The Eastern Conference wild card race turned into a four-team pileup on Tuesday night, as the Blue Jackets, Red Wings, Capitals and Maple Leafs came out of the night all tied with 80 points, while the Columbus and Detroit were able to occupy the final two playoff spots for the time being due to their number of regulation and overtime wins.
NHL scores: Wild card races heat up; Maple Leafs losing streak continues
The return of Jonathan Bernier did not help the Toronto Maple Leafs, who lost their sixth game in a row, creating a logjam at the bottom of the Eastern Conference playoff picture. In the west, Joe Pavelski recorded his third hat trick of the season for the San Jose Sharks.
Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sport
The Blue Jackets managed to jump over Detroit with a 4-2 win that was highlighted by a controversial third-period goal by Cam Atkinson that proved to be the game-winner. Atkinson put the puck into the net just seven minutes into the third period and it was allowed to count even though the net had been dislodged due to rule 63.6. That's probably not going to go over well in Detroit with every point mattering so much down the stretch as the Red Wings look to extend their playoff streak.
The Blue Jackets were able to get the win even though they lost starting goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky in the middle of the game due to an illness.
Elsewhere around the NHL on Tuesday, the Maple Leafs season continued to trend in the wrong direction with a 5-3 loss to the Blues that wasn't anywhere near as close or competitive as the final score. This was a total beat down and extended the Maple Leafs' losing streak to six games.
Washington gained a point in the shootout but lost the opportunity to gain one more thanks in part to Evgeny Kuznetsov’s whiff in the shootout. The good news is the only got to the shootout because of Kuznetsov’s game-tying goal -- his first career goal -- with 40 seconds to play in regulation.
The Blackhawks were 4-2 winners against Dallas with Andrew Shaw's no-look goal from his knees helping to steal some of the spotlight from the debut of prized prospect Teuvo Teravainen.
The combination of the Coyotes winning in Pittsburgh and Dallas losing to Chicago allowed Phoenix to open up a three-point lead for the final wild card spot in the Western Conference.
All the NHL Scores
Blues 5, Maple Leafs 3
Coyotes 3, Penguins 2
Kings 5, Capitals 4
Islanders 5, Hurricanes 4
Blue Jackets 4, Red Wings 2
Blackhawks 4, Stars 2
Three Things We Learned
1. The Penguins need to get healthy, and fast
The combination of being an already flawed team without much depth as well as being decimated by injuries has not been kind to the Pittsburgh Penguins recently. Despite playing at home against a team that played the night before, on the road, and was using a backup goalie, the Penguins put up a pretty lackluster effort in their 3-2 loss to the Coyotes. They're just 6-6-1 in their past 13 games and don't look anything like the Stanley Cup contender they're supposed to be. That's what happens when you take the two best defensemen out of the lineup (Paul Martin and Kris Letang) and the second best player overall (Evgeni Malkin).
2. Alex Ovechkin is still unstoppable on the power play
It took Alex Ovechkin just eight minutes on Tuesday to score two more power-play goals for the Capitals, giving him 48 goals on the season overall and 22 on the power play. Nobody in the NHL has more than 13 power play goals this season (and nobody has more than 37 goals overall). Since the start of last season Ovechkin's 36 power-play goals are 14 more than the No. 2 player (Chris Kunitz) on the list. Kunitz being the only other player with more than 20 power-play goals over that stretch.
3. Gustav Nyquist is the wave of the future in Detroit
The Red Wings are the most patient team in the NHL when it comes to promoting players throughout their farm system, and Gustav Nyquist, after spending parts of four seasons playing for the Grand Rapids Griffins of the AHL, is finally starting to take on a larger role in Detroit. After his two-goal effort on Tuesday, he has eight more goals than any other player on the team despite playing in just 47 games. He’s not going to maintain that 18.3 percent shooting percentage, but that is still an impressive run for a Red Wings team that desperately needs guys that can put the puck in the net.
Impact Moment
The one play or moment from Tuesday that is going to be making headlines over the coming days.
The Washington Capitals not only let a 3-1 lead slip away and lost out on the chance to pick up an additional point in the standings, they also suffered what could be a bad injury when Nicklas Backstrom had to leave their 5-4 shootout loss to the Kings with what is being called "an upper body injury." Coach Adam Oates said he wasn't being treated for a concussion, but if Backstrom has to miss any significant period of time that is going to be a major problem for the Capitals.
Stat of the Night
The Toronto Maple Leafs are paying David Clarkson an average salary of $5.2 million per year for the next seven years. This season with the Maple Leafs, which is the first year of that contract, he has eight fights and four goals. Man, $5.2 million doesn't get you what it used to.
Bonus stat of the night: Joe Pavelski recorded his third hat trick of the season for the San Jose Sharks after recording none before this year. He is now up to 37 goals on the season, which is a new career high. And it keeps going higher and higher.
Post to Post
- The anatomy of a Stanley Cup contender.
- Another injury for the Penguins. This time it’s Evgeni Malkin.
- The legacy of Carolina Hurricanes general manager Jim Rutherford is one to be proud of.
- What’s up with Patrick Berglund?
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