NHL Short Notes

THREE HARD LAPS

* Marc-Andre Fleury returned to the Golden Knights’ crease, earned his 80th career postseason win and helped Vegas take a commanding 3-0 series lead over Chicago.

* Darcy Kuemper shined with a 49-save performance to backstop Arizona to victory in Game 3. He fell two saves shy of the most in a playoff game in Coyotes/Jets history.

* Jaroslav Halak turned aside 29 of 30 shots he faced in his first Stanley Cup Playoffs start since 2015 as the Bruins took a 2-1 lead in their First Round series.

FLEURY’S 80TH POSTSEASON WIN HELPS VEGAS PUSH CHICAGO TO THE BRINK . . .
Marc-Andre Fleury (26 saves) returned to the Golden Knights crease and backstopped Vegas to its sixth straight win to begin the 2020 postseason. Fleury earned his 80th career postseason victory in the effort and helped the Golden Knights take a commanding 3-0 series lead over the Blackhawks.

* Fleury, who paces all active goaltenders with 80 career postseason wins, moved into a tie with Ken Dryden (80-32) for sixth place on the NHL’s all-time list. His 80 playoff wins are highlighted by 14 series-clinching victories and one Stanley Cup-clinching win.

* The Blackhawks are the 15th different franchise Fleury has earned at least one postseason win against. He became the fifth goaltender in NHL history to record at least one such victory versus 15 or more different franchises. The others: Patrick Roy (20), Dominik Hasek (17), Martin Brodeur (16) and Curtis Joseph (15).

* The Golden Knights became just the third different team since 2000 to win each of their first six or more games to begin a postseason. The others: Anaheim (6-0-0 in 2003 & 2015) and Pittsburgh (7-0-0 in 2008).

* Teams that take a 3-0 lead in a best-of-seven series hold an all-time record of 190-4 (97.9%). The last team to come back from a 3-0 series deficit and win was the Kings during the 2014 Stanley Cup Playoffs (R1 vs. SJS) en route to the franchise’s second Cup.

. . . WHILE KUEMPER, HALAK SHINE AS COYOTES AND BRUINS EARN GAME 3 WINS

Coyotes goaltender Darcy Kuemper and Bruins netminder Jaroslav Halak backstopped their respective clubs to Game 3 wins:

* Kuemper made 49 saves – including 20 in the first period – to establish a Coyotes/Jets record for most saves in a playoff period and help Arizona cut its First Round series deficit to 2-1. Only one goaltender in franchise history has recorded more saves in a playoff game: Nikolai Khabibulin (51 in Game 5 of 1996 CSF).

* Kuemper improved to 7-4 in 16 career postseason appearances with a 2.42 goals-against average, .925 save percentage and one shutout. He is one of eight active goaltenders with a career save percentage of .925 or higher in the postseason (min. 15 GP).

* While Brad Marchand (1-1—2) and David Krejci (0-2—2) each collected two points, Halak turned aside 29 of 30 shots he faced in his first Stanley Cup Playoffs start since 2015 as the Bruins took a 2-1 lead in their First Round series. Halak has earned wins in all four of his appearances against Carolina since being signed by Boston on July 1, 2018, going 3-0-0 in the regular season (1.66 GAA, .952 SV%, 1 SO) and 1-0 in the playoffs (1.01 GAA, .967 SV%).

* Halak improved to 14-16 in 32 career postseason appearances overall (2.40 GAA, .923 SV%). His most noteworthy playoff run occurred in 2010, when he went 9-9 in 18 games to backstop the eighth-seeded Canadiens all the way to the Conference Finals (2.55 GAA, .923 SV%).

POINT SPARKS LIGHTNING TO GAME 3 WIN, TAMPA BAY REGAINS SERIES LEAD
Brayden Point, Alex Killorn and Victor Hedman all found the back of the net as Tampa Bay won Game 3 and took a 2-1 series lead over Columbus. The Lightning hold a 7-3 (.700) record in a best-of-seven series when leading 2-1.

* Point (4-3—7 in 6 GP) became the first player in Lightning history to record a point in each of his team's first six games of a postseason, besting the previous mark held by Brad Richards (5 GP in 2006), Nikita Kucherov (5 GP in 2018) and Steven Stamkos (1-5—6 in 5 GP).

* He also joined Islanders forward Anthony Beauvillier as the second player to collect at least one point in each of his team’s first six postseason games in 2020. The last player to extend his streak beyond six contests was Kings forward Anze Kopitar (10 GP in 2014).

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