NHL NEWS MARCH 12 – RACE FOR WILD CARD POSITIONS CONTINUES IN EASTERN CONFERENCE

NHL NEWS MARCH 12, 2017 – The Maple Leafs (31-22-14, 76 points) and Lightning (32-26-9, 73 points) each overcame deficits to earn wins and gain ground in the tight race for Wild Card positions in the Eastern Conference.

Toronto scored a pair of game-tying markers before Morgan Reilly tallied the first overtime goal of his NHL career to guide the Maple Leafs to their third consecutive win. The Maple Leafs claimed sole possession of the final Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference.

Tampa Bay overcame a 2-0 deficit and Ondrej Palat scored the go-ahead goal at 17:37 of the third period as the Lightning pushed their home point streak to five contests (4-0-1). Nikita Kucherov (1-0—1) has collected 10-8—18 in his last nine games and established single-season career highs for goals and points with 31-36—67 overall (60 GP).

NHL NEWS MARCH 12 AND OTHER MUSINGS

• Adrian Kempe (GWG) scored the first goal of his NHL career (11 GP) to help the Kings (33-28-6, 72 points) remain three points back of the final Wild Card spot in the Western Conference
• Lightning forward Yanni Gourde scored the first goal of his NHL career while shorthanded (7 GP)
• The Sabres scored five unanswered goals to overcome a 3-0 deficit and Robin Lehner made a desperation save in the final minute of regulation to preserve the win
• David Pastrnak (3-7—10 in 8 GP), Sam Gagner (3-4—7 in 5 GP), Mitchell Marner (2-5—7 in 5 GP), Tyler Bozak (2-5—7 in 5 GP) and Jean-Gabriel Pageau (3-3—6 in 5 GP) extended point streaks
• The Bruins donned green St. Patrick’s Day jerseys in pre-game warmup at TD Garden

SATURDAY’S NHL RESULTS
Home Team in Caps
BOSTON 2, Philadelphia 1
Nashville 3, SAN JOSE 1
Ottawa 4, COLORADO 2
Calgary 3, WINNIPEG 0
BUFFALO 5, Columbus 3
TAMPA BAY 3, Florida 2
Toronto 3, CAROLINA 2 (OT)
ARIZONA 5, New Jersey 4
ST. LOUIS 4, NY Islanders 3
Pittsburgh 3, VANCOUVER 0
LOS ANGELES 4, Washington 2

SUNDAY’S NHL ACTION
All Times Eastern
Minnesota @ Chicago, 12:30 p.m.
Montreal @ Edmonton, 7 p.m.
NY Rangers @ Detroit, 7 p.m.
Washington @ Anaheim, 9:30 p.m.
Dallas @ San Jose, 10 p.m.