Kukla's Korner Hockey

Kukla's Korner Hockey

NHL Short Notes

03/01/2015 at 10:54am EST

HAMMOND, SENATORS STAY HOT IN CALIFORNIA SWEEP . . .
First-year netminder Andrew Hammond stopped 28 shots and rookies Mark Stone and Mike Hoffman each found the back of the net in the third period to rally the Senators to their fifth straight victory, their longest stretch since Apr. 5-13, 2014. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, it also marks the first time that Ottawa has defeated the Sharks, Ducks and Kings (in any order) on the same road trip.

* At 27-23-10 (64 points), the Senators sit seven points behind the Bruins (31-22-9, 71 points) for the final Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference. Ottawa owns two games in hand, but Boston owns the ROW tiebreaker (BOS: 29, OTT: 24). The Senators and Bruins will go head-to-head twice in March, with both contests at Canadian Tire Centre on Mar. 10 and Mar. 19.

* Hammond has been in net for each game during the winning streak, becoming the first goaltender in Senators history to win his first five career starts. He is the second goaltender in the past three seasons to begin his career with wins in five straight team games (also Martin Jones with LAK, Dec. 3-14, 2013).

* Hammond owns a 1.00 goals-against average, .968 save percentage and two shutouts in those five starts and has not allowed more than two goals in any of his NHL appearances.

* Hoffman (2-1—3) equaled and established career highs for goals and points in a game, respectively. He paces all rookies with 23 goals; only Alexei Yashin (30 in 1993-94) and Daniel Alfredsson (26 in 1995-96) have scored more goals for the Senators as a rookie.

* Stone (1-1—2) has 3-7—10 in his last nine games and 15-24—39 this season, tied with Hoffman for third in rookie points.

…BRUINS MAINTAIN WILD CARD POSITION…
The Bruins carried a 4-0 lead into the third period and finished with a 4-1 decision to earn their second straight win and sixth consecutive victory over the Coyotes dating to the 2010 Compuware NHL PremiereGame on Oct. 10, 2010 in Prague, Czech Republic.

* At 31-22-9 (71 points), the Bruins maintained their hold on the second Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference and moved within five points of the idle Capitals (33-20-10, 76 points), who hold the first Wild Card position. Boston has one game in hand, but Washington owns the ROW tiebreaker. The clubs will close their season series with two contests at Verizon Center – Mar. 15 and Apr. 8.

* Tuukka Rask stopped 31-of-32 shots to improve to 5-1-0 with a 1.83 goals-against average and .936 save percentage in six career meetings with the Coyotes, including five straight wins.

* Patrice Bergeron (1-1—2), Zdeno Chara (1-1—2), Milan Lucic (1-1—2), Brad Marchand (1-1—2) and Reilly Smith (0-2—2) all registered multiple points for the Bruins.

. . . PANTHERS AND FLYERS ALSO KEEP PACE
The Panthers and Flyers also earned victories on Saturday to keep pace with the Bruins in the race for the final Wild Card position in the Eastern Conference:



* The Panthers erased a 2-0 deficit with three straight goals in the second period and ScottieUpshall scored the game-winner at 14:02 of the final frame to help the club snap a four-game slide.

* Making his return to the lineup following a nine-game absence, Brandon Pirri scored two goals in a span of 1:23 – both via the power-play – to tie the game and record his first career multi-goal performance. According to Elias, only two other players have scored a quicker pair of power-play goals in one game for the Panthers: Olli Jokinen (50 seconds, Jan. 8, 2006) and Richard Zednik (60 seconds, Feb. 5, 2008). Pirri has eight goals in his last 10 outings and 11-2—13 this season (29 GP).

* Playing in his 900th NHL game, Brian Campbell (0-2—2) posted his fourth multi-assist game of the season. Buffalo’s sixth-round pick (156th overall) in the 1997 NHL Draft, Campbell also played his 800th NHL game against his former club (Jan. 9, 2014).

* Brad Boyes and Jussi Jokinen both equaled career-highs with three assists. Boyes accomplished the feat for the eighth time (last: Apr. 9, 2011 at CBJ w/ BUF), while Jokinen also posted 0-3—3 on Dec. 27, 2013 at CAR (w/ PIT).

* In a prime-time national broadcast in both the U.S. and Canada, Michael Del Zotto broke a 2-2 deadlock at 1:19 of the third period to help the Flyers snap a four-game slide against the Rangers and halt New York’s 10-game point streak.

* Del Zotto scored his fourth game-winning goal of the season (51 GP), surpassing his total from his first 317 career games. Only Oliver Ekman-Larsson (7) has more decisive tallies among defensemen in 2014-15. It also was his third career shorthanded goal and just the second such tally by a Flyers defenseman in the past four seasons (also Braydon Coburn Dec. 31, 2013 at CGY).

* Making his first start since Feb. 8, Steve Mason stopped 34 shots to earn his first victory since Jan. 31 when he posted a 30-save shutout vs. TOR.

* Michael Raffl (1-1—2) and Sean Couturier (0-2—2) both recorded multi-point games.

PRICE, CANADIENS STYMIE MAPLE LEAFS TO CLIMB STANDINGS
Carey Price denied all 30 shots he faced to post his 31st career shutout (sixth this season) and backstop the Canadiens to their fourth straight win and fifth straight victory against the Maple Leafs (3-0-0 in 2014-15).

* With the victory, the Canadiens (41-16-5, 87 points) pulled within two points of the Predators (41-15-7, 89 points) – who lost in regulation – for first place in the NHL, where the top 10 teams are separated by 10 points:



* Price earned his League-leading 36th win of the season (50 GP), two shy of his career high set in 2010-11. According to Elias, he equaled a franchise record for wins through 50 games, first set by Ken Dryden in 1976-77. Elias also says Price's total of nine wins in February matched the highest win total in one calendar month by a Canadiens goaltender over the last 37 seasons. The other Montreal netminders with nine-win months since 1977-78 were Michel Larocque (Nov. 1980), Patrick Roy (Feb. 1990) and Cristobal Huet (Mar. 2006).

* Price’s personal ten-game point streak (9-0-1) is the longest by a Canadiens netminder since he recorded a point in a career-best 12 straight games from Nov. 20 to Dec. 30, 2008 (8-0-4). He also paces all netminders with a 1.88 goals-against average and .936 save percentage this season, while only Marc-Andre Fleury (8) has more shutouts.

* Manny Malhotra scored his first game-winning goal since Nov. 5, 2013 (vs. PHI w/ CAR) and first goal overall since Apr. 13, 2014. DavidDesharnais tallied 2-0—2 to eclipse 200 career points.

BLUES REACH 40 WINS, EARN FOURTH STRAIGHT ROAD VICTORY
Paul Stastny tallied 1-1—2, including the tiebreaking goal at 14:20 of the third period, to lift the Blues to their fourth consecutive road win and their sixth straight win over the Oilers.

* The Blues (40-18-4, 84 points) became the second Western Conference club to reach 40 wins this season and pulled within five points of the Predators (41-15-7, 89 points) – who lost in regulation – for top spot in the Central Division.

* Stastny scored his team-leading (tied) fifth game-winner of the season, one shy of his career high set in his rookie season (2006-07).

* Brian Elliott made 21 saves to record his 20th win of the season, improving to 20-9-2 with a 2.17 goals-against average and a .922 save percentage.

* Edmonton native Jay Bouwmeester skated in his 900th career NHL game.

RED WINGS RALLY (AGAIN) TO DEFEAT PREDATORS
Ahead 2-0, the Red Wings yielded three straight goals in the middle frame before AlexeyMarchenko scored his first NHL goal and TomasTatar potted the game-winner in the third period to help the club end its road trip with a 4-1-1 record.

* At 35-15-11 (81 points), the Red Wings pulled within a point of the idle Lightning (38-19-6, 82 points) for second place in the Atlantic Division. Detroit holds two games in hand, but Tampa Bay owns the ROW tiebreaker (TBL: 36, DET: 32).

* The Red Wings overcame a third period deficit to win in regulation for the second straight game. On Thursday in San Jose, they trailed 2-1 after 40 minutes before Pavel Datsyuk tied the game at 13:32 and Luke Glendening netted the game-winner at 18:45.

* Elias says the Red Wings last overcame third-period deficits to win consecutive games on Dec. 9 and 11, 1993 (3-2 vs. STL and 5-3 vs. SJS). The last time that happened in consecutive road games was Jan. 28 and Feb. 5, 1984 (4-3 at NYI and 6-5 at BOS).

* Overall, the club has overcome a third-period deficit to record at least one point in five of their past eight outings, including four times on their six-game road trip.

* Jonas Gustavsson made a season-high 37 saves – three shy of his career high (2x) – to improve to 3-2-1 with a 2.12 goals-against average and .924 save percentage in six appearances.

* Drew Miller (1-1—2) and Niklas Kronwall (0-2—2) recorded multi-point efforts.

WILD CONTINUE SUCCESS AGAINST AVALANCHE, INCREASE WILD CARD LEAD
Devan Dubnyk stopped 33 shots and Justin Fontaine (1-1—2) scored the tiebreaking goal midway through the second period to lift the Wild to a perfect 4-0-0 record against the Avalanche in 2014-15. Minnesota has outscored the club 12-1 in those meetings; the teams will close their season series on Mar. 8 at Xcel Energy Center.

* At 33-22-7 (73 points), the Wild increased their lead over the idle Flames (33-25-4, 70 points) for the final playoff position in the Western Conference and pulled within one point of the idle Jets (31-20-12, 74 points), who hold the first Wild Card position.



* The Wild improved to 15-3-2 since Jan. 15 when Devan Dubnyk made his team debut. He has started each of those 20 contests, matching the franchise record for consecutive starts first set by Niklas Backstom in 2008-09.

* Elias says Dubnyk is the second goaltender to win 15 of his first 20 starts with a club this season, joining Ryan Miller who reached 15 wins in his first 18 games with Vancouver. Dubnyk has allowed two goals or less in 15 of those contests.

* Fontaine (1-1—2) registered his seventh career multi-point effort and third in his past eight games (4-5—9). It was his third career game-winning goal and second in the past eight days (also Feb. 20 at EDM).

* Erik Haula tallied 1-1—2 for the second straight game. He has 7-5—12 this season, surpassing his goal total from his rookie campaign in 2013-14.

SATURDAY NOTABLES
Highlights from the rest of Saturday’s action:

* Playing in his League-leading 55th game of 2014-15, Cory Schneider denied all 33 shots he faced to record his 16th career shutout and help the Devils snap a two-game skid. Schneider ranks among the NHL leaders in save percentage (t-3rd – .927), goals-against average (5th – 2.19) and shutouts (t-7th – 4). The Devils won their third straight meeting with the Blue Jackets, but earned their first win in Columbus since Mar. 20, 2011 (3-0 W). Andy Greene and Travis Zajac supplied the goals.

* The Hurricanes erupted for four goals in the second period to record their third straight victory and win for the fifth time in their last six visits to Nassau Coliseum. Jay McClement registered his fourth career multi-goal performance and first since Oct. 30, 2010 (3-0—3 vs. ATL w/ STL). Cam Ward stopped 21 shots to win his fourth straight game, his second-longest personal streak of the season (5-0-0, Nov. 1-10). Brad Malone (1-1—2) scored his first career game-winning goal and Andrej Nestrasil (0-2—2) posted his second straight multi-point effort (third career).

LOOSE PUCKS
The Blackhawks acquired Antoine Vermette from the Coyotes in exchange for defenseman KlasDahlbeck and a first-round pick in the 2015 NHL Draft . . . The Capitals acquired defenseman Tim Gleason from the Hurricanes in exchange for defenseman Jack Hillen and a fourth-round pick (via ARI) in the 2015 NHL Draft . . . The Ducks acquired forward Tomas Fleischmann from the Panthers in exchange for forward DanyHeatley and a third-round pick in the 2015 NHL Draft…The Panthers outshot the Sabres 47-14 to finish their season series with a 4-0-1 record. Elias says the +33 shot differential is third-highest in franchise history (+37, Jan. 13, 2007 vs. WSH; +35, Dec. 4, 2014 vs. CBJ) . . . Canadiens teammates Brendan Gallagher (4-4—8) and Andrei Markov (1-5—6) extended their point streaks to five and four games, respectively . . . Boston native Keith Yandle notched his 37th assist while playing in his hometown to move into a share of the League lead among defensemen . . . P.K. Subban recorded his 48th point, tying Mark Giordano for first place among blueliners . . . Pavel Datysuk contributed one assist, giving him 7-9—16 in his last 13 outings and 21-51—72 in 65 career games vs. NSH . . . Mike Cammalleri notched an assist to extend his point streak to six games (5-3—8), his longest since a seven-game stretch from Mar. 10-22, 2014 (8-5—14) . . . Islanders forward John Tavares scored his 30th goal of the season (64 GP), one shy of his career high set in 2011-12 (82 GP) . . . Tavares (30-35—65) and Jakub Voracek (19-46—65) – who posted one assist – moved into a tie for first place in the NHL scoring race . . . Avalanche forward Matt Duchene (400) and Coyotes forward Mark Arcobello (100) played in milestone games.

SNEAK PEEK AT SUNDAY’S ACTION
All Times Eastern
Los Angeles @ Winnipeg, 4:00 p.m., FS-W, TSN3
Tampa Bay @ Florida, 5:00 p.m., SUN, FS-F
Columbus @ Pittsburgh, 5:00 p.m., FS-O, ROOT
Toronto @ Washington, 7:00 p.m., TVA, CITY, CSN-DC
Anaheim @ Dallas, 8:00 p.m., NBCSN
St. Louis @ Vancouver, 9:30 p.m., FS-MW, SNP
NBCSN Channel Finder
Sportsnet Channel Finder

HOMETOWN HOCKEY TOUR STOPS IN SAULT STE. MARIE
The Toronto Maple Leafs visit the Washington Capitals as Rogers Hometown Hockey visits Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. Marty Turco, a Sault Ste. Marie native, and Hockey Hall of Famer Darryl Sittler will be special guests on the program. Every Rogers Sunday Night Hockey game this season will feature a Canadian team in action and travel to a community rink in hometowns across Canada, with local NHL player profiles, grassroots stories and local entertainment features. For more information, click here.

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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