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Anthony Cirelli #71 of the Tampa Bay Lightning
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The Buzzer: Cirelli, Lightning cruise past Jets; Crosby tallies OT winner

By Scott CharlesJan 17, 2020, 11:12 PM EST
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Three Stars

1) Anthony Cirelli, Tampa Bay Lightning

Cirelli recorded his first NHL hat trick as the Lightning steamrolled the Winnipeg Jets Friday evening. The 22-year-old scored twice in the opening period as the Bolts jumped out to a 3-0 lead and never looked back. Cirelli hammered a feed from Ondrej Palat 9:27 into the game and then converted a nifty forehand-backhand maneuver to close out the first 20 minutes. Cirelli would complete the hat trick midway through the third period.

2) Evgeni Malkin, Pittsburgh Penguins

Malkin recorded two power-play assists to set up Pittsburgh’s two goals in its 2-1 win against the Detroit Red Wings. Sidney Crosby has received a lot of attention since returning from a 28-game absence earlier this week and added the game-winning goal Friday. However, it was Malkin who looked off the defender and delivered a perfect pass to set up the Penguins captain. Malkin has recorded 10 points in the previous six games.

3) Nikita Kucherov, Tampa Bay Lightning

The 26-year-old winger scored twice in Tampa Bay’s 7-1 win. Cirelli and Kucherov alternated goals as Tampa Bay jumped out to a 4-0 lead, including three in the opening period. Kucherov buried two tap-in opportunities to record goals 21 and 22 on the season. The Russian winger has five goals in his previous three games and the Lightning improved to 12-2-0 in the previous 14 games.

Highlights of the Night

Crosby extended his goal-scoring streak to three games when he buried a pretty feed from Malkin to propel the Penguins in overtime.

Sam Steel fired the OT winner after Andrei Svechnikov‘s costly turnover.

Stats of the Night

Scores

Pittsburgh Penguins 2, Detroit Red Wings 1 (OT)

Anaheim Ducks 2, Carolina Hurricanes 1 (OT)

Tampa Bay Lightning 7, Winnipeg Jets 1

NHL ALL-STAR GAME COVERAGE:
• All-Star Game rosters
• Rosters for Elite Women’s 3-on-3 Revealed
• Pass or Fail: 2020 All-Star Game jerseys
• Alex Ovechkin will not play in 2020 All-Star Game
• NHL Skills Competition to feature women’s 3-on-3, pucks shot from stands

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Scott Charles is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @ScottMCharles.

The Buzzer: Golden Knights win DeBoer’s debut; Hats off to Ovechkin

By Adam GretzJan 17, 2020, 1:20 AM EST
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Three Stars

1. Alex Ovechkin, Washington Capitals. Another milestone for the greatest goal scorer to ever play in the NHL. He recorded his 25th career hat trick on Thursday night and reached the 30-goal mark for the 15th consecutive season to start his career, a feat accomplished only by him and Mike Gartner. Read more about it here.

2. David Rittich, Calgary Flames. Huge night for the All-Star goalie as he stopped 35 shots during regulation and overtime and all three shots he faced in a shootout to help lift the Flames to a 2-1 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Flames have now won six of their past seven games. Thanks to the Arizona Coyotes’ loss to the Vancouver Canucks, the Flames are now tied for first place in the Pacific Division.

3. Mark Stone, Vegas Golden Knights. The Golden Knights won Peter DeBoer’s coaching debut on Thursday night, 4-2, over the Ottawa Senators thanks to a big game from Stone. He scored a goal and recorded an assist in his first game back in Ottawa as a visiting player. Stone played the first six-and-a-half years of his career with the Senators and was one of the team’s best players during his time there. He was a key part of their 2016-17 run to the Eastern Conference Final and became one of the league’s best two-way players. The Senators traded him to Vegas at the trade deadline a year ago. He received a lengthy ovation from the Ottawa crowd on Thursday.

Other notable performances from Thursday

  • Jaroslav Halak gave up a goal to Sidney Crosby just 24 seconds into the game against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday, then slammed the door shut the right of the night to help the Boston Bruins to a 4-1 win.
  • John Tortorella recorded his 200th win as head coach of the Columbus Blue Jackets in their 3-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes. It is a huge win for the Blue Jackets and a costly game for the Hurricanes as defenseman Dougie Hamilton exited the game with a nasty looking leg injury. Read about it here.
  • The Minnesota Wild snapped their four-game losing streak with an impressive win over the Tampa Bay Lightning. Read about it here.
  • Sam Montembeault replaced an injured Chris Driedger in the Florida Panthers’ net and helped them get a big win over the Los Angeles Kings.
  • Ilya Kovalchuk continued his great play with the Montreal Canadiens by scoring two goals in a 4-1 win over the Philadelphia Flyers. He now has three goals and seven total points in seven games since joining the Canadiens.
  • Rasmus Dahlin scored his third goal of the season to help the Buffalo Sabres beat the Dallas Stars.
  • John Gibson stopped 33 shots for the Anaheim Ducks as they hand the Nashville Predators their seventh defeat in their past 10 games.
  • Philipp Grubauer stops all 27 shots he faces in a shutout win for the Colorado Avalanche over the San Jose Sharks.
  • Jake Virtanen avoids a suspension earlier in the day and then scores the game-winning goal for the Vancouver Canucks in a big win over the Arizona Coyotes.

Highlights of the Night

This might have been Rittich’s biggest and best save of the night.

Cam Atkinson wasted no time making an impact in his return to the Blue Jackets’ lineup with this assist early in the first period.

Chris Kreider scores a game-winning power play with 30 seconds to play in regulation to help give the New York Rangers a 3-2 win over the New York Islanders.

Blooper of the Night

After whiffing on a shootout attempt earlier this week, Brad Marchand had some more problems on a breakaway.

Auston Matthews tried the lacrosse move and it did not work.

Factoids

  • Cale Makar scored his 10th goal of the season for the Colorado Avalanche, tying him for the most in franchise history for a rookie defenseman. [NHL PR]
  • Patrice Bergeron reached the 20-goal mark for the 11th time in his career, the second most in Bruins franchise history behind only John Buyck. [NHL PR]
  • Capitals goalie Ilya Samsonov is the 10th rookie goalie to ever win nine consecutive decisions during the regular season. [NHL PR]

Scores

Boston Bruins 4, Pittsburgh Penguins 1
Calgary Flames 2, Toronto Maple Leafs 1 (SO)
Florida Panthers 4, Los Angeles Kings 3
New York Rangers 3, New York Islanders 2
Montreal Canadiens 4, Philadelphia Flyers 1
Washington Capitals 5, New Jersey Devils 2
Columbus Blue Jackets 3, Carolina Hurricanes 2
Vegas Golden Knights 4, Ottawa Senators 2
Anaheim Ducks 4, Nashville Predators 2
Minnesota Wild 3, Tampa Bay Lightning 2
Buffalo Sabres 4, Dallas Stars 1
Colorado Avalanche 4, San Jose Sharks 0
Vancouver Canucks 3, Arizona Coyotes 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.

Wild hold on against Lightning, snap losing streak

By Adam GretzJan 16, 2020, 11:21 PM EST
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What a difference 48 hours made for the Minnesota Wild.

When we saw them on Tuesday night they were getting dominated on the scoreboard and embarrassed by a lineup card gaffe that forced them to play with a shorthanded defense.

On Thursday, they went toe-to-toe with one of the NHL’s best teams and snapped their four-game losing streak with an impressive 3-2 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning. It is just the WIld’s second win in their past eight games, and their first in regulation during that stretch.

Ryan Suter‘s goal late in the second period ended up going in the books as the game-winner, while Zach Parise and Joel Eriksson Ek also scored for the Wild. Goalie Alex Stalock stopped 18 out of 20 shots he faced, including a shot from Tampa Bay’s Steven Stamkos at the buzzer to secure the win.

Nikita Kucherov scored both goals for the Lightning in the losing effort.

The Wild desperately needed this to win because their recent slide has really started to bury them in the Western Conference playoff race. Their playoff hopes are barely flickering right now and every point the rest of the way is going to be massive. They have almost no margin for error.

The most impressive part of this particular win is just how strong they looked for most of the game, especially on the heels of such a lackluster performance on Tuesday night. Coach Bruce Boudreau said on Wednesday he had two options after that game — either “bag skate” the team, or send them home and tell them to get away from hockey (via Michael Russo). He chose the latter, saying they would find out on Thursday if it was the right decision. It seemed that it was as they took what has been one of the NHL’s hottest teams (11-1-0 in their previous 12 games entering Tuesday), and one of the most dominating offenses, and for the most part completely shut it down.

The Lightning were on a 16-5-1 run since the start of December (second best record in the league behind only the Pittsburgh Penguins during that stretch) and averaging more than 32 shots and 3.5 goals per game. On Thursday, the Wild limited them to just two goals and only 20 shots. That shot total is the Lightning’s third-lowest of the season, and the lowest since a November 19 against the St. Louis Blues.

Thursday’s game is the first of a 12-game stretch where the Wild play 11 games on home ice, where they have actually played extremely well this season. If they are going to make any sort of a move toward a playoff spot, this is their chance.

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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.

WATCH LIVE: Wild host Lightning on NBCSN

By Sean LeahyJan 16, 2020, 7:00 PM EST
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NBCSN’s coverage of the 2019-20 NHL season continues with Thursday’s matchup between the Tampa Bay Lightning and Minnesota Wild. Coverage begins at 7 p.m. ET on NBCSN. You can watch the game online and on the NBC Sports app by clicking here.

Last season, the Lightning were one of the best regular-season teams in NHL history, tying the record for most wins in a season (62) and cruising to the Presidents’ Trophy with 128 points on the season, four shy of matching the all-time record. Tampa went on to get swept out of Round 1 by the Blue Jackets, a sour end to the franchise’s best regular season in history.

The 2019-20 season didn’t start as the Lightning expected. On the morning of Dec. 22, Tampa Bay sat at 17-13-4. They were seven points back of the East Wild Card and needed to turn things around. They did just that – ripping off 10 straight wins to tie the longest winning streak in franchise history. After a disappointing loss in New Jersey last Sunday, the Lightning got back on the winning track Tuesday night with a 4-3 (SO) win over the Kings. In the matter of a month, they are back among the NHL’s most dangerous teams, sitting in second in the Atlantic Division.

Tampa enters Thursday’s game having won 11 of their last 12 games.

Minnesota fell 7-3 in Pittsburgh on Tuesday night, their 4th straight loss (0-3-1). After a bizarre lineup error before the start of the game, the Wild fell behind 4-0 in the second period before closing the deficit to 4-2. But then the defense collapsed again, allowing the Penguins to balloon their lead up to 7-2. The seven goals allowed matched a season-worst for the Wild, who also allowed seven goals in their October loss to the Penguins.

The four-game losing streak is Minnesota’s longest since starting the season 0-4-0.

[COVERAGE BEGINS AT 7P.M. ET ON NBCSN]

WHAT: Tampa Bay Lightning at Minnesota Wild
WHERE: Xcel Energy Center
WHEN: Thursday, Jan. 16, 7 p.m. ET
TV: NBCSN
LIVE STREAM: You can watch the Lightning-Wild stream on NBC Sports’ live stream page and the NBC Sports app.

PROJECTED LINEUPS

LIGHTNING
Ondrej Palát – Brayden Point – Nikita Kucherov
Steven Stamkos – Anthony Cirelli – Tyler Johnson
Alexander Volkov– Cedric Paquette – Alex Killorn
Yanni Gourde – Mitchell Stephens – Carter Verhaeghe

Victor Hedman – Jan Rutta
Ryan McDonagh – Erik Cernak
Mikhail Sergachev – Kevin Shattenkirk

Starting goalie: Andrei Vasilevskiy

WILD
Zach Parise – Eric Staal – Mats Zuccarello
Jason Zucker – Victor Rask – Kevin Fiala
Marcus Foligno – Joel Eriksson Ek – Luke Kunin
Jordan Greenway – Mikko Koivu – Ryan Hartman

Ryan Suter – Jared Spurgeon
Jonas Brodin – Matt Dumba
Carson Soucy – Greg Pateryn

Starting goalie: Devan Dubnyk

John Walton will handle play-by-play duties alongside Pierre McGuire at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn. Liam McHugh will anchor studio coverage on Thursday with Mike Milbury and Ben Lovejoy.

NHL on NBCSN: Is Boudreau on the hot seat as wilting Wild face Lightning?

By James O'BrienJan 16, 2020, 12:17 PM EST
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NBCSN’s coverage of the 2019-20 NHL season continues with Thursday’s matchup between the Tampa Bay Lightning and Minnesota Wild. Coverage begins at 7 p.m. ET on NBCSN. You can watch the game online and on the NBC Sports app by clicking here.

Even under better circumstances, where coaches aren’t dropping like flies, it would be fair to wonder about Bruce Boudreau.

Don’t get me wrong; I’d rank Boudreau among the very best bench bosses in the NHL. Yet, as we’ve seen with a strong coach like Gerard Gallant and a big name like Mike Babcock, few coaches are immune to this recent bug.

Let’s take a look at Boudreau’s situation, and that of the Wild, as they host the locomotive Lightning on NBCSN tonight.

[COVERAGE BEGINS AT 7P.M. ET ON NBCSN]

Boudreau and the Wild suffering through more than just lineup card gaffes

Again, with Gallant and other coaches surprisingly on the market, this ranks as a tense time for any coach whose team is meandering. Boudreau and the Wild stand out even by those standards.

Most clearly, the team can point to an immediate mistake. Boudreau admitted that he made a “dumb mistake” that left the Wild with only five defensemen in a brutal 7-3 loss to the Penguins on Tuesday.

“It was a mistake I made,” said Boudreau after the game. “It was all my fault. I do the lineups first thing in the morning, and the first thing that goes down is the lowest number. I put Donato on and forgot Pateryn. When I looked and saw [the lineup card] was full, I figured I did it right. It was a dumb mistake. Never done that before. Just hard to do the game with five D. I take full blame for that.”

That embarrassing loss pushed Minnesota’s losing streak to four in a row. The bad times extend beyond that, as the Wild only won once in their last seven games (1-5-1) and find themselves eight points out of a playoff spot. What seemed like a season-turning December hot streak now feels like a faint memory.

Combine this dire standings situation with the Lightning playing at an incredible high level, and it seems like a disaster in the making.

Boudreau is no stranger to the hot seat

Then again, Boudreau’s been here before.

Almost exactly one year ago, PHT asked if the Wild’s future should include Boudreau. We selected Boudreau for the “Under Pressure” feature heading into 2018-19, and his mild playoff semi-guarantee didn’t work out. Remarkably, Boudreau has persisted, even remaining in place when the team changed GMs to Bill Guerin.

Honestly, it’s kind of shocking to see Boudreau still behind that Wild bench, his face turning troubling colors as the team struggles.

Some might even get a “Boy Who Cried Wolf” vibe from wondering if this is the time Boudreau might go. We’ve even seen players call Boudreau out before, like when Jason Zucker called him out, but then apologized. How many lives does this cat have left, though?

The Wild would probably be better off bottoming out, but they’re instead choosing the pass of Sissyphus. Boudreau is one of the best at push that boulder up hill, yet you have to wonder if it’s all kind of pointless. Especially when you consider the contender who might stand in stark contrast on Thursday.

Lightning aren’t exactly an easy draw

It’s almost cruel to send the Wild in against the Lightning right now. They’ve stood out as one of the best teams in the NHL lately, seemingly rekindling some of last (regular) season’s magic.

You don’t need to dig too deep into the numbers. Simply recall that they recently went on a 10-game winning streak, and won 11 of their last 12.

However hot Boudreau’s seat is, this tough game opens a crucial stretch. To start, this represents the beginning of a seven-game homestand, pretty much all against challenging opponents. Zoom out and the stakes grow: the Wild play 11 of their next 12 games at home.

Just check out this enormously important stretch:

Jan. 16: vs. Tampa Bay
Jan. 18: vs. Dallas
Jan. 20: vs. Florida
Jan. 22: vs. Detroit
Feb. 1: vs. Boston
Feb. 4: vs. Chicago
Feb. 6: vs. Vancouver
Feb. 7: at Dallas
Feb. 9: vs. Colorado
Feb. 11: vs. Vegas
Feb. 13: vs. Rangers
Feb. 15: vs. San Jose

So, tonight’s game against the Lightning might not be make-or-break, but the next month sure seems that way. And that’s as close to “fair” as an opportunity you’ll see for coaches right now … assuming Boudreau gets a full swing at this.

John Walton will handle play-by-play duties alongside Pierre McGuire at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn. Liam McHugh will anchor studio coverage on Thursday with Mike Milbury and Ben Lovejoy.