* The 2023 Stadium Series had a fitting finish, with the Hurricanes netting four goals to win their first-ever outdoor game in front of their hometown crowd at Carter-Finley Stadium.
* The Kings overcame the Coyotes’ four-goal comeback attempt with a shootout victory at Crypto.com Arena.
* Sunday will feature a doubleheader on HULU and ESPN+, beginning with a rematch of the 2022 Western Conference Final between the Oilers and Avalanche at 3 p.m. ET.
HURRICANES ROCK SOLD-OUT CROWD IN STADIUM SERIES WIN
After fans spent the day tailgating, barbecuing and celebrating the passionate Carolina hockey community on the grounds of Carter-Finley Stadium, the hometown Hurricanes erupted for “fore” goals to send the sold-out crowd of 56,961 fans home happy with a victory in the franchise’s first-ever outdoor game appearance.
* Martin Necas (2-1—3) led a trio of Hurricanes forwards that recorded multiple points, along with Jesperi Kotkaniemi (1-1—2) and Teuvo Teravainen (1-1—2). Necas (22-29—51 in 55 GP), who has now set new career highs for goals, assists and points this season, recorded his team-leading 13th multi-point game of 2022-23.
* Frederik Andersen stopped 24 of 25 shots and held the Capitals off the score sheet until Tom Wilson’s goal at 10:32 of the third period. He improved to 2-1-0 in his career outdoors to become the seventh NHL goaltender to win multiple outdoor games.
* Andersen also registered an assist on Carolina’s fourth goal to become just the third goaltender to record a point in an NHL outdoor game, joining Petr Mrazek (1 assist in 2016 SS w/ DET) and Marc-Andre Fleury (1 assist in 2011 WC w/ PIT).
* The Hurricanes became the first team to defeat the Capitals in an outdoor game (WSH: 3-1-0), while becoming the 15th team to win in their first-ever outdoor game appearance.
* Home teams improved to 18-16-3 in NHL outdoor games, including a 2-0 mark in 2022-23 (BOS: 2-1 W vs. PIT at 2023 WC).
* Jesperi Kotkaniemi recorded his fourth multi-point outing of the season while also scoring the fifth-fastest goal from the start of an NHL outdoor game.
* Derek Stepan improved to 4-0-0 in outdoor games and became the seventh skater in NHL history to win as many contests outdoors. The only player with more is former Rangers teammate Ryan McDonagh (5-0-0).
* Ripken The Bat Dog, a six-year-old black Labrador Retriever who has grown a big social media following by retrieving bats for the Durham Bulls and kickoff tees for the N.C. State football team, dropped the ceremonial “First Pup” in a face-off between Nicklas Backstrom and Jordan Staal.
* Country singer Jake Owen performed during the first intermission, with his stage situated in the middle of an all-student section of the crowd.
MORE NOTES FROM SATURDAY’S 13-GAME SLATE FEATURED IN LIVE UPDATES
* Patrice Bergeron (20-21—41 in 55 GP) reached the 20-goal mark for a 10th straight season and 14th time in his NHL career as League-leading Boston (42-8-5, 89 points) maintained its seven-point lead on second-place Carolina (37-10-8, 82 points). Bergeron became the fifth active player with 14 or more 20-goal seasons, joining Alex Ovechkin (18), Sidney Crosby (15), Patrick Kane (14) and Evgeni Malkin (14).
* Jack Hughes (9-11—20 in 10 GP) returned to the lineup and found the score sheet for a 10th consecutive game as New Jersey (36-14-5, 77 points), which occupies second place in the Metropolitan Division, kept pace with Carolina. Nico Hischier had 2-2—4 to record the first four-point game of his NHL career.
* Clayton Keller (2-0—2) spurred a four-goal Arizona rally to help the Coyotes force overtime and extend their point streak to eight games (4-0-4), but Gabriel Vilardi had the shootout-deciding goal to give Los Angeles the victory. The Kings (32-18-7, 71 points) remain one point back of the Pacific Division-leading Golden Knights (34-18-4, 72 points) and one ahead of the third-place Kraken (32-18-6, 70 points), who also earned wins Saturday.
* Mikko Rantanen (200-273—473 in 462 GP) became the fourth-fastest Finnish-born player in NHL history to reach 200 career goals as Colorado (30-19-5, 65 points) strengthened its grip on third place in the Central Division by moving two points ahead of idle Minnesota (29-21-5, 63 points), which holds the Western Conference’s final Wild Card spot.
* Roman Josi (154-435—589 in 813 GP) had 1-2—3 to catapult past Carol Vadnais (169-418—587 in 1,087 GP) and tie former teammate Shea Weber (224-365—589 in 1,038 GP) for 46th place on the NHL’s all-time points list among defensemen as Nashville (26-21-6, 58 points) moved within five points of Minnesota. The Predators and Wild square off this afternoon.
* Elias Pettersson (2-3—5) factored on five of his team’s six goals as the Canucks defeated the Flyers at Rogers Arena. It marked Pettersson’s fifth career five-point game, surpassing Daniel Alfredsson, Thomas Steen and Ulf Nilsson (all w/ 4) and tying Nicklas Backstrom for the third most in NHL history by a Swedish-born player – Peter Forsberg and Kent Nilsson (both w/ 9) pace the list.
* After Andrew Mangiapane and Nazem Kadri opened the scoring just 46 seconds into the game, the Rangers rallied with two consecutive goals but the Flames came out victorious courtesy of a Mikael Backlund overtime winner, snapping New York’s seven-game win streak. Calgary (26-19-11, 63 points) tied Minnesota in standing points.
HULU, ESPN+ DOUBLEHEADER HIGHLIGHTS SUNDAY’S ACTION
A rematch of the 2022 Western Conference Final between the Oilers and Avalanche is one of three matinees Sunday and opens a doubleheader on HULU, ESPN+ and Sportsnet. Following that contest, on HULU and ESPN+ will be the second showdown in five days between the Maple Leafs and Blackhawks (available on SNO and TVAS in Canada).
* After notching his 100th point of the season Friday, Connor McDavid now sits two away from 800 in his NHL career as he and the Oilers seek a victory against the reigning Stanley Cup champions. McDavid (26 years, 37 days as of Feb. 19) is set to become the fifth-youngest player in NHL history at the time of his 800th career point. Check out the latest #NHLStats Pack for more on his recent and upcoming milestones.
* Toronto will contest its third consecutive game against an Original Six opponent, something that has happened only two other times within a regular-season over the past 11 campaigns. In 2012-13, the Maple Leafs went 2-0-1 against Original Six clubs from April 8-13, 2013 and in 2020-21 they went 2-0-1 from May 3-8, 2021 (all vs. MTL in the Scotia North Division).
Thanks to the NHL PR department for the information above.
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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