Kukla's Korner Hockey

Kukla's Korner Hockey

NHL Short Notes

05/23/2016 at 7:15am EDT

JOHNSON SCORES EARLY OT-WINNER AS LIGHTNING TAKE 3-2 SERIES LEAD
Nikita Kucherov (2-1—3) tied the game with 3:16 remaining in regulation and Tyler Johnson (1-1—2) scored just 53 seconds into overtime to help the Lightning win Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Final and take a 3-2 series lead.



* Per Elias, Johnson scored the fastest overtime goal in Lightning playoff history, 12 seconds faster than Brad Richards (1:05) in Game 3 of the 2004 Eastern Conference Semifinal at MTL.

* Johnson has scored in a playoff career-high three straight games (3-1—4), including the game-winning goal in consecutive contests. The Lightning improved to 12-1 since the start of the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs when Johnson scores a postseason goal.

* The Lightning improved to 14-8 in 22 all-time playoff overtime games, including a 3-1 mark this postseason and an 11-4 record on the road. Elias notes their .733 winning percentage in such games on the road is the highest in NHL history (minimum: 2 GP).

* Per Elias, when teams are tied 2-2 in a best-of-seven Stanley Cup Playoffs series, the winner of Game 5 holds an all-time series record of 192-53 (78.3%).

KUCHEROV CONTINUES SCORING WAYS
Nikita Kucherov (2-1—3) registered his third three-point game of the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs and has collected multiple points in three consecutive contests (2-5—7). With an NHL-leading 11 goals in the 2016 postseason, he eclipsed his career high for goals in a playoff year from 2015 (10).

* Per Elias, Kucherov became the third player in NHL history to score 10 or more goals in multiple postseasons before his 23rd birthday, joining Chicago’s Jeremy Roenick in 1990 (11) and 1992 (12) and Pittsburgh’s Evgeni Malkin in 2008 (10) and 2009 (14).

DID YOU KNOW?
Per Elias, the 2016 Eastern Conference Final marked the first playoff series in NHL history in which both teams scored a goal in the opening minute of overtime. In addition to Johnson’s marker 53 seconds into overtime in Game 5, Penguins captain Sidney Crosbyscored 40 seconds into overtime in Game 2.

* The last time two such goals were scored in a playoff series was the 1993 Stanley Cup Final between the Canadiens and Kings. Montreal’s Eric Desjardins scored 51 seconds into overtime in Game 2 and teammate John LeClair scored 34 seconds into overtime in Game 3.

MILESTONES & BENCHMARKS
* Penguins goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury (21 SV) made his 100th career playoff appearance, becoming the 18th goaltender in NHL history to reach the milestone.

* With seven career game-winning goals in the postseason (all w/ TBL), Lightning forwardTyler Johnson tied Brad Richards for second in franchise playoff history.

LOOSE PUCKS
Per Elias, the Lightning tied a franchise record with three overtime wins in a playoff year, also achieved in 2004 and 2015 . . . Penguins defenseman Brian Dumoulin opened the scoring with 0.7 seconds left in the first period, the first playoff goal of his NHL career (21 GP). He has scored one goal in 93 career regular-season games, also vs. TBL on Dec. 15, 2014 . . . Penguins forward Chris Kunitz (1-1—2) has scored in a playoff career-high three consecutive games (3-1—4) . . . Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin (0-1—1) has collected 20-25—45 in 36 career games vs. TBL (regular season and playoffs) . . . Canada defeated Finland 2-0 in the gold-medal game of the 2016 IIHF World Championship and Russia defeated the United States 7-2 in the bronze-medal game . . . Former WWE wrestler Shawn Michaelswas in attendance at CONSOL Energy Center to check out Pittsburgh’s “HBK Line”.


SNEAK PEEK AT MONDAYS ACTION
All Times Eastern
San Jose @ St. Louis, 8:00 p.m., series tied 2-2, CBC, TVAS, NBCSN
NBC Sports Channel Finder
Sportsnet Channel Finder
NHL Network Channel Finder

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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