Facts and Figures: Rookie goalies shine for Flyers, Blues

Rookie goalies Carter Hart and Jordan Binnington have played major roles to help the Philadelphia Flyers and St. Louis Blues get back into the thick of the Stanley Cup Playoff race.

Hart made 30 saves to extend his winning streak to eight games (8-0-0) in a
6-2 victory against the Anaheim Ducks
at Wells Fargo Center on Saturday. The 20-year-old is the second goalie with eight straight wins before his 21st birthday (Jocelyn Thibault with the Quebec Nordiques from March 6-26, 1995), the longest such streak in NHL history. He's also the third Flyers rookie goalie to win at least eight in a row, joining Pelle Lindbergh (9-0-0 in 1982-83) and Bob Froese (8-0-0 in 1982-83).
Binnington made 29 saves in a
3-2 victory
against the Nashville Predators at Enterprise Center to become the seventh Blues rookie goalie with a winning streak of at least five games. The 25-year-old is 9-1-1 with a 1.54 goals-against average, .939 save percentage and two shutouts since making his first NHL start Jan. 7. Those nine wins are tied for most among NHL goalies during that span with Hart (9-2-0, 2.27 GAA, .936 save percentage) and Martin Jones of the San Jose Sharks (9-2-0, 2.86 GAA, .902 save percentage)

The last time at least two rookie goalies owned winning streaks of at least five games was 2015-16. Matt Murray went 7-0-0 for the Pittsburgh Penguins from March 6-April 7, 2016; Anders Nilsson was 5-0-0 for the Edmonton Oilers from Dec. 2-11, 2015; and Andrei Vasilevskiy was 5-0-0 for the Tampa Bay Lightning from Dec. 15-Jan. 19, 2016.
The Flyers (26-22-5) are on a 10-game point streak (9-0-1) that has propelled them from last in the NHL on Jan. 9 and from Jan. 12-13 to six points behind the Penguins for the second wild card into the playoffs from the Eastern Conference. The Blues (26-22-5) have risen from last place Jan. 2 to hold the second wild card from the West and the Chicago Blackhawks (22-24-9) are four points behind St. Louis after they were last from Jan. 17-19.
Six teams in the expansion era have made the playoffs after they were last in the NHL after their 20th game: the 1976-77 Minnesota North Stars, 1979-80 Oilers, 1982-83 Toronto Maple Leafs, 1987-88 Los Angeles Kings, 1987-88 Maple Leafs and 1996-97 Ottawa Senators.

Bergeron honored, delivers for Bruins

Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand each scored their 20th goal, with Bergeron scoring in overtime, to give the Boston Bruins at
5-4 win against the Kings
at TD Garden after blowing a two-goal, third-period lead for the second straight game.

Bergeron, who had three points (one goal, two assists), was honored in a pregame ceremony for playing in 1,000 NHL games, a milestone reached against the New York Islanders on Tuesday. He has scored 20 goals 10 times in the NHL, tying him with Rick Middleton for second-most in Bruins history behind Johnny Bucyk (16).
Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask (25 saves) is 9-0-2 with a 1.80 GAA, .938 save percentage and two shutouts in his past 12 games since Dec. 29. He's earned at least one point in 10 or more consecutive decisions five other times, most recently from Feb. 27-March 21, 2018 (10-0-1).