Crosby, Hossa, Iginla named our 'Three Stars of the Night'

NEW YORK – UNB! Network NHL/hockey blog 'The Neutral Zone' has named Sidney Crosby, Marian Hossa, and Jarome Iginla their 'Theee Stars of the Night' for the National Hockey League games taking place on March 31, 2017.

FIRST STAR - SIDNEY CROSBY, F, PITTSBURGH PENGUINS

Crosby registered 1-1—2 and scored in the shootout to help the Penguins (47-19-11, 105 points) snap a four-game slide (0-2-2).

SECOND STAR - MARIAN HOSSA, D, CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS

Hossa scored the 525th goal of his NHL career to pass Bryan Trottier (524) for 34th on the all-time list.

THIRD STAR - JAROME IGINLA, F, LOS ANGELES KINGS

Iginla scored the 625th goal of his NHL career to tie Joe Sakic for 15th on the all-time list. 

Iginla, Hossa, Berglund named our 'Three stars of the Night'

NEW YORK – UNB! Network NHL/hockey blog 'The Neutral Zone' has named Jarome Iginla, Marian Hossa, and Patrik Berglund as their 'Theee Stars of the Night' for the National Hockey League games taking place on March 29, 2017.

FIRST STAR - JAROME IGINLA, F, LOS ANGELES KINGS

Iginla netted the 100th game-winning goal of his NHL career to lead the Kings (36-33-7, 79 points) over his former club.

SECOND STAR - MARIAN HOSSA, D, CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS

Hossa scored the 524th goal of his NHL career to tie Bryan Trottier for 34th on the all-time list.

THIRD STAR - PATRIK BERGLUND, F, ST. LOUIS BLUES

Berglund recorded a goal and an assist in the Blues' 3-1 win over the Coyotes.

Iginla, Nyquist, Zetterberg named our 'Three Stars of the Night'

NEW YORK – UNB! Network NHL/hockey blog 'The Neutral Zone' has named Jarome Iginla, Gustav Nyquist, and Henrik Zetterberg as their 'Theee Stars of the Night' for the National Hockey League games taking place on March 16, 2017.

FIRST STAR - JAROME IGINLA, F, LOS ANGELES KINGS

Iginla  scored his 99th career GWG to pass Bobby Hull, Guy Lafleur and Patrick Marleau (98) for seventh all-time.

SECOND STAR - GUSTAV NYQUIST, F, DETROIT RED WINGS

Nyquist scored the decisive goal in the shootout to power the Red Wings to victory.

THIRD STAR - HENRIK ZETTERBERG, F, DETROIT RED WINGS

Zetterberg scored the 324th goal of his NHL career (all with Detroit) to tie Norm Ullman for sixth on the Red Wings all-time list.

News & Notes: Jarome Iginla to Kings among deadline day trades

2017 NHL TRADE DEADLINE RECAP

Teams made 18 trades involving 33 players prior to the 2017 NHL Trade Deadline on Wednesday. A few highlights:

* Veteran defenseman Mark Streit was involved in two trades, eventually moving across the state to join the Pittsburgh Penguins. Streit, who began the day with the Philadelphia Flyers, was first traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning for forward Valtteri Filppula to Philadelphia. Streit then was traded to Pittsburgh from Tampa Bay for a fourth-round pick in the 2018 NHL Draft.

* The Florida Panthers acquired forward Thomas Vanek from the Detroit Red Wings for defenseman Dylan McIlrath and a conditional third-round pick in the 2017 NHL Draft.

* The Los Angeles Kings acquired Jarome Iginla from the Colorado Avalanche \for a conditional fourth-round pick in 2018.

* The Columbus Blue Jackets received defenseman Kyle Quincey from the New Jersey Devils for defenseman Dalton Prout.

GOLDEN KNIGHTS TEAM BECOMES OFFICIAL

The Vegas Golden Knights completed the acquisition of their team and officially joined the NHL. The League also released the regulations under which the Golden Knights expansion franchise can conduct its hockey business leading up to the Expansion Draft on June 21, 2017.

WEDNESDAY'S RESULTS
Home Team in Caps

TAMPA BAY 4, Carolina 3 (OT)
CHICAGO 4, Pittsburgh 1

KANE NETS ANOTHER HAT TRICK TO POWER BLACKHAWKS

Patrick Kane earned his second hat trick iNHL Public Relationsn his past three games and Richard Panik scored a highlight-reel game-winner to help the Chicago Blackhawks (40-18-5, 85 points) earn their fifth straight victory and improve to 10-1-0 in their past 11 games. Chicago moved back within three points of the Minnesota Wild (41-14-6, 88 points) for first place in the Western Conference.

* Kane (27-41-68), who also had a hat trick against the Arizona Coyotes on Feb. 23, moved into sole possession of second place in League scoring, four points back of Connor McDavid (21-51-72). Per Elias, Kane became the first Blackhawks player to have two hat tricks in a three-game span since 1991-92, when Brian Noonan did so in consecutive games on Dec. 27 (3-0-3) and Dec. 29 (4-0-4).

* Additionally, the Blackhawks had a hat trick for the third time in their past four games (Jonathan Toews had three goals and five points against the Wild on Feb. 21). Elias notes they are the first team to have a player earn a hat trick in three out of four games since Alex Ovechkin, Brooks Laich and Alexander Semin combined for the feat in three straight games for the Washington Capitals from Feb. 7-11, 2010.

* Panik (5-5-10) and Nick Schmaltz (2-7-9) extended their NHL career-high point streaks to seven and five games, respectively.

KUCHEROV CONTINUES HOT STREAK FOR LIGHTNING

Nikita Kucherov (1-2-3) earned at least three points for the third time in his past four games and Victor Hedman (2-0-2) scored his second NHL overtime goal to help the Lightning improve to 7-1-2 in their past 10 games.

* At 29-25-8 (66 points), Tampa Bay moved three points back of the Toronto Maple Leafs (28-21-13, 69 points) for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference.

* Kucherov leads the Lightning with 61 points (27 goals, 34 assists in 55 games), five points shy of his NHL career high, and has 12 points (six goals, six assists) in his past four games. Per Elias, he is the first Lightning player to score 12 points in a four-game span since Vincent Lecavalier from Nov. 10-19, 2007.

* Hedman (12-41-53), who sits one goal and one assist shy of his NHL career highs, has points in six of his past seven games (5-6-11). He sits in third place in League scoring among defensemen, trailing Brent Burns (27-39-66) and Erik Karlsson (10-45-55).
 
LOOSE PUCKS

The Flyers signed forward Pierre-Edouard Bellemare and goaltender Michal Neuvirth to contract extensions . . . Winnipeg Jets forward Patrik Laine was named the NHL's Rookie of the Month for February, while Blackhawks forward Jonathan Toews, Nashville Predators forward Filip Forsberg and Capitals goaltender Braden Holtby were named the NHL's "Three Stars" for the month . . . The NHL unveiled two TV spots, "Imperfectly Perfect" and "If This Cup Could Talk", to commemorate the 125th anniversary of the Stanley Cup.

SNEAK PEEK AT THURSDAY'S ACTION

All Times Eastern

New Jersey @ Washington, 7 p.m., CSN-DC, MSG+
NY Rangers @ Boston, 7 p.m., TVA Sports, NBCSN, NESN, MSG
Florida @ Philadelphia, 7 p.m., CSN-PH, FS-F
Minnesota @ Columbus, 7 p.m., FS-O, FS-N, FS-WI
Arizona @ Buffalo, 7 p.m., MSG-B, FS-A PLUS
Nashville @ Montreal, 7:30 p.m., SN, RDS, FS-TN
Colorado @ Ottawa, 7:30 p.m., RDS2, TSN5, ALT
NY Islanders @ Dallas, 8:30 p.m., FS-SW, MSG+ 2
Toronto @ Los Angeles, 10:30 p.m., FS-W, SNO
Vancouver @ San Jose, 10:30 p.m., CSN-CA, SNP

CAPITALS AIM FOR FRANCHISE-RECORD 14TH STRAIGHT HOME WIN

After becoming the first team to reach 90 points Tuesday, the Capitals (42-13-7, 91 points) set their sights on a new franchise record when they host the New Jersey Devils (25-25-12, 62 points) at Verizon Center. Washington owns active home winning and point streaks of 13 and 15 games (14-0-1), respectively, that have each matched the longest such runs in its history (set in 2009-10). Elias notes that the Red Wings were the last NHL team with a home winning streak of more than 13 games, winning 23 consecutive home starts from Nov. 5, 2011 to Feb. 19, 2012.

SUBBAN RETURNS TO MONTREAL

Former Montreal Canadiens defenseman P.K. Subban returns to Montreal for the first time since being traded to the Predators (32-22-9, 73 points) for Shea Weber on June 29, 2016. Subban, who was on injured reserve when the teams first played on Jan. 3, has tallied 30 points (eight goals, 22 assists) in his first 47 games with Nashville. Weber, meanwhile, scored the tying goal in an eventual overtime win for the Canadiens (35-21-8, 78 points) against the Predators in January and is third on Montreal with 37 points (14 goals, 23 assists in 64 games) this season.

- NHL Public Relations