The NHL regular season is coming to a close, and this past week provided some entertaining playoff battles and historic moments.
The Boston Bruins made more history by beating the Philadelphia Flyers for their 63rd win of the season, and David Pastrnak added some style points with a hat trick.
On the other side of the continent, the Calgary Flames were eliminated from playoff contention with a shootout loss to the Nashville Predators, which provided a frustrating end to a disappointing season.
Let’s take a look back at the biggest moments and best highlights from the weekend that was in the NHL.
Goal of the weekend: Rasmus Dahlin dances through Canes
In a must-win game for the Sabres on Saturday, they needed some big plays, and Rasmus Dahlin stepped up. Late in the second period, with Buffalo trailing 3-2, Dahlin dropped some jaws on the game-tying goal.
Owen Power got the puck to Dahlin at the top of the offensive zone, and the young defenseman went to work. Dahlin deked a pair of Hurricanes into submission before sliding a perfect pass to Casey Mittelstadt for the tying goal.
The Sabres went on to win the game and kept their playoff hopes alive. We’ll see how much more magic Dahlin and Buffalo have left in them.
Robbery of the weekend: Lukas Dostal stands tall
Lukas Dostal has had a tough rookie campaign, but he made some impressive saves against the Colorado Avalanche on Sunday. Anaheim was able to push Colorado to overtime, and Dostal was a big reason why.
Late in the third period, the Avalanche were trying to tie the game, and they got a glorious chance to do just that. Valeri Nicushkin drove the net and fired a shot that Dostal got just enough of to keep out of the net.
That’s when Nathan MacKinnon picked up a rebound in the crease and had a wide open net, but Dostal stretched out his arm and swiped the shot off the goal line.
The Ducks hope that Dostal, a former third-round pick, can be the future in net. Despite a tough season, saves like that one show why the team has high hopes for him.
Pastrnak records hat trick, Bruins set record with 63rd win
The Boston Bruins just keep making NHL history with each passing game, and Sunday was no different. The Bruins just needed to beat the Philadelphia Flyers to set the record for most wins in a single season, and David Pastrnak made sure that happened.
In the second period, Pastrnak got the puck at the top of the circles, spun, and put a shot on goal. Pastrnak’s shot found its way through traffic and underneath Philadelphia netminder Felix Sandstrom.
Just five minutes later, Tyler Bertuzzi set up Pastrnak for a one-timer with a pass to the top of the left circle. This time, Pastrnak let a missile fly that rang off the post and went in.
Pastrnak capped off his hat trick by capitalizing on a 2-on-1 with Bertuzzi. Once again, Pastrnak fired a shot that somehow found its way through Sandstrom, and the Bruins’ sniper had his 60th of the season and the 300th of his career.
Boston held on to win its 63rd game of the season, which stands alone as an NHL record. Now, the Bruins need just two points to pass the 1976-77 Montreal Canadiens for the most points in a single season.
Connor McDavid notches 150th point
The Bruins aren’t the only ones having an absurd season. Connor McDavid is putting up numbers that haven’t been seen since Twister was tearing up the box office in 1996.
During the Oilers’ 6-1 win over the Sharks on Saturday, McDavid hit a major milestone with his 150th point of the season. With under two minutes left in the first period, McDavid found the puck in the middle of a net-front scrum and buried it for his 63rd tally of the season.
McDavid became just the sixth player in NHL history — along with Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Steve Yzerman, Phil Esposito and Bernie Nicholls — to hit 150 points in a single season.
McDavid also added another goal and an assist in that game, and he is now up to 151 points, which is only one point behind Esposito for 15th all-time. After such an incredible regular season, McDavid is poised for a massive playoff run.
Erik Karlsson reaches 100 points
In another historic moment, Erik Karlsson just became the sixth defenseman in NHL history to record 100 points in a season.
Just seconds into the Sharks’ Monday night clash with the Jets, Karlsson scored a goal for his 99th point on the season. He finished off a give-and-go that gave San Jose an early 1-0 lead.
In the third period, with the Sharks on the power play, Karlsson fired a point shot that just snuck through traffic for his second goal of the game and his 100th point of the season.
Karlsson joined Bobby Orr, Paul Coffey, Al MacInnis, Brian Leetch and Denis Potvin as the only other blueliners to accomplish the feat. Karlsson has put himself in position to win the Norris Trophy, and we’ll see if another team tries to acquire him in the offseason.
Flames eliminated from playoff contention
The Calgary Flames entered Monday night’s game against the Nashville Predators with their playoff chances on the line. Things didn’t go as planned.
The Predators led, 2-1, in the third period when the Flames forced a turnover in the offensive zone. With Nashville out of position, Andrew Mangiapane found Mikael Backlund on the backdoor for the game-tying goal.
Neither team scored the rest of the way, and a shootout was required to decide the game. The Flames got off to a good start when their first shooter, Jonathan Huberdeau, beat Juuse Saros to give his side an early lead.
However, Saros made a couple of big saves to keep the Preds in it, and Cody Glass and Tommy Novak came up clutch to deliver a huge victory for Nashville and extinguish Calgary’s playoff chances.
Coming into the season, the Flames were my pick to win the Stanley Cup, so for them to miss the playoffs entirely is pretty shocking. Poor goaltending has played a sizable role in Calgary’s struggles, but something has been amiss about the team all year. We’ll see how many changes, if any, the Flames decide to make this summer.
Appointment viewing this week
Sabres at Devils | Tuesday, April 11: The Sabres are still fighting for their playoff lives, and the Devils are fighting for the top spot in the Metro Division. There is a lot on the line for two teams with a lot of elite young talent.
Jets at Wild | Tuesday, April 11: If the Jets can get at least one point against the Wild on Tuesday, they will clinch the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. If not, Winnipeg will leave the door open for Nashville.
Oilers at Avalanche | Tuesday, April 11: Do you need more of a selling point than Connor McDavid vs. Nathan MacKinnon? Probably not, but both of these teams are trying to win their respective divisions as well.
Hurricanes at Panthers | Thursday, April 13: The Panthers are on the verge of locking up a spot in the playoffs, but it won’t be easy to do with just one game remaining against the Hurricanes. Carolina doesn’t want to give up the top spot in its division.
Wild at Predators | Thursday | April 13: If the Jets can’t end the Western Conference playoff race with a point against either the Wild or Avalanche, the Predators could sneak into the postseason. To do that, they would have to win back-to-back games against the Wild and Avalanche themselves.
