THURSDAY’S RESULTS
Home Team in Caps
NY ISLANDERS 4, NY Rangers 2
Ottawa 3, NEW JERSEY 0
PITTSBURGH 4, Winnipeg 3 (OT)
BUFFALO 2, Colorado 0
ST. LOUIS 4, Vancouver 3
MINNESOTA 3, Dallas 1
EDMONTON 6, Philadelphia 3
Arizona 5, LOS ANGELES 3
CROSBY BECOMES FASTEST ACTIVE PLAYER TO REACH 1,000 POINTS
Sidney Crosby collected 1-2—3 to become the 86th player in NHL history to record 1,000 career points, capping the night with the overtime winner as the Penguins extended their point streak to eight games (6-0-2).
* Crosby (369-633—1,002) recorded his 1,000th NHL point while playing in his 757th career game to become the fastest active player to reach the milestone – six games fewer than Jaromir Jagr (763 GP) – and the 12th-fastest in League history.
* Crosby became the eighth active player to record 1,000 career points and the third to hit the mark this season, following Alex Ovechkin on Jan. 11 and Henrik Sedin on Jan. 20. He also became the third player to register 1,000 career points with the Penguins, joining Mario Lemieux (690-1,033—1,723) and Jagr (439-640—1,079).
* Crosby, who registered at least three points for the 118th time in his career, has averaged 1.32 points per game since beginning his career in 2005-06. Elias notes that only four players in NHL history scored at a higher rate (min. 500 GP): Wayne Gretzky (1.92), Mario Lemieux (1.88), Mike Bossy (1.50) and Bobby Orr (1.39).
* Elias notes that Crosby (29 years, 193 days) became the second-youngest active player at the time of his 1,000th career point, behind Jagr (28 years, 319 days) on Dec. 30, 2000.
McDAVID PICKS UP THREE POINTS, MAINTAINS SCORING LEAD
Connor McDavid (1-2—3) earned his 20th multi-point game of the season to help the Oilers (31-19-8, 70 points) move into a tie – in terms of points – with the Ducks (30-18-10, 70 points) for second place in the Pacific Division.
* With his performance, McDavid (19-47—66) maintained a two point lead over Sidney Crosby (31-33—64) in the Art Ross Trophy race. McDavid paces also paces all players with eight three-point outings this season.
* The Oilers, who finished with the fewest points in the Western Conference in 2015-16, tied their win (31) and point (70) totals from last season in only their 58th game of the campaign.
HOT STREAKS CONTINUE
The Blues, Islanders and Wild all posted victories to continue long stretches of success:
* Vladimir Tarasenko (1-1—2) scored his 27th goal of the season and Kevin Shattenkirk tallied three assists to power the Blues (31-22-5, 67 points) to their season-high sixth straight victory. St. Louis has posted a 7-1-0 record under head coach Mike Yeo to open a five-point lead over the Predators (27-21-8, 62 points) for third place in the Central Division.
* Andrew Ladd scored twice as the Islanders (26-20-10, 62 points) improved to 8-0-2 in their last 10 home contests. Elias notes that the Islanders have earned points in 10 consecutive home games within a season for the first time since a 9-0-1 run from Dec. 16, 1989 – Jan. 28, 1990. New York sits one point back of Toronto (26-18-11, 63 points) for the second Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference.
* Erik Haula scored his third game-winning goal of the season to help the Western Conference-leading Wild (38-13-6, 82 points) improve to 8-2-1 in their last 11 games. Minnesota earned its 38th victory of the season to match their total from the 2015-16 season (38-33-11, 87 points). They rank second in the overall NHL standings, two points back of the Capitals (39-11-6, 84 points); Washington, however, holds a game in hand.
CONDON, SENATORS NARROW GAP IN ATLANTIC
Mike Condon made 21 saves to record his fifth shutout of the season as the Senators (30-19-6, 66 points) moved within four points of the Canadiens (31-19-8, 70 points) for first place in the Atlantic Division (with three games in hand). Condon, who posted one shutout in his first 57 NHL contests, has earned five blank sheets in 31 games since joining Ottawa in November. Patrick Lalime (3x) is the only Senators goaltender to post more shutouts in a single season.
LOOSE PUCKS
Patrik Laine scored his 27th goal of the season to move into a tie with Auston Matthews for the rookie lead . . . Sabres goaltender Robin Lehner (23 saves) earned his second shutout of the season . . . Coyotes defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson (0-1—1) extended his point streak to five games (0-6—6) . . . Kris Letang recorded three assists in his 600th game . . . Kings forward Adrian Kempe, the 29th overall selection in the 2014 NHL Draft, made his League debut . . . Ducks forward Antoine Vermette was automatically suspended for 10 games, without pay, for violating Rule 40.3 (Physical Abuse of Officials) . . . Stanley Cup champion Alex Tanguay has joined NHL Network as an on-air analyst . . .The Sabres held a screening of “Soul On Ice” as part of Hockey Is For Everyone month . . . LA Galaxy player Robbie Rogers dropped the ceremonial puck as part of the Kings’ You Can Play night.
SNEAK PEEK AT FRIDAY’S ACTION
All Times Eastern
Pittsburgh @ Columbus, 7 p.m., SN, TVAS, FS-O, ROOT, NHLN
Colorado @ Carolina, 7:30 p.m., FS-CR, ALT
Florida @ Anaheim, 10 p.m., SN1, PRIME, FS-F
the information above was provided by the NHL PR department
Create an Account
In order to leave a comment, please create an account.