NHL Morning Skate for Tuesday, February 13, 2018
MONDAY’S RESULTS
Home Team in Caps
TORONTO 4, Tampa Bay 3
Florida 7, EDMONTON 5
ARIZONA 6, Chicago 1
MAPLE LEAFS OUTLAST LEAGUE-LEADING LIGHTNING
The Maple Leafs jumped out to a 3-0 lead midway through the second period powered by three-point outings from William Nylander (2-1—3) and Auston Matthews (0-3—3) before the Lightning stormed back with three consecutive goals – including two in the opening 1:18 of the third period – to even the score. James van Riemsdyk then notched the game-winning goal at 4:37 of the third period to clinch the win for Toronto – his third consecutive game with a goal.
* The Maple Leafs (34-19-5, 73 points) earned their fourth straight victory and eighth win in nine contests to move within six points of the first place Lightning (38-15-3, 79 points) and three points of the second place Bruins (34-12-8, 76 points) in the Atlantic Division standings.
* Linemates Matthews (26-21—47) and Nylander (14-31—45) rank first and second in points, respectively, among Maple Leafs skaters and each registered their third three-point game of the season.
* Jake Gardiner (1-1—2), who leads all Maple Leafs defensemen with 4-31—35 in 58 GP, has collected 1-15—16 in 18 GP since the turn of the calendar and trails only Sharks defenseman Brent Burns (3-20—23 in 20 GP) and Stars defenseman John Klingberg (2-16—18 in 17 GP) over that span.
ANOTHER 30-GOAL SEASON FOR KUCHEROV
Nikita Kucherov registered 1-1—2 to become the first player to eclipse the 70-point mark this season (30-41—71 in 56 GP). Kucherov, who established a career high with 40 goals in 2016-17, became the fourth player in Lightning franchise history to score at least 30 goals in three or more consecutive seasons.
TROCHECK NETS HAT TRICK AS PANTHERS SURVIVE 12-GOAL AFFAIR
Vincent Trocheck (3-0—3) scored his first career hat trick to lead the Panthers (24-23-6, 54 points) to their fifth win in six contests. Trocheck, who established a career high in points last season with 23-31—54 in 82 GP, netted the 47th hat trick by an NHL player this season and the second by a Panthers player (also: Radim Vrbata on Oct. 26 vs. ANA).
* The Panthers scored at least seven goals in a game for the third time this season (also 8-3 W vs. ANA on Oct. 26, 2017 and 7-4 W at STL on Jan. 10).
DID YOU KNOW
Monday’s Panthers-Oilers contest witnessed the 17th instance in NHL history where two different teams attempted a penalty shot in the same game. The Oilers and Panthers are the first set of teams to both convert on their respective attempts.
* Leon Draisaitl became the fourth player this season and first in Oilers franchise history to convert on a penalty shot attempt while shorthanded. The others: Devils forward Brian Gibbons (Oct. 28 vs. ARI), Sharks forward Chris Tierney (Nov. 11 vs. VAN) and Stars forward Radek Faksa (Nov. 30 at CHI).
* Evgenii Dadonov (2-0—2) converted on Florida’s first penalty-shot attempt of the season and became the first Panthers player to score a penalty shot goal since Brandon Pirri on Nov. 14, 2015 at TBL.
COYOTES ERUPT FOR SIX GOALS IN WIN
The Coyotes scored a season-high six goals to earn a victory in the 3,000th game in franchise history and snap a nine-game slide head-to-head versus Chicago (0-8-1). Forward Derek Stepan earned an assist to extend his point streak to four games (1-5—6) and defenseman Alex Goligoski(1-1—2) – who leads all Arizona blueliners with 7-21—28 this season – also pushed his point streak to four contests (2-3—5).
ROOKIES CONTINUE IMPRESSIVE CAMPAIGNS
Coyotes forward Clayton Keller, Lightning forward Yanni Gourde and Blackhawks forward Alex DeBrincat all found the scoresheet Monday to continue their impressive rookie seasons:
* Keller, who sits fourth in rookie scoring, collected 1-1—2, to reach the 40-point mark this season (16-24—40 in 56 GP). The Chesterfield, Mo. native became the fourth Coyotes rookie since 1996-97 – when the franchise moved to Arizona – to record a 40-point season. The others: Peter Mueller (22-32—54 in 2007-08), Max Domi (18-34—52 in 2015-16) and Anthony Duclair (20-24—44 in 2015-16).
* Gourde, an undrafted rookie from the Victoriaville Tigres of the QMJHL, scored his 21st goal of the season to extend his point streak to six contests (4-5—9) and currently sits third in rookie scoring with 21-21—42 in 56 GP. Gourde, who has found the back of the net in seven of his last 10 games, is just the third different rookie to register a point streak of at least six games this season – two games shy of Keller’s longest such run of eight games from Dec 14-31 (3-6—9).
* DeBrincat (1-0—1) became the third rookie to hit the 20-goal mark this season (20-15—35) and the 16th rookie in Blackhawks franchise history to record a 20-goal campaign.
QUICK CLICKS
· Giroux, Gaudreau, Dubnyk named Three Stars of the Week
· Brian Boyle‘s mother inspired by cancer-surviving son
· Basketball legend Charles Barkley drops puck before Coyotes game
· Small moves can pay off big for Cup winners (via Mike Zeisberger)
· Jordan Greenway aiming to be next great American player (via Amalie Benjamin)
· Mike Fisher practices with Predators for first time since announcing comeback
· Five Questions with Bruins legend Terry O’Reilly (via Dave Stubbs)
PRESS RELEASE WRITTEN BY NHL PUBLIC RELATIONS; COURTESY NHLmedia.com
