Players of the Night:
• Jonathan Toews, Chicago Blackhawks: Toews assisted on all three of Chicago’s goals. Two of his helpers were came on the power play and of the primary variety. Captain serious has picked up nine points in his last six contests.
• Patrick Kane, Chicago Blackhawks: He scored the game-winning goal Sunday’s 3-1 win over the Bruins. He also assisted teammate Brent Seabrook’s late tally. The 29-year-old has 25 goals and 66 points in 70 games this season. The ‘Hawks put an end to Boston’s six-game winning streak.
• Johnny Boychuk, New York Islanders: The Isles blue liner finished Sunday’s game against the Flames with a great stat line. He had one goal, two assists and a plus-5 rating in 21:05 of ice time. They also managed to put an end to their eight-game losing streak.
• Christopher Gibson, New York Islanders: Another day, another 50-shot performance against the Islanders. Gibson turned aside 50 of the 52 shots the Flames sent his way.
• Darcy Kuemper, Arizona Coyotes: It wasn’t exactly must-see TV, but the Coyotes netminder managed to stop all 26 shots he faced in a win over the Canucks. This was his first shutout as a member of the ‘Yotes.
Highlights of the Night:
Alexander Radulov doing Alexander Radulov things:
everything about this *chef's kiss* pic.twitter.com/xRRYU1uGY6
— NBC Sports Hockey (@NBCSportsHockey) March 12, 2018
Patrick Kane scored the go-ahead goal late:
Another mention for young Gibson:
Factoids of the Night:
Another goal and an assist for Evgeni Malkin on Sunday. He’s rolling:
Since Jan. 1, @emalkin71geno has moved from a share of 22nd to second place in the tightly-contested Art Ross Trophy race. #NHLStats #DALvsPIT pic.twitter.com/YPi6ONEej6
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) March 12, 2018
Christopher Gibson saw a lot of rubber tonight:
Christopher Gibson is the second rookie goaltender in @NYIslanders history to make 50+ saves in a game, joining Billy Smith on Nov. 22, 1972 at PHI (55). #NHLStats #NYIvsCGY https://t.co/c6DW1bpULE pic.twitter.com/fqgGZCBpgW
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) March 12, 2018
Patrick Kane is moving on up:
DYK? @88PKane (310-508—818) moved within a point of tying John LeClair (406-413—819) for 14th place on the NHL’s all-time list among U.S.-born players. #NHLStats #BOSvsCHI pic.twitter.com/PIDF1K99xK
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) March 11, 2018
The Pens are rolling:
Reasons for optimism:
— Josh Yohe (@JoshYohe_PGH) March 12, 2018
• Since the calendar flipped to 2018, the Penguins are 21-8-1.
• Seven of their final 12 games are against teams that likely won’t reach the postseason.
• Malkin has 49 points in his past 28 games
• Letang is finding his form
• Oleksiak = good
Scores:
Blackhawks 3, Bruins 1
Islanders 5, Flames 2
Penguins 3, Stars 1
Coyotes 1, Canucks 0
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Joey Alfieri is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @joeyalfieri.