Facts and Figures: Jets, Canucks atop crowd in Western wild-card race

The Winnipeg Jets and Vancouver Canucks are tied for the first wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference after winning their games Friday.

Five teams are two points apart in the race for the two wild-card berths in the West; the Jets (35-28-6) defeated the Vegas Golden Knights 4-0 at Bell MTS Place for their fifth consecutive home win. The Canucks (35-26-6) followed suit by defeating the Colorado Avalanche 6-3 at Rogers Arena. Each is one point ahead of the Minnesota Wild (34-26-7) and two in front of the Nashville Predators (33-26-8) and Arizona Coyotes (33-28-8).
Winnipeg goalie Connor Hellebuyck made 29 saves for his League-leading sixth shutout, tying the NHL career high he set in 2017-18.
Patrik Laine scored his first goal since Feb. 22 and had an assist to reach the 60-point mark for the third time in his four NHL seasons (61 points; 27 goals, 34 assists). The forward is the seventh active player to have at least three 60-point seasons before turning 22.

Kyle Connor scored his 36th goal for the Jets and is four shy of becoming the fifth different player in Winnipeg/Atlanta Thrashers history to reach 40. The forward has goals in five consecutive games; the season-high in the NHL this season is six by Chicago Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane (Nov. 7-17), Montreal Canadiens forward Max Domi (Dec. 19-31) Carolina Hurricanes center Sebastian Aho (Jan. 31-Feb. 11) and New York Rangers center Mika Zibanejad (Feb. 16-27).

Canucks end Avalanche road winning streak

Vancouver scored three unanswered goals in the third period to end Colorado's nine-game road winning streak and improve to 21-8-4 at home.
The Canucks scored at least six goals for the NHL-leading 10th time this season (excluding shootout goals).

Seven of those 10 have come at Rogers Arena, tying Vancouver with the Pittsburgh Penguins for the most such games at home.

J.T. Miller had a goal and an assist for Vancouver and leads the Canucks with 71 points (27 goals, 44 assists). The forward is the fourth player in Vancouver history to have at least 70 points in his first season with the Canucks, joining Alexander Mogilny (107 points; 55 goals, 52 assists in 1995-96), Greg Adams (76; 36 goals, 40 assists in 1987-88) and Barry Pederson (76; 24 goals, 52 assists in 1986-87). Miller and Rangers forward Artemi Panarin (93 points; 32 goals, 61 assists) are the only players this season to reach the 70-point mark in their first season with their new team.

Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon had two assists and reached the 90-point mark (34 goals, 56 assists) for the third straight season. He joined Michel Goulet (six), Peter Stastny (six) and Joe Sakic (five) as the only players in Avalanche/Quebec Nordiques history to have at last three consecutive 90-point seasons.

Flames win, tighten Pacific Division race

The third-place Calgary Flames (36-26-7) moved within three points of the Pacific Division lead by defeating the Coyotes 3-2 at Scotiabank Saddledome. Calgary is one point behind the second-place Edmonton Oilers (36-24-8) and three in back of first-place Vegas (37-24-8).
Matthew Tkachuk, the No. 6 pick in the 2016 NHL Draft, assisted on all three Calgary goals. It's the 15th time in his League career and sixth time this season the forward has had at least three points in a game. Only Toronto Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews (22) and Laine (17) have had more such games among players selected in the 2016 draft.