Kukla's Korner Hockey

Kukla's Korner Hockey

NHL Short Notes

02/07/2014 at 10:40am EST

PACIORETTY DOES THE TRICK
Despite a pair of missed penalty shots in a 1:51 span of the second period, Max Pacioretty recorded his second hat trick of the season and the third of his career to power the Canadiens to their fourth victory in their last six games (4-1-1).

* According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Pacioretty is the second player in NHL history to attempt two penalty shots in one game: Erik Cole scored on one of his two penalty shots against Martin Biron in a 5-3 victory by the Hurricanes over the Sabres Nov. 9, 2005.

* Pacioretty, who will represent the United States in the 2014 Olympic Winter Games, recorded his first hat trick of the season in a 6-2 win over the Wild Nov. 19.

* Elias says that Pacioretty is the second Canadiens player since 2000 to register two hat tricks in one season: Mike Cammalleri had a pair of three-goal games for the team in 2009-10.

* Carey Price made 42 saves to outduel Team Canada teammate Roberto Luongo (24 saves). With the win, Price improved to 3-1-1 with a 1.20 goals-against average, .966 save percentage and two shutouts in his last five starts. He also improved to 5-1-1 with a 2.26 goals-against average, .937 save percentage and one shutout in eight career appearances versus the Canucks.

OVECHKIN IS FIRST TO 40
Alex Ovechkin scored his League-leading 40th goal of the season, the game-winner, to help the Capitals pick up their fourth victory in their last seven games (4-2-1). It marks the fourth time in Ovechkin’s nine NHL seasons that he is the first player to reach 40 goals, following three consecutive seasons from 2007-08 through 2009-10.

* Ovechkin, who will represent Russia in the 2014 Olympic Winter Games, has scored 40 or more goals six times in his NHL career, a franchise record. He reached that number in each of his first five seasons from 2005-06 through 2009-10.

* Ovechkin’s 40th goal came in his 54th game of the season. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, he is the only Capitals player to reach the milestone in fewer games, doing so on two occasions (51 games in 2009-10, 52 games in 2008-09).

* Ovechkin extended his point streak versus the Jets to eight games (9-6—15). He has 41-41—82 in 55 career games against the Jets/Thrashers franchise, his most goals and points versus any NHL opponent.

* The Capitals recorded their sixth consecutive victory over the Jets. They are 8-3-2 in their head-to-head matchups since the team relocated to Winnipeg for the 2011-12 season.

OVERTIME HEROICS
Three players scored their first career overtime goals to lead their teams to victories Thursday:

* T.J. Oshie, who will represent the United States in the 2014 Olympic Winter Games, scored 3:29 into overtime to power the Blues to their fifth win in their last seven games (5-1-1). The goal marked Oshie’s fourth game-winner of 2013-14, a career high.

* Nino Niederreiter, who will represent Switzerland in the 2014 Olympic Winter Games, scored 2:16 into the extra session to lead the Wild to their fifth consecutive victory at Xcel Energy Center. Niederreiter has recorded 13 NHL goals (123 GP), but Thursday marked his first game-winner.

* Playing in his 1,002nd NHL game, Robyn Regehr scored 2:33 into overtime to help the Kings snap a four-game losing streak. The goal marked Regehr’s fourth career game-winner and first since Jan. 21, 2006.

MICHALEK SAVES THE DAY
The Senators surrendered a two-goal, third-period lead, but Milan Michalek (2-0—2) scored with 20.9 seconds remaining in regulation to lead the team to its second consecutive victory and fourth win in its past six outings (4-1-1).

* Michalek, who will represent the Czech Republic in the 2014 Olympic Winter Games, registered his first multi-goal game since March 6, 2012, when he posted 3-1—4 in a 7-3 victory over the Lightning.

NINE IN NINE FOR NYQUIST
Gustav Nyquist scored the tiebreaking goal late in the second period to power the Red Wings to their fifth win in their last eight games (5-1-2). Nyquist, who will represent Sweden in the 2014 Olympic Winter Games, has nine goals in his past nine contests, matching his total from the first 63 games of his NHL career.

NET PRESENCE
* Ben Scrivens made 35 saves to lead the Oilers to their fifth victory in their last six games. Scrivens has faced 30 or more shots in five of his six starts since joining the team, posting a 3-3-0 record with a 2.01 goals-against average, .948 save percentage and one shutout.

* Steve Mason recorded 38 saves to backstop the Flyers to their third straight win. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Mason is 10-3-2 with a 2.22 goals-against average in his last 16 games versus the Western Conference.

* Jonathan Bernier made 33 saves to help the Maple Leafs pick up their fourth victory in their last five games. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Bernier has 16 wins this season when recording 30 or more saves, tied for the most in the NHL with Avalanche goaltender Semyon Varlamov.

MILESTONE TRACKER
The Rangers became the second team this week, and fifth in League history, to play their 6,000th regular-season game. The Blackhawks reached the milestone Monday, while the Red Wings will do so Saturday . . . Alex Pietrangelo recorded his 34th assist and 40th point of the season, becoming the first defenseman in Blues history and first overall since Dion Phaneuf (2005-06 through 2007-08) to earn 40 or more points in each of his first three full NHL seasons . . . Oilers forward Taylor Hall (0-1—1) posted his 200th NHL point . . . Panthers forward Tomas Kopecky collected his 100th career assist . . . Blues forward Brenden Morrow played in his 900th NHL game, becoming the 47th active player to reach the milestone . . . Sabres forward Matt D’Agostini and Maple Leafs defenseman Cody Franson both skated in their 300th career game . . . Red Wings forward Daniel Alfredsson (439-703—1,142 in 1,223 GP) scored his 13th goal of the season to tie Nicklas Lidstrom (264-878—1,142 in 1,564 GP) for the second-most points by a Swedish-born player in NHL history . . . Ken Hitchcock earned his 110th win behind the Blues’ bench, tying Scotty Bowman for fourth in franchise history . . . Kings forward Anze Kopitar recorded his 333rd career assist, matching Rob Blake for seventh in team history.

LOOSE PUCKS
Flyers captain Claude Giroux scored his 19th goal of the season, giving him 3-3—6 over his last three games . . . Sabres forward Drew Stafford posted 1-1—2 and now has 6-3—9 in his past seven games . . . Capitals forward Troy Brouwer (2-0—2) recorded his first multi-goal game since April 20, 2013 . . . Senators captain Jason Spezza collected two assists for his 13th multi-point game of the season. The club improved to 10-0-3 when he posts two or more points, versus 16-21-8 when he fails to do so . . . Flames goaltender Reto Berra made 28 saves to earn his eighth career victory, but first in regulation-time . . . Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog recorded an assist to extend his point streak to eight games (3-7—10), matching a career high set earlier this season (Dec. 23-Jan. 8: 3-8—11) . . . Rookie teammate Nathan MacKinnon also collected an assist to stretch his point streak to a career-long seven games (4-6—10) . . . Rangers forwards Derick Brassard (3-4—7) and Mats Zuccarello (2-5—7) both pushed their point streaks to five games . . . The Blackhawks acquired forwards Peter Regin and Pierre-Marc Bouchard from the Islanders in exchange for a fourth-round pick in the 2014 NHL Draft.

SNEAK PEEK AT FRIDAY’S ACTION
All Times Eastern
Edmonton @ New Jersey, 7:00 p.m., SNET-W, MSG PLUS
NY Rangers @ Pittsburgh, 7:00 p.m., NHLN-US, RDS, MSG 2, ROOT
Florida @ Carolina, 7:00 p.m., FS-F, FS-CR
Chicago @ Phoenix, 9:00 p.m., CSN-CH, FS-A
Columbus @ San Jose, 10:30 p.m., NHLN-CA, FS-O, CSN-CA

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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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