Players of the Night:
Cedric Paquette, Tampa Bay Lightning: Paquette scored twice and added an assist as the Lightning thumped the New York Rangers 7-3 on Friday. Paquette had five shots on goal and the Lightning threw 50 at Ondrej Pavelec to regain first place in the Atlantic Division. Tampa matched its regular-season record for points with 108.
Semyon Varlamov and Jonathan Bernier, Colorado Avalanche: The duo (but mostly Varlamov) combined for the first combined shutout in Avs history on Friday. Varlamov made 30 saves in 53:31 before he was injured in a collision with Chicago Blackhawks forward Tomas Jurco. Bernier finished the game, making three more saves to complete the blanking.
Rickard Rakell, Anaheim Ducks: Double R scored the OT winner to give the Ducks a 2-1 win against the Los Angeles Kings, putting the Ducks into the first wildcard in the Western Conference, one point back of L.A. The Ducks have a game in-hand on their California counterparts.
Highlights of the Night:
Domingue’d
LOUIS! 👊 #TBLvsNYR pic.twitter.com/mYGlR2BfF5
— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) March 31, 2018
Hello, Andrighetto:
Some zig, some zag with a dash of dazzle. @Andrighetto10, that's some crazy stuff. https://t.co/axssKZiRAc
— NHL (@NHL) March 31, 2018
MacKinnon saves:
The definition of teamwork. https://t.co/eIxgf8ljip
— NHL (@NHL) March 31, 2018
Juke and jive:
Pulling out all the moves tonight aren't ya, @JustinFaulk27? pic.twitter.com/aXsOZRQixu
— NHL (@NHL) March 31, 2018
Rakell’s OT winner was special:
Rickard Rakell with a sweet shot to win it for the #NHLDucks in overtime! @SUBWAYCanada pic.twitter.com/bWKAYBeKRk
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) March 31, 2018
Factoids of the Night:
Frederik Andersen earned his 37th win of 2017-18 to match the single-season @MapleLeafs record for most by a goaltender, a mark set by Ed Belfour in 2002-03 and matched by Andrew Raycroft in 2006-07. #NHLStats #TORvsNYI pic.twitter.com/b7X9FmPvxV
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) March 31, 2018
#Leafs have now won 9 straight games when Auston Matthews scores.
— Sportsnet Stats (@SNstats) March 31, 2018
Scores:
Hurricanes 4, Capitals 1
Maple Leafs 5, Islanders 4
Lightning 7, Rangers 3
Avalanche 5, Blackhawks 0
Ducks 3, King 2 (OT)
Golden Knights 4, Blues 3 (OT)
Scott Billeck is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @scottbilleck