The weekend was a chaotic one across the NHL. We saw everything from the Kings continuing their stellar play to the Carolina Hurricanes and New Jersey Devils clinching playoff berths.
In addition, David Pastrnak topped the 50-goal mark for the first time in his NHL career.
Let’s take a closer look at some of the biggest storylines and top highlights from a jam-packed weekend of NHL action.
Goal of the weekend: Nicolas Roy gets his own rebound, beats Oilers
Vegas Golden Knights forward Nicolas Roy was able to do it all himself in order to lift his team to victory.
Midway through the overtime period of Saturday’s game, Jack Eichel was able to dig the puck out from along the boards and found a wide-open Roy in front of the net. He initially attempted to lift a backhanded shot past Oilers netminder Stuart Skinner, but Skinner turned it aside with his blocker. However, Roy was able to jam the rebound home to give the Oilers a 4-3 victory.
It was a much-needed win for the Oilers as they held onto third place in the Pacific Division with the Stanley Cup Playoffs right around the corner.
Robbery of the weekend: Kevin Lankinen recovers to take a goal away from Calle Jarnkrok
It appeared as though Calle Jarnkrok was destined to put the puck in the back of the net. Nashville Predators goalie Kevin Lankinen had other ideas in Sunday’s game against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Late in the first period, the Maple Leafs had a two-on-one opportunity in which Auston Matthews put the puck right on Jarnkrok’s stick with Lankinen out of position. Still, Lankinen was able to recover and snag Jarnkrok’s point-blank shot attempt with his glove.
While the Maple Leafs came away with a narrow 2-1 win, Lankinen post-to-post movement on this save was nothing short of phenomenal.
Kings extend point streak to 12 consecutive games
As the Stanley Cup Playoffs draw near, there may be no hotter team than the Los Angeles Kings. The Kings recorded wins on consecutive nights over the weekend as they defeated the Winnipeg Jets, 4-1, on Saturday and edged the St. Louis Blues, 7-6, on Sunday.
With Sunday’s win, Los Angeles has now recorded a franchise record 12-game point streak. The streak dates back to Feb. 28, when the Kings registered a 6-5 shootout win against the Winnipeg Jets.
Kings forward Adrian Kempe scored a pair of goals while defenseman Drew Doughty deposited the game-winning goal at the 8:50 mark of the third period on Sunday. Doughty’s game-winning goal was noteworthy because he passed former Kings great Rob Blake for the most game-winning goals in Kings history by a defenseman.
With the 7-6 win, the Kings surpassed their previous streak of 11 consecutive games with a point, which began on Feb. 28, 1974 and lasted until March 24, 1974.
As a result of the point streak, the Kings (43-20-10, 96 points) are just two points behind the Vegas Golden Knights for first place in the Pacific Division. Los Angeles will get a chance to take on Vegas on April 6 in what could be a very pivotal contest in the race for the division crown and even the Western Conference’s top seed.
David Pastrnak tops 50-goal mark, leads Bruins to overtime win over Hurricanes
Just one day removed from the Bruins clinching the Atlantic Division title, David Pastrnak topped the 50-goal mark for the first time in his nine-year NHL career, and helped the Bruins defeat the Carolina Hurricanes 4-3 in a shootout on Sunday.
Forwards Charlie Coyle and Jake DeBrusk scored in the shootout to help the Bruins squeeze out the victory.
Pastrnak scored the first two goals of the game for Boston to put him at a grand total of 51 goals on the season. The 26-year-old star became the first Bruin to score 50 goals in a single season since Cam Neely accomplished the feat during the 1993-94 campaign and just the sixth overall.
In addition to scoring 50 goals, Pastrnak also recorded his 600th career point in the Bruins’ 57th win of the 2022-23 season. It took Pastrnak the third-fewest games to reach 600 points in team history as only Bobby Orr (461 games) and Ray Bourque (569) did it faster.
The Bruins’ 57 wins match the 1970-71 season for the most in team history, while their 27 road wins already broke the previous franchise record of 26 that was set during the 1971-72 Bruins.
Wild leapfrog Stars, Avalanche to grab first place in Central Division
Prior the weekend, the Dallas Stars were in first place in the Western Conference’s Central Division. As of Tuesday, the Minnesota Wild have utilized a recent hot streak to leapfrog both the Stars and Colorado Avalanche to take over the top spot in the division in the final weeks of the regular season.
The Wild came away with back-to-back wins in recent days to rise up in the division race. It began with a 3-1 win over the Chicago Blackhawks 3-1 on Saturday and was followed up by a dominant 5-1 win over the Seattle Kraken on Monday.
The Wild now have a 43-22-9 record (95 points) to lead the way in the Central Division. The Avalanche were also in action on Monday and came away with a 5-1 win over the Anaheim Ducks to keep pace. With their victory, the Avalanche trail the Wild by just a single point for first place.
Meanwhile, the Stars have dropped to three points behind the Wild for first place in the Central Division after losing four of their last six games.
Clayton Keller’s point streak reaches 13 games
The Arizona Coyotes may not have had the most impressive season, but budding superstar Clayton Keller has continued to rise to the occasion. Keller extended his point streak to 13 consecutive games following an assist in Monday’s 5-4 loss against the Edmonton Oilers.
His point streak began on March 5 against the New Jersey Devils when he registered an assist.
During his 13-game point streak, Keller has accumulated 11 goals and 11 assists while recording six multi-point performances.
In Sunday’s 4-3 shootout loss at the hands of the Colorado Avalanche, Keller scored a goal and reached the 80-point mark for the first time in his NHL career. In doing so, Keller became just the fourth Coyotes/Winnipeg Jets player in the past 30 years to achieve that feat as he joined Keith Tkachuk (1993-94, 1995-96, & 1996-97, Teemu Selanne (1992-93), and Phil Housley (1992-93).
With 81 points, Keller is just six points away from tallying the most in a single season in Coyotes history. Tkachuk currently holds the record with 86 points, which he set during the 1996-97 campaign. As the Coyotes look towards the future, Keller has become quite the building the block.
Appointment viewing this week
Lightning at Hurricanes | Tuesday, Mar. 28: Two of the Eastern Conference’s top teams will do battle in this one. The Lightning need to get back on track after dropping four consecutive games.
Oilers at Golden Knights | Tuesday, Mar. 28: The Golden Knights are taking aim at the top seed in the West and have been on fire as of late. Meanwhile, the Oilers are attempting to avoid falling into a Wild Card spot, so this is a big-time matchup.
Wild at Avalanche | Wednesday, Mar. 29: There’s no tighter division race in the NHL than the Central. The Wild, Avalanche and Stars are all separated by just three points, so this matchup looms large. The winner will gain a nice leg up on the rest of the division.
Rangers at Devils | Thursday, Mar. 30: If the current Metropolitan Division standings hold, the Devils would face the Rangers in the opening round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The battle of New York and New Jersey offers a battle of two contrasting rosters: a veteran Rangers squad against a youthful Devils team. This is a can’t miss matchup.
Bruins at Penguins | Saturday, Apr. 1: The Penguins have rallied to climb into the second Wild Card spot in the East. With that in mind, they’d face the Bruins in the first-round of the postseason if that’s where they finish. We’ll get a preview of that potential matchup.
