NHL Review March 1 2018 – Taylor Hall Still Going!

THURSDAY’S RESULTS
Home Team in Caps
BOSTON 8, Penguins 4
Carolina 4, PHILADELPHIA 1
FLORIDA 3, New Jersey 2
Tampa Bay 5, DALLAS 4 (OT)
Nashville 4, EDMONTON 2
ARIZONA 5, Minnesota 3
SAN JOSE 7, Chicago 2
LOS ANGELES 5, Columbus 2

HALL EXTENDS STREAKS WITH GOAL

Devils forward and former Windsor Spitfire Taylor Hall scored to extend his point streak to 16 games (11-10—21), marking his 23rd consecutive appearance with a point dating to Jan. 2 (16-17—33).

Hall, who began his 16-game point streak upon his return from a three-game absence on Jan. 30, is the first player in Devils franchise history to record at least one point in 16 consecutive team games. His point streak is the longest in the NHL this season.

Hall’s stretch of 23 consecutive appearances with at least one point also is the longest such run in Devils franchise history. He is just the eighth different player in the last 30 years (since 1987-88) to record at least one point in 23 or more consecutive appearances.

Hall leads the Devils with 28-41—69 overall in 2017-18 (59 GP). He established a single-season career high for goals, eclipsing the mark of 27 set in 2011-12 (61 GP w/ EDM) and matched in 2013-14 (75 GP w/ EDM).

DAVID POILE BECOMES WINNINGEST GENERAL MANAGER IN NHL HISTORY

Nashville’s David Poile recorded his 1,320th career victory to surpass Glen Sather (1,319) for the most regular-season wins by a general manager in NHL history. He owns a record of 726-574-205 in 1,505 games with the Predators and posted a record of 594-454-132 in 1,180 games with the Capitals from 1982-83 through 1996-97.

Poile took his first role as NHL GM with the Capitals on Aug. 30, 1982, leading Washington – who at that point had never clinched a postseason berth – to 14 consecutive playoff appearances beginning with his first campaign.

On July 9, 1997, the expansion Predators hired Poile as the first (and still only) general manager in franchise history. At the 1998 NHL Draft, Poile traded up to select David Legwand at No. 2 with the club’s first-ever draft pick. Legwand remains the Predators’ all-time leader in goals, assists, points and games played.

Poile, who has employed only five head coaches during nearly 36 years as a general manager, built his rosters with bold trades and calculated draft selections, including late-round steals Peter Bondra (8th round, 156th overall in 1990), Andrew Brunette (7th round, 174th overall in 1993), Pekka Rinne (8th round, 258th overall in 2004) and Patric Hornqvist (7th round, 230th overall in 2005).

HURRICANES, PANTHERS CLOSE IN ON FINAL WILD CARD SPOT

The Hurricanes (28-25-11, 67 points) and Panthers (30-25-6, 66 points) each earned wins to inch closer to the Blue Jackets (32-27-5, 69 points) for the final Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference.

Justin Williams (2-1—3) factored on three of four goals to help the Hurricanes snap a six-game slide (0-4-2) and move within two points of the Blue Jackets. Carolina ended Philadelphia’s win and point streaks at six and 12 games (10-0-2), respectively.

Aleksander Barkov scored twice and Roberto Luongo made 29 saves to help the Panthers extend their win streak to four games and improve to 11-3-0 in their last 14 contests. Florida has three games in hand on Columbus and Carolina.

PREPARATIONS CONTINUE FOR STADIUM SERIES IN ANNAPOLIS

Preparations continue at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in advance of the 2018 Coors Light NHL Stadium Series outdoor game between the Capitals and Maple Leafs on Saturday at 8 p.m. ET – the first-ever NHL regular-season outdoor game to be played at a service academy.

The game features a rematch of the 2017 First Round series between the Maple Leafs and Capitals, which saw Washington advance in six games with every contest ending in a one-goal margin (including five that required overtime). 

Alex Luey, a cancer survivor from Niagara Falls, Ont., will be on hand in Annapolis as a guest of Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin. The last time Luey was Ovechkin’s guest for a game was Nov. 25 (also against TOR), when the Capitals captain – who currently sits three goals shy of 600 – notched a hat trick.

NHL Schedule for Friday, Mar 2 2018

Matchup	Time
Montréal@ NY Islanders	7:00 PM ET
Buffalo@ Florida	7:30 PM ET
New Jersey@ Carolina	7:30 PM ET
Detroit@ Winnipeg	8:00 PM ET
Minnesota@ Colorado	9:00 PM ET
NY Rangers@ Calgary	9:00 PM ET
Nashville@ Vancouver	10:00 PM ET
Ottawa@ Vegas	10:00 PM ET
Columbus@ Anaheim	10:00 PM ET