KANE REACHES 20-GOAL MARK IN BLACKHAWKS WIN
Patrick Kane (1-1-2) scored his 20th goal of the season to help the Chicago Blackhawks pick up their sixth consecutive road win.
* Elias notes that Kane (Buffalo, N.Y.) became the first American-born player in NHL history to score 20 or more goals in each of his first 10 seasons. The only other American-born player to have 10 or more consecutive 20-goal seasons at any time during his NHL career was Keith Tkachuk (Melrose, Mass.), who did so in 12 straight seasons from 1992-93 to 2003-04.
* Elias adds that Kane became the fifth player in Blackhawks history to reach the 20-goal mark in 10 or more seasons, joining Stan Mikita (14), Bobby Hull (13), Steve Larmer (11) and Denis Savard (10). Kane also joined Savard (1980-81 to 1989-90) as the only players in Blackhawks history to score 20 or more goals in each of their first 10 NHL seasons.
SUNDAY'S RESULTS
Home Team in Caps
NY RANGERS 2, Washington 1
Detroit 5, PITTSBURGH 2
Winnipeg 3, OTTAWA 2
NY ISLANDERS 6, New Jersey 4
Chicago 5, BUFFALO 1
Nashville 4, COLUMBUS 3
Toronto 4, CAROLINA 0
Tampa Bay 3, COLORADO 2 (OT)
Boston 2, SAN JOSE 1 (OT)
ANAHEIM 1, Los Angeles 0
Philadelphia 3, VANCOUVER 2
CLUBS STRENGTHEN THEIR GRIP ON PLAYOFF POSITIONS . . .
The New York Rangers (38-19-1, 77 points), Anaheim Ducks (31-19-10, 72 points) and Nashville Predators (28-22-8, 64 points) each secured victories to strength their grips on Stanley Cup Playoff positions:
* Mats Zuccarello scored the go-ahead goal at 8:37 of the third period to help the Rangers improve to 7-1-0 in their past eight games. Henrik Lundqvist (31 saves) earned the 401st win of his NHL career to tie Chris Osgood for 11th place on the League's all-time list. The Rangers maintained their hold of the first wild card into the playoffs from Eastern Conference and moved within two points of the Columbus Blue Jackets (37-16-5, 79 points) for third place in the Metropolitan Division.
* John Gibson (24 saves) earned his career-high fifth shutout of the season, and second in his past three starts, to help the Ducks past the Los Angeles Kings. Gibson became the first Anaheim goaltender to have five shutouts in a season since Jonas Hiller in 2013-14 (5). The Ducks increased their lead to 10 points over the idle Calgary Flames (29-26-4, 62 points) for third place in the Pacific Division.
* The Blue Jackets erased a 3-1 deficit, but Mattias Ekholm scored the tiebreaking goal at 9:09 of the third period to power the Nashville Predators to victory. Nashville increased its lead to two points over Calgary for the first wild card from the Western Conference and moved within three points of the idle St. Louis Blues (31-23-5, 67 points) for third place in the Central Division.
. . . WHILE BRUINS, MAPLE LEAFS CLIMB ATLANTIC DIVISION
The Boston Bruins (30-23-6, 66 points) and Toronto Maple Leafs (27-20-11, 65 points) each earned wins to leapfrog the idle Florida Panthers (27-20-10, 64 points) and move into playoff spots:
* Brad Marchand scored his seventh NHL overtime goal to help the Bruins improve to 4-0-0 under coach Bruce Cassidy and claim sole possession of third place in the Atlantic Division. Boston also climbed within two points of the Ottawa Senators (31-20-6, 68 points) for second place in the division.
* Curtis McElhinney (37 saves) earned his first shutout in a Maple Leafs uniform and Auston Matthews added his 28th goal of the season, tied for first among all rookies. Toronto took sole possession of the final wild card in the Eastern Conference and kept pace with Boston in the Atlantic Division race.
LOOSE PUCKS
Ryan Strome (2-1-3) had his second career multi-goal game to help the New York Islanders extend their home point streak to 11 games (9-0-2), their longest such run since 1982 . . . Brayden Schenn scored his League-leading 14th power-play goal of the season and Shayne Gostisbehere (0-3-3) had a career-high three points to help the Philadelphia Flyers earn a 3-2 win . . . Josh Morrissey scored the game-winning goal early in the third period and the Winnipeg Jets improved to 5-1-1 in their past seven road games . . . The Tampa Bay Lightning surrendered a game-tying goal with 41.9 seconds remaining in the third period, but Jonathan Drouin scored his first NHL overtime goal to help them extended their point streak to six games (4-0-2) . . . The Detroit Red Wings swept their back-to-back set with wins against the Washington Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins, the top two teams in the Eastern Conference . . . Bruins forward Patrice Bergeron (0-1-1) reached the 400-assist milestone . . . Senators captain Erik Karlsson (1-6-7), Bruins defenseman Torey Krug (1-5-6) and Buffalo Sabres defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen (0-5-5) each extended their point streaks to five games . . . Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist donned a special mask during pregame warmup as a tribute to equipment manager Cass Marques, who worked his 1,500th game with New York . . . The Colorado Avalanche, Islanders and Penguins each hosted events in support of Hockey Is For Everyone month . . . Jets defenseman Jacob Trouba will have a hearing this afternoon for an illegal check to the head on Senators forward Mark Stone . . . The Penguins honored Sidney Crosby during a pregame ceremony at PPG Paints Arena for recently reaching the 1,000-point milestone.
SNEAK PEEK AT MONDAY'S ACTION
All Times Eastern
Florida @ St. Louis, 8 p.m., SN, TVA Sports, NHLN-US, FS-MW, FS-F
Anaheim @ Arizona, 9 p.m., SN1, FS-A, PRIME
SURGING PANTHERS LOOK TO SWEEP FIVE-GAME ROAD TRIP
The Panthers (27-20-10, 64 points) look to sweep their five-game road trip when they visit the Blues (31-23-5, 67 points) at Scottrade Center. Jonathan Huberdeau has eight points (four goals, four assists) in six games since returning to the Panthers lineup on Feb. 3, while Vincent Trocheck (2-5-7) and Jaromir Jagr (2-3-5) each own point streaks of five games. Elias notes that the Panthers can sweep a road trip of at least five games for the first time in their 24-year history.
- NHL Public Relations
