NHL REVIEW MARCH 21 2018 – BRUINS CLINCH PLAYOFF BERTH

WEDNESDAY’S RESULTS
Home Team in Caps
Arizona 4, BUFFALO 1
PITTSBURGH 5, Montreal 3
ST. LOUIS 2, Boston 1 (OT)
Anaheim 4, CALGARY 0

BRUINS EARN POINT TO CLINCH POSTSEASON BERTH
The Bruins (45-17-10, 100 points) earned a point in an overtime loss to the Blues to become the third team overall and second in the Eastern Conference to clinch a berth in the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The Bruins, who clinched a postseason berth for the second consecutive campaign and 71st time in franchise history, will make their ninth trip to the Stanley Cup Playoffs in the last 11 seasons – including a Stanley Cup championship in 2010-11 and a trip to the Stanley Cup Final in 2012-13.

Boston also reached 100 points for the first time since 2013-14 – when the club captured its second Presidents’ Trophy. The Bruins have reached the 100-point mark for the 22nd time in franchise history, more than any other NHL team. 

DUCKS, BLUES CLIMB WESTERN CONFERENCE STANDINGS
The Ducks (38-24-12, 88 points) and Blues (40-28-5, 85 points) both secured wins on Wednesday to leapfrog teams in the Western Conference playoff race.

Ryan Getzlaf (0-2—2) and Francois Beauchemin (1-1—2) each recorded multi-point games and John Gibson (29 saves) earned his fourth shutout of the season to guide the Ducks to their fourth consecutive victory. With the win, Anaheim passed Los Angeles (40-27-7, 87 points) for third place in the Pacific Division. The Ducks have four divisional games remaining this season, including one against the Kings (March 30 vs. LAK).

Jaden Schwartz (2-0—2) tied the game in the third period and scored 30 seconds into overtime to lift theBlues to a 5-1-0 record in their past six contests. St. Louis rallied from a third period deficit to win for the third consecutive game, all of which have been decided in overtime. This marks the first time in Blues history the team has won three consecutive regular season games in overtime and the first time in franchise history they have won three consecutive games in which they trailed in the third period. With the win, St. Louis passed Dallas (38-28-8, 84 points) in the Western Conference standings and moved within two points of the Kings for the final Wild Card spot.

Lightning’s Stamkos Fined for Dangerous Trip

Tampa Bay Lightning forward Steven Stamkos has been fined $5,000, the maximum allowable under the Collective Bargaining Agreement, for a dangerous trip against Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly during NHL Game No. 1127 in Tampa on Tuesday, March 20. The incident occurred at 10:25 of the second period. Stamkos was assessed a minor penalty for elbowing. The money goes to the Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund.

NHL Schedule for Thursday Mar 22 2018

Matchup	Time
Tampa Bay@ NY Islanders	7:00 PM ET
NY Rangers@ Philadelphia	7:00 PM ET
Arizona@ Carolina	7:00 PM ET
Florida@ Columbus	7:00 PM ET
Edmonton@ Ottawa	7:30 PM ET
Washington@ Detroit	7:30 PM ET
Toronto@ Nashville	8:00 PM ET
Vancouver@ Chicago	8:30 PM ET
Los Angeles@ Colorado	9:00 PM ET
Vegas@ San Jose	10:00 PM ET