NHL Recap March 18 2019 – LIGHTNING CAPTURE PRESIDENTS’ TROPHY

MONDAY’S RESULTS – Home Team in Caps

  • TAMPA BAY 4, Arizona 1
  • Vancouver 3, CHICAGO 2 (OT)
  • Winnipeg 3, LOS ANGELES 2
  • Vegas 7, SAN JOSE 3

LIGHTNING CAPTURE FIRST PRESIDENTS’ TROPHY IN FRANCHISE HISTORY
The Lightning (56-13-4, 116 points) defeated the Coyotes to clinch the first Presidents’ Trophy in franchise history. In doing so, Tampa Bay also clinched top spot in the Eastern Conference and Atlantic Division for the third and fourth time, respectively.

* The Lightning, who established single-season franchise records for wins and points on Saturday, required the second-fewest games to clinch the Presidents’ Trophy since its inception in 1985-86. Only the 1995-96 Red Wings (71 GP) – who hold the NHL single-season wins record with 62 – accomplished the feat in fewer contests.

* Steven Stamkos recorded the 384th goal of his career (all w/ TBL) to eclipse Vincent Lecavalier (383) for the most in franchise history. The Lightning captain is now one of three active NHL players to sit atop their current franchise’s all-time goals list. The others: Alex Ovechkin (655 w/ WSH) and William Karlsson (63 w/ VGK).

KANE RECORDS NHL’S THIRD 100-POINT PERFORMANCE OF 2018-19
Patrick Kane (41-60—101 in 71 GP) collected a pair of assists to join Nikita Kucherov (35-82—117) and Connor McDavid (36-69—105) as the third player to reach the 100-point benchmark this season.

* The 2018-19 campaign marks the second time in as many seasons that three players each recorded 100 points. The NHL last featured more such instances in 2009-10, when Henrik Sedin (29-83—112), Sidney Crosby (51-58—109), Alex Ovechkin (50-59—109) and Nicklas Backstrom (33-68—101) all did so.

* Kane, who became just the third player in Blackhawks franchise history to register multiple 100-point campaigns, joined Crosby (5x), Ovechkin (4x), Joe Thornton (3x), Evgeni Malkin (3x), McDavid (3x) and Kucherov (2x) as the only active NHL skaters to do so.

* Chicago’s leading scorer (30 years, 119 days) also became the second player in Blackhawks history to record a 100-point season after celebrating his 30th birthday, joining Hockey Hall of Fame member Bobby Hull, who did so in 1968-69 at age 30. A player age 30 or older has hit the century mark only 34 times in NHL history prior to Kane, most recently in 2017-18 (Claude Giroux at age 30).

^Age based on final day of regular season

* Additionally, there have been only five instances of a Blackhawks player requiring fewer games than Kane (71 GP) to reach the century mark – a list paced by Denis Savard (57 GP in 1987-88).

MARCHESSAULT, SMITH POST CAREER NIGHTS IN SEVEN-GOAL OUTBURST
Jonathan Marchessault (2-2—4) and Reilly Smith (1-3—4) each collected a career-high four points as the Golden Knights (41-27-5, 87 points) scored at least six goals for the second time in as many days. Monday’s contest marked the first time two Golden Knights players each collected four points in the same game.

* Vegas, which scored six goals against the Oilers Sunday, has recorded six or more goals in consecutive days for the first time. Washington is the only other team to accomplish the feat this season, doing so on Oct. 3 (7-0 W vs. BOS) and Oct. 4 (7-6 L at PIT), respectively.

* The Golden Knights scored seven goals in a game for the third time season (also Nov. 27 and Jan. 19). There have been 71 instances of a team registering at least seven goals in 2018-19 (including shootout-deciding goals). The last campaign to conclude with more such instances was 1995-96 (103).

JETS WITHSTAND KINGS RALLY, COLLECT 90TH POINT
Despite surrendering a 2-0 lead, the Central Division-leading Jets (43-25-4, 90 points) collected their third straight win and 90th point. The Jets/Thrashers franchise has recorded at least 90 points in four other seasons: 2017-18 (114), 2014-15 (99), 2006-07 (97) and 2005-06 (90).

* The Jets, who own a three-point cushion over the idle Predators (41-27-5, 87 points) for the Central Division lead, earned their 19th road win of the season. There has been only three seasons in Jets/Thrashers franchise history that the team has posted 20 road wins: 2006-07 (20-16-5), 2014-15 (20-13-8) and 2017-18 (20-13-8).

* Monday’s victory marked the fourth instance in which the Jets captured a win after surrendering a multi-goal lead, and second in the last four days (also March 14 vs. BOS). The club’s four such victories trail only Dallas and Columbus for the most in 2018-19 (each w/ five).

HORVAT LIFTS CANUCKS WITH EARLY OT MARKER
Bo Horvat (1-1—2) scored 16 seconds into overtime and Elias Pettersson collected an assist as the Canucks (31-32-10, 72 points) earned their second win in as many days. Horvat’s tally marked the second-fastest goal to begin a regular-season overtime period in Canucks franchise history, trailing only Dixon Ward’s mark of 15 seconds set on Nov. 29, 1993 (also against the Blackhawks).

* Pettersson boosted his season totals to 27-34—61 and established a Canucks rookie record for points in a single season, besting the previous mark set by Pavel Bure (34-26—60 in 1991-92). Additionally, he can become the 31st player in NHL history to conclude a season leading rookies in all three categories (goals, assists and points) and first since Artemi Panarin in 2015-16 (30-47—77 in 80 GP).

TUESDAY’S GAMES

Boston@ NY Islanders 7:00 PM ET
 Detroit@ NY Rangers 7:00 PM ET
 Montréal@ Philadelphia 7:00 PM ET
 Pittsburgh@ Carolina 7:00 PM ET
 Washington@ New Jersey 7:30 PM ET
 Edmonton@ St. Louis 8:00 PM ET
 Toronto@ Nashville 8:00 PM ET
 Colorado@ Minnesota 8:00 PM ET
 Florida@ Dallas 8:30 PM ET
 Columbus@ Calgary 9:00 PM ET

TIGHT WILD CARD RACE CONTINUES IN THE EAST

All the major players in the Eastern Conference Wild Card race will be in action on Tuesday:

* Two teams outside the playoff picture looking to make ground, Montreal (37-28-7, 81 points) and Philadelphia (35-29-8, 78 points), will face off as they sit three and six points back, respectively, of Columbus (40-28-4, 84 points) for the second Wild Card spot.

* The Flyers and Canadiens have split their season series to date: Nolan Patrick (2-0—2) scored a pair of goals in Philadelphia’s 5-2 W on Jan. 19 and Brendan Gallagher notched his first career hat trick in Montreal’s 5-1 W on Feb. 21.

* The Hurricanes (39-25-7, 85 points), who currently hold the first Wild Card position, look to gain ground on the Metropolitan Division’s third-place Penguins (39-24-10, 88 points) in a head-to-head matchup.

* Carolina is looking to win 40 games in a season for the first time since 2010-11 as they continue their bid to return to the postseason for the first time since 2008-09. It would mark the second-fastest campaign to 40 wins in franchise history, behind only their Stanley Cup-winning season of 2005-06 (58 GP).

* The Blue Jackets, who visit the Flames (44-21-7, 95 points), are looking to earn a trip to the postseason for the fifth time in franchise history and third consecutive season. Columbus is backstopped by another 30-win campaign from Sergei Bobrovsky (31-22-1) – one of three goaltenders with 30 or more wins in each of the last three seasons (also San Jose’s Martin Jones and Toronto’s Frederik Andersen).

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