Three Stars
1. Carey Price, Montreal Canadiens. The Montreal Canadiens probably did not need Carey Price to be great on Tuesday night -- he was still more than solid in their 3-1 win over a hapless Los Angeles Kings team -- but he made some history by recording career win No. 314. That win moves him into a tie with legendary goalie Jacques Plante on top of the franchise’s all-time wins list. Any time you can tie Jacques Plante in something you deserve a star for the night. Granted, Price has spent his entire career playing in the shootout era, so the proper context needs to be applied to records and win totals like this, but it is still a huge accomplishment for Price and something that is worthy of some extra attention.
2. Jake Guentzel, Pittsburgh Penguins. With every team in the Eastern Conference playoff race gaining at least a point on Tuesday night it was a must for the Pittsburgh Penguins to get two points against the Florida Panthers, especially with a home-and-home against the Columbus Blue Jackets looming later this week. They were able to get the two points thanks to a pair of goals from Jake Guentzel, including a highlight reel winner in overtime. He is now up to a 33 goals on the season and has a real shot at scoring 40 goals. His contract extension he signed earlier this season might prove to be a bargain for the Penguins.
3. Sergei Bobrovsky, Columbus Blue Jackets. He has had probably the worst season of his career, or at least his worst season since joining the Columbus Blue Jackets, but Sergei Bobrovsky is still capable of taking over a game and stealing for his team. He did that on Tuesday night in the Blue Jackets’ 2-1 win over the New Jersey Devils. The Blue Jackets entered the game having lost three of their past four games and didn’t really play a particularly strong game against a team that is totally out of the race. They still managed to pick up two points thanks in large part to the play of Bobrovsky. Now the big test for the Blue Jackets and Bobrovsky this week -- back-to-back games against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Other notable performances from Tuesday night
- Ben Bishop posted a shutout and John Klingberg scored another game-winning goal to help lift the Dallas Stars to a 1-0 win over the New York Rangers to pick up a huge two points in the standings.
- The Nashville Predators are back in first place in the Central Division and the Minnesota Wild are sticking around in the playoff race. Read all about it here.
- Tough night for the Arizona Coyotes as they dropped two important points in the standings and had their six-game winning streak snapped in a 3-1 loss to the Anaheim Ducks.
- The New York Islanders needed a shootout to top the Ottawa Senators, but they managed to get the win and keep pace with the Washington Capitals in the Metropolitan Division. It was a costly win, however, as starting goalie Robin Lehner had to leave the game with an injury after a collision with Matthew Tkachuk on the play that produced the game-tying goal.
- Nathan MacKinnon scored the overtime winner to complete the Colorado Avalanche’s late rally to top the Detroit Red Wings and get two points.
Highlights of the Night
The aforementioned Jake Guentzel overtime winner for the Pittsburgh Penguins.
David Krejci and Jake DeBrusk teamed up for a pair of goals on Tuesday night in their win over the Carolina Hurricanes. Krejci’s goal, set up by DeBrusk, came in overtime. It was a costly win for the Bruins as they lost Marcus Johansson to another injury.
The Detroit Red Wings were on the losing end of a 4-3 overtime decision against the Colorado Avalanche but here is a bright spot in another lost season for the Red Wings: Prized prospect and top draft pick Filip Zadina scored his first NHL goal.
Factoids
- Matt Cullen played his 1,500th game tonight, making him just the second American-born player to ever reach that milestone (Chris Chelios is the other). Crazy thing about that is his career has overlapped 49.1 percent of the players to ever play a game in the NHL. [Penguins]
- The Tampa Bay Lightning are the first team in NHL history to feature two different goalies that have each had a personal 10-game winning streak in a single season. This team is a machine. It was also a big night for Nikita Kucherov as he tied Vincent Lecavalier’s single season points record with still 15 games to play in the season. [NHL PR]
- New York Islanders coach Barry Trotz recorded his 800th career win when his team defeated the Ottawa Senators. [Islanders]
Scores
Boston Bruins 4, Carolina Hurricanes 3 (OT)
Columbus Blue Jackets 2, New Jersey Devils 1 (SO)
New York Islanders 5, Ottawa Senators 4 (SO)
Pittsburgh Penguins 3, Florida Panthers 2 (OT)
Tampa Bay Lightning 5, Winnipeg Jets 2
Nashville Predators 5, Minnesota Wild 4 (SO)
Dallas Stars 1, New York Rangers 0
Colorado Avalanche 4, Detroit Red Wings 3 (OT)
Anaheim Ducks 3, Arizona Coyotes 1
Montreal Canadiens 3, Los Angeles Kings 1
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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.