NHL Review Friday February 16 2018

FRIDAY’S RESULTS
Home Team in Caps
Philadelphia 2, COLUMBUS 1 (OT)
NY Islanders 3, CAROLINA 0
WINNIPEG 6, Colorado 1
DALLAS 2, St. Louis 1

JETS ERUPT FOR SIX GOALS, JOIN PREDATORS ATOP CENTRAL…

Blake Wheeler (2-1—3) and Mark Scheifele (0-3—3) each collected three points to propel the Jets (34-15-9, 77 points) to a 5-2-1 record on their franchise-long 10-game homestand and into a tie in terms of points with the idle Predators (34-13-9, 77 points) atop the Central Division.

The Jets, who improved to 22-5-2 at Bell MTS Place and sit tied with the Penguins (22-7-1) for the most home victories this season, moved within two of matching the franchise record.

Connor Hellebuyck made 30 saves to improve to 30-8-8 this season, joining Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy (34-11-2) as the only goaltenders to reach the 30-win mark in 2017-18. Hellebuyck also became just the second goaltender in Thrashers/Jets franchise history to post 30 wins in a single season and trails only Kari Lehtonen (34-24-9 in 2006-07) for the franchise record.

Scheifele, who led all Jets players in scoring last season with 30-52—82 in 79 GP, collected his second three-point game in as many contests (2-1—3 vs. WSH on Feb. 13) and has recorded 2-5—7 in four games since returning to the lineup on Feb. 9.

METROPOLITAN DIVISION CLUBS COLLECT CRUCIAL VICTORIES

The Flyers (29-19-10, 68 points) and Islanders (29-25-6, 64 points) each survived tightly-contested affairs to secure victories in crucial Metropolitan Division clashes.

Blue Jackets forward Cam Atkinson tied the game with 3:28 remaining in regulation before Sean Couturierscored his second career overtime goal (also: Jan. 18 vs. TOR) to lead Philadelphia to their fourth straight road win and snap an 11-game skid in Columbus dating to Dec. 27, 2008 (PHI: 0-5-6). The Flyers, who sit third in the division, moved within two points of the second-place Penguins (33-22-4, 70 points) and five points of the first-place Capitals (33-17-7, 73 points).

The Blue Jackets became the 92nd team to score a game-tying goal in the final 5:00 of regulation in 2017-18 and the 12th to do so in the last 10 days. Teams that score a tying goal in the final 5:00 of regulation this season have a 47-1-44 record, while the team to surrender the late-tying goal holds a 45-6-41 mark.

Three different players found the scoresheet, including John Tavares’ 30th goal of the season, and Thomas Greiss made 45 saves to record his first shutout of 2017-18 and backstop the Islanders to their second shutout victory in as many days. Tavares, who became the fifth player to reach 30 goals this season, accomplished the feat for the fourth time in his career.

The Islanders, who leapfrogged the Blue Jackets (29-24-5, 63 points) and Hurricanes (27-23-9, 63 points) into the second Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference, became the first team in NHL history to record shutouts of at least 40 saves on consecutive days and just the third to accomplish the feat in consecutive games. The others: Florida (Mar. 2 – 4, 2008) and Phoenix (Mar. 31 – Apr. 3, 2012).

NHL Schedule for Saturday, Feb 17

Matchup	Time
Los Angeles@ Buffalo	1:00 PM ET
Anaheim@ Minnesota	2:00 PM ET
NY Rangers@ Ottawa	2:00 PM ET
Edmonton@ Arizona	4:00 PM ET
Montréal@ Vegas	7:00 PM ET
New Jersey@ Tampa Bay	7:00 PM ET
Toronto@ Pittsburgh	7:00 PM ET
Detroit@ Nashville	8:00 PM ET
Washington@ Chicago	8:30 PM ET
Boston@ Vancouver	10:00 PM ET
Florida@ Calgary	10:00 PM ET