CAPITALS SHUT OUT HURRICANES AFTER STADIUM SERIES ANNOUNCEMENT

After the NHL announced the Capitals as the Hurricanes’ opponent for the 2023 Navy Federal Credit Union NHL Stadium Series (Feb. 18, 2023), Washington defeated the Eastern Conference leaders on the strength of a 36-save shutout by Vitek Vanecek.

* Vanecek posted the highest save total in a shutout by a Capitals goaltender in nearly four years, recording the fifth clean sheet of his NHL career (60 starts) and second in his past three starts. Alex Ovechkin (1-0—1) scored his 763rd career goal to move within three of tying Jaromir Jagr (766) for third place in NHL history.

PANTHERS, PENGUINS INCH CLOSER TO FIRST PLACE WITH WINS IN FLORIDA

The Panthers (36-13-5, 77 points) and Penguins (34-14-8, 76 points) both climbed the Eastern Conference standings and now sit within three points of the Hurricanes (37-12-5, 79 points), who have held the No. 1 spot in the conference since Feb. 25 and have sat atop the Metropolitan Division since Feb. 18. Carolina is set to visit Pittsburgh on Friday.

* Patric Hornqvist (1-1—2) and Ryan Lomberg (1-0—1) scored 12 seconds apart to propel the Panthers past the Lightning (35-12-6, 76 points) and back into first place in the Atlantic Division. Florida earned its NHL-leading 24th home win of 2021-22, which stands as the sixth most in a single season in franchise history. The Atlantic Division leaders still have 11 contests remaining at FLA Live Arena.

* Sidney Crosby (1-1—2) factored on two of his team’s five goals, scoring the game winner, as the Penguins bested the Lightning at AMALIE Arena to earn their NHL-leading 41st road point of the season (19-6-3). Pittsburgh required its fewest games in club history to record 40 road points (28 GP).

WILD TALLY FOUR TYING GOALS, FORGO FALLING TO FLYERS AT WELLS FARGO CENTER
Ryan Hartman accounted for two of Minnesota’s four tying goals and Jonas Brodin put the Wild up for good with 7:19 remaining in regulation as the visitors rallied for a 5-4 victory against the Flyers. Minnesota overcame four separate deficits to earn a win for the second time this season (also Oct. 19, 2021).

SPOILER ALERT: LOWER-RANKED TEAMS CLAIM ONE-GOAL VICTORIES

The Coyotes and Canadiens each defeated a division leader Thursday, while the Blackhawks edged the Oilers despite the League’s top goal-scorer and point-getter finding the score sheet:

* Karel Vejmelka made 42 saves to help the Coyotes become the fourth team this season to earn two wins against the NHL-leading Avalanche. Thursday marked Vejmelka’s fifth 40-save performance of 2021-22, tied with Juuse Saros, John Gibson and Anton Forsberg for the most by any goaltender.

* Ben Chiarot (2-1—3) and Mike Hoffman (1-3—4) each scored in the third period to put the Canadiens on top in what would become a comeback win, but Elias Lindholm scored with 28 seconds left in regulation to send the game to overtime. Chiarot then established a career high with his third point of the game, capping his first multi-goal performance in more than two years and preventing Calgary from setting a new franchise record for consecutive home wins.

* Leon Draisaitl (1-1—2) regained sole possession of the League lead in goals (38) and Connor McDavid (0-2—2) moved within one of 80 points this season, but Alex DeBrincat netted his 30th goal of the campaign to give Chicago an overtime win against Edmonton. The Oilers tied the game with 50 seconds left in regulation to salvage a point – moving back into a playoff spot – in Duncan Keith’s return to United Center.

#NHLSTATS: LIVE UPDATES: PASTRNAK HITS 30 GOALS ON ESPN
A couple Bruins skaters were featured in the Thursday edition of #NHLStats: Live Updates as Craig Smith (3-0—3) scored his third career hat trick while David Pastrnak (2-0—2) became the eighth player in franchise history to post at least five 30-goal seasons.



HUDSPETH DEVELOPING GIRLS HOCKEY IN LAS VEGAS
Sheri Hudspeth, the girls hockey coach and manager for the Vegas Jr. Golden Knights, joined "The Chirp with Daren Millard" podcast to discuss her role in growing the game of hockey in Las Vegas. Hudspeth is a former NCAA Division I women's hockey forward from Minnesota State University.

QUICK CLICKS

* Ducks prospect Lukas Dostal scores goalie goal in AHL game
* Rick Nash's Blue Jackets legacy comes full circle, number retirement Saturday
* You Can Play celebrates 10 years of helping LGBTQ+ community in hockey
* Kraken coach Dave Hakstol catches fish at famous Pike Place Fish Market
* Flyers sport jerseys of high school teams competing in 2022 Flyers Cup Scholastic Championships

KINGS, BLUE JACKETS CLASH IN COLUMBUS ON EVE OF NASH’S JERSEY RETIREMENT

A seven-game Friday in the NHL features the Kings visiting the Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena, with the hosts looking to continue their pursuit of an Eastern Conference Wild Card spot before retiring the No. 61 of franchise icon Rick Nash on Saturday.



* Los Angeles outshot opponents in 21 consecutive games from Jan. 6–Feb. 28 before the streak was snapped in its contest against Dallas on Wednesday. The Kings were the third NHL club to outshoot opponents in 21 or more straight games within a regular season (since 1959-60 when shots by team have been consistently tracked), joining the Rangers (22 GP from Oct. 16–Dec. 5, 1971) and Blues (21 GP from Nov. 29, 2001–Jan. 12, 2002).

* Columbus has collected an 8-3-0 (16 points) record since All-Star Weekend to move within 10 points of Washington (29-18-9, 67 points), which occupies the final Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference standings. Patrik Laine has 10-7—17 in the Blue Jackets’ 11 contests since returning from the break, including four game-winning goals (tops in the NHL over that span).

Thanks to the NHL PR department for the information above.