NHL NEWS FEBRUARY 27 – CLUBS EMERGE OVER DIVISION RIVALS, IMPROVE PLAYOFF POSITIONING

NHL NEWS FEBRUARY 27 – The Blue Jackets (39-16-5, 83 points), Blackhawks (39-18-5, 83 points) and Senators (33-21-6, 72 points) each earned wins over division rivals to improve their playoff positioning.

Cam Atkinson (2-0—2) and Alexander Wennberg (2-0—2) each scored twice as the Blue Jackets improved to 4-1-0 in their last five games. Atkinson leads the team with 29-24—53 this season (60 GP) and eclipsed his career high of 27 goals from 2015-16 (81 GP). Sergei Bobrovsky (28 saves) earned his 32nd win of 2016-17 (32-13-3 in 48 GP) to move back into a share of the League lead and match his single-season career high from 2013-14 (32-20-5 in 58 GP). The Blue Jackets leapfrogged the Rangers (40-20-2, 82 points) to move into third place in the Metropolitan Division.

Artem Anisimov scored the go-ahead goal with 5:20 remaining in regulation to power the Blackhawks to a 9-1-0 record in their past 10 outings, including four consecutive wins. Anisimov tallied his 22nd goal of 2016-17 (58 GP) to match his single-season career high from 2013-14 (81 GP w/ CBJ). The Blackhawks climbed within a point of the Western Conference-leading Wild (39-14-6, 84 points) for first place in the Central Division.

Craig Anderson turned aside 37 of 38 shots to backstop the Senators to a 2-1 win over the Panthers. Zack Smith opened the scoring with his eighth shorthanded goal since the beginning of the 2015-16 season, the most by any NHL player over that span. The Senators maintain a two-point edge over the Bruins (32-24-6, 70 points) for second place in the Atlantic Division and climbed within two points of the Canadiens (33-21-8, 74 points) for first.

MUSINGS AND OTHER NHL NEWS FEBRUARY 27

• Johnny Gaudreau (2-1—3) factored on all three goals as the Flames extended their point streak to six games (5-0-1), including four consecutive wins
• The Coyotes overcame a 2-0 deficit and Radim Vrbata (1-1—2) scored the go-ahead goal with 18.9 seconds remaining in regulation en route to a 3-2 win. Vrbata extended his career-high point streak to nine games (4-7—11) and reached the 600-point milestone (274-326—600)
• Blackhawks defenseman Duncan Keith (0-1—1) reached the 500-point milestone (89-411—500)
• Oilers captain Connor McDavid (1-1—2) became the first player to eclipse the 70-point mark this season (21-50—71)
• Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews (5-8—13 in 6 GP), Blackhawks forward Richard Panik (4-5—9 in 6 GP), Sabres forward Jack Eichel (1-6—7 in 6 GP) and Predators defenseman Roman Josi (2-6—8 in 5 GP) each extended point streaks
• The Lightning traded goaltender Ben Bishop and a fifth-round pick in the 2017 NHL Draft to the Kings for goaltender Peter Budaj, defenseman Erik Cernak, a seventh-round pick in 2017 and a conditional pick in this year’s draft
• The Wild acquired center Martin Hanzal, center Ryan White and a fourth-round pick in 2017 from the Coyotes for a first-round pick in 2017, a second-round pick in 2018, a conditional pick in 2019 and forward Grayson Downing
• Veteran play-by-play commentator Dave Strader returned to NHL on NBC to call the NHL Game of the Week between the Bruins and Stars
• The Predators hosted their second Hockey Fights Cancer night of the season at Bridgestone Arena
• The Coyotes honored hockey pioneer Willie O’Ree in a pre-game ceremony as part of their Hockey Is For Everyone night
• Flyers defenseman Brandon Manning will have a hearing with the NHL Department of Player Safety today for interference against Penguins forward Jake Guentzel.

SUNDAY’S NHL RESULTS
Home Team in Caps
Boston 6, DALLAS 3
Calgary 3, CAROLINA 1
NASHVILLE 5, Edmonton 4
Columbus 5, NY RANGERS 2
CHICAGO 4, St. Louis 2
Ottawa 2, FLORIDA 1
ARIZONA 3, Buffalo 2

MONDAY’S NHL ACTION
All Times Eastern
Montreal @ New Jersey, 7 p.m.
Ottawa @ Tampa Bay, 7:30 p.m.
Los Angeles @ Minnesota, 8 p.m.