Kukla's Korner Hockey

Kukla's Korner Hockey

NHL Short Notes

02/28/2015 at 11:00am EST

THIRD-PERIOD RALLY POWERS DUCKS IN FREEWAY FACE-OFF
Down 2-0 after 40 minutes, the Ducks scored four unanswered goals in the third period – including the tiebreaking marker by Corey Perry with 8:39 remaining in regulation – to pick up their fourth victory in their past five contests.

* At 39-17-7 (85 points), the Ducks moved within four points of the idle Predators (41-14-7, 89 points) for first place in the NHL standings. Nashville, however, holds one game in hand and owns the ROW tiebreaker (NSH: 35, ANA: 31).

* The Ducks improved to 7-0-2 in their past nine regular-season meetings with the Kings dating to Dec. 3, 2013, including a 3-0-1 mark in 2014-15. They conclude their season series on March 18 at Honda Center.

* The Ducks overcame a two-goal, third-period deficit to win for the fifth time this season (first time in regulation). They accomplished that feat for the second time in the past week (also Monday vs. DET) and for the second time this season against the Kings (also Nov. 12 vs. LAK).

* The Ducks earned their 10th victory overall when trailing after two periods this season (10-17-0), tied for the League lead with the Flames (10-17-2).

* Perry added an empty-net goal for his sixth multi-goal performance of the season. He leads the team and ranks 10th in the NHL with 26 goals.

* Ryan Kesler posted 1-1—2 for his ninth multi-point game of 2014-15; he has 4-2—6 vs. LAK this season (4 GP). Emerson Etem notched the other goal.

HALAK SETS FRANCHISE RECORD IN ISLANDERS’ WIN
Jaroslav Halak made 26 saves – but fell 20.9 seconds shy of his fifth shutout of the season – to backstop the Islanders to their second straight win and a sweep of their two-game season series with the Flames.

* At 41-20-2 (84 points), the Islanders leapfrogged the idle Rangers (38-16-6, 82 points) to reclaim first place in the Metropolitan Division. The Rangers, however, hold three games in hand and own the ROW tiebreaker (NYR: 35, NYI: 34). The teams complete their season series on March 10 at Nassau Coliseum (NYI: 3-1-0, NYR: 1-3-0).

* Halak set an Islanders record with his 33rd win of the season, breaking a tie with Billy Smith (1981-82), Chris Osgood (2001-02) and Rick DiPietro (2006-07).

* Halak also improved to 20-7-0 this season at Nassau Coliseum; Elias says his 20 home victories match another single-season club record, established by Smith in 1981-82.

* Halak stopped a first-period penalty shot against Michael Ferland. Goaltenders have denied 22-of-30 penalty-shot attempts this season (73.3%).

* Ryan Strome and Cal Clutterbuck supplied the goals. Clutterbuck registered his third game-winning goal of the season, tying a career high set in 2010-11 (w/ MIN).

* The Islanders improved to 23-8-0 this season at Nassau Coliseum. It is the first time they have won at least 23 of their first 31 home games since 1981-82 (26-3-2).

BISHOP, LIGHTNING STYMIE BLACKHAWKS
Ben Bishop stopped all 28 shots he faced to record his 10th career shutout (second this season) and lead the Lightning to their third victory in their past four starts.

* At 38-19-6 (82 points), the Lightning moved within three points of the idle Canadiens (40-16-5, 85 points) for first place in the Atlantic Division. Montreal holds two games in hand, but Tampa Bay owns the ROW tiebreaker (TBL: 36, MTL: 34). The teams face off three times in March – twice at Bell Centre (March 10 and 30) and once at Amalie Arena (Mach 16) – to close their season series (TBL: 2-0-0, MTL: 0-2-0).

* Bishop, who debuted his new glow-in-the-dark mask, picked up his fourth straight personal victory. His 31 wins this season place fourth in the NHL.

* Steven Stamkos (2-0—2) notched his sixth multi-goal game of the season. Elias says his 50 multi-goal performances since his NHL debut in 2008-09 rank second in the League, behind only Alex Ovechkin (64).

* Stamkos sits third in the NHL with 34 goals this season, five behind Ovechkin for the League lead. He has found the back of the net six times in his past seven contests (6-1—7).

* Stamkos extended his point streak against the Blackhawks to five games (7-5—12). He has 11-6—17 in nine career appearances vs. CHI.

* Brian Boyle recorded his career-high fourth game-winning goal of the season. Ryan Callahan added his 19th marker; the Lightning are 20-2-0 when he finds the back of the net dating to his acquisition at the 2014 NHL Trade Deadline.

* The Lightning extended their point streak against the Blackhawks to seven games dating to March 9, 2011 (6-0-1), including four straight wins at Amalie Arena.

SPOONER’S FIRST NHL GOAL LIFTS BRUINS IN OVERTIME
Ryan Spooner scored his first NHL goal at 2:46 of overtime to lead the Bruins to a sweep of their three-game season series with the Devils.

* At 30-22-9 (69 points), the Bruins moved four points ahead of the idle Panthers (26-22-13, 65 points) for the final Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference. Boston also owns the ROW tiebreaker (BOS: 28, FLA: 20).

* Per Elias, Spooner became the third player in Bruins history to record his first NHL goal in overtime. The others: Bernie Morris (Jan. 10, 1925 at MTL) and Steve Heinze (March 28, 1992 vs. BUF).

* The last player to accomplish that feat for any team: Devils defenseman Jon Merrill on Feb. 7, 2014 vs. EDM.

* Spooner, a second-round pick (45th overall) by the Bruins in the 2010 NHL Draft, has 1-12—13 in 35 career NHL games. The 23-year-old Ottawa native also ranks third on Providence (AHL) with 8-18—26 in 33 outings this season.


* David Pastrnak, the team’s first-round pick (25th overall) in the 2014 NHL Draft, posted 1-1—2 for his third career multi-point game. He has 7-6—13 in 25 outings.

* Niklas Svedberg made 29 saves for his first win since Jan. 8, also vs. NJD. Five of his seven career victories have come in overtime/shootouts.

* The Bruins have won 15 of their last 18 meetings with the Devils dating to March 30, 2010.

AVALANCHE EDGE STARS, KEEP PLAYOFF HOPES ALIVE
Gabriel Landeskog scored the tying goal with 6:43 remaining in regulation and Ryan O’Reilly potted the lone marker in the shootout to power the Avalanche to their third victory in their past four contests and a sweep of their five-game season series with the Stars.

* At 27-24-11 (65 points), the Avalanche leapfrogged the Stars (27-25-10, 64 points) and moved within six points of the idle Wild (32-22-7, 71 points) for the final Wild Card spot in the Western Conference.

* The Avalanche, who overcame a trio of deficits (1-0, 3-1 and 4-3), swept their season series with the Stars for the third time in franchise history – also in 1984-85 (3-0-0 and 1993-94 (2-0-0).

* Nate Guenin (1-2—3) registered his first career three-point game. He also notched his second career multi-assist game and first since March 31, 2007 vs. NYR (0-2—2 w/ PHI in rookie season).

* Defensive partner Tyson Barrie also collected 1-2—3, equaling a career high for points in one game achieved three previous times this season and once in the last week (Feb. 20 at CHI: 2-1—3).

* Elias says the last time two Avalanche defensemen posted three points in the same game was on Nov. 30, 2006, when John-Michael Liles (1-2—3) and Ken Klee (0-3—3) did so in a 7-3 win at EDM.

* Landeskog added one assist for his eighth multi-point performance of the season. Matt Duchene (0-2—2) also recorded multiple points.

* Jarome Iginla scored his team-leading 19th goal of the season. He is tied for 44th in NHL history (w/ Bernie Nicholls) with 579-630—1,209, one point shy of Bobby Clarke.

KHUDOBIN BLANKS CAPITALS AS HURRICANES HONOR WARD
Anton Khudobin stopped all 28 shots he faced to earn his fourth career shutout (first this season) and backstop the Hurricanes to their third win in their past four contests.

* Khudobin picked up his first win since Jan. 27, snapping a four-game personal skid (0-3-1).

* Brett Bellemore notched his first career game-winning goal and third overall marker, snapping a 58-game drought dating to Feb. 7, 2014 vs. FLA.

* Jeff Skinner and Nathan Gerbe also found the back of the net. Andrej Nestrasil added a pair of assists.

* ICYMI: The Hurricanes honored Cam Ward – the franchise’s all-time leader in games played (500), wins (240) and shutouts (22) by a goaltender – during a pregame ceremony for his playing in his 500th NHL game on Tuesday.


LOOSE PUCKS
Stars forward Cody Eakin (2-1—3) matched career highs for goals and points in one game; his only other such performance came on Jan. 18 at CHI (also 2-1—3) . . . Devils forward Mike Cammalleri (0-1—1) extended his point streak to five games (5-2—7) . . . Teammate Jordin Tootoo (1-0—1) also stretched his point streak to a career-high five contests (2-3—5) . . . Flames goaltender Karri Ramo stopped 37-of-38 shots, his most saves since his season debut on Oct. 9 at EDM (38 SV) . . . Islanders captain John Tavares collected one assist, giving him 5-8—13 in his past eight outings . . . Kings defenseman Brayden McNabb recorded his second NHL goal, snapping a 79-game drought dating to Dec. 26, 2011 vs. WSH (w/ BUF) . . . Bruins forward Daniel Paille found the back of the net for the second straight game after scoring once in his first 57 contests of the season . . . Hurricanes defenseman John-Michael Liles skated in his 700th NHL game . . . Devils defensemen Mark Fraser (200) and Jon Merrill (100) also played in milestone games . . . Kings head coach Darryl Sutter served in his 1,100th NHL game behind the bench (536-416-148) . . . ICYMI: The Blackhawks acquired defenseman Kimmo Timonen from the Flyers in exchange for a second-round pick in the 2015 NHL Draft and a conditional fourth-round pick in the 2016 NHL Draft . . . Click here for the official trade tracker . . . The Department of Player Safety fined Sharks forward Logan Couture $5,000, the maximum allowable under the CBA, for slew-footing Red Wings defenseman Brendan Smith.

SNEAK PEEK AT SATURDAY’S ACTION
All Times Eastern
Buffalo @ Florida, 3:00 p.m., MSG-B, BELL TV, FS-F
Detroit @ Nashville, 3:00 p.m., SN, FS-D, FS-TN
Carolina @ NY Islanders, 5:00 p.m., FS-CR, MSG+
New Jersey @ Columbus, 5:00 p.m., MSG+ 2, FS-O
Arizona @ Boston, 5:30 p.m., FS-A, NESN
Toronto @ Montreal, 7:00 p.m., CBC, TVA
NY Rangers @ Philadelphia, 8:00 p.m., NBC, CITY
Minnesota @ Colorado, 10:00 p.m., FS-N, ALT
St. Louis @ Edmonton, 10:00 p.m., CBC, FS-MW
Ottawa @ San Jose, 10:00 p.m., SN, TVA2, CSN-CA
NBCSN Channel Finder
Sportsnet Channel Finder

RANGERS VISIT FLYERS IN PRIME-TIME NATIONAL BROADCAST . . .
The Rangers face the Flyers at Wells Fargo Center in a prime-time national broadcast in both the U.S. and Canada (NBC, CITY). This is the fourth and final meeting of the season between these Metropolitan Division rivals; New York has won each of the first three, including a pair of shutout victories (Nov. 19 vs. PHI and Nov. 28 at PHI). The Rangers also are 16-4-0 in their last 20 regular-season games with the Flyers dating to March 6, 2011. Overall, New York is on a 10-game point streak (8-0-2), its longest such run since Feb. 9 – March 10, 2008 (10-0-3). Philadelphia, meanwhile, has dropped each of its past two contests, including a 3-2 loss on Thursday at TOR.

* This marks the first regularly scheduled non-outdoor NHL regular-season game in prime time on NBC since the network acquired NHL rights in 2006.

. . . FOUR OTHER GAMES HIGHLIGHT NATIONAL SCHEDULE
Four other games dot Saturday’s Hockey Night in Canada schedule: former division rivals meet for the second and final time this season when the Red Wings visit the Predators at Bridgestone Arena (SN); a pair of Original Six foes face off when the Canadiens play host to the Maple Leafs at Bell Centre (CBC, TVA); the Blues try to gain ground in the Central Division when they take on the Oilers at Rexall Place (CBC); and the Senators and Sharks look to boost their playoff hopes when they drop the puck at SAP Center (SN, TVA2).

PREDATORS, RED WINGS FACE OFF IN ALUMNI GAME
Following their matinee, alumni from the Predators and Red Wings will face off in a special game at Bridgestone Arena. Among the players competing for Nashville are J-P Dumont, Stu Grimson, Scott Nichol, Cliff Ronning and Tomas Vokoun – who is making his first appearance in The Music City since announcing his retirement in December. Dallas Drake, Petr Klima, Joey Kocur, Igor Larionov and Kirk Maltby highlight the Detroit roster.

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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