Three Stars
1. Petr Mrazek, Carolina Hurricanes. The Carolina Hurricanes moved into a playoff position on Saturday night with a 3-0 win over the Dallas Stars (then celebrated like “a bunch of jerks”). It was Petr Mrazek playing a key role by stopping all 33 shots he faced to recorded his third shutout of the season. It hasn’t been a great season for Mrazek overall, but he came through in a big way for them on Saturday night to help put them in a position that seemed impossible for them to reach a couple of months ago.
2. Nikita Kucherov, Tampa Bay Lightning. Just another day at the office for Nikita Kucherov, the NHL’s leading scorer. He recorded his fourth consecutive multi-point game and is already up to 94 points on the season in just 59 games played. He is still having a season for the ages. Quite literally for the ages. These are Wayne Gretzky or Mario Lemieux type numbers he is recording this season.
3. Darcy Kuemper, Arizona Coyotes. The Arizona Coyotes have a brutal season on the injury front and are trying to hang on in the Western Conference playoff race. Their 2-0 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday night was a big help on that front and it was driven by a shutout from Darcy Kuemper who turned aside all 22 shots he faced to shut out one of the NHL’s best offensive teams.
Other Notable Performances From Saturday Night
- The St. Louis Blues winning streak reached nine games thanks to a Jake Allen shutout and another big game for Vladimir Tarasenko, while the Colorado Avalanche continued to fade.
- The Ottawa Senators’ big-three trade candidates all played big roles in their overtime win over the Winnipeg Jets as Mark Stone, Matt Duchene, and Ryan Dzingel all scored goals. Dzingel’s goal was the overtime winner.
- Erik Karlsson made his return to the San Jose Sharks’ lineup and recorded an assist in their 3-2 win over the Vancouver Canucks. Joe Pavelski also had two points in the win.
- Derek Ryan had three assists for the Calgary Flames in a 5-4 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins.
- After losing three games in a row and seven of their past nine games the Vegas Golden Knights broke out of their slump with a big 5-1 win over the Nashville Predators.
Highlights of the Night
Check out this snipe by Columbus Blue Jackets forward Pierre-Luc Dubois to open the scoring in their win over the Chicago Blackhawks.
Boston Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask made the save of the night against the Los Angeles Kings. The Bruins went on to the game 4-2 to keep pace in the Atlantic Division.
This shot by Ryan Pulock to open the scoring for the New York Islanders in their win over the Edmonton Oilers was an absolute rocket. Perfectly placed, too. An unstoppable shot if there ever was one.
Factoids
- Chicago Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane extended his points streak to 17 games. This is the first time since 2009-10 that more than one player has had a point streak of at least 17 games in a single season. [NHL PR]
- The Tampa Bay Lightning have three players with at least 70 points through the first 60 games of the season. The most recent team to do that was the 1995-96 Pittsburgh Penguins. [NHL PR]
- The Winnipeg Jets did not win, but they did collect a point for the overtime loss thanks in large part to a pair of shorthanded goals. [NHL PR]
- Saturday was the sixth time in Philadelphia Flyers franchise history they surrendered a four-goal lead but still went on to win the game. That is ... kind of impressive in a weird sort of way. [NHL PR]
- Phil Kessel became the 16th American-born player in NHL history to record at least 800 points in the NHL with an assist in the Pittsburgh Penguins’ 5-4 loss to the Calgary Flames on Saturday afternoon. [NHL PR]
Scores
Philadelphia Flyers 6, Detroit Red Wings 5 (OT)
Calgary Flames 5, Pittsburgh Penguins 4
St. Louis Blues 3, Colorado Avalanche 0
Arizona Coyotes 2, Toronto Maple Leafs 0
Ottawa Senators 4, Winnipeg Jets 3 (OT)
Tampa Bay Lightning 3, Montreal Canadiens 0
New York Islanders 5, Edmonton Oilers 2
Carolina Hurricanes 3, Dallas Stars 0
Columbus Blue Jackets 5, Chicago Blackhawks 2
Vegas Golden Knights 5, Nashville Predators 1
San Jose Sharks 3, Vancouver Canucks 2
Boston Bruins 4, Los Angeles Kings 2
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Adam Gretz is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @AGretz.