The duel between the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Boston Bruins was a little lackluster, but David Pastrnak made sure to ignite it all by scoring his 57th goal of the season in overtime to give the hosts a 61st victory this season by the score of 2 to 1, Thursday evening.
The Bruins thus recorded the 61st victory of their historic season. Boston is one win away from the NHL record jointly held by the Detroit Red Wings (1995-96) and Tampa Bay Lightning (2018-19).
This gain also allows Boston to beat the Montreal Canadiens’ mark of 60 victories established during the 1976-1977 campaign.
The Bruins will have the chance to tie the NHL record against the Devils, which they will host on Saturday night at TD Garden.
As Pastrnak knows so well, he ended hostilities with a powerful one-timer from the top of the circles on a play set up by Dmitri Orlov and Charlie Coyle.
It was Coyle who tied the game midway through the third period with his 14th goal of the season.
Sam Lafferty was the lone scorer for the Maple Leafs in the goalie duel won by Jeremy Swayman who made 31 saves in the win.
He got the better of Ilya Samsonov who is more than ever the Leafs’ go-to man after Matt Murray’s most recent injury. The Leafs goalkeeper finished the game with 31 saves.
The Devils thrash the poor Jackets
Led by an electric Jack Hughes, the New Jersey Devils won 8-1 against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday night in Newark.
The young American star had two goals and two assists, bringing his total to 95 points this season, a high in his young career. Timo Meier also scored twice to reach 40 goals this season, a career first for the Swiss sniper.
Damon Severson, Ryan Graves, Erik Haula and Tomas Tatar completed the scoring.
The victory goes to the record of Vitek Vanecek, who finished the match with 16 saves and collected his 32nd victory of the season.
Among the Jackets, the sole scorer was 25-year-old Finn Joona Luoto. It was his first career goal on the Bettman circuit.
Jon Gillies and Michael Hutchinson shared the task between the visitors’ posts. The first allowed three goals on five shots before giving way to the former Leafs for almost fifty minutes.
The Sabers hang on
Still with a slim hope of making the playoffs, the Sabers picked up two crucial points as they beat the Red Wings 7-6 in the shootout.
Tage Thompson had a goal and an assist in the game, reaching 45 goals. Sabers rookie Owen Power also had a strong game with three assists. He now has 30 in his first NHL campaign.
Dylan Cozens, who is having a real breakout season, ends the game with two goals and an assist.
Jack Quinn and Alex Tuch scored in the shootout to give their team the win.
Despite six goals allowed on 31 shots received, Quebecer Devon Levi collected his second victory in three starts. His vis-à-vis Ville Husso finished the game with 30 saves.
The home fans were still treated to a match full of emotions. The lead changed hands four times, and Quebecer David Perron even scored a goal one minute from the end of the game to send everyone into overtime.
Captain Dylan Larkin, like Alex Chiasson and Simon Edvindsson all found the back of the net.
Kapanen gives victory to the Blues; Tarasenko scores in St. Louis
Kasperi Kapanen scored in overtime as the St Louis Blues beat the New York Rangers 3-2.
Brayden Schenn served a nice backhand pass to Kapanen on a two-on-one run and the Finn hit the target with a one-timer.
It’s Kapanen’s 15th goal of the season, his eighth in 20 games since being claimed off waivers from the Pittsburgh Penguins on Feb. 25.
Playing a first game in St Louis since the transaction which made him move to Rangers, Vladimir Tarasenko scored in addition to being an accomplice of Vincent Trocheck’s goal.
Alexey Toropchenko and Tyler Pitlick scored for the Blues in regulation time.
Jordan Binnington repelled 22 shots in front of the Blues cage, three more than his vis-à-vis Jaroslav Halak.
Preds blank Hurricanes
The Nashville Predators did what they do best on Thursday night, which was to frustrate their opponents as they won 3-0 over the Carolina Hurricanes.
The winning goal went to Mark Jankowski who ended the match with two points. Former CH Michael McCarron also hit the back of the net.
American defender Spencer Stasney had his first two career points with two assists. The 23-year-old guard signed with the Preds last week after his NCAA season with Notre Dame came to an end.
Juuse Saros posted a 33-save shutout, his second of the campaign.
Surprisingly for a team with 109 points in the standings, Carolina is shut out for the fifth time this season. With Thursday night’s results, the New Jersey Devils are now just one point behind the Canes for the top of the Metropolitan Division.
The Stars and Jason Robertson reach the 100-point mark
The Dallas Stars didn’t have too much trouble winning 4-1 as they hosted the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday night.
Once again, the Stars’ top line made the difference, contributing three of four goals. Jason Robertson scores his 44th and 45th of the season to improve on his personal mark. This performance brings his total to 101 points. Joe Pavelski and Colin Miller round out the scoring.
In the game, defenseman Miro Heiskanen had his 58th assist in 2022-23, bringing his career total to 200. He reached the plateau in 350 games, he who is only 23 years old.
Jake Oettinger makes 22 saves to sign his 34th victory of the campaign.
The Stars reach the 100 point mark with this victory. They momentarily overtake the Avalanche at the top of the Central Division, the latter however having a game in hand.
Kevin Hayes is the sole scorer for John Tortorella’s men. The loss will go to Carter Hart, who finished the game with 26 saves.
