NHL NEWS FEB 4 – WILD CARD RACE TIGHTENS IN EAST

The Panthers (23-19-10, 56 points), Hurricanes (23-20-7, 53 points) and Red Wings (21-21-9, 51 points) all earned victories to keep pace in the Eastern Conference playoff race, where 11 teams are separated by only 10 points.

Jonathan Huberdeau scored the game-winning goal in his season debut and Aleksander Barkov earned an assist in his return from a 15-game absence as Florida picked up its third straight victory.

Sebastian Aho, who posted a career-high 3-1—4 on Tuesday vs. PHI, scored his second consecutive game-winning goal to lead the Hurricanes to back-to-back wins on the heels of a five-game losing streak.

Both teams tied the game twice before Danny DeKeyser scored the game-winning goal with 28.9 seconds left in regulation to help the Red Wings end a five-game slide (0-2-3). DeKeyser’s decisive tally came less than two minutes after Islanders forward Jason Chimera, who was skating in his 1,000th NHL game, knotted the score at 4-4.

NHL NEWS AND MUSINGS

• Connor McDavid scored his 18th goal of the season to become the first player to hit the 60-point plateau (18-42—60)
• Panthers goaltender James Reimer earned his 100th victory in his first start following the birth of his daughter
• Islanders defenseman Dennis Seidenberg skated in his 800th contest
• The NHL will take fans behind the scenes with NHL ALL-STAR ALL ACCESS presented by HONDA. The 30-minute production will premiere on Monday on NBCSN in the U.S. and on Sportsnet and Sportsnet NOW in Canada
• The Avalanche and Flyers celebrated Hockey Is For Everyone month with local initiatives, while the Panthers celebrated Pride Night at BB&T Center.

FRIDAY’S NHL RESULTS
Home Team in Caps
PITTSBURGH 4, Columbus 3 (OT)
DETROIT 5, NY Islanders 4
FLORIDA 2, Anaheim 1
Calgary 4, NEW JERSEY 3 (OT)
CAROLINA 2, Edmonton 1

SATURDAY’S NHL ACTION
All Times Eastern
Washington @ Montreal, 1 p.m.
Los Angeles @ Philadelphia, 1 p.m.
Winnipeg @ Colorado, 3 p.m.
Toronto @ Boston, 7 p.m.
Ottawa @ Buffalo, 7 p.m.
Anaheim @ Tampa Bay, 7 p.m.
Carolina @ NY Islanders, 7 p.m.
New Jersey @ Columbus, 7 p.m.
Pittsburgh @ St. Louis, 8 p.m.
Detroit @ Nashville, 8 p.m.
Chicago @ Dallas, 8 p.m.
Minnesota @ Vancouver, 10 p.m.
Arizona @ San Jose, 10:30 p.m.