NHL REVIEW MARCH 23 2018 – TAYLOR HALL SETS CAREER HIGH

FRIDAY’S RESULTS
Home Team in Caps
Montreal 3, BUFFALO 0
New Jersey 4, PITTSBURGH 3 (OT)
ST. LOUIS 4, Vancouver 1
WINNIPEG 3, Anaheim 2 (OT)
Boston 3, DALLAS 2

HALL SETS CAREER HIGH FOR POINTS WITH OT GOAL

The Penguins overcame a 3-1 deficit in the third period, but former Windsor Spitfire Taylor Hall (1-2—3) scored 27 seconds into overtime as the Devils (38-28-8, 84 points) concluded their season-high six-game road trip with a 4-2-0 record. New Jersey occupies the final Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference, three points ahead of the Panthers (37-28-7, 81 points). Hall (33-48—81) established a single-season career high for points, eclipsing the mark he set in 2013-14 (27-53—80 w/ EDM), and became the first Devils player to record at least 80 points in a campaign since 2011-12 (Ilya Kovalchuk: 37-46—83). The all-time franchise record for points in a season was set by Patrik Elias in 2000-01 (40-56—96). Hall has recorded 24 multi-point games in 2017-18, including 13 since Jan. 1. The franchise record for most multi-point games in a season is 26, last achieved by Zach Parise in 2008-09.

CONNOR SCORES IN OT AGAIN AS JETS REACH 100 POINTS

Kyle Connor scored an overtime goal for the second straight game as the Jets (45-19-10, 100 points) reached the 100-point mark for the first time in franchise history. Connor, who also netted the winner on March 20 (2-1 OT W vs. LAK), became the second rookie in NHL history to score a regular-season overtime goal in consecutive team games. He joined Andrew Cogliano, who did so in three straight contests in 2007-08 (w/ EDM). Connor ranks second among rookies with 28 goals in 2017-18, trailing Vancouver’s Brock Boeser (29). He also netted his fifth game-winning goal of the season to tie Lightning teammates Mikhail Sergachev and Yanni Gourde for the rookie lead. The Jets, who are second in the Central Division standings, improved to 4-0-0 on their six-game homestand and lead the NHL with 28 home wins overall (28-7-2, 58 points). Prior to 2017-18, the most home wins recorded in a season by the Jets/Thrashers was 24, a mark set by Atlanta in 2005-06 (24-13-4, 52 points).

BRUINS STAGE THIRD-PERIOD RALLY TO DEFEAT STARS

Boston overcame a 2-0 deficit in the third period and David Pastrnak (1-1—2) scored the go-ahead goal with 11.1 seconds remaining in regulation to power the Bruins (46-17-10, 102 points) to a 9-2-2 record in their last 13 games. Boston, who clinched a berth in the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs on Wednesday, sit second in the Atlantic Division.

Pastrnak became the first Bruins player to score a go-ahead goal in the final 12 seconds of the third period since Drew Stafford (19:54) on March 11, 2017 (2-1 W vs. PHI). Only three other players in the NHL have accomplished the feat this season: Vegas’ Shea Theodore (19:57) on Dec. 19 (4-3 W vs. TBL), Washington’s Jay Beagle (19:58) on Jan. 12 (4-3 W at CAR) and Florida’s Jonathan Huberdeau (19:51) on Feb. 3 (3-2 W vs. DET).

Brad Marchand (1-2—3) factored on all three goals and has collected 8-12—20 since March 1 (11 GP), trailing only Avalanche teammates Nathan MacKinnon (9-12—21) and Mikko Rantanen (7-14—21) for the most points in the NHL during that span.

BLUES SECURE KEY WIN IN WESTERN CONFERENCE PLAYOFF RACE

Patrik Berglund scored twice to record his first multi-goal game of the season and help the Blues (41-28-5, 87 points) improve to 6-1-0 in their last seven outings, including four straight wins. St. Louis moved within a point of Colorado (40-26-8, 88 points), who occupy the final Wild Card spot in the Western Conference standings. The clubs conclude their five-game season series on April 7 at Pepsi Center, with the Blues holding a 3-1-0 edge (COL: 1-3-0).

PENGUINS TEAMMATES CROSBY, KESSEL HIT BENCHMARKS

Penguins teammates Sidney Crosby (1-1—2) and Phil Kessel (1-0—1) both reached offensive benchmarks on Friday. Crosby (25-56—81) eclipsed the 80-point mark for the ninth time in his NHL career (all w/ PIT). Only Mario Lemieux has recorded more seasons with at least 80 points in franchise history. Kessel (30-53—83) reached the 30-goal mark for the sixth time in his NHL career and first since 2013-14 (37 w/ TOR). Kessel (Madison, Wis.) is tied with Zach Parise (Minneapolis, Minn.) for the most 30-goal seasons among active U.S.-born players. Crosby became the third Penguins player to record at least 80 points in 2017-18, joining Kessel and Evgeni Malkin (41-50—91). This marks the first time at least three Pittsburgh players reached the 80-point plateau in a season since 2000-01, when four Penguins did so (Jaromir Jagr, Alex Kovalev, Martin Straka, Robert Lang). In fact, the Penguins became the first team to feature three players with at least 80 points in a season since the Capitals (Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, Alexander Semin) and Sharks (Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau, Dany Heatley) in 2009-10.

SURGING CLUBS AIM TO EXTEND STREAKS
The Blue Jackets (42-28-5, 89 points), Sharks (42-23-9, 93 points), Maple Leafs (44-23-7, 95 points), Predators (48-15-10, 106 points) and Kings (41-27-7, 89 points) all look to extend streaks on Saturday:

Columbus aims to extend its overall win streak to 11 games when St. Louis (41-28-5, 87 points) visits Nationwide Arena. The Blue Jackets, whose 10-game win streak is the second-longest in franchise history (16-0-0 in 2016-17), can become the first team this season to earn victories in 11 consecutive contests.

San Jose looks to extend its overall win streak to seven games when it takes on Calgary (35-30-10, 80 points) at SAP Center. The Sharks can register a win streak of at least seven contests for the first time since 2012-13, when they posted two seven-game runs.

Toronto aims to extend its franchise-record home win streak to 13 games when it hosts Detroit (27-36-11, 65 points) at Air Canada Centre. The Maple Leafs, whose 12-game run is the longest home win streak in the NHL this season, can match their franchise record for most victories in a campaign (45), achieved in 1998-99, 1999-00 and 2003-04.

Nashville looks to extend its franchise-record road win and point streaks to 10 and 16 games, respectively, when it visits Minnesota (41-24-8, 90 points). The Predators, who have suffered only one regulation loss as visitors in the 2018 calendar year, can become the first team to post a road point streak of at least 16 games since the Bruins in 2013-14 (13-0-3).

Los Angeles aims to extend its road point streak to nine games when it visits Edmonton (33-36-5, 71 points) at Rogers Place. The Kings’ franchise record for longest road point streak is 11 games set in 1974-75 (6-0-5).

NHL Schedule for Saturday Mar 24 2018

Matchup	Time
Vegas@ Colorado	3:00 PM ET
Calgary@ San Jose	4:00 PM ET
Detroit@ Toronto	7:00 PM ET
Washington@ Montréal	7:00 PM ET
Carolina@ Ottawa	7:00 PM ET
Arizona@ Florida	7:00 PM ET
Tampa Bay@ New Jersey	7:00 PM ET
Chicago@ NY Islanders	7:00 PM ET
Buffalo@ NY Rangers	7:00 PM ET
St. Louis@ Columbus	7:00 PM ET
Nashville@ Minnesota	8:00 PM ET
Los Angeles@ Edmonton	10:00 PM ET