Players of the Night
Seth Jones, Columbus Blue Jackets: Columbus jumped all over the Washington Capitals on Monday night, scoring four goals in the first period on their way to a 5-1 win. Leading the way for the Blue Jackets was defenseman Seth Jones as he finished with three points (one goal, two assists) in close to 20 minutes of ice time. The Blue Jackets also received three points from Cam Atkinson in the win and two more from Artemi Panarin. Mark Letestu, playing in his first game back in Columbus after being picked up just before the trade deadline, also scored in the win.
Petr Mrazek, Philadelphia Flyers: Mrazek picked up his third consecutive win since joining the Flyers and helped them extend their point (and winning streak). They also moved into first place in the Metropolitan Division thanks to their win and the Capitals’ loss. Mrazek stopped all 28 shots he faced through regulation and overtime for his 14th career shutout.
Nathan MacKinnon, Colorado Avalanche: The Colorado Avalanche are on the playoff bubble at the moment but they are definitely hanging in the race. They got some big help on Monday night with a 3-1 win over the Vancouver Canucks thanks to a big game from Nathan MacKinnon. MacKinnon scored two goals in the win to help the Avalanche keep pace in the Western Conference playoff race.
Kucherov leaves with injury
On the same day they pulled off a huge trade with the New York Rangers to add Ryan McDonagh and J.T. Miller they had a couple of injury concerns in their 4-3 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs as Nikita Kucherov, the league’s leading scorer, and Tyler Johnson both suffered injuries. Kucherov left the game with what the team is calling an upper body injury and did not return, while Johnson appeared to have a leg injury before returning for overtime. At this point Kucherov’s injury does not seem to be too serious and he could be ready for Tampa Bay’s next game. So there is at least some good news though. Injuries decimated the Lightning a season ago and played a huge role in them missing the playoffs. They have been one of the healthier teams in the league this season.
Highlight of the Night
Oh, just Vegas Golden Knights goalie Marc-Andre Fleury mixing curling and hockey together.
Fleury getting some curling practice in. pic.twitter.com/oW5YsFGbzn
— NHL GIFs (@NHLGIFs) February 27, 2018
Highlight of the Night Part 2
Curling was probably the highlight night of the Fleury because just as it seemed as if he was going to backstop the Golden Knights to a win, Anze Kopitar scored with 10 seconds to play in regulation to send the game to overtime. Check out the pass by new addition Dion Phaneuf to set it up.
The LA Kings tie it with 10 seconds left... but this time the goal counted! pic.twitter.com/PgnOC4lw2D
— LA Kings (@LAKings) February 27, 2018
Dustin Brown would end up winning the game on a power play in overtime to help the Kings keep pace in the Western Conference playoff race.
The Kings were losing 2-0 with less than 10 minutes to play in regulation before rallying for the win. Along with goals from Kopitar and Brown, Jeff Carter also scored his first goal of the season in the win to get the comeback started.
Factoid of the Night
Andrei Vasilevskiy picked up another win for the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday night and is closing in on a franchise record.
Andrei Vasilevskiy earned his 37th win of the season and sits three wins shy of matching the @TBLightning single-season franchise record. #NHLStats #TORvsTBL pic.twitter.com/VXsiem4Pgn
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) February 27, 2018
Scores
Columbus Blue Jackets 5, Washington Capitals 1
Philadelphia Flyers 1, Montreal Canadiens 0
Tampa Bay Lightning 4, Toronto Maple Leafs 3
Colorado Avalanche 3, Vancouver Canucks 1
Los Angeles Kings 3, Vegas Golden Knights 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.