NHL Three Stars: Kings clinch playoff spot, Sens score 3 shorthanded
No. 1 Star: Jonathan Quick, Los Angeles Kings
The goaltender held the team together as he made 27 saves in the Kings 2-1 victory over the Boston Bruins. With the win, Quick’s 37th of the season, LA is the first Western Conference team to clinch a playoff spot.
No. 2 Star: Oliver Bjorkstrand, Columbus Blue Jackets
In only his second NHL game, the rookie crossed off two milestones in his career: first goal in the NHL (video below) and first multipoint game. In the Jackets 6-3 win over the New Jersey Devils, he had 2 goals on 6 shots in 15:24 TOI.
No. 3 Star: Ryan Miller, Vancouver Canucks
The Canucks lost 3-0 to the St. Louis Blues, and if it weren’t for Ryan Miller, the score would have been much worse. The netminder made 47 saves against the Blues while his team only put up 19 shots on Brian Elliott.
Honorable Mention: Radko Gudas scored the first and only goal of the game for the Philadelphia Flyers. The Pittsburgh Penguins went on to score four straight to beat the Flyers. Sidney Crosby, Nick Bonino, and Chris Kunitz skated away with 2 points each … Devan Dubnyk started in place of an injured Darcy Kuemper. He led the Minnesota Wild to a shootout win over the Carolina Hurricanes … In the third period, the San Jose Sharks broke a tied game open with 3 goals in 3:20 against the New York Rangers. All Sharks goal scorers had ‘Joe’ in their first name (Ward x2, Thornton, and Pavelski) … William Nylander’s goal and an assist mark the first multipoint game of his young career. Watch Milan Michalek’s toe drag and goal to put the game away for the Toronto Maple Leafs at 4-1:
… Jean Gabriel Pageau, Curtis Lazar, and Alex Chiasson each scored short-handed goals for the Ottawa Senators. Andrew Hammond earned the 5-0 shutout against the Canadiens for his fifth win of the season … KEVIN SPACEY WENT TO THE PANTHERS GAME. Unfortunately, the Florida Panthers ended up losing 5-3 to the Detroit Red Wings. Detroit’s power play was 2-for-3 Tomas Tatar and Pavel Datsyuk netting the goals … Kyle Palmieri factored into all three Devils goals in the loss. Sergei Bobrovsky earned his first win since December 5, leading to the return of the post-game Nick Foligno and Bob hug:
… Kari Lehtonen improved to 21-9-2 with the 27 save shutout of the New York Islanders. John Klingberg returned to the lineup for the Dallas Stars. He was plus-2 in 18:06 … Vladimir Tarasenko scored his 34 goal of the season – the 100th of his career – in the Blues 3-0 win. Jaden Schwartz had 2 points … Ben Bishop posted a 32 save shutout against the Arizona Coyotes for his 30th win of the season.
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Did You Know? In their 106 year existence, the Montreal Canadiens had never allowed three shorthanded goals in a game until Saturday’s tilt against the Senators.
Dishonorable Mention: Thomas Vanek earned his first healthy scratch under the John Torchetti regime … Poor Henrik Lundqvist. According to Kenny Albert, the goaltender earned his first career loss in regulation when making 40-plus saves. Hank was yanked after giving up the fourth San Jose goal on 47 shots … Jack Eichel missed his first career NHL game against Toronto for “food poisoning.” Despite beating Buffalo, Mirtle says the Leafs are out of the playoff race … This was just funny. Kris Letang scored. No, he didn’t. Yes, he did. No, he didn’t. Wait, yes, he did.
… Alex Galchenyuk and Max Pacioretty both a team low minus-4 against Ottawa … Keith Kinkaid was pulled after 22:50 TOI, allowing 3 goals on 19 shots. The Devils tied the game, but eventually lost. The decision went to backup Yann Danis … Louis Domingue played outstanding against the Tampa Bay Lightning, but he dropped the game because of this brain fart (and later an empty net goal):
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Jen Neale is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at [email protected] or follow her on Twitter! Follow @MsJenNeale_PD.
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