NHL Review Thursday January 4 2018

THURSDAY’S RESULTS
Home Team in Caps
TORONTO 3, San Jose 2 (SO)
PHILADELPHIA 6, NY Islanders 4
Carolina 4, PITTSBURGH 0
MONTREAL 2, Tampa Bay 1 (SO)
ST. LOUIS 2, Vegas 1
MINNESOTA 6, Buffalo 2
DALLAS 4, New Jersey 3
COLORADO 2, Columbus 0
CALGARY 4, Los Angeles 3
EDMONTON 2, Anaheim 1 (SO)
ARIZONA 3, Nashville 2 (OT)
Florida at BOSTON (postponed due to winter storm)

BERNIER BACKSTOPS AVALANCHE TO FOURTH STRAIGHT WIN
Jonathan Bernier made 34 saves to register his second shutout of the season and backstop the Avalanche(21-16-3, 45 points) to their fourth consecutive victory, their longest win streak since Jan. 18-23, 2016 (4-0-0). Colorado, who finished with the fewest points last season (22-56-4, 48 points), own a 9-3-1 record in their past 13 games and sit two points back of a playoff spot.

Mikko Rantanen collected 1-1—2 to boost his season totals to 14-24—38 in 40 GP, matching his point total from his rookie campaign in 2016-17 (20-18—38 in 75 GP). He has recorded at least one point in 10 of his last 11 games (5-9—14).

STAMKOS, TAVARES JOIN 50-POINT CLUB
Lightning forward Steven Stamkos (17-33—50 in 40 GP) and Islanders forward John Tavares (22-28—50 in 41 GP) each found the score sheet on Thursday to join their respective teammates, Nikita Kucherov (26-31—57 in 40 GP) and Josh Bailey (12-38—50 in 40 GP), as the only 50-point players in 2017-18. They lead a group of 22 players averaging at least one point per game this season (min. 20 GP).

CAROLINA CONTINUES IMPRESSIVE RUN WITH SHUTOUT WIN
Cam Ward turned aside all 21 shots he faced to record his first shutout of the season, extend his personal point streak to 10 games (8-0-2) and lead the Hurricanes (19-13-8, 46) to an 8-2-1 record in their last 11 contests.

Ward is the only goaltender in Hurricanes/Whalers franchise history to record a point streak of at least 10 games – he also led his team to at least one point in 10 straight appearances in 2008-09 (9-0-1) and 2015-16 (6-0-4).

CANADIENS, BLUES EARN WINS AGAINST CONFERENCE LEADERS
The Canadiens (17-20-4, 38 points) and Blues (26-15-2, 54 points) both used strong performances from their goaltenders to defeat the top clubs in the Eastern and Western Conferences, respectively.

Carey Price posted a season-high 44 saves through overtime – including a pair of highlight-reel stops in the extra frame – as the Canadiens edged the Eastern Conference and League-leading Lightning (29-8-3, 61 points) to snap a five-game skid (0-5-0).

Carter Hutton totaled 32 saves as the Blues snapped the Western Conference-leading Golden Knights’ win and point streaks at eight and 13 games (12-0-1), respectively, while sweeping their own three-game homestand.

NHL Schedule for Friday, Jan 5 2018

Matchup	Time
Pittsburgh@ NY Islanders	7:00 PM ET
San Jose@ Ottawa	7:30 PM ET
Florida@ Detroit	7:30 PM ET
Buffalo@ Winnipeg	8:00 PM ET
Vegas@ Chicago	8:30 PM ET