Kukla's Korner Hockey

Kukla's Korner Hockey

NHL Short Notes

02/07/2016 at 10:45am EST

LETANG, CROSBY POWER PENGUINS' LATE COMEBACK . . .
Down 2-0 in the final six minutes of regulation, the Penguins scored three unanswered goals – including the tying marker by SidneyCrosby (1-2—3) at 18:45 of the third period and winner by Kris Letang (2-1—3) at 1:27 of overtime – to rally for their fifth win in their last six outings.

* At 26-18-7 (59 points), the Penguins leapfrogged the Devils (26-20-7, 59 points) and Islanders (26-18-6, 58 points) into third place in the Metropolitan Division.

* According to Elias, excluding shootout victories, this marked the first time the Penguins won a game in which they trailed by two goals in the last six minutes of the third period since a 4-3 overtime win versus the Lightning on Feb. 4, 2009.

* Letang notched his third career overtime goal and first since Nov. 26, 2011 at Montreal. He has 9-29—38 in 41 games this season, including a trio of three-point outings.

* Crosby extended his point streak to 10 games (10-8—18), tied for the third-longest such run in the NHL this season. That includes at least one goal in six straight contests (8 G), equaling a career-high established Dec. 5-15, 2006 (6 G).

* Crosby also became the 13th active player to reach 900 career points (324-578—902). Via Elias, only 10 players in NHL history have reached 900 points in fewer games played than Crosby (677):

Fastest to 900 Points by GP, NHL History
385 – Wayne Gretzky
463 – Mario Lemieux
582 – Mike Bossy
599 – Peter Stastny
632 – Jari Kurri
638 – Bobby Orr
647 – Denis Savard
649 – Guy Lafleur
651 – Bryan Trottier
673 – Steve Yzerman
677 – Sidney Crosby

. . . OTHER METROPOLITAN DIVISION CLUBS STAGE LATE RALLIES
The Capitals and Rangers also staged third-period comebacks en route to victories, both against Metropolitan Division rivals:

* Paul Carey tied the game at 14:07 of the third period and AlexOvechkin tallied in the third round of the shootout to lift the Capitals to a 9-2-2 record in their last 13 contests. Carey, who was recalled from the American Hockey League on Friday, scored his first career NHL goal (25 GP) at 27 years of age. At 37-9-4 (78 points), the League-leading Capitals maintained a two-point lead over the Blackhawks (36-16-4, 76 points) – who also won – atop the NHL standings.

* Facing a 1-0 deficit, the Rangers tied the game twice in the third period – including a goal by Keith Yandle (1-0—1) with 12.9 seconds remaining in regulation – before Mats Zuccarello (0-1—1) sealed the comeback win with a highlight-reel goal in the shootout. Per Elias, the Rangers scored a game-tying goal in the final 13 seconds of regulation and won the contest for the first time since Oct. 25, 2008 vs. PIT (Nikolai Zherdev: 19:51). At 29-18-5 (63 points), the Rangers moved four points ahead of the Penguins (26-18-7, 59 points) for second place in the Metropolitan Division.

DID YOU KNOW?
Overall, there have been 22 game-tying goals in the final minute of regulation this season. The team that tied the game late went on to win 15 of those contests.

CLUBS KEEP PACE IN CENTRAL DIVISION
The Blackhawks, Blues and Predators all earned victories to keep pace in the Central Division:

* Artem Anisimov (1-3—4) posted his second career four-point game (also Jan. 19, 2011 vs. TOR: 0-4—4) to power the Blackhawks past the Stars in a battle of teams with the top two records in the Western Conference. The Blackhawks (36-16-4, 76 points) improved to 16-3-0 since Dec. 29, including three straight wins, to move five points ahead of the Stars (33-15-5, 71 points) for first place in the Central Division and the top record in the Western Conference.

* Brian Elliott made 38 saves, including 23 in the second period, to backstop the Blues to a 5-2-1 record in their last eight contests. Elias says Elliott became the first Blues goaltender to make at least 23 saves in one period since Oct. 29, 2003 (Chris Osgood: 24 SV). Elliott, who picked up his 12th victory of the season, improved to 7-3-1 in his past 11 outings (1.74 GAA, .945 SV%, 1 SO).

* Five Predators collected multiple points – led by 1-2—3 from Filip Forsberg – as Nashville picked up its fifth win in its past seven outings. Forsberg posted his second three-point performance of 2015-16 (also Dec. 1 vs. ARI: 2-1—3) to eclipse 100 career points (42-60—102 in 153 GP). Viktor Arvidsson (2-0—2) contributed his first multi-goal game (33 GP) to help the Predators (25-20-8, 58 points) leapfrog the Avalanche (27-24-4, 58 points) into the first Wild Card spot in the Western Conference.

KARLSSON’S FOUR ASSISTS POWER SENATORS IN BATTLE OF ONTARIO
The Senators erupted for six goals – powered by a four-assist performance from captainErikKarlsson – to snap a three-game skid and improve to 5-1-2 in their last eight meetings with the Maple Leafs dating to April 12, 2014 (TOR: 3-4-1).

* Karlsson equaled career highs for assists and points in a game. His other four-point performances: Feb. 20, 2012 at NYI (2-2—4) and Oct. 14, 2015 at CBJ (0-4—4).

* Via Elias, Karlsson is the first Senators defenseman with multiple four-assist games in one season. The last defenseman to record at least four assists multiple times in one season for any team was Chris Chelios in 1994-95 w/ CHI (2x).

* Karlsson moved four assists ahead of Patrick Kane (44) for the League lead in that category, three more than he totaled in 2014-15 (82 GP). He also moved into a share of second place in the NHL with 11-48—59 overall, trailing only Kane (32-44—76).

MARCHAND SCORES RARE OT WINNER FOR BRUINS
Brad Marchand scored on a penalty shot at 2:32 of overtime to lift the Bruins to a sweep of their home-and-home series with the Sabres.

* Per Elias, Marchand is only the fourth player to score an overtime goal on a penalty shot during the last 10 seasons. The others: Bobby Ryan (w/ ANA vs. DET on Mar. 2, 2011),Brian Gionta (w/ MTL vs. NYR on Apr. 12, 2014) and Cody Eakin (w/ DAL at NSH on Apr. 4, 2015).

* Elias adds that Marchand was the first Bruins player to attempt a penalty shot in overtime since the NHL introduced the five-minute OT format for regular-season games in 1983-84.

AROUND THE RINKS

* Five Red Wings players registered multiple points – including 1-1—2 from both Dylan Larkin and Tomas Tatar – to lead the club to victory in their return from a three-game road trip. Larkin has collected 18-19—37 through his first 51 games, tied for the rookie lead in goals and second in points behind Blackhawks forward ArtemiPanarin (18-34—52). At 26-18-8 (60 points), the Red Wings own the first Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference.

* Tomas Plekanec (1-3—4) equaled career highs for assists and points in a game to power the Canadiens past the Oilers. Ben Scrivens, who was acquired from the Oilers on Dec. 28, 2015, made 23 saves to record his first victory with the Canadiens (5 GP).

* Drew Stafford (2-1—3) notched his fifth multi-goal game and third three-point outing of the season to help the Jets halt a two-game skid. Stafford potted his 25th career game-winning goal to establish a career high with six such tallies this season, one more than his previous high set in 2007-08 (w/ BUF).

* Sam Bennett, Michael Frolik and Mikael Backlund all collected 1-1—2 to help the Flames improve to 4-1-0 in their last five meetings with the Canucks. Bennett has compiled 9-1—10 in his last 11 outings, compared to 5-10—15 in his first 40 career NHL games.

STREAKING
* Shayne Gostisbehere (1-1—2) extended his point streak to seven games (2-8—10), the longest such run by a Flyers rookie defenseman in franchise history besting the previous mark set by Dick Cherry in 1968-69 (6 GP). Gostisbehere leads rookie blueliners in goals (9), assists (17) and points (25).

* Flyers forward Jakub Voracek (3-8—11), Capitals forward Andre Burakovsky (6-2—8) and Panthers teammates Jussi Jokinen (2-7—9) and Aleksander Barkov (4-3—7) extended their point streaks to six games.

* Panthers forward VincentTrocheck (5-4—9) and Canadiens defenseman P.K. Subban(2-6—8) both extended their point streaks to five games.

MILESTONES & BENCHMARKS
* Predators forward Mike Ribeiro registered two assists while playing in his 1,000th NHL game.

* Sharks forward Joe Thornton (1-1—2) notched his 934th career assist to tie Al MacInnis for 15th place in NHL history. Thornton has collected at least one point in 20 of his past 22 games, totaling 7-21—28 in that span.

* Panthers defenseman Brent Regner, a fifth-round selection (137th overall) by the Blue Jackets in the 2008 NHL Draft, and Sabres forward Daniel Catenacci, a third-round selection (77th overall) in the 2011 NHL Draft, both made their League debut.

* Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews (0-1—1) recorded his 300th career assist.

* Avalanche forward Jarome Iginla (0-1—1) played in his 1,447th career game to move past TimHorton (1,446) into sole possession of 23rd in NHL history. Teemu Selanne(1,451) holds the 22nd position.

ON THIS DATE IN 1976…
Today marks the 40th anniversary of Darryl Sittler’s record-setting night. On Feb. 7, 1976, Sittler set an NHL record with 10 points in one game (6-4—10), in an 11-4 Maple Leafs win over the Bruins at Maple Leaf Gardens. Click here for more information on the historic achievement.



LOOSE PUCKS
Senators forward Curtis Lazar scored twice for his first career multi-goal game (115 GP) . . . Forward Ryan Johansen (0-2—2) has compiled 4-10—14 in 13 games with the Predators . . . Devils forward Adam Henrique celebrated his 26th birthday by scoring his 17th goal of the season . . . Panthers goaltender Roberto Luongo (32 SV) had his franchise-record home winning streak halted at nine games . . . Forward Tyler Seguinscored his 28th goal of the season to move into a share of third in the League with Stars teammate JamieBenn, behind PatrickKane (32) and AlexOvechkin (29) . . . ICYMI: All seven Canadian teams chimed in to sing O’ Canada via Twitter as part of the 16th annual Scotiabank Hockey Day in Canada celebration . . . Goaltenders Cory Schneider (NJD) and Braden Holtby (WSH) lined up at center ice as Martin Brodeur dropped the puck to kick off his four-day retirement celebration with the Devils.



SNEAK PEEK AT SUNDAY’S ACTION
All Times Eastern
Philadelphia @ Washington, 12:00 p.m., NBC
Carolina @ Montreal, 2:30 p.m., SN, FS-SE, RDS
Edmonton @ NY Islanders, 2:30 p.m., SNW, MSG+
NBCSN Channel Finder
Sportsnet Channel Finder

the above information was supplied by the NHL PR department

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