Kukla's Korner Hockey

Kukla's Korner Hockey

NHL Short Notes

02/02/2015 at 10:30am EST

STEEN, OSHIE KEEP BLUES HOT . . .
Alexander Steen (2-1—3) and T.J. Oshie (0-3—3) both registered three points to help the Blues extend their point streak to 11 games (10-0-1), one shy of the franchise record last achieved Nov. 24 – Dec. 26, 2000 (11-0-1).

* At 32-13-4 (68 points), the Blues remained within two points of the Predators (32-11-6, 70 points) – who also won on Sunday – for the top spot in the Central Division.

* The Blues picked up their fifth consecutive victory, their fourth such winning streak of the season (also Oct. 25 – Nov. 6: 7-0-0, Dec. 6-16: 5-0-0 and Jan. 3-13: 5-0-0).

* Steen posted his fourth three-point performance of the season (also Nov. 11 vs. BUF: 0-3—3, Dec. 11 vs. NYI: 2-1—3 and Jan. 3 at SJS: 1-3—4). He has 17-26—43 in 47 outings, nearly half of which has come in his past 13 contests (9-12—21).

* Oshie’s three assists matched a career high last achieved on Jan. 6 at ARI (0-3—3). He also extended his point streak to five games (3-4—7), his second such run of the season (Dec. 27 – Jan. 8: 6-7—13 in 7 GP).

* Vladimir Tarasenko (1-1—2) and Jaden Schwartz (0-2—2) also recorded multi-point games. Tarasenko is tied for fifth in the NHL with 25 goals this season and also shares eighth with 50 points. Schwartz is tied for third on Blues with 17-23—40 despite missing seven contests in 2014-15.

* Brian Elliott made 33 saves to pick up his fourth consecutive victory and improve to 15-5-2 overall this season. He ranks second in the NHL with a 1.99 goals-against average and places sixth with a .927 save percentage.

* The Blues improved to 13-3-2 versus the Eastern Conference this season, including a 9-1-0 mark against the Metropolitan Division. They also have earned points in 10 straight games against Eastern Conference opponents dating to Nov. 22 at OTT (8-0-2).

. . . HUTTON, PREDATORS STAY AHEAD IN CENTRAL
Carter Hutton denied all 21 shots he faced to record his second career shutout (first this season) and help the Predators pick up points for the fourth time in their past five outings (2-1-2).

* At 32-11-6 (70 points), the Predators maintained a two-point lead in the Central Division. They also leapfrogged the idle Ducks (32-12-6, 70 points) for the top spot in the NHL standings.

* Hutton became the first goaltender in Predators history to post a shutout in Pittsburgh and just the second to blank the Penguins overall. The other: Tomas Vokoun, who notched a pair of home shutouts versus the Penguins: Nov. 23, 2001 (27 saves in 5-0 W) and Feb. 27, 2003 (22 saves in 6-0 W).

* Roman Josi (1-1—2) registered his eighth multi-point performance of the season. He also established a career high with his third game-winning goal of 2014-15.

* Filip Forsberg collected two assists. He leads all rookies with 27 helpers and 44 points this season.

* Gabriel Bourque, Mike Fisher and Eric Nystrom also found the back of the net for the Predators, who improved to 18-1-4 when scoring first this season.

* The Predators snapped a five-game losing streak against the Penguins (0-4-1), earning their first head-to-head win since Feb. 14, 2010.

DOMINGUE POWERS COYOTES IN FIRST START
Making his first NHL start, St-Hyacinthe, Que., native Louis Domingue posted 18 saves to record his first career victory and lead the Coyotes to their second win in their past three outings.

* Via Elias, Domingue became the sixth Quebec-born goaltender in the last 50 years to notch his first NHL win by defeating the Canadiens in Montreal. The others to do so in that span: Bernie Parent (1965), Fern Rivard (1969), Gilles Gilbert (1970), Jimmy Waite (1989) and Dan Blackburn (2001).

* The 22-year-old Domingue, who was selected by the Coyotes in the fifth round (138th overall) of the 2010 NHL Draft, has posted an 8-4-1 record in 13 appearances with the Portland Pirates of the AHL this season (2.40 GAA, .922 SV%). He made his NHL debut on Saturday, logging nine saves in a relief appearance at OTT.

* “It was a lot of emotion to take in,” said Domingue, whose family was in attendance. “It was certainly a battle and to be able to sit after the first period and regroup myself when I went out there in the second period I was comfortable, it was just like I was playing a game in the American Hockey League, so just being able to sit and relax was big for me.”

* Facing a 2-0 deficit less than five minutes after the opening face-off, the Coyotes rallied to pick up their first victory in Montreal since Oct. 28, 1996 (0-6-3).

* Lauri Korpikoski (2-0—2) posted his first multi-goal game since March 2, 2013 vs. ANA (2-0—2). He also recorded his 10th career game-winning marker and first since Feb. 4, 2012 vs. SJS (2-0—2).

* Oliver Ekman-Larsson added his 14th goal of the season, tops among defensemen. Keith Yandle registered a pair of assists.


DUBNYK KEEPS ROLLING WITH WILD
Devan Dubnyk made 35 saves to backstop the Wild to their third consecutive victory, their first such winning streak since Nov. 13-20 (4-0-0).

* At 23-20-6 (52 points), the Wild moved within five points of the idle Flames (27-20-3, 57 points) for the final Wild Card berth in the Western Conference. Five clubs are separated by five points for the last spot:


* Dubnyk has been in net during each of the Wild’s past three wins, leading the club to a sweep of its trip through Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver for the second time in franchise history (also March 13-17, 2007).

* Since being acquired by the Wild on Jan. 14, Dubnyk has posted a 5-1-0 record with a 1.71 goals-against average, .935 save percentage and two shutouts in seven appearances.

* Zach Parise, Jared Spurgeon, Thomas Vanek and Jason Zucker all found the back of the net. Parise, who leads the club with 21 goals this season, has 7-1—8 in his past seven outings. Vanek notched his first game-winning marker in a Wild uniform.

* Mikael Granlund collected two assists, matching a career high achieved three times this season (also Oct. 9 vs. COL and Dec. 5 vs. ANA).

* The Wild improved to 5-1-0 in their past six meetings with the Canucks dating to March 10, 2013, including three straight wins at Rogers Arena.

OVECHKIN JOINS ELITE CLUB
Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin (2-1—3) scored his League-leading 30th and 31st goals of 2014-15, reaching the 30-goal milestone for the 10th time in as many NHL seasons.

* Per Elias, Ovechkin became the fifth player in NHL history to record at least 30 goals in each of his first 10 seasons. The others to achieve that feat: Mike Gartner (first 15 seasons), Wayne Gretzky (13), Mike Bossy (10) and Jari Kurri (10).

* The only active players besides Ovechkin who have posted 10 or more consecutive 30-goal seasons at any point in their careers are Jaromir Jagr (15 straight, 1991-92 through 2006-07) and Jarome Iginla (11, 2000-01 through 2011-12).

* Ovechkin also registered his 94th career multi-goal game, moving past Peter Bondra (93) for the most such performances in Capitals history.

* Ovechkin has notched 15 goals in his past 15 games dating to Dec. 29 (15-5—20). That includes four multi-goal outings (Jan. 16 at NSH, Jan 20 vs. EDM, Jan. 28 vs. PIT and Feb. 1 vs. STL).

DID YOU KNOW?
Road teams won all four games contested on Sunday. With 60.3% of the season in the books (742 / 1,230 GP), road clubs are a combined 326-319-97 (.505 points percentage).

LOOSE PUCKS
Canadiens forward Alex Galchenyuk (2-0—2) posted his second multi-goal performance of the season (also Dec. 16 vs. CAR: 3-0—3) . . . Capitals teammates Nicklas Backstrom and Mike Green both collected two assists. Backstrom has 2-8—10 in his last seven games, while Green has 1-7—8 in that span. Backstrom also is tied for second in the NHL with 37 helpers this season, four behind League leader Jakub Voracek (41) . . . Canucks forward Ronalds Kenins scored his first NHL goal (2 GP) . . . Facing his former team for the second time, Penguins forward Patric Hornqvist skated in his 400th NHL game. A seventh-round pick (230th overall) by Nashville in the 2005 NHL Draft, Hornqvist played in his first 363 games with the Predators (106-110—216) . . . Predators forward James Neal made his first visit to Pittsburgh since an offseason trade. Neal appeared in 199 games with the Penguins, totaling 89-95—184 during parts of four seasons.

SNEAK PEEK AT MONDAY’S ACTION
All Times Eastern
Florida @ NY Rangers, 7:00 p.m., SNE, SNO, SNP, TVA, FS-F, MSG
Winnipeg @ Calgary, 9:00 p.m., TSN3, SNW
Edmonton @ San Jose, 10:30 p.m., SNOL, CSN-CA

Thanks to the NHL PR department for the above information.

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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.

From breaking news to in-depth stories around the league, KK Hockey is updated with fresh stories all day long and will bring you the latest news as quickly as possible.

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