Three stars
1. Andrei Vasilevskiy, Tampa Bay Lightning
Vasilevskiy will still be stopping pucks when he goes to sleep tonight.
The Washington Capitals fired 58 shots in the direction of the young Russian superstar netminder. He stopped 54, which was enough (and more than should have been required) in a 5-4 overtime win.
Vasilevskiy is well on his way to winning the Vezina this season, and Wednesday was just another brilliant performance in what’s been a season full of them.
Andrei Vasilevskiy is just the 11th different netminder since 1955-56 to record multiple wins with at least 48 saves in a single season. #NHLStats #TBLvsWSH pic.twitter.com/5pboCbe5pz
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) March 21, 2019
2. Loui Eriksson, Vancouver Canucks
To be fair, Bo Horvat, Tanner Pearson or Alex Edler could be here, too. But Eriksson’s the one with the four-point night. The other three each had three-point nights, so let’s give it to Loui.
The Canucks had a 5-0 lead in the third period before the Ottawa Senators scored four unanswered to claw their way back into the game. Eriksson provided an assist on Horvat’s 6-4 goal and then scored the 7-4 marker to put the game out of reach.
Eriksson’s season isn’t much to write home about, but he had a solid night on Wednesday.
3. Connor Hellebuyck, Winnipeg Jets
A Vezina runner up last season, Hellebuyck’s season hasn’t mirrored that this time around. He’s been solid lately, despite a tough start to the year, and getting his first shutout of the season is a monkey off his back.
Resting Hellebuyck is something the Jets are doing in the last couple of weeks here. He didn’t play Monday and won’t play against the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday, either, with the Jets electing to save him for a pivotal matchup against the Nashville Predators in Winnipeg on Saturday night.
Highlights of the night
This passing is unfair:
One-hopper to perfection:
Pretty tip on this one:
Don’t give Victor Hedman all day:
Factoids
#NHLJets Laine has 6 games this season where he has scored 2+ goals. 17 of his 29 goals came in those 6 games. The other 12 were in 12 games. Leaving 54 games with 0 goals heading into tonight.
— Rick Ralph (@RickRalphNS) March 21, 2019
The @NHLJets (44-25-4, 92 points) matched their single-season franchise record with their 20th road win.
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) March 21, 2019
They also recorded 20 such victories in 2006-07 (20-16-5), 2014-15 (20-13-8) and 2017-18 (20-13-8). #NHLStats #WPGvsANA pic.twitter.com/nk6hnydA0u
John Tavares (41-40—81) and Mitch Marner (25-61—86) are the first @MapleLeafs duo to each record 80 points in a season since Dave Andreychuk (53-46—99 in 83 GP) and Doug Gilmour (27-84—111 in 83 GP) in 1993-94. #NHLStats #TORvsBUF pic.twitter.com/dODsxZSW4T
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) March 21, 2019
Scores
Maple Leafs 4, Sabres 2
Lightning 5, Capitals 4 (OT)
Canucks 7, Senators 4
Jets 3, 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