talbot (1-0—1) opened the scoring with his fourth goal which also stood as his first game-winning goal of the season.

SHARP’S FOUR ASSISTS POWER CHICAGO TO WIN OVER ANAHEIM
Patrick Sharp (0-4—4) assisted on all four Chicago Blackhawks goals in their 4-1 win over the Anaheim Ducks. The Blackhawks improved to 31-16-2 (64 points) this season, which includes a record of 20-11-1 versus Western Conference opponents and 8-4-1 versus Pacific Division opponents.

* This matched a career-high assist total for Sharp and was the third time in his career that he has posted four assists; his last such performance was on Nov. 9, 2013 when he also recorded four helpers in a 5-2 win over the Dallas Stars. Sharp has recorded nine points (1-8—9) in his last five games.

* Patrick Kane (2-1—2) scored twice and added his 31st assist to record his eighth three-point game of the season. Kane, who has nine points (5-4—9) in his last five games, is second among League-leaders in points this season (25-31—56).

* With his seventh goal of the season, Duncan Keith (1-0—1) brought his career point total to 400 points (72-328—400) and extended his point streak to four games (1-3—4). The marker also stood as the first game-winning goal of the season for Keith, who leads club defensemen in points (7-23—30) this season.

* Corey Crawford stopped all but one of 22 shots he faced to improve to 19-11-2 this season with a 2.28 goals-against average and a .920 save percentage. With the victory, Crawford also improved to 9-4-1 in 14 career games against Anaheim.

HIGGINS LEADS CANUCKS OVER SABRES
Chris Higgins (1-1—2) posted his fifth multi-point performance of the season to lead the Vancouver Canucks to a 5-2 win over the Buffalo Sabres. The Canucks improved to 27-17-3 (57 points) this season, one point behind the second place San Jose Sharks in the Pacific Standings. Vancouver holds two games in hand on San Jose.

* Christopher Tanev (0-2—2) and Henrik Sedin (0-2—2) each recorded two assists to post their second and sixth multi-assist performances of the season, respectively. H. Sedin’s two helpers brought his season total to 31, allowing him to tie his brother Daniel Sedin for the club-lead in both assists and points (9-31—40).

* Yannick Weber (1-0—1) and Nick Bonino (1-0—1) both scored their first power-play goals of the season. Bonino’s tally was his club-leading fifth game-winning goal of the season.

* Ryan Miller made 20 saves against his former team to improve to 24-11-1 this season with a 2.32 goals-against average and a .917 save percentage.

ST. LOUIS AND PITTSBURGH EARN WINS IN EXTRA TIME
St. Louis Blues defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk (shootout-winner) and Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Simon Despres (overtime-winner) helped lead their clubs to victory over the Carolina Hurricanes and the New Jersey Devils, respectively.

* The Blues’ first win in Carolina since Oct. 28, 2009 improved their record to 31-13-4 (66 points) this season and extended their season-best point streak to 10 games (9-0-1). According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the last time the Blues earned a point in 10 or more straight games was Dec. 19, 2013 to Jan. 9, 2014 when they also posted a record of 9-0-1 through 10 games.

* Shattenkirk has converted on both of his shootout attempts this season, which have both stood as game-deciding goals. In fact, his other shootout-winner this season came in a 5-4 victory against the Nashville Predators on Thursday.

* Jake Allen made 26 saves through 65 minutes and additionally stopped all three Carolina shooters in the shootout to record his third straight win. Allen improved to 14-5-2 this season with a 2.61 goals-against average and a .902 save percentage. He improved to 3-1 in shootout scenarios and has stopped 13 of 16 shots for a .769 shootout save percentage.

* David Backes (1-0—1) scored his 17th goal of the season and extended his career-best point streak to nine games (8-8—16) which is also the League’s longest active point streak.

* Ryan Reaves (1-0—1) opened the scoring early in the first period with his career-high fifth goal of the season. Reaves has scored in consecutive games for the second time in his career; he also scored in back-to-back games Jan.12-13, 2011.

* According to Elias, Carolina Hurricanes' Cam Ward recorded the longest relief appearance by a goaltender without allowing a goal in NHL history. Ward replaced starter, Anton Khudobin, at the 3:25 mark of the first period after Khudobin had allowed two goals. Ward stopped all 29 shots he faced over the final 61:35 of regulation time and overtime, but he was beaten once in the shootout which earned the Blues a 3-2 win. The longest previous goalless relief outing by an NHL netminder was 60:05 by the Red Wings' Bob Essensa against Washington on March 25, 1994. Essensa relieved Chris Osgood with Detroit trailing, 2-0, at 4:55 of the first period and he played 60:05 while turning aside 14 shots in a game which ended in a 2-2 tie.

* Despres’ overtime goal, which was also the first game-winner of his career, allowed the Penguins to improve to 28-13-8 (64 points) this season. They are one point behind the Metropolitan Division-leading New York Islanders.

* Facing a 1-0 deficit late in the third period, Chris Kunitz (1-0—1) tied the score on a power-play with his 15th goal of the season. The marker was the eighth power-play goal of the season for Kunitz, who also skated in his 700th career NHL game.


* According to the Elias Sports Bureau, this was the first time in franchise history that the Penguins won a game in which they trailed while being shut out with less than five minutes remaining in the third period. Their latest previous comeback win of that kind was a 2-1 victory against the Flyers in Pittsburgh on March 24, 2013. Sidney Crosby’s goal at the 13:46 mark of the third period tied the score in that game at 1-1, and Tyler Kennedy won it for the Penguins with a goal in overtime.

* Kris Letang (0-2—2) recorded his ninth multi-assist game of the season, which brought his career assist total to 206 and allowed him to pass Sergei Gonchar for sole possession of fifth on the franchise’s all-time assists list among defensemen. Letang leads Pittsburgh blueliners in assists (30) and points (9-30—39) this season.

* Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 13 of 14 shots he faced to improve to 23-10-5 this season with a 2.32 goals-against average and a .920 save percentage.

DID YOU KNOW?
Letang has recorded 16 points (1-15—16) in the month of January and established a new career-high for assists (15) in a calendar month.

* Letang’s 16 points are the third-most amassed by a Pittsburgh defenseman in January after Paul Coffey posted 7-15—22 in Jan. 1989 and 5-12—17 in Jan. 1990.

* Letang is the first Penguins blueliner to record 15 assists in a single calendar month since Norm Maciver also recorded 15 assists in Nov. 1995.

* Letang is the first Pittsburgh defenseman to record 16 points in a single calendar month since Dick Tarnstrom recorded 5-11—16 in March 2004.

LOOSE PUCKS
New Jersey forward Steve Bernier (1-0—1) has netted four of his seven goals this season in his last five games... New Jersey goaltender Cory Schneider made a season-high 41 saves in his League-leading 43rd start of the season... New Jersey defenseman Andy Green skated in his 196th consecutive game dating to March 6, 2012 and tied Scott Stevens for second on the franchise’s longest consecutive games played list among defensemen. Stevens skated in 196 straight games with the club from Nov. 23, 1993 to Oct. 5, 1996... St. Louis defenseman Alex Pietrangelo (0-1—1) recorded the 200th point of his NHL career... St. Louis forward T.J. Oshie (0-1—1) extended his point streak to four games (3-1—4)... St. Louis forward Marcel Goc (0-1—1) registered his first point as a member of the Blues... Carolina forward Jordan Staal (0-1—1) has posted five assists in his last three games (0-5—5)... Colorado forward Matt Duchene (0-1—1) extended his point streak to a season-high four games (1-3—4)... Buffalo forward Chris Stewart (2-0—2) posted his first multi-goal performance of the season via two power-play markers.... Anaheim forward Patrick Maroon (0-1—1) extended his point streak to a career-high six games (4-4—8).

SNEAK PEEK AT SATURDAY’S ACTION
All Times Eastern
Washington @ Montreal, 1:00 p.m., NHLN-US, SN, RDS, CSN-DC
NY Islanders @ Detroit, 2:00 p.m., MSG+, FS-D
Arizona @ Ottawa, 3:00 p.m., RDS2, TSN5
Los Angeles @ Boston, 7:00 p.m., NHLN-US, TVA, SN, FS-W, NESN
Florida @ New Jersey, 7:00 p.m., FS-F, MSG+
Carolina @ NY Rangers, 7:00 p.m., FS-CR, MSG
Toronto @ Philadelphia, 7:00 p.m., CBC, CSN-PH
Dallas @ Winnipeg, 7:00 p.m., CITY, TXA 21
Columbus @ Tampa Bay, 7:30 p.m., FS-O, SUN
Edmonton @ Calgary, 10:00 p.m., CBC, TVA
Chicago @ San Jose, 10:30 p.m., SN, CSN-CH, CSN-CA
NBCSN Channel Finder
Sportsnet Channel Finder

SIX GAMES HIGHLIGHT NATIONAL SCHEDULE
Six games highlight Saturday’s Hockey Night in Canada telecast: The Capitals travel to Montreal to try to end the Canadiens four-game winning streak (SN); Toronto is in Philadelphia to take on the Flyers (CBC, OMNI); the Dallas Stars visit the Winnipeg Jets (CITY); the defending champion Los Angeles Kings begin a five-game road trip in Boston against the Bruins (SN); the Battle of Alberta rivalry is renewed as the Edmonton Oilers are in Calgary to face the Flames (CBC); the Blackhawks take on the San Jose Sharks in California (SN).

the above information was provided by the NHL PR department

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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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