Three stars
1. Sergei Bobrovsky, Columbus Blue Jackets
Who are you going to call on when you need a win in for the Blue Jackets? Well, it has to be a man called Bob.
Bobrovsky made 26 saves in a 4-0 shutout -- his eighth of the season and second in as many starts -- as the Blue Jackets kept pace with the Montreal Canadiens, who also won on Tuesday. Bob has three shutouts in his past four starts as he tries to guide Columbus into the playoffs.
This is all set up for a Titanic matchup between the Canadiens and the Blue Jackets on Thursday. Columbus has a game in hand on the Canadiens and a win would see them leapfrog the Canadiens with five games remaining.
3. Tomas Tatar, Montreal Canadiens
Speaking fo the Habs... Tatar set the pace in this one, scoring twice in the first period to help the Canadiens to a 3-0 lead.
Tatar would add an assist in a three-point night, which proved to be a huge win. The Habs moved to within one point of the Carolina Hurricanes, who own the first wildcard, and Montreal made sure the Blue Jackets didn’t gain any ground for the second spot.
Montreal has caught fire at precisely the right time with four wins and points in each of their past five games.
3. Darcy Kuemper, Arizona Coyotes
The Coyotes are level with the Colorado Avalanche for the second and final wildcard in the West thanks to Kuemper, who turned aside 31 shots for a massive shutout that makes Friday’s game against the Avalanche the biggest in Arizona for some time.
Colorado has a game in hand on the Coyotes, which they will use up on Wednesday against the Vegas Golden Knights.
Arizona had lost five straight prior to Tuesday as their surge hit quite the roadblock. Kuemper has been tremendous for Arizona in Antti Raanta’s absence. It’s going to be quite the finish over the next week and a half.
Highlights of the night
Quite the pass here:
Draisaitl’s hatty:
Goals 44-46 for Leon Draisaitl, otherwise known as an @Enterprise hatty. pic.twitter.com/h3UbeQtmlX
— NHL (@NHL) March 27, 2019
These guys look like the Lightning out there:
This. Passing. Is. Absolutely. Perfect. pic.twitter.com/jzPwHMn3ux
— NHL (@NHL) March 27, 2019
Here’s Sam Steel’s hat trick goal -- and the odd play that led to it:
Factoids
Most regular-season shutouts, U.S.-born goaltenders:
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) March 27, 2019
51 – Jonathan Quick
44 – Ryan Miller
42 – @CraigAnderson41
40 – Frank Brimsek
40 – John Vanbiesbrouck#NHLStats #BUFvsOTT pic.twitter.com/IZdlAGEDFa
Alex Ovechkin of the @Capitals scored the 656th regular-season goal of his NHL career to tie Brendan Shanahan for 13th place on the League’s all-time list. https://t.co/PiaoVhI3lm #NHLStats #CARvsWSH pic.twitter.com/tGxp19yLdn
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) March 27, 2019
With tonight's #ALLCAPS win, NHL teams improve to 7-2-2 since 2007 in their first game after visiting the White House
— Sportsnet Stats (@SNstats) March 27, 2019
Sam Steel of the @AnaheimDucks is the third rookie in NHL history to score a regular-season hat trick which included a penalty-shot goal.
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) March 27, 2019
The others:
Eric Lindros on Dec. 26, 1992
Teemu Selanne on March 9, 1993#NHLStats #ANAvsVAN pic.twitter.com/okc4JOZapB
Scores
Capitals 4, Hurricanes 1
Blue Jackets 4, Islanders 0
Canadiens 6, Panthers 1
Senators 4, Sabres 0
Oilers 8, Kings 4
Ducks 5, Canucks 4
Coyotes 1, Blackhawks 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