NHL Review Wednesday February 14 2018

WEDNESDAY’S RESULTS
Home Team in Caps
TORONTO 6, Columbus 3
COLORADO 2, Montreal 0
Florida 4, VANCOUVER 3

PANTHERS EXTEND IMPRESSIVE RUN WITH EMOTIONAL WIN IN VANCOUVER
Four different players scored to lead the Panthers (25-23-6, 56 points) to their sixth win in seven contests and to within seven points of the Hurricanes (27-21-9, 63 points) for the second Wild Card Spot in the Eastern Conference.

Prior to puck drop, the Panthers, Canucks and their fans observed a moment of silence to honor the victims of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School tragedy. 

KADRI NETS NHL’S FIFTH FIVE-POINT GAME IN FEBRUARY

Nazem Kadri (3-2—5) netted his fourth NHL hat trick and established a career high for points in a game as the Maple Leafs (35-19-5, 75 points) swept their five-game homestand to move within four points of the idle Lightning (38-16-3, 79 points) for first place in the Atlantic Division, Eastern Conference and NHL standings.

Kadri recorded the 15th five-point game by an NHL player this season and fifth in the month of February – there were six instances of a player recording 5+ points during the entire 2016-17 campaign (1,230 GP). Since 2003-04, only six seasons have witnessed at least 15 performances of 5+ points.

It marked the second time in the past three games that a Maple Leafs player registered five points, following Mitchell Marner’s 2-3—5 effort Saturday vs. OTT. Prior to Marner and Kadri, there were two instances of a Maple Leafs player recording 5+ points in a game over the previous 10 seasons: Jason Blake on Jan. 15, 2009 at CAR and Tomas Kaberle on Oct. 26, 2009 at ANA.

Before this season, the last time a Maple Leafs player posted 5+ points in a game on home ice was Dec. 16, 2006, when Alexei Ponikarovsky and Kyle Wellwood each did so against the Rangers.

THREE STRAIGHT DAYS WITH A HAT TRICK
Toronto’s Nazem Kadri netted the 49th hat trick of 2017-18 and the third in as many days, following Florida’s Vincent Trocheck on Monday and Carolina’s Justin Faulk on Tuesday.

This marks the second time this season that at least one hat trick has been scored on three consecutive days (also Dec.14-16; one per day). The last time four straight days featured one or more hat tricks was from Jan. 24-27, 2014 (one per day).

In 1988-89, there was a span of nine consecutive days that featured at least one hat trick, with a total of 15 hat tricks scored from Oct. 11-19 (including two by Mario Lemieux).

Capitals’ Bowey Fined for Interference

Washington Capitals defenseman Madison Bowey has been fined $1,890.68, the maximum allowable under the Collective Bargaining Agreement, for interference against Winnipeg Jetsforward Matt Hendricks during NHL Game No. 873 in Winnipeg on Tuesday, Feb. 13.

The incident occurred at 7:09 of the second period. Bowey was assessed a minor penalty for interference.

Jets’ Byfuglien Fined for Slashing

Winnipeg Jets defenseman Dustin Byfuglien has been fined $5,000, the maximum allowable under the Collective Bargaining Agreement, for slashing Washington Capitals forward Jay Beagle during NHL Game No. 873 in Winnipeg on Tuesday, Feb. 13.

The incident occurred at 18:32 of the third period. Byfuglien was assessed a minor penalty for slashing.

Golden Knights’ Engelland Fined for Cross-Checking

Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Deryk Engelland has been fined $2,688.17, the maximum allowable under the Collective Bargaining Agreement, for cross-checking Chicago Blackhawks forward Brandon Saad during NHL Game No. 874 in Las Vegas on Tuesday, Feb. 13.

The incident occurred at 0:57 of the first period. Engelland was assessed a minor penalty for high-sticking.

NHL Schedule for Thursday Feb 15 2018

Matchup	Time
Carolina@ New Jersey	7:00 PM ET
NY Rangers@ NY Islanders	7:00 PM ET
Los Angeles@ Pittsburgh	7:00 PM ET
Buffalo@ Ottawa	7:30 PM ET
Detroit@ Tampa Bay	7:30 PM ET
Calgary@ Nashville	8:00 PM ET
Washington@ Minnesota	8:00 PM ET
Anaheim@ Chicago	8:30 PM ET
Montréal@ Arizona	9:00 PM ET
Edmonton@ Vegas	10:00 PM ET
Vancouver@ San Jose	10:30 PM ET