* The Bruins won the NHL Big City Greens Classic 2 and remained one point back of the League-leading Panthers, who defeated the Flames on Saturday thanks in part to a 2-1—3 showing by new forward Vladimir Tarasenko.
* Darren Raddysh had a career night by becoming the first defenseman in Lightning history with a five-assist game, while also joining Kris Letang and Torey Krug as the third blueliner to achieve the feat in 2023-24.
* Jonathan Marchessault scored the NHL’s 90th hat trick of the season – six shy of the entire total from 2022-23 (96). AstraZeneca, which is donating $5,000 to the #HockeyFightsCancer Fund of the V Foundation up to $500,000, needs just 10 more three-goal performances to reach its donation goal.
* A five-game Sunday opens with the 13th all-time meeting between Connor McDavid and Sidney Crosby when the Oilers visit the Penguins at 1 p.m. ET (TNT, MAX, SNP, SNW, SN360, TVAS).
PASTRNAK POTS 40TH GOAL AS BRUINS WIN NHL BIG CITY GREENS CLASSIC 2
David Pastrnak (1-1—2) opened the scoring to record his fourth career 40-goal campaign and Linus Ullmark made a season-high 38 saves – which included robbing new Penguins forward Michael Bunting on a breakaway early on – as Boston beat Pittsburgh in the NHL Big City Greens Classic 2.
* Pastrnak, Pavel Zacha (2-1—3), Brad Marchand (1-1—2), Jake DeBrusk (1-1—2) and Hampus Lindholm (0-2—2) all had multiple points for the Bruins (38-13-15, 91 points), who remained one point back of the League-leading Panthers (44-17-4, 91 points). Marchand moved one goal shy of 400 in his NHL career.
* Pastrnak became the fourth player in franchise history to record four 40-goal seasons, following Phil Esposito (7), Rick Middleton (5) and Cam Neely (4).
OFFENSE FROM THE DEFENSE SPAWNS SEVEN-GOAL LIGHTNING OUTBURST
On the night captain Steven Stamkos (0-2—2) became the first player in Lightning history with 300 career multi-point games, it was a pair of defensemen who stole the spotlight offensively as one of either Darren Raddysh (0-5—5) or Victor Hedman (2-1—3) factored on six of seven Tampa Bay goals.
* Raddysh became the third player in franchise history – and first defenseman – with a five-assist game. The undrafted blueliner also joined Kris Letang (0-6—6 on Dec. 27) and Torey Krug (0-5—5 on Feb. 11) as the third defenseman with a five-assist game this season.
* Raddysh, who collected his first three helpers through the opening 9:10 of play, also matched the franchise record for assists in a period and became the first defenseman in Lightning history to register three assists in the opening period of a game. Just nine other blueliners in the past 40 years have collected three points in a faster span to begin a game than the 28-year-old – a list led by Noah Hanifin (6:29 on Dec. 21, 2017 w/ CAR).
* Hedman sparked the offensive outburst, which included four goals in the opening 10:49. Saturday marked just the second game in franchise history to feature multiple blueliners with three or more points. The other: Dec. 5, 2021 (Hedman: 0-3—3 & Ryan McDonagh: 1-2—3).
* Stamkos, who collected his second point of the evening on Anthony Duclair’s first career goal with the Lightning, joined Sidney Crosby (461), Alex Ovechkin (427), Evgeni Malkin (342) and Patrick Kane (337) as the only active players with at least 300 career multi-point games.
HUGHES HELPS CANUCKS WIN BATTLE BETWEEN CANADA’S TOP TWO TEAMS
Quinn Hughes (0-2—2) factored on two of five Vancouver goals and hit the 75-point mark for the second straight season as the Canucks overcame the Jets in a battle between the NHL’s top two Canadian clubs. Vancouver (42-17-7, 91 points) maintained second place in the League standings and kept pace with the Panthers (44-17-4, 92 points), who benefited from a 2-1—3 performance from Vladimir Tarasenko in a home win against the Flames.
* Hughes (13-63—76 in 66 GP) matched his career high – and his Canucks record by a defenseman – for points in a season and joined Brent Burns (2 from 2015-16 – 2016-17) as just the second active blueliner to record consecutive 75-point campaigns. The last defenseman to stretch that streak to at least three seasons was Ray Bourque (5 from 1989-90 – 1993-94).
* Thatcher Demko (12 saves in 26:40) and Casey DeSmith (10 saves in 33:01) combined to record Vancouver’s seventh shutout of the season, which trails only Pittsburgh (8) for the most among all teams. Saturday also marked the third shared shutout in franchise history following Dec. 6, 2011 (6-0 W vs. COL) and Feb. 22, 2015 (4-0 W at NYI).
WILD CARD HOPEFULS WILL THEIR WAY TO WINS
The Predators (37-25-3, 77 points), Golden Knights (34-23-7, 75 points) and Capitals (30-23-9, 69 points) each secured crucial victories to benefit their positioning in their respective Wild Card races. Nashville and Washington each saw streaks of eight consecutive playoff appearances snapped in 2022-23, but look to extend their campaigns past the NHL’s final day of the regular season on April 18.
* Nashville led for 25:15 of Saturday’s one-goal game against Columbus and edged out a victory to extend its point streak to 11 games (10-0-1 since Feb. 17) – a stretch that began with the club sitting four points outside a playoff spot in the Western Conference. The Predators (1,519:07) are one of five teams to lead for more than 1,500 minutes in 2023-24, joining the Canucks (1,874:09), Bruins (1,741:05), Panthers (1,629:14) and Avalanche (1,543:04).
* Vegas held three different leads in the third period before Jonathan Marchessault sealed the win with an empty-net goal to complete his third hat trick of 2023-24 – the most in a single season in franchise history – and help the Golden Knights snap their four-game skid. They moved into a tie with the Kings (32-20-11, 75), who lost in regulation to the Central Division-leading Stars (40-17-9, 89 points), in terms of standings points for third in the Pacific Division (LAK: 63 GP; VGK: 64 GP).
* Washington opened up a 4-0 lead Saturday before Chicago got one back as the Capitals’ stretch of consecutive goals was halted at 10 (6 at PIT on March 7) – a total reached for just the 13th time in franchise history. One of the four markers were scored by Sonny Milano, who became the first Capitals player not named Alex Ovechkin to record a five-game goal streak since Tom Wilson (6 GP in 2018-19). With the win, Washington moved within three points of Detroit (33-25-6, 72 points) for the final Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference.
TAVARES, SHESTERKIN CELEBRATE MILESTONES IN #NHLSTATS: LIVE UPDATES
The latest edition of #NHLStats: Live Updates featured notes on all 13 games from an action-packed Saturday, with John Tavares and Igor Shesterkin both celebrating milestone moments with the Maple Leafs and Rangers, respectively:
* Tavares scored his 20th goal of the season and collected his 400th career point in a Toronto uniform (422 GP) as he became the ninth-fastest player to reach the milestone in Maple Leafs history (debut or otherwise).
* Shesterkin stopped all 26 shots he faced in his 200th NHL game, while Adam Fox and Artemi Panarin picked up two assists apiece as the Metropolitan Division-leading Rangers (41-18-4, 86 points) blanked the Blues. He secured his 13th career shutout and tied Gilles Villemure for 10th place on the franchise’s all-time list.
QUICK CLICKS
* Ryan McLeod scores a goal in the opening 30 seconds of a game for the third time in 2023-24
* Ryan Lomberg, son rock matching suits on Kids Day
* Dave Andreychuk, Brad Richards inducted to Lightning Hall of Fame
* Emotional Linus Ullmark ‘very happy’ to remain with Bruins following Deadline
* Kraft Hockeyville announces top 4 finalists for 2024
McDAVID, CROSBY SET TO MEET FOR 13TH TIME ON SUNDAY
There are national broadcasts aplenty Sunday in both the U.S. and Canada and it all starts when Connor McDavid (23-77—100 in 60 GP) and the Oilers visit Sidney Crosby (32-32—64 in 62 GP) and the Penguins in the 13th all-time meeting between the two captains. The contest opens a doubleheader on TNT and Max, three games across the Sportsnet family of channels and a pair of contests on TVA Sports. Additionally, NHL Network will air Connor Bedard and the Blackhawks facing off with the Coyotes.
* McDavid (8-16—24 in 12 GP; 6-3-3 record) has the edge in points over Crosby (3-4—7 in 12 GP; 6-5-1) in head-to-head meetings between the two players. In total, McDavid and Crosby have combined to win the Art Ross Trophy seven times (McDavid: 5 & Crosby: 2), Hart Trophy five times (McDavid: 3 & Crosby: 2), Ted Lindsay Award seven times (McDavid: 4 & Crosby: 3) and the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy three times (Crosby: 2 & McDavid: 1). Crosby is also a three-time Stanley Cup winner and owns a pair of Conn Smythe Trophies.
* McDavid reached the 100-point plateau for the seventh time in his career on March 7 to surpass Crosby (6x) for the most among active skaters. No other active player has more than four such campaigns.
