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The Buzzer: Eberle rallies Islanders, DeBrincat scores 40th, another McDavid highlight

Islanders Jets Hockey

New York Islanders’ Jordan Eberle (7) celebrates goal on Winnipeg Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck (37) during the third period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, March 28, 2019, in Winnipeg, Manitoba. (John Woods/The Canadian Press via AP)

AP

Three Stars

1. Jordan Eberle, New York Islanders. It has not been Jordan Eberle’s best season, but wow did he come through in a big way for the New York Islanders on Thursday night. He scored two goals in the third period to help the Islanders storm back for a 5-4 win against the Winnipeg Jets. Eberle’s second goal, with less than two minutes to play in regulation, came just 33 seconds after Casey Cizikas tied the game. He is now up to 17 goals and 34 total points on the season as the Islanders took a significant step to securing their first playoff appearance since the 2015-16 season. Read more about tonight’s game here.

2. Oliver Bjorkstrand, Columbus Blue Jackets. The Columbus Blue Jackets looked awful in the first period on Thursday night in what was perhaps the biggest game of their season. Then they rebounded over the next 40 minutes to storm back for a massive 6-2 win over the Montreal Canadiens, thanks in part to a pair of goals from Oliver Bjorkstrand. He is now up to 19 goals on the season and helped the Blue Jackets get back into a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Read more about tonight’s game here.

3. Alex DeBrincat, Chicago Blackhawks. In hindsight it is absolutely insane that Alex DeBrincat had to wait until the second-round to get selected in his draft year. He is on his way toward stardom in the NHL and reached the 40-goal mark on Thursday night in the Blackhawks’ 5-4 win over the San Jose Sharks with a pair of goals. He is now the youngest player in Blackhawks history to score 40 goals in a season, eclipsing the mark that was previously set by Steve Larmer. He and Patrick Kane also became just the second set of American-born teammates to score 40 goals in the same season, joining Joe Mullen and Kevin Stevens who did it as members of the 1991-92 Pittsburgh Penguins.

Other notable games and performances from Thursday

  • The San Jose Sharks’ late season woes continued on Thursday night with their seventh loss in a row, this time against the Chicago Blackhawks. The Sharks fell behind 3-0, eventually rallied to tie the game 4-4, and then ended up losing on a late Chris Kunitz goal. They are six points behind the Calgary Flames for first place in the Pacific Division, a deficit that seems almost insurmountable this late in the season.
  • The Washington Capitals are back in the playoffs and will continue their defense of the Stanley Cup. They were 3-2 winners over the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday night, spoiling the Hurricanes’ plans for their final Storm Surge celebration of the season. Read more about tonight’s game here.
  • The Dallas Stars overcame a two-goal deficit against the Edmonton Oilers and picked up a 3-2 shootout win. Alexander Radulov scored another goal, Miro Heiskanen continued his incredible rookie season with the equalizer, and Jamie Benn scored the deciding goal in the shootout.
  • Jonathan Huberdeau scored two goals for the Florida Panthers in a 5-2 win over the Ottawa Senators. He has been one of their bright spots this season.
  • Dylan Larkin scored two goals for the Detroit Red Wings to reach the 30-goal mark in their 5-4 win over the Buffalo Sabres.

Highlights of the Night

Connor McDavid is always worth watching. Every. Single. Game.

Warren Foegele continued his impressive season for the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday night with what is almost certainly his most impressive goal of the year. It was not enough for the Hurricanes as they fell 3-2 to the Washington Capitals. Still an amazing goal though.

The reason for optimism in Vancouver is the young core of players centered around Elias Pettersson, Brock Boeser and now Quinn Hughes. Hughes recorded his first career point on Thursday night, setting up Boeser, and it was an absolutely incredible play.

Factoids

  • Aleksander Barkov joins Pavel Bure and Olli Jokinen as the only Florida Panthers players to ever record 90 points in a season. [NHL PR]
  • Leon Draisaitl reached the 100-point mark on Thursday night, joining teammate Connor McDavid. They are the first set of Edmonton Oilers teammates to both score 100 points in a single season since Jari Kurri and Jimmy Carson during the 1988-89 season. They won the Stanley Cup that year. The McDavid-Draisaitl Oilers are going to miss the playoffs for the third time in four years. The supporting casts are little bit different [NHL PR]
  • Dustin Brown became the Los Angeles Kings’ all-time leader in games played on Thursday night. [NHL PR]

Scores

Detroit Red Wings 5, Buffalo Sabres 4 (OT)

Washington Capitals 3, Carolina Hurricanes 2

Columbus Blue Jackets 6, Montreal Canadiens 2

Florida Panthers 5, Ottawa Senators 2

New York Islanders 5, Winnipeg Jets 4

Dallas Stars 3, Edmonton Oilers 2 (SO)

Vancouver Canucks 3, Los Angeles Kings 2 (SO)

Chicago Blackhawks 5, San Jose Sharks 4

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.