The Boston Bruins not only extended their winning streak to 11 games with their 2-0 win in Colorado on Friday, they also eclipsed the 100-point mark for the third time in four years and became the first team in the NHL to clinch a playoff spot this season.
NHL Scores: Bruins clinch playoff spot; Rangers win Nash’s return to Columbus
Chad Johnson became the first goalie to shut out the Avalanche this season as helped the Bruins clinch a playoff spot, while Rick Nash had an eventful return to Columbus.
They're starting to distance themselves from the rest of the pack in the Eastern Conference and now have a six-point lead over the Pittsburgh Penguins for the No. 1 spot.
Patrice Bergeron and Carl Soderberg were the goal-scorers for Boston while backup goalie Chad Johnson was a rock in net, stopping all 31 shots he faced to record his second shutout of the season.
Elsewhere on Friday, Rick Nash didn't score in his return to Columbus, but he was more than a little rambunctious and found himself in the middle of two separate altercations, including a fight early in the third period.
Even more important than all of that?
His team was a 3-1 winner in what was a huge game in the Eastern Conference playoff race, moving the Rangers into the third spot in the Metropolitan Division for the time being.
The Blackhawks were able to pick up a win in their first game without Patrick Kane thanks to a shorthanded goal from their captain, Jonathan Toews, to break a 2-2 tie.
Nashville and Calgary played the wildest game of the night combining for 11 goals in a 6-5 Predators win.
All the NHL Scores
Rangers 3, Blue Jackets 1
Blackhawks 3, Hurricanes 2
Bruins 2, Avalanche 0
Predators 6, Flames 5
Three things we learned
1. Rick Nash was fired up to play his former team
Rick Nash heard some boos in his return to Columbus on Friday, and he seemed to play with a pretty big chip on his shoulder during the Rangers' 3-1 win. After having a potential goal waived off due to incidental contact with the goalie, he took exception to Blue Jackets goalie Sergei Bobrovsky throwing his stick away from him and shoved him in the throat. If that wasn't enough, he ended up in a fight with Matt Calvert to open the third period when he latched on to Calvert's stick and refused to let go.
2. The Avalanche penalty kill might be a problem
At 5-on-5 Colorado played a pretty strong game against the Bruins on Friday night, even in defeat. Unfortunately for the Avalanche their penalty kill was only 1-for-2 on the night and is currently at 79 percent for the season, which places them 25th in the NHL. Special teams become a big factor in the postseason, and if the Avalanche don’t figure out a way to fix what ails them it could be a problem. Getting some better goaltending might help, as Semyon Varlamov is just 19th in the league in shorthanded save percentage (.890) among goalies who have appeared in at least 20 games.
3. Sometimes bad teams can play the most exciting games
Just because two teams are out of the playoff race doesn't mean they can't put on a show, and that's pretty much what Calgary and Nashville did on Friday. The Predators were 6-5 winners in a game that featured two teams not known for their offense scoring goals in bunches, resulting in both starting goalies getting benched. Pekka Rinne ended up taking the rest of the night off after he was caught out of the net in the second period as captured in the image below.
That is never a good sign, but fortunately for the Predators they were able to outscore Calgary.
Impact Moment
The one play or moment from Friday that is going to be making headlines over the next couple of days.
It didn’t result in a win, but Patrick Roy pulling his goalie for the extra attacker with five minutes to play in the third period while facing a 2-0 deficit is the type of aggressiveness more coaches should have around the NHL. It’s not the first time Roy has pulled his goalie earlier than most coaches normally would this season -- it actually worked out in Colorado’s favor earlier this season -- but this might been the earliest he’s ever done it. The Avalanche produced several chances with the extra attacker and put a lot of pressure on Johnson, but they were unable to beat him. The result was there, but the strategy was sound.
Stat of the Night
Patrick Sharp scored his 30th goal of the season in the Chicago Blackhawks' 3-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes, giving him his fourth 30-goal season since joining the team during the 2005-06 season, in what has been one of the most lopsided trades of the salary cap era. Sharp was traded, along with Eric Meloche, from Philadelphia to Chicago for Matt Ellison and a third-round draft pick. Since the trade Sharp has scored 219 goals for the Blackhawks and been a key part of two Stanley Cup winning teams. Ellison appeared in just seven NHL games with the Flyers after the trade and scored zero goals. He currently plays in Europe.
Post to Post
- As the Bruins win streak continues to build, take some time and read about their other 10-game winning streaks.
- Getting to know the NHL rule book with a look at goalie equipment.
- Claude Julien gets very angry behind the bench sometimes.
- How much does a player’s Corsi change with age?
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