Kukla's Korner Hockey

Kukla's Korner Hockey

NHL Short Notes

02/09/2016 at 10:59am EST

CROSBY CONTINUES TEAR AS PENGUINS STAY HOT
Sidney Crosby registered 2-2—4 to power the Penguins to their sixth victory in their past seven games overall as well as an 8-0-2 record in their last 10 outings at CONSOL Energy Center, including six straight wins.

* At 27-18-7 (61 points), the Penguins again leapfrogged the idle Islanders (27-18-6, 60 points) for third place in the Metropolitan Division. Pittsburgh owns the ROW tiebreaker (PIT: 26, NYI: 24), but New York holds one game in hand.

* Crosby posted his second four-point performance of the season – both in the past week (also Feb. 2 vs. OTT: 3-1—4) – to extend his point streak to 11 games (12-10—22), including goals in a career-high seven consecutive contests (10-6—16). That equals the longest goal streak by any player this season (also Patrick Kane, Nov. 2-15: 7-9—16 in 7 GP) and ranks as the third-longest point streak in 2015-16 (behind Kane, Oct. 17 – Dec. 13: 16-24—40 in 26 GP and Patrick Sharp, Dec. 19 – Jan. 9: 6-9—15 in 12 GP).

* Crosby shares fifth in the NHL with 24-29—53 overall this season, including 18-16—34 in his last 21 games dating to Dec. 18. He has recorded consecutive three-point performances (also Feb. 6 at FLA: 1-2—3) for the first time since Jan. 13-16, 2015 (2-4—6).

* Crosby also has scored in a career-high nine consecutive games at CONSOL Energy Center (14-6—20). Elias says that is the longest home goal streak by any player since Jan. 5 – Feb. 23, 1996, when Mario Lemieux set a Penguins record with goals in 11 straight games at Mellon Arena (16-15—31).

LUNDQVIST, RANGERS KEEP MOMENTUM AT HOME
Henrik Lundqvist made 27 saves, including 13 in the second period, to lead the Rangers to their third consecutive win overall as well as a 7-0-1 record in their last eight outings at Madison Square Garden, including five straight victories.

* At 30-18-5 (65 points), the Rangers maintained a four-point lead over the Penguins (27-18-7, 61 points) – who also won – for second place in the Metropolitan Division. New York owns the ROW tiebreaker (NYR: 27, PIT: 26), but Pittsburgh holds one game in hand.

* The Rangers improved to 20-5-2 (42 points) this season at Madison Square Garden. Their 20 home wins and 42 home points both are tied for second in the NHL (w/ WSH: 20-4-2, 42 points).

* Lundqvist improved to 26-14-4 overall this season (2.37 GAA, .921 SV%, 2 SO), including a 17-3-2 record at Madison Square Garden (2.17 GAA, .923 SV%, 2 SO). That features at least one point in eight consecutive home appearances (7-0-1).

* Lundqvist also raised his record to 365-222-69 in 665 career appearances (2.27 GAA, .921 SV%, 57 SO). Lundqvist’s 365 wins are tied for the most by a goaltender through his first 11 NHL seasons (w/ Martin Brodeur: 365-191-94).

STONE, PAGEAU LIFT SENATORS OVER LIGHTNING
Mark Stone (2-1—3) and Jean-Gabriel Pageau (1-2—3) both collected three points to propel the Senators to their second consecutive win on the heels of a three-game skid (0-3-0).

* At 25-23-6 (56 points), the Senators moved within four points of the idle Islanders (27-18-6, 60 points) for the final Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference. New York, however, owns the ROW tiebreaker (NYI: 24, OTT: 21) and holds three games in hand.

* Stone recorded his second multi-goal (also Dec. 27 vs. BOS: 2-0—2) and third three-point performances of the season (also Nov. 24 at DAL: 1-2—3 and Dec. 8 at FLA: 0-3—3). He also scored for the fourth straight game (5-3—8), equaling a career high established April 2-7, 2015 (5-2—7).

* Pageau matched a career high with his second three-point game – both this season (also Nov. 24 at DAL: 2-1—3).

MRAZEK, RED WINGS BLANK PANTHERS TO CUT DIVISION LEAD
Petr Mrazek stopped all 23 shots he faced, including 11 in the middle frame, to record his ninth career shutout (fourth this season) and lift the Red Wings to their second straight victory.

* At 27-18-8 (62 points), the Red Wings climbed within six points of the Panthers (31-16-6, 68 points) for first place in the Atlantic Division. These teams, who are tied in ROW (26) and games played (53), will face off for a fourth and final time this season on March 19 at BB&T Center (FLA: 2-1-0, DET: 1-1-1).

* Mrazek reached the 20-win milestone for the first time in his career (20-10-4). He paces the NHL in both goals-against average (1.97) and save percentage (.933).

MILESTONES & BENCHMARKS
* Panthers forward Jaromir Jagr became the 10th player in NHL history to reach the 1,600-game milestone.

* Forward Carl Hagelin scored his first goal with the Penguins (9 GP).

* Alain Vigneault (NYR) earned his 550th career victory to move past Marc Crawford(549) and into sole possession of 15th place on the NHL’s all-time wins list among head coaches.

LOOSE PUCKS
The Ducks saw their winning streak end at six games, while the Panthers had their point streak halted at six contests (5-0-1) . . . Red Wings forward Pavel Datsyuk (2-0—2) recorded his first multi-goal game since Feb. 23, 2015 at ANA (2-0—2) . . . Penguins goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury (36 SV) picked up his sixth consecutive win on home ice. He boasts a 14-5-2 record overall this season at CONSOL Energy Center (2.47 GAA, .918 SV%, 3 SO) . . . Rangers forward J.T. Miller scored his ninth goal in his past 10 games . . . Devils forward Travis Zajac posted his seventh career shorthanded goal and second of the season (also Oct. 20 vs. ARI) . . . Penguins forward Chris Kunitz (1-1—2) registered his fourth multi-point game in his last five outings (2-7—9) . . . ICYMI: The Jets signed defenseman Dustin Byfuglien to a five-year contract extension . . . The Department of Player Safety suspended Jets forward Drew Stafford for one game for high-sticking Avalanche defenseman Nick Holden . . . Penguins captain Sidney Crosby, Senators captain Erik Karlsson and Panthers forward Vincent Trocheck were namedthe NHL’s “Three Stars” for the week ending Feb. 7.

DID YOU KNOW?
Today marks the 50-year anniversary of the birth of the NHL’s “Second Six.” On Feb. 9, 1966, the League doubled in size – from six to 12 teams – when the Owners-Governors awarded franchises to Los Angeles, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, San Francisco and St. Louis.

Click here for more information.

SNEAK PEEK AT TUESDAY’S ACTION
All Times Eastern
Los Angeles @ Boston, 7:00 p.m., SN1, FS-W, NESN
Florida @ Buffalo, 7:00 p.m., FS-F, MSG-B, BELL TV
Anaheim @ Philadelphia, 7:00 p.m., PRIME, FS-SD, CSN-PH
NY Islanders @ Columbus, 7:00 p.m., MSG+, FS-O
Tampa Bay @ Montreal, 7:30 p.m., SUN, SNE, RDS
Winnipeg @ St. Louis, 8:00 p.m., TSN3, FS-MW
Washington @ Nashville, 8:00 p.m., CSN-DC, FS-TN
Dallas @ Minnesota, 8:00 p.m., NBCSN
Edmonton @ New Jersey, 8:00 p.m., TVAS, SNOL, MSG
San Jose @ Chicago, 8:30 p.m., CSN-CA, CSN-CH
Vancouver @ Colorado, 9:00 p.m., SNP, ALT
Toronto @ Calgary, 9:00 p.m., SNO, SNW
NBCSN Channel Finder
Sportsnet Channel Finder
NHLN Channel Finder

DEVILS CULMINATE BRODEUR CELEBRATION WITH BANNER-RAISING
The Devils (26-21-7, 59 points) cap a four-day celebration of legendary goaltender Martin Brodeur when they raise his No. 30 jersey to the rafters of Prudential Center prior to their game against the Oilers (21-28-5, 47 points). Brodeur, the 20th overall selection in the 1990 NHL Draft, finished his career with a number of League records for a goaltender, including regular-season wins (691), single-season wins (48, 2006-07), regular-season shutouts (125) and playoff shutouts (24). He also captured three Stanley Cups (1994-95, 1999-00 and 2002-03) and won the Vezina Trophy four times (2002-03, 2003-04, 2006-07 and 2007-08).

Brodeur will become the fourth player in Devils history with his number retired, joining No. 4 Scott Stevens (2006), No. 3 Ken Daneyko (2006) and No. 27 Scott Niedermayer(2011).

* ICYMI: The Devils unveiled an 11-foot statue of Brodeur on Monday:

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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