NHL Recap March 28, 2024 – QUARTET OF CLUBS CLINCH BERTH IN 2024 STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS

The Stars (46-19-9, 101 points), Hurricanes (46-21-7, 99 points), Panthers (46-22-5, 97 points) and idle Bruins (42-17-15, 99 points) clinched a postseason berth Thursday:

• Roope Hintz (1-2—3), Jason Robertson (1-1—2), Jamie Benn (1-1—2) and Joe Pavelski (0-2—2) posted multiple points as Dallas defeated Vancouver to clinch its fifth playoff berth over the past six seasons and reach the 100-point mark for the 11th time in franchise history.
• Robertson was born one month after the Stars’ Stanley Cup win in 1999 and looks to lead Dallas to its first championship since, while Pavelski enters his 16th postseason tied with former Minnesota North Stars forward Dino Ciccarelli for 13th place on the League’s career playoff goals list.
• Sebastian Aho (1-2—3) factored on three of four goals during the middle frame to help the Hurricanes clinch their sixth straight berth into the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Aho’s first helper of the night made him the third player in franchise history to reach the 300-assist mark, while his second helped him become the fourth Hurricanes/Whalers skater to record at least two 50-assist seasons. He joined Ron Francis (11x; most: 69 in 1989-90), Mike Rogers (65 in 1980-81 & 61 in 1979-80) and Ray Whitney (53 in 2008-09 & 51 in 2006-07).
• The Hurricanes are one of four teams with seven or more series wins since 2019 and the only one of that group without a Cup (TBL: 11; VGK: 8; COL: 7; CAR: 7).
• Despite falling to the Islanders, the Panthers still had cause to celebrate as they clinched a berth in the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs via a Hurricanes regulation win against the Detroit Red Wings and after their captain Aleksander Barkov (1-1—2) became the fourth-fastest Finnish-born player in NHL history to reach the 700-point mark (728 GP). He trailed only Jarri Kurri (483 GP), Teemu Selanne (541 GP) and Tomas Sandstrom (719 GP).
• The Panthers will look to become the fourth different team in the past 20 years to make the Stanley Cup Final in consecutive seasons. The others include the Lightning (3 from 2020-22), Penguins (2 from 2008 – 2009 & 2016 – 2017) and Red Wings (2008 – 2009).
• The idle Bruins also clinched a berth in the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs by virtue of the Canadiens’ regulation victory, one year after setting a single-season NHL record for wins, and will look to become the fifth team in the past six seasons to make it to the Stanley Cup Final after winning the Presidents’ Trophy in the previous campaign. They would join the Capitals (2018 SC Winner), Lightning (2020 SC Winner), Avalanche (2022 SC Winner) and Panthers (2023 SC Finalist).
• Captain Brad Marchand, the only current Boston player that won the Stanley Cup with the Bruins in 2011, can become the first player in NHL history to go 13 or more years between Stanley Cup wins with one franchise. The current mark is 10 years, held by Chris Osgood with Detroit (1998 & 2008) as well as Dit Clapper, Eddie Shore and Cooney Weiland with Boston (1929 & 1939).

THE RUSH TO THE 2024 STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS CONTINUES

With 11 spots in the postseason remaining, the Rush to the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs continues as the Maple Leafs (41-22-9, 91 points), Golden Knights (40-25-8, 88 points), Blues (39-30-4, 82 points) and Oilers (44-23-4, 92 points) all earned wins.

• Joseph Woll (33 GP) stopped 23 of 24 shots and tied Al Rollins for the fewest games played to 20 NHL wins by a Maple Leafs goaltender.
• Jack Eichel became the second player in Golden Knights history with consecutive 25-goal seasons after Jonathan Marchessault (2017-18 – 2018-19 & 2021-22 – 2023-24) as Vegas improved to 40-25-8 (88 points) and earned 40-plus wins for the fourth straight season – the longest active stretch by any club.
• Jake Neighbours (1-1—2) recorded his eighth multi-point outing of the season to help the Blues move within five points of the Kings (38-23-11, 87 points) for the final Wild Card spot in the Western Conference. Neighbours scored his 26th goal of 2023-24 and tied Rod Brind’Amour (26 in 1989-90) and Wayne Babych (26 in 1979-80) for the third most in a season by a Blues player age 21 or younger. He trails Perry Turnbull (30 in 1980-81) and Babych (27 in 1978-79).
• Connor McDavid (1-2—3), who reached the 120-point mark for the third straight season, and Leon Draisaitl (0-3—3) each assisted on the same goal twice Thursday, marking the 116th and 117th time in their career they’ve done so. The pair passed Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom (116) for the third-most instances among all active duos, trailing Anze Kopitar and Drew Doughty (122) as well as Sidney Crosby and Kris Letang (119).

MORE NOTES FROM A BUSY NIGHT
Some more notes from the 28 teams who skated in Thursday’s action include:

• Chris Kreider tied Brian Leetch for third place on the franchise’s all-time power-play goals list as the League-leading Rangers (49-20-4, 102 points) defeated the Avalanche and became the first team to hold Nathan MacKinnon off the score sheet at Ball Arena this season.
• Evgeni Malkin (2-0—2) led the Penguins to victory Thursday with his parents in attendance to watch him play for the first time in nearly five years. The forward’s first goal was his 20th of the season, moving him into a tie with Patrick Kane (15) for the third-most 20-goal campaigns among active players behind only Alex Ovechkin (19) and Sidney Crosby (16).
• Claude Giroux opened the scoring 36 seconds into the contest to mark just the fourth-fastest shorthanded game-opening goal on record, behind Wayne Gretzky (0:30 on Dec. 10, 1986), Dirk Graham (0:30 on Oct. 18, 1986) and Brad Marchand (0:32 on Feb. 8, 2024).
• With the help of another multi-point performance by Josh Doan (0-2—2), a four-point second period by Clayton Keller (1-3—4) and a hat trick by Logan Cooley, the Coyotes netted eight goals – tied for their highest-scoring game this season – to snap the Predators’ point streak at 18 games. Doan became the fifth active player to record multiple points in each of his first two career games, joining Elias Pettersson (2 GP in 2018-19), Jesper Bratt (2 GP in 2017-18), Vladimir Tarasenko (2 GP in 2013-14) and Anze Kopitar (2 GP in 2006-07), while Keller became the fourth player in Coyotes team history to post a four-point period.

HUGHES, THOMPSON SET FOR FRIDAY SHOWDOWN ON NHL NETWORK, SPORTSNET ONE

With 15 games on the horizon Saturday, only one is on the slate Friday as two of the highest-scoring American players since 2021-22 clash on NHL Network and Sportsnet ONE when Jack Hughes and the Devils visit Tage Thompson and the Sabres. Hughes ranks among the top 10 in assists and points among that cohort over that span, while Thompson is in the same grouping for goals.

MAPLE LEAFS SIGN DEFENCEMAN SIMON BENOIT TO THREE-YEAR EXTENSION

The Toronto Maple Leafs have signed defenceman Simon Benoit to a three-year contract extension. The average annual value of the contract is $1.35 million.

Benoit, 25, has skated in 54 games with the Maple Leafs this season, registering five points (one goal, four assists), after signing with the club as a free agent on August 28, 2023. Over the course of his four-year NHL career with the Maple Leafs and Anaheim Ducks, the 6’4”, 205-pound native of Laval, Quebec has recorded 20 points (five goals, 15 assists) in 191 regular season games.

Benoit began his professional career as a free agent with the American Hockey League’s San Diego Gulls in 2018-19.

Ducks’ Strome Fined for Cross-Checking

Anaheim Ducks forward Ryan Strome has been fined $5,000, the maximum allowable under the Collective Bargaining Agreement, for cross-checking Seattle Kraken forward Tye Kartye during NHL Game No. 1162 in Seattle on Thursday, March 28. The incident occurred at 4:50 of the third period. Strome was assessed a minor penalty for cross-checking. The money goes to the Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund.

Flyers’ Hathaway Fined for Embellishment

Philadelphia Flyers forward Garnet Hathaway has been fined $2,000 as supplementary discipline under NHL Rule 64 (Diving/Embellishment).

NHL Rule 64 is designed to bring attention to and more seriously penalize players (and teams) who repeatedly dive and embellish in an attempt to draw penalties. Fines are assessed to players and head coaches on a graduated scale. For head coaches, each FINE issued to a player on his club counts toward his total. Four FINES issued to one player or a club collectively results in the head coach receiving his first fine.

Citations are issued by the National Hockey League Hockey Operations Department, which tracks all games, logs all penalties for diving or embellishment, and flags all plays not called on the ice that in its opinion were deserving of such a penalty. A Citation is issued once Hockey Operations, through its internal deliberations, is convinced that a player warrants sanction.

Hathaway was issued a Warning following an incident flagged by NHL Hockey Operations during NHL Game No. 583 at Edmonton on Jan. 2. His second Citation, which triggered the $2,000 fine, was issued for an incident at 8:07 of the third period during NHL Game No. 1114 vs. Boston on March 23.

The money goes to the Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund.