Kukla's Korner Hockey

Kukla's Korner Hockey

NHL Short Notes

01/16/2017 at 7:37am EST

SUNDAY’S RESULTS
Home Team in Caps
WASHINGTON 5, Philadelphia 0
New Jersey 2, VANCOUVER 1 (OT)
Minnesota 3, CHICAGO 2
St. Louis 2, ANAHEIM 1 (OT)

CAPITALS CRUISE TO NINTH CONSECUTIVE VICTORY, FIRST PLACE IN NHL
Justin Williams (2-0—2) and Matt Niskanen (2-0—2) combined for four goals in a span of five minutes as the Capitals posted their second straight shutout and ninth consecutive win overall to move into first place in the NHL standings.

* At 29-9-5 (63 points), the reigning Presidents’ Trophy-winning Capitals moved one point ahead of the Blue Jackets (29-9-4, 62 points) for first place overall. On Jan. 5, Washington posted a 5-0 win against Columbus to halt the Blue Jackets’ win streak at 16 games, one shy of the NHL single-season record.

* Aside from the Capitals and Blue Jackets, two other clubs have posted win streaks of at least nine games this season: the Wild (Dec. 4-29: 12-0-0) and Flyers (Nov. 27-Dec. 14: 10-0-0).

* Elias notes that three teams (CBJ, PHI and WSH) from the same division have posted at least nine consecutive wins in the same season for just the second time in League history. The other instance occurred last season when the Canadiens (9-0-0), Lightning (9-0-0) and Panthers (12-0-0) combined for the feat.

* Phillip Grubauer (24 saves) recorded his second career shutout as Washington posted consecutive blank sheets for the second time in the past 10 days (6 GP). Elias notes that this is the first time in club history that the Capitals have recorded at least four shutouts in a six-game span.

* The Capitals also earned their sixth straight victory at Verizon Center to move into a share of the League lead with 18 home wins this season (tied w/ PIT).

WILD RALLY TO PASS BLACKHAWKS FOR FIRST IN WESTERN CONFERENCE
The Wild scored three unanswered goals to overcome a 2-0 deficit and improve to 28-9-5 (61 points) this season, passing the opposing Blackhawks (27-14-5, 59 points) for first place in the Western Conference standings.

* Minnesota extended their road point streak to 12 games (10-0-2), matching the longest such run in franchise history from Feb. 18 – April 9, 2015 (12-0-0).

* Devan Dubnyk (33 saves) has earned wins in his last eight road appearances and improved to 23-7-3 overall (1.78 GAA, .940 SV%, 5 SO). His goals-against average and save percentage lead all goaltenders.

* Jason Pominville ended a 19-game goalless drought by scoring the game-winner at 5:08 of the third period.

BLUES, DEVILS EARN OVERTIME WINS
The Blues and Devils each secured victories in overtime:

* Patrik Berglund scored his second goal of the contest 51 seconds into overtime to lead the Blues to their first road win vs. ANA since Oct. 17, 2009 (5-0 W), snapping a 10-game slide (0-9-1).

* Taylor Hall scored at 1:28 of overtime as New Jersey snapped Vancouver’s home win streak at five games. Cory Schneider (21 saves) improved to 4-1-2 in seven career appearances against his former club.

LOOSE PUCKS
The Wild have won eight consecutive regular-season games vs. CHI dating to Feb. 3, 2015 (CHI: 0-7-1) . . . Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane scored twice and ranks second in the NHL with 14-33—47 this season (46 GP) . . . Canucks captain Henrik Sedin collected an assist to move within two points of becoming the first player in franchise history to reach the 1,000-point milestone (231-767—998) . . . Ducks captain Ryan Getzlaf (0-1—1) extended his point streak to five games (1-4—5) . . . Capitals forward Nicklas Backstrom notched two assists to reach 30 helpers on the season and extend his point streak to six games (3-9—12). The performance came after he was presented with a gold stick in recognition of becoming the first player in franchise history to record 500 career assists.


SNEAK PEEK AT MONDAY’S ACTION
All Times Eastern
NY Islanders @ Boston, 1 p.m., SN, NESN, MSG+
Dallas @ Buffalo, 1 p.m., MSG-B, FS-SW
Montreal @ Detroit, 3 p.m., FS-D, SNE, RDS
Tampa Bay @ Los Angeles, 4 p.m., SN, FS-W, SUN
Winnipeg @ San Jose, 4 p.m., CSN-CA, TSN3
Washington @ Pittsburgh, 7 p.m., SN, TVAS, NBCSN, ROOT
Arizona @ Edmonton, 9 p.m., SNW, FS-A PLUS
NBC Sports Channel Finder
Sportsnet Channel Finder
NHLN Channel Finder

FIVE MATINEES HIGHLIGHT MONDAY’S SLATE
Monday’s seven-game slate features five afternoon contests as Martin Luther King Jr. Day is observed in the United States. Islanders captain John Tavares, who has five goals in his past two games, looks to continue his hot streak when his club visits the Bruins at TD Garden, where Brad Marchand posted five points in a 6-3 victory on Saturday; the Stars visit the Sabres at KeyBank Center in Buffalo; the Atlantic Division-leading Canadiens visit the Red Wings for their second-last regular-season meeting at Joe Louis Arena; Willie O’Ree, the first black player in NHL history, will drop the ceremonial puck before the Lightning face the Kings at STAPLES Center; and the Jets close a three-game road trip against the Sharks.

CAPITALS VISIT PENGUINS, AIM FOR 10TH CONSECUTIVE WIN
The NHL-leading Capitals (29-9-5, 63 points) wrap up their four-game season series with the Penguins (26-11-5, 57 points) when they visit PPG Paints Arena, their second meeting in five days. Washington enters the contests on a nine-game overall win streak, while Pittsburgh has recorded points in each of their last 12 home games (11-0-1), including five straight victories. Penguins captain Sidney Crosby leads the NHL with 26 goals this season (36 GP), while Capitals forward Nicklas Backstrom has collected 3-8—11 in the previous three meetings of the season series (1-3—4 on Jan. 11, 2-3—5 on Nov. 16 and 0-2—2 on Oct. 13).

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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