Kukla's Korner Hockey

Kukla's Korner Hockey

NHL Short Notes

01/13/2016 at 10:09am EST

MILESTONE WINS HELP TEAMS CLIMB CENTRAL DIVISION STANDINGS
Both the Blackhawks (28-13-4, 60 points) and Blues (25-14-7, 57 points) earned milestone wins for their head coaches to inch closer to the idle Stars (29-11-4, 62 points) atop the Central Division:

* Andrew Shaw (2-0—2) posted his seventh career multi-goal performance and Brent Seabrook scored what stood as the game-winning goal to lift the Blackhawks to their eighth consecutive victory, their longest such run since Nov. 26 – Dec. 11, 2014 (also 8-0-0). Chicago also won its fifth straight game at United Center, where it is 19-5-1 (39 points) this season – the most home wins and home points of any team in the NHL.

* Hours after agreeing to a three-year contract extension, Joel Quenneville picked up his 782nd career victory to tie Al Arbour for the second-most wins by a head coach in NHL history. Only Scotty Bowman (1,244) has more career victories behind an NHL bench.

* The Blues scored four unanswered goals to overcome an early 2-1 deficit and extend their point streak to five games (2-0-3). Patrik Berglund (2-0—2), who missed the team’s first 40 games of the season, notched his 10th career multi-goal performance and first since April 3, 2015 at DAL (2-0—2). He also recorded his 15th career game-winning goal and first since March 15, 2014 at NSH (2-0—2).

* Ken Hitchcock, who ranks fourth in NHL history with 733 career victories, became the second head coach in Blues history to win 200 games, joining Quenneville (307). Elias adds that Hitchcock, who posted 277 victories w/ DAL, became the sixth head coach in NHL history to record 200 wins with multiple teams.

Most Wins by a Head Coach, NHL History
1. Scotty Bowman: 1,422
t-2. Al Arbour: 782
t-2. Joel Quenneville: 782^
4. Ken Hitchcock: 733^
5. Dick Irvin: 692
^ Active

FIRST CAREER HAT TRICKS POWER COYOTES, ISLANDERS
Max Domi (3-0—3) and Brock Nelson (3-1—4) both recorded their first career hat tricks to power the Coyotes and Islanders, respectively, to wins:

* Domi scored three times in regulation – including twice in the third period to erase a two-goal deficit – and Oliver Ekman-Larsson (1-3—4) provided the winning tally with 8.9 seconds remaining in overtime to help the Coyotes pick up their fourth consecutive victory and improve to 5-0-1 in their last six outings. Arizona also extended its point streak against Edmonton to 21 games dating to March 17, 2011 (17-0-4), the longest active point streak against one opponent in the NHL.

* Domi, who snapped a 15-game drought with his first goals since Dec. 4 at BUF (2-0—2), shares third among rookies with 13 goals this season. Ekman-Larsson, who established a career high for points in one contest, posted his sixth game-winning goal of 2015-16 to move within one of the League lead (Joe Pavelski: 7). He paces the NHL with six overtime goals since the start of the 2013-14 season.

* Nelson also scored three times, including the game-winning goal, to help the Islanders improve to 8-3-0 in their last 11 games at Barclays Center. At 23-15-5 (51 points), the Islanders tied the rival Rangers (23-14-5, 51 points) – in terms of points – for second place in the Metropolitan Division; the Rangers, however, have played one fewer game and own the ROW tiebreaker (NYR: 22, NYI: 20). These teams will face off three more times this season, including Thursday at Barclays Center.

* Nelson equaled a career high for points in one game, also achieved on Oct. 10, 2014 at CAR (2-2—4). He paces the team with 17 goals this season (43 GP), three shy of his career high established in 2014-15 (82 GP).

AROUND THE RINKS
* Steven Stamkos scored twice to reach the 20-goal milestone for the eighth time in as many NHL seasons and propel the Lightning to their third consecutive victory. Via Elias, Stamkos became the third player in franchise history to record eight straight 20-goal seasons, joining Vincent Lecavalier (12; 1999-11) and Martin St. Louis (9; 2002-11).

* The Penguins erased a two-goal deficit, but Jeff Skinner scored at 3:02 of overtime to lift the Hurricanes to their third consecutive win overall as well as a 4-0-1 record in their past five games at PNC Arena. Skinner posted his 20th career game-winning goal (and fifth this season) as well as his second in overtime (also Jan. 2, 2014 at WSH).

* The Sharks scored three unanswered goals, including the tiebreaker by Joe Thornton, to earn their third straight victory overall and improve to 5-1-1 in their last seven games as visitors. At 15-6-2 (32 points), they rank second in the NHL in both road wins and road points. Thornton collected at least one point for the 11th time in his past 12 games (5-11—16).

* The Sabres raced to a 3-0 lead in the first period – aided by two goals in 20 seconds from Rasmus Ristolainen (17:30) and Brian Gionta (17:50) – to pick up their second consecutive win on the heels of a six-game skid. Linus Ullmark, who equaled a career high with 42 saves on Sunday at WPG, turned aside 28 shots to improve to 7-10-2.

MILESTONES & BENCHMARKS
* Goaltender Ben Bishop (21 SV) earned his 12th shutout with the Lightning – and 14th overall – to tie Daren Puppa for second place in franchise history, behind Nikolai Khabibulin (14).

* Blues forward Ty Rattie, a second-round selection (32nd overall) in the 2011 NHL Draft, scored his first career goal (19 GP).

LOOSE PUCKS
Blackhawks goaltender Corey Crawford made a season-high 41 saves to extend his winning streak to six games, his longest such run since a career-high eight-game stretch from Feb. 20 – March 5, 2011 . . . Coyotes goaltender Louis Domingue denied 25 shots to improve to 7-0-2 in nine starts this season, including four consecutive victories . . . Lightning forward Ondrej Palat (1-2—3), Oilers forward Jordan Eberle (0-3—3) and Hurricanes forward Elias Lindholm (0-3—3) all registered three points . . . Penguins captain Sidney Crosby collected two assists, giving him 6-8—14 in his last 11 outings . . . Sharks defenseman Brent Burns (0-1—1) extended his point streak to a career-high eight games (6-6—12). He ranks second among defensemen with 18-22—40 overall this season . . . Wild defenseman Ryan Suter (1-1—2) scored his second career shorthanded goal – and first since Oct. 13, 2011 vs. PHX (w/ NSH) . . . Blackhawks forward Marian Hossa celebrated his 37th birthday with a pair of assists . . . The Lightning snapped a six-game drought with their first win in Colorado since March 1, 2004 (0-4-2) . . . ICYMI: Cedar Rapids RoughRiders forward Ross Colton posted 3-2—5 to lift Team East to a 6-2 victory over Team West in the 2016 USHL/NHL Top Prospects Game.

SNEAK PEEK AT WEDNESDAY’S ACTION
All Times Eastern
Columbus @ Toronto, 7:00 p.m., SN, FS-O
Boston @ Philadelphia, 8:00 p.m., NBCSN, TVAS
Florida @ Calgary, 9:30 p.m., SN1, FS-F
Ottawa @ Anaheim, 10:00 p.m., TSN5, RDS, FS-W
NBCSN Channel Finder
Sportsnet Channel Finder
NHLN Channel Finder

BRUINS VISIT FLYERS ON WEDNESDAY NIGHT RIVALRY
Two teams on the playoff bubble face off when the Bruins (21-15-5, 47 points) visit the Flyers (18-15-7, 43 points) at Wells Fargo Center on NBCSN’s Wednesday Night Rivalry. Boston currently occupies the final Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference, but is trailed by five teams – including Philadelphia – within four points of its position. This marks the second of three meetings between the Bruins and Flyers in 2015-16; Philadelphia scored three unanswered goals, including the overtime winner by Claude Giroux (2-0—2), to post a 5-4 win in their first matchup on Oct. 21 at TD Garden. These teams will play for a third and final time on Jan. 25, also at Wells Fargo Center.

the above information was supplied 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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