NHL Morning Skate for April 7

* The Stanley Cup Playoffs will return to Seattle for the first time in over 104 years thanks to the Kraken clinching a berth in the 2023 postseason.

* The Panthers, Islanders and Penguins all picked up wins to keep pace with one another in the race for the Eastern Conference's Wild Card spots, which remain occupied by Florida and New York. Each club has three games remaining this season.
* Joe Pavelski joined rare company and helped the Stars reach the 100-point mark in 2022-23 while Mikko Rantanen netted his third hat trick of the season to record the first 50-goal campaign by an Avalanche skater since 2002-03.
* All 32 teams are idle Friday before the first 16-game day in NHL history goes Saturday.

BUOY OH BUOY, THE KRAKEN ARE HEADED TO THE STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS!

Vince Dunn delivered a goal and Philipp Grubauer got 27 saves as Seattle (44-26-8, 96 points) clinched a berth in the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs, its first postseason appearance in franchise history.
* Dunn (2019 STL) and Grubauer (2018 WSH) are two of seven current Kraken players who have won at least one Stanley Cup. The others are Andre Burakovsky (2022 COL & 2018 WSH), Yanni Gourde (2021 TBL & 2020 TBL), Jaden Schwartz (2019 STL), Justin Schultz (2017 PIT & 2016 PIT) and Martin Jones (2014 LAK).
* Click here to read more playoff #NHLStats about Seattle, which can become the third team in NHL history to contest a playoff game with Cup winners from each of the previous seven-plus years in its lineup (also 1968 Blues & 1927 Bruins).

PANTHERS CONTINUE TO POUNCE TOWARD A PLAYOFF BERTH . . .

Brandon Montour (1-3-4) potted his second four-point outing of the season, Matthew Tkachuk (0-2-2) established a single-season high for points and Alex Lyon (56 saves) fell one save shy of the franchise record for most in a game as the Panthers (41-31-7, 89 points) skated to their fifth straight win.
* Florida, which scored at least seven goals in a game for the fourth time this season and third time in as many months, previously trailed the Islanders by six points prior to their win streak but now sit tied in points and hold the first Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference due to regulation wins (FLA: 35; NYI: 34).
* Montour (15-56-71 in 77 GP), who moved within one goal of the franchise record for most in a season by a blueliner and became the first Panthers defenseman to post two four-point outings in a single campaign (also 1-3-4 on Nov. 6, 2022), is the eighth defenseman in NHL history to post his first career 70-point season while never having 40 or more in a previous campaign. The others: Josh Morrissey (71 in 2022-23), Sergei Zubov (89 in 1993-94), Brian Leetch (71 in 1988-89), Paul Coffey (89 in 1981-82), Larry Murphy (76 in 1980-81), Mark Howe (80 in 1979-80) and Jean Potvin (72 in 1975-76).
* Tkachuk (39-66-105 in 76 GP) recorded his 33rd multi-point game of 2022-23 and surpassed Peter Stastny (32 in 1980-81 w/ QUE) for the fourth-most by a player in their first season with a team in NHL history. The only skaters with more are Wayne Gretzky (48 in 1988-89 w/ LAK & 41 in 1979-80 w/ EDM) and Teemu Selanne (38 in 1992-93 w/ WIN).

. . . WHILE ISLANDERS, PENGUINS KEEP PACE IN LOG-JAMMED WILD CARD RACE

The log jam for positioning in the Eastern Conference Wild Card race failed to produce any clarity following a 14-game Thursday after the Islanders (40-30-9, 89 points) and Penguins (39-30-10, 88 points) each skated to victories to keep pace with the aforementioned Panthers:
* Brock Nelson (1-2-3) notched his 238th career goal to tie Bob Bourne for ninth place on the franchise's all-time list and help New York rebound from its 5-0 loss to Tampa Bay on April 1 with a 6-1 victory versus the Lightning. The tally also marked Nelson's 38th career game-winning goal, which moved him past Bourne and Brent Sutter (both w/ 37) and into a tie with Anders Lee and Bobby Nystrom for sixth place in club history.
* Kris Letang (1-1-2) factored on two of four Penguins goals as Pittsburgh defeated former goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury to keep its hopes of a 17th consecutive postseason berth alive. Fleury tended the Penguins crease for at least one game in each of the first 11 consecutive postseason berths.

HUGHES POSTS CAREER OUTING IN A DEVILS EIGHT-GOAL OUTBURST

Jack Hughes (2-2-4) opened the scoring to hit 200 NHL points and later factored on three more goals to record his first career four-point game, while Timo Meier (2-1-3) registered his first 40-goal season as the Devils (50-21-8, 108 points) found the back of the net eight times en route to the second 50-win campaign in franchise history (also 51-27-4, 106 points in 2008-09).
* Hughes (86-117-203 in 241 GP), who pushed his 2022-23 totals to 42-53-95 and sits one point shy of matching the single-season franchise record for points (Patrik Elias: 40-56-96 in 2000-01), required the fewest games to reach 200 career points among players to debut with the Devils/Scouts/Rockies - a mark previously held by Kirk Muller (242 GP).
* Hughes became the second 21-year-old with a four-point game for the Devils this season, following Dawson Mercer (1-3-4 on March 1). New Jersey joined Ottawa (Tim Stützle, 3x; last: Feb. 13) as just the second team with multiple four-point outings by players age 21 or younger in 2022-23.

BRUINS ONE WIN FROM MATCHING RECORD, MAPLE LEAFS SECURE HOME ICE

In a tightly-contested game between the top two teams in the Atlantic Division, the Bruins (61-12-5, 127 points) rallied from a one-goal deficit in the third period, capped off by David Pastrnak's overtime winner, to defeat the Maple Leafs (46-21-11, 103 points) and move one victory from matching the highest single-season total in NHL history.
* Pastrnak (57-47-104 in 78 GP) netted his 11th game-winning goal of the 2022-23 season to tie Edmonton's Leon Draisaitl for the League lead. It also stood as his fourth overtime goal of the season - only four players in NHL history have recorded more in a single campaign.
* The Maple Leafs secured home-ice advantage for the First Round of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs by way of one point vs. the Bruins and a Lightning loss in regulation. Toronto will start a postseason with a best-of-seven series on home ice for the third straight year after Game 7 losses to Tampa Bay in 2022 and Montreal in 2021. Overall, Toronto has an all-time series record of 12-4 in their best-of-seven opening rounds with home-ice advantage, with their last such victory in that scenario over Ottawa in the 2004 Conference Quarterfinals.

ROBERTSON, PAVELSKI LEAD STARS TO 100-POINT SEASON

Joe Pavelski (1-2-3) and Jason Robertson (2-0-2) each recorded multiple points to help the Stars improve to 43-21-14 (100 points) and record the 10th 100-point season in franchise history. All of the franchise's 100-point campaigns have come since the team arrived in Dallas prior to the 1993-94 season.
* Pavelski, who sits just one shy of the 1,000-point milestone, scored in his fifth consecutive game and became the fourth player in NHL history to record a five-game goal streak at age 38 or older. The only others to do so: Brett Hull (7 GP in 2003-04 w/ DET), Johnny Bucyk (6 GP in 1974-75 w/ BOS) and Justin Williams (5 GP in 2019-20 w/ CAR).
* Robertson (45-58-103 in 78 GP), who surpassed Dino Ciccarelli for the sixth-highest single season goal total in franchise history, recorded multiple points for the fourth straight game - a feat he achieved already once this season (5-5-10 in 4 GP from Oct. 29 - Nov. 5, 2022). He joined Mike Modano (3x; last: 4 GP in 2001-02) as the only other player in Stars team history to do so multiple times.

RANTANEN SCORES HAT TRICK, REACHES 50-GOAL MARK WITH FOUR-POINT NIGHT

Entering the night one goal back of 50 on the season, Mikko Rantanen (3-1-4) scored that and more with his third hat trick of 2022-23. Nathan MacKinnon (1-3-4) also added four points of his own as the high-scoring duo helped the Avalanche (47-24-6, 100 points) record their second straight 100-point season and maintain their position atop the Central Division standings.
* Rantanen (52) became the fifth player in Avalanche/Nordiques history to record 50 or more tallies in a single season and the fourth in the NHL in 2022-23. The League now features four or more 50-goal scorers in consecutive seasons (also 4 in 2021-22) for the first time since 1995-96 (8), 1996-97 (4) and 1997-98 (4).
* Rantanen became the third player this season to record at least three hat tricks, joining Buffalo's Tage Thompson (4) and Carolina's Sebastian Aho (3). The last campaign to feature a trio of players each with three or more was 2018-19: Alex Ovechkin, David Pastrnak and Patrik Laine (all w/ 3).
PREDATORS CONTINUE PLAYOFF PUSH IN #NHLSTATS: LIVE UPDATES
The Thursday, 14-game edition of #NHLStats: Live Updates featured an abundance of notes, including a crucial shutout victory from the Predators (40-30-8, 88 points). Nashville sits one point behind idle Winnipeg (43-32-3, 89 points) for the second Wild Card spot and final postseason berth available in the Western Conference. Each team has four games remaining in their regular-season schedule.
* Juuse Saros (33 saves) recorded his 20th career shutout as the Predators enter the weekend with a crucial head-to-head meeting against the Jets at Canada Life Centre on April 8. All three meetings to date have resulted in a one-goal affair, including two Winnipeg overtime victories (Dec. 15, 2022 & March 18).

QUICK CLICKS

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Women in Hockey: Katy Boettinger

NHL ACTION RESUMES SATURDAY WITH A FIRST-EVER 16-GAME SLATE

The NHL will take a pause on Good Friday and resume on Saturday when all teams will be in action for the first-ever 16-game day in NHL history.