Charlie Coyle scored the only goal in the shootout and the Boston Bruins earned their 60th victory this season by defeating the St. Louis Blues 4-3.
The Bruins’ 60 victories allow them to join the 1976-77 edition of the Montreal Canadiens in this chapter in the history of the NHL. Boston is the fourth team to reach this milestone, while the Detroit Red Wings and Tampa Bay Lightning sit atop with 62 wins.
“It’s special,” said Brad Marchand of reaching 60 wins. In the end, I think we did a really good job of staying in the moment. But when the year is over and we look back, we’ll think it’s very special to be part of a group like this and break records. ”
Boston seemed to sail easily to its 60th victory thanks to a 3-0 lead in the middle period. Jake DeBrusk, with his 25th, Tyler Bertuzzi and Oskar Steen beat Jordan Binnington.
The Blues began their comeback late in the second period. Jordan Kyrou continued his career-best campaign by scoring his 35th of the season. Torey Krug then cut the gap to one goal midway through the third.
With 35 seconds left, Kyrou sent everyone into overtime, hitting the target for the second time in the game. Brayden Schenn picked up his third assist of the game on the streak.
In overtime, the Bruins thought they had won the game when Dmitry Orlov got the better of Binnington with a good one-timer, but the goal was disallowed due to offside.
In the shootout, Linus Ullmark was perfect in front of the Blues’ three attempts to sign his 38th victory in 46 starts this season. Ullmark also stopped 35 pucks.
“We end up winning thanks to our excellent goaltender,” said Boston coach Jim Montgomery. He was fantastic tonight. As soon as we scored, Charlie scored, I was like, you know what, he’s not letting one go. You could see it through his mask. ”
Patrice Bergeron was not in uniform for the second consecutive meeting in order to treat minor sores. Montgomery also decided to give star defenseman Charlie McAvoy a day off.
With this loss, the Blues are officially eliminated from playoff contention.
“It’s very disappointing,” Blues coach Craig Berube said. This organization expects better, we are not very happy, that’s for sure. ”
The Leafs lose the game and Murray
Dylan Larkin scored a hat trick for the Detroit Red Wings in a 5-2 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Olli Maatta had a goal and an assist and Alex Nedeljkovic made 42 saves for the Red Wings (34-33-9). Nedeljkovic scored a third straight win in net for the Wings.
Calle Jarnkrok scored for the Maple Leafs (45-21-10). Matt Murray allowed two goals on seven shots before leaving the game late in the first period after an accidental collision with Lucas Raymond. Ilya Samsonov, who made 31 saves in a 3-0 win over the Ottawa Senators on Saturday, made 13 saves on 15 shots in relief.
Nedeljkovic had to stand out in the second period when David Kampf earned a penalty shot. The Wings goaltender held on to keep the 1-1 mark.
Jonatan Berggren scored the other Wings goal. Larkin completed his hat trick in an empty net late in the third. It was his second career three-goal game.
Mitch Marner was not in uniform for the Leafs. Head coach Sheldon Keefe gave him the day off.
Marco Kasper, the Wings’ first-round pick (eighth overall) in 2022, made his NHL debut. The Austrian was cleared from the scoresheet in just over 14 minutes on the ice.
The Jets improve their chances of qualifying
The Winnipeg Jets defeated the New Jersey Devils 6-1.
The Canadian squad extended its lead to the second highest drafted team in the Western Conference to four points, ahead of the Calgary Flames.
Nikolaj Ehlers scored twice, while Morgan Barron seized his chance on a penalty shot.
Devils forward Nico Hischier ruined Connor Hellebuyck’s shutout by scoring after his team pulled the keeper to take advantage of an extra striker with 13.9 seconds remaining.
Pierre-Luc Dubois has amassed a goal and an assist for the Jets. Kyle Connor and Nino Niederreiter also scored, while Blake Wheeler contributed two assists.
Vitek Vanacek stopped 17 of 21 shots he faced before being replaced by Mackenzie Blackwood in the third period. The latter made four stops in relief.
Flames outlast Ducks, keep pressure on Jets
Michael Stone scored the game-winning goal with 2:38 remaining in the third period and the Calgary Flames narrowly avoided disaster by defeating the Anaheim Ducks 5-4. Tyler Toffoli and Nazem Kadri did well with two goals ‘aid.
In a duel against one of the NHL’s worst teams, things got off to a bad start for Darryl Sutter’s squad. Frank Vatrano and Max Comtois beat Jacob Markstron to give the Ducks a 2-0 lead after 20 minutes.
Wanting to whip his players, Sutter replaced Markstrom with Dan Vladar to start the second period. This change seemed to have the desired effect, as Andrew Mangiapane reduced the gap from the 33rd second of play.
Nikita Zadorov and Nick Ritchie then scored within 54 seconds to give the Flames the lead for the first time in the game. Calgary’s lead only held 58 seconds when Vatrano tied the game with his second of the game. Scott Harington put the Canucks back in front by surprising Vladar with a good slapshot.
Milan Lucic, however, gave Flames fans a little breathing room in the final third with his seventh of the season, then Stone caused hysteria in Calgary by playing the heroes late in the game.
With this victory, the Flames remain two points behind the Jets and the last place giving access to the playoffs. After a duel against the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday, the Flames will play a crucial game against the Jets on Wednesday in Winnipeg.
The Canes increase their lead over the Devils
Jordan Martinook scored in the third period to lead the Carolina Hurricanes to a 2-1 win over the New York Islanders.
Martinook kept the puck on a 2-on-1 run with Sebastian Aho and beat Ilya Sorokin with a wrist shot. It was Martinook’s first goal in 25 games.
Jesperi Kotkaniemi also hit the target and Frederik Andersen made 21 saves for the Hurricanes (49-18-9), who posted their second victory in two nights after their triumph in Montreal on Saturday night.
Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored for the Islanders (39-30-9) and Sorokin made 33 saves. Sorokin was making his second straight start after being ejected from the game in a 5-0 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday. The Russian goalkeeper then allowed four goals on 21 shots.
Kotkaniemi’s 15th goal of the season made it 1-1 at 9:27 of the second half. Jesse Puljujarvi powered Kotkaniemi for his first point with the Hurricanes in his 11th game with the team after being acquired from the Edmonton Oilers on Feb. 28.
The Kings get their ticket to the playoffs
Joonas Korpisalo made 24 saves, Alex Iafallo scored twice and the Los Angeles Kings confirmed their place in the playoffs with a 4-1 win over the Vancouver Canucks.
This gain allows the Kings to reach the plateau of 100 points this season. They’re just one point behind the Vegas Golden Knights and first in the Pacific Division. Vegas, however, has a game in hand over Los Angeles. The Oilers are not far behind in third place with 99 points.
Brock Boeser opened the scoring early in the first period to put the Canucks up front. Iafallo, however, offered the cue moments later with help from Anze Kopitar and Adrian Kempe. The Kings captain ended a four-game pointless streak by being complicit in two of his team’s goals.
Arthur Kaliyev hit the target at 1:35 of the third period to seal the victory for the Kings. Kaliyev added an assist on the goal in an empty net from Blake Lizotte.
In net for the Canucks, Thatcher Demko made 21 saves. After a three-game winning streak, Rick Tocchet’s men have lost in their last three duels. The Canucks were mathematically eliminated from the playoffs earlier in the evening with the Jets victory. Vancouver misses the playoffs for the seventh time in eight seasons.
