By Stretch Jenkinson
March 20, 2024
* David Pastrnak, Mark Scheifele and Mikko Rantanen each propelled their teams to victory with a hat trick and boosted the NHL’s total in 2023-24 to 98. Pastrnak joined elite company among active players by notching a three-goal performance against a 12th different franchise.
* The Red Wings captured a crucial come-from-behind win to shuffle back into the second Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference and did so thanks to a franchise-first.
* Auston Matthews and Alex Ovechkin, who own a combined 11 Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy wins since the award was introduced 25 years ago, will go head-to-head to open an NHL on TNT doubleheader Wednesday as Washington looks to reclaim the Eastern Conference’s final Wild Card spot.
ASTRAZENECA CONTINUES TO CLOSE IN ON DONATION GOAL WITH TRIO OF HAT TRICKS
David Pastrnak, Mark Scheifele and Mikko Rantanen scored the NHL’s 96th, 97th and 98th hat tricks of 2023-24, already two more than last season despite having 218 games remaining. AstraZeneca has now donated $490,000 towards the Hockey Fights Cancer Fund of the V Foundation and is $10,000 (two hat tricks) away from reaching their $500,000 goal. Click here for more information.
* Pastrnak recorded his 17th career hat trick – which already stands as the second most in franchise history behind Phil Esposito (26) – to help the Bruins (41-14-15, 97 points) maintain their first-place position in the League standings; Boston has held the NHL’s top spot for 51% of the time (180 out of 352) dating back to last season. Pastrnak has now tallied a hat trick against 12 different franchises, which is tied with Esposito and Cam Neely for the most in Bruins history.
* Scheifele (22-40—62 in 61 GP), who became the first player in Jets/Thrashers history with nine career 20-goal campaigns, scored three of four Jets goals to register his eighth career hat trick and tie Patrik Laine for the second most in franchise history, behind only Ilya Kovalchuk (11). The win helped Winnipeg (44-19-5, 93 points) briefly occupy first place in the Western Conference standings before Vancouver (43-18-8, 94 points) captured a tightly-contested regulation victory to snatch the position right back.
* Rantanen completed his seventh career hat trick and Nathan MacKinnon extended his point streak to 16 games as the Avalanche (44-20-5, 93 points) pushed the NHL’s longest active winning streak to seven games – their longest since 2021-22 (9-0-0) – and kept pace with the Jets. Rantanen tied Owen Nolan and Peter Forsberg (both w/ 7) for the fourth-most three-goal performances in franchise history. The only players with more are Peter Stastny (16), Joe Sakic (15) and Michel Goulet (13).
RED WINGS CLIMB STANDINGS THANKS TO THRILLING WIN ON HOME ICE
A pair of up-and-coming young stars in Lucas Raymond (2-0—2) and Moritz Seider (1-1—2) helped the Red Wings (35-28-6, 76 points) overcome 2-0 and 3-2 deficits, which included a tying goal with 13 seconds remaining in regulation, and set the stage for 17-season veteran Patrick Kane (1-2—3) 48 seconds into overtime. Detroit reclaimed the second Wild Card spot from idle Washington (33-25-9, 75 points), which leapfrogged into the position Monday night.
* Raymond (24-35—59 in 69 GP) established a career high for goals in a single season (23 in 2021-22) and did so thanks to an active five-game goal streak (7-1—8 in 5 GP since March 12). The 21-year-old, with the latest game-tying goal by a Red Wings player since Anthony Mantha (59:53 on Feb. 16, 2019), joined Steve Yzerman (3x; longest: 6 GP in 1983-84) and Norm Ullman (5 GP in 1956-57) as the third player in franchise history with a five-game goal streak before his 22nd birthday.
* Seider, who netted the contest’s first tying tally, scored his 20th career goal (20-109—129 in 233 GP). He joined Reed Larson (37), Steve Chiasson (29), Willie Huber (27) and Red Kelly (26) as the fifth Red Wings defenseman with at least 20 NHL goals at age 22 or younger.
* Kane registered the game-winning goal for the second time in as many home games and tied Auston Matthews (12) for the fourth-most overtime goals by a U.S.-born player in NHL history. In fact, his 74 career game-winning goals tied Joe Pavelski for the fifth most by a U.S.-born player in League history and moved within three of Bill Guerin (77) for fourth.
RUSH TO THE 2024 STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS FEATURED IN #NHLSTATS: LIVE UPDATES
The Tuesday edition of #NHLStats: Live Updates featured a handful of playoff hopefuls capture two critical points as the Rush to the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs continues:
* Nikita Kucherov (41-77—118 in 67 GP) led the Lightning with a 1-3—4 outing to extend his point streak to 11 games and move past Nathan MacKinnon (42-75—117 in 69 GP) for first place in NHL scoring as the leader in the Art Ross Trophy race changed for the first time since March 3. Kucherov, whose 28 career four-point games are the most in Lightning history, is one of five active players with as many performances. The others: Sidney Crosby (39), Connor McDavid (37), Alex Ovechkin (32) and Evgeni Malkin (29).
* Connor McDavid (1-1—2) opened the scoring and collected a primary assist on Leon Draisaitl’s overtime goal as the Oilers (41-21-4, 86 points) maintained second place in the Pacific Division. While Draisaitl scored his 61st career game-winning goal and tied Wayne Gretzky for the third most in Oilers history, McDavid collected his 35th career overtime point and tied Jaromir Jagr for the ninth most in NHL history.
* Anze Kopitar collected 2-1—3 to move one point shy of 1,200 in his NHL career and help the Kings (35-22-11, 81 points) strengthen their grip on third place in the Pacific Division while keeping pace with the Oilers. Kopitar’s 1,198th point moved him past Patrick Marleau (1,197) for sole possession of 52nd place on the League’s all-time list.
* Filip Forsberg and Roman Josi had 1-2—3 apiece as the Predators potted eight goals and improved to 13-0-2 in their last 15 games dating to Feb. 17, matching the franchise record for longest point streak which ended exactly six years ago (14-0-1 from Feb. 19 – March 19, 2018). Nashville (40-25-4, 84 points) occupies the Western Conference’s first Wild Card spot and moved five points ahead of Vegas (36-25-7, 79 points).
* Owen Tippett (1-1—2) tallied two points and Samuel Ersson made 27 saves as the Flyers (35-26-8, 78 points) quelled the Maple Leafs’ comeback attempt to strengthen their grip on third place in the Metropolitan Division. Ersson (20-14-5 in 40 GP) became the ninth rookie goaltender in franchise history with 20 wins in a season and first since Sergei Bobrovsky (28 in 2010-11).
* Kirill Kaprizov scored his 150th career goal as he extended his goal and point streaks to five and eight games, respectively, while Filip Gustavsson made 27 saves for his sixth shutout in a Wild uniform to help Minnesota (34-27-8, 76 points) leapfrog the Blues (36-30-3, 75 points) for third in the Western Conference Wild Card race.
QUICK CLICKS
* GMs vote for coach’s challenge to include delay of game, high-sticking calls
* Jets hope additions of Tyler Toffoli, Sean Monahan lead to playoff success
* Red Wings ‘still got to find a way’ to win games down stretch, Steve Yzerman says
* Rick Bowness away from Jets after medical procedure
* National Hockey League statement on the passing of Chris Simon
WEDNESDAY’S NHL ON TNT TWO-PACK OPENS WITH MATTHEWS vs. OVECHKIN
Wednesday’s three-game slate is highlighted by an NHL on TNT doubleheader featuring Auston Matthews and the Maple Leafs visiting Alex Ovechkin and the Capitals followed by Anze Kopitar and the Kings hosting Kirill Kaprizov and the Wild. Both contests are also available on Max, Sportsnet programming and TVA Sports.
* Matthews (8-12—20 in 16 GP) has eight goals in 16 career head-to-head games against Ovechkin (9-8—17 in 16 GP), with Toronto holding a 9-5-2 (20 points) edge in those contests (WSH: 7-8-1, 15 points). Matthews (4-1—5 in 6 GP) also had four goals against Ovechkin (3-0—3 in 6 GP) in the 2017 First Round, with Washington earning a six-game series win after each contest was decided by a one-goal margin.
* For the better part of two decades, Ovechkin has been an active part of the Washington community and has involved himself in a number of charitable initiatives including a longstanding partnership with the American Special Hockey Association (ASHA), an organization dedicated to serving those with intellectual, developmental and physical disabilities through hockey.
* In 2022-23, Ovechkin made a donation to ASHA to help cover ice costs for more than 130 special hockey teams across the United States – his commitment to ASHA has helped over 5,260 athletes and nearly 400 coaches. Over the years, the Capitals captain has hosted multiple ASHA skating sessions, a street hockey event and donates ‘Ovi’s 8’s’ tickets to ASHA athletes and their families – he’s totaled more than 5,700 season tickets to community programs including ASHA.
COURTESY NHLmedia.com
