Three stars
1. Jacob Markstrom, Vancouver Canucks
The Canucks needed a good effort from everyone involved if they were going to gain some ground in the log jam that is the Western Conference wildcard race.
Step up Jacob Markstrom, who made 29 saves for his first shutout of the season.
Markstrom’s solid performance came as the Canucks entered the day six points back of the Minnesota Wild for the second wildcard. The Canucks got two goals from Bo Horvat in the win and are now just four points out.
2. Cory Schneider, New Jersey Devils
It’s been a minute since Schneider has played this good for a decent stretch, but it appears the old Schneider is back between the pipes.
The 32-year-old picked up his fourth win in his past five games after making 34 saves in a 2-1 win for the Devils against the Montreal Canadiens. Schneider was 0-17-4 in 24 regular-season games prior to getting his first win since Dec. 27, 2017, earlier this month.
Schneider appears to be getting back into the groove now, with a shutout sprinkled into two games with an identical .971 save percentage in each and another game where he stopped 15 shots in relief and the Devils rallied from a 4-1 deficit to the Minnesota Wild to win 5-4 in overtime.
The Devils felt good enough about it all to trade Keith Kinkaid at the deadline on Monday.
3. Kasperi Kapanen, Toronto Maple Leafs
Nothing sucks the will out of a team quite like a shorthanded goal.
Kapanen provided that marker -- the insurance goal -- in the third period for the Maple Leafs in a 5-3 win against the Buffalo Sabres. The Sabres looked deflated after that one.
Kapanen provided the primary assist on Auston Matthews goal, which ended up being a Kapanen shot that was bobbled by Carter Hutton, then a defender and then potted home by Matthews.
The 22-year-old had six shots in the game.
Highlights of the night
Dirty move:
On a string! Wow! 😲 pic.twitter.com/eLR6tXGlDa
— NHL (@NHL) February 26, 2019
Beauty pass:
Pass was a bit of a stretch, but the goal was pretty sweet. pic.twitter.com/CYgksTZQ15
— NHL (@NHL) February 26, 2019
Vasilevskiy doing his thing:
Factoids
Pekka Rinne of the @PredsNHL earned the 334th regular-season win of his NHL career to pass Nikolai Khabibulin and Gump Worsley (both w/ 333) for sole possession of 22nd place on the League’s all-time list.#NHLStats: https://t.co/f4BaAIiZ7m #EDMvsNSH pic.twitter.com/TXs9DmBYC0
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) February 26, 2019
Fewest games to reach 100-point mark in a season, NHL history:
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) February 26, 2019
62 GP – MTL in 1976-77
62 GP – MTL in 1977-78
63 GP – BOS in 1971-72
63 GP – @TBLightning in 2018-19#NHLStats #LAKvsTBL pic.twitter.com/IeEothYKo8
Keith Yandle of the @FlaPanthers is skating in his 776th consecutive regular-season game and tied Craig Ramsay for the fifth-longest “Ironman” streak in NHL history.#NHLStats: https://t.co/SQQvmaZd1C #FLAvsCOL pic.twitter.com/5QBDGMVvkz
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) February 26, 2019
485 wins for @strombone1. No. 3 all-time.
— NHL (@NHL) February 26, 2019
Absolutely incredible. pic.twitter.com/ea8cDHsdae
Scores
Maple Leafs 5, Sabres 3
Devils 2, Canadiens 1
Lightning 4, Kings 3 (SO)
Predators 3, Oilers 2 (SO)
Panthers 4, Avalanche 3 (OT)
Canucks 4, Ducks 0
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