Kukla's Korner Hockey

Kukla's Korner Hockey

NHL Short Notes

02/03/2015 at 10:39am EST

BOYLE, NASH LEAD RANGERS PAST PANTHERS
The Panthers erased a 3-1 deficit late in the middle frame, but the Rangers scored three unanswered goals in the third period – including the tiebreaking marker by Dan Boyle with 11:50 remaining in regulation – to pick up their fifth win in their past seven outings.

* At 29-15-4 (62 points), the Rangers moved within two points of the idle Penguins (28-14-8, 64 points) for second place in the Metropolitan Division. New York holds two games in hand and also owns the ROW tiebreaker (NYR: 27, PIT: 26).

* Rick Nash recorded his 30th and 31st goals of the season to tie Alex Ovechkin for the League lead. He also posted his fourth shorthanded marker, tying Tyler Toffoli for tops in the NHL.

* Nash reached the 30-goal milestone for the eighth time in his 12 NHL seasons and for the first time since 2011-12 (w/ CBJ). He hit the milestone in his 48th game of the season; per Elias, that is the quickest Nash has reached 30 goals, breaking his prior record of 49 games in 2003-04 (his first 30-goal season).

* Elias also says that Nash is the fastest Rangers player to reach 30 goals since 1995-96, when both Mark Messier and Pat Verbeek hit the milestone in the team’s 46th game of the season.

* Nash is one of four NHL players to register at least eight 30-goal seasons since 2003-04. The others: Ovechkin (10), Jarome Iginla (9) and Ilya Kovalchuk (8).

* Mats Zuccarello (1-1—2) notched his fifth multi-point game of the season. The Rangers improved to 12-1-0 in the last 13 games in which he has collected a point, including six consecutive wins.

* Henrik Lundqvist made 33 saves to earn his 334th career victory and move past Nikolai Khabibulin for sole possession of 20th place in NHL history. He now is one win shy of tying Gump Worsley for 19th all-time.

* The Rangers improved to 9-2-0 in their last 11 meetings with the Panthers dating to Dec. 11, 2011, including five straight victories. They also have won five of their past six matchups at Madison Square Garden dating to March 22, 2011.

FLAMES RALLY TO EXTINGUISH JETS
Down 1-0 just 1:09 after the opening face-off, the Flames scored four consecutive goals to improve to 7-2-0 in their last nine contests.

* At 28-20-3 (59 points), the Flames leapfrogged the idle Canucks (27-18-3, 57 points) for third place in the Pacific Division. Vancouver, however, holds three games in hand.

* Raphael Diaz and Brandon Bollig both found the back of the net to snap their respective scoring droughts and record their first goals with the Flames. Diaz tallied for the first time since March 28, 2014 at CGY (w/ NYR; 35 GP), while Bollig potted his first goal since March 6, 2014 vs. CBJ (w/ CHI; 60 GP).

* Diaz also registered his second career game-winning goal and first since Jan. 21, 2012 at TOR (w/ MTL) – his rookie season. The goal came on the man-advantage, marking his first career power-play score.

* Sean Monahan added an empty-net goal, giving him 6-2—8 in his past eight outings. He leads the club with 17 goals this season and ranks fourth with 33 points.

* Mark Giordano (0-1—1) became the 16th player in Flames history to appear in 500 games with the club. He continues to pace all defensemen with 11-32—43 this season.

* The Flames improved to 6-2-0 in their past eight meetings with the Jets/Thrashers dating to Dec. 9, 2009. They have won seven of the nine all-time games between the clubs at Scotiabank Saddledome.

KLINKHAMMER, OILERS EDGE SHARKS IN 13-ROUND SHOOTOUT
Making his first career attempt, Rob Klinkhammer scored in the 13th round of the shootout to lift the Oilers to their fourth victory in their past six outings.

* The 13-round shootout marked the longest tiebreaker in Oilers history, eclipsing the 12-round shootout they lost to the Capitals on Jan. 17, 2008.

* Jordan Eberle found the back of the net twice in regulation for his third multi-goal performance of the season (also Oct. 24 vs. CAR: 2-1—3 and Jan. 6 vs. DET: 2-0—2). He leads the team with 15 goals and 33 points.

* Justin Schultz notched 1-1—2 for his first multi-point game since April 6, 2014 vs. ANA (1-1—2).

* Viktor Fasth made 33 saves through regulation and then denied 12-of-13 shootout attempts. He improved to 9-4 all-time in tiebreakers, including a 3-1 mark this season.

* The Oilers picked up their first win in San Jose since March 6, 2012, snapping a five-game skid (0-4-1).

LOOSE PUCKS
Sharks forward Joe Pavelski registered 2-1—3, including his 14th power-play goal of the season to tie Alex Ovechkin for the League lead. With 27 overall goals, Pavelski also moved into a share of fourth in the NHL (w/ Steven Stamkos) . . . Panthers goaltender Roberto Luongo made 32 saves, including a stop of Carl Hagelin on a third-period penalty shot . . . Goaltenders have denied 15-of-22 (68.2%) penalty shots this season . . . Jets forward Bryan Little (1-1—2) notched his team-leading 19th goal of the season . . . Sharks forward Joe Thornton (0-3—3) posted his first three-assist game since March 11, 2014 vs. TOR (0-3—3). He also extended his point streak to six contests (2-8—10), including helpers in five straight . . . Thornton is tied for sixth in the NHL with 33 total assists this season . . . Flames forward Joe Colborne (0-2—2) recorded his sixth multi-point performance of the season . . . Panthers forward Brandon Pirri found the back of the net for the fourth time in his past five games . . . Brothers Jimmy (FLA) and Kevin Hayes (NYR) faced off for the second time in the NHL. Kevin scored a power-play goal to improve to 2-0-0 against his older brother . . . ICYMI: Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin, Islanders captain John Tavares and Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask were named the NHL’s “Three Stars” for the month of January . . . Stars defenseman John Klingberg was named the NHL’s Rookie of the Month for January . . . Canadiens goaltender Carey Price, Lightning forward Cedric Paquette and Wild goaltender Devan Dubnyk were named the NHL’s “Three Stars” for the week ending Feb. 1.

SNEAK PEEK AT TUESDAY’S ACTION
All Times Eastern
Ottawa @ New Jersey, 7:00 p.m., TSN5, RDS2, MSG+
Florida @ NY Islanders, 7:00 p.m., FS-F, MSG+ 2
Los Angeles @ Washington, 7:00 p.m., SNO, SNW, SNP, TVA, FS-W, CSN-DC
Arizona @ Columbus, 7:00 p.m., FS-A, FS-O
Buffalo @ Montreal, 7:30 p.m., MSG-B, BELL TV, SNE, RDS
Tampa Bay @ St. Louis, 8:00 p.m., SUN, FS-MW
Toronto @ Nashville, 8:00 p.m., TSN4, FS-TN
Chicago @ Minnesota, 8:00 p.m., NBCSN, CSN-CH
Colorado @ Dallas, 8:30 p.m., ALT, FS-SW
Winnipeg @ Vancouver, 10:00 p.m., TSN3, SNP
Carolina @ Anaheim, 10:00 p.m., FS-CR, PRIME
NBCSN Channel Finder
Sportsnet Channel Finder

TOP CLUBS FACE OFF IN ST. LOUIS
Two of the top teams in the NHL face off when the No. 3 Blues (32-13-4, 68 points) play host to the No. 4 Lightning (32-15-4, 68 points) at Scottrade Center. This marks the first of two meetings between these clubs in 2014-15; they will close the season series next Thursday at Amalie Arena. St. Louis is 4-2-1 in their last seven head-to-head matchups dating to March 6, 2009, while Tampa Bay is 3-3-1 in that stretch. Overall, the Blues enter the contest on an 11-game point streak (10-0-1), one shy of the franchise record last achieved Nov. 24 – Dec. 26, 2000 (11-0-1). The Lightning, meanwhile, have won five of their past six overall, but have dropped three straight on the road.

the information above 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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