Ducks’ Getzlaf, Cogliano hit milestones in win over Sharks

A couple of milestones for a pair of lifelong Anaheim Ducks.

With an assist on Patrick Eaves' first-period goal Saturday, captain Ryan Getzlaf recorded the 800th point of his NHL career.

Only one other man has hit that milestone as a Duck: Teemu Selanne. That's the company you want to keep, kids.

Andrew Cogliano, meanwhile, played in his 776th straight game Saturday, tying Craig Ramsay for the fourth-longest ironman streak in NHL history.

The 29-year-old, drafted in 2005 by the Edmonton Oilers, has remarkably played in every game since he broke into the league in 2007.

The Ducks beat the San Jose Sharks 2-1 on Saturday, with Jonathan Bernier again turning in a strong performance. He made 33 saves, as Anaheim moved within four points of first-place San Jose.

Copyright © 2017 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Allen, Blues continue dominance of Coyotes with another shutout win

GLENDALE, Ariz. - Jake Allen stopped 31 shots for his fourth shutout of the season to lead the playoff-contending St. Louis Blues to a 3-0 victory over the Arizona Coyotes on Saturday night.

Scottie Upshall, Alex Pietrangelo and David Perron scored to help the Blues win for the seventh time in eight games overall and beat the Coyotes for the ninth straight time. It was St. Louis' fifth shutout since Feb. 2.

Allen improved to 6-0-0 in his career against the Coyotes and earned his 15th career shutout. He stopped Teemu Pulkkinnen's breakaway shot at 12:23 of the second period to keep the Coyotes scoreless.

The Coyotes failed to earn a point from a game for the first time since a March 5 loss to Carolina. Mike Smith stopped 37 shots.

Upshall extended the Blues' lead to 2-0 at 2:52 of the second period. He took the puck from behind the net back up the ice, turned around and shot the puck into traffic and past Smith for his ninth of the season.

Smith's saves included a fairly easy one when the Blues' Vladimir Tarasenko was awarded a penalty shot with 45.6 seconds left in the second. But Tarasenko held the puck for too long and didn't shoot until he was almost behind the net.

Perron scored a short-handed empty-net goal with 1:03 to play in the game.

The Coyotes played without captain Shane Doan for the first time this season. Doan missed some time early in Thursday's game to be checked for a concussion after a collision with a teammate during pregame warmups, but returned to the ice and played. He was listed as day-to-day with a lower body injury.

Doan, 40, is the all-time franchise leader in games played, goals, assists and points, and had played in all 70 games this season. He remains on pace to play the most amount of games he has since the 2009-2010 season, when he appeared in all 82 games.

The Coyotes lost defenseman Anthony DeAngelo less than two minutes into the game when he was called for boarding and given a five-minute penalty and a game misconduct. DeAngelo checked the Blues' Zach Sanford into the boards face-first.

Sanford went to the locker room and missed the rest of the first period, but returned in the second.

The Coyotes were three seconds away from killing DeAngelo's penalty when Pietrangelo fired a long-range shot that eluded Smith for the game's first goal. Paul Stastny provided the pass that set up Pietrangelo's 10th of the season.

NOTES: The Coyotes held a pregame ceremony to honor veteran C Radim Vrbata, who recently played in his 1,000th career game. Vrbata's gifts for his achievement included a silver stick, a painting and a pair of tickets to the 2018 Wimbledon final. ... C Jori Lehtera (upper body injury) and F Dmitrij Jaskin (upper body) were scratched for the Blues, along with healthy scratches Jordan Schmaltz and Nail Yakupov.

Copyright © 2017 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Watch: Blackhawks’ Hayden goes skate to stick to shelf for 1st NHL goal

John Hayden had himself a week.

The 22-year-old signed a two-year contract with the Chicago Blackhawks last Sunday, and scored his first NHL goal Saturday in Toronto, in only his second career game.

And it was pretty, too. The Yale product showed off his offensive skill, using his skate to take a pass from Jonathan Toews before wasting no time going upstairs on Frederik Andersen.

Big first G for the kid, big road win for the fellas.

A post shared by Jonathan Toews (@jonathantoews) on

Copyright © 2017 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Watch: McDavid’s lethal snipe puts him back in points lead

The Vancouver Canucks kept the Edmonton Oilers off the scoresheet for nearly two periods Saturday, but Connor McDavid wasn't going to let it go on any longer.

The Oilers captain took a feed from Andrej Sekera, cut across the middle and whipped one past Canucks goaltender Richard Bachman for his 25th goal of the season.

It was also McDavid's 80th point, which moved him past Boston Bruins forward Brad Marchand and back into top spot in the NHL in the Art Ross Trophy race.

The goal held up as the winner, the Oilers taking a 2-0 decision.

Copyright © 2017 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Watch: Couture scores in 500th career game

500 games and 179 goals for Logan Couture.

The San Jose Sharks forward skated in his 500th career game Saturday, taking the opportunity to net his 25th goal this season, and 179th of his career.

Late in the first period against the Anaheim Ducks, Couture accepted a feed from Joe Thornton before flinging the puck behind netminder Jonathan Bernier.

The goal extended Couture's point streak to four games, where he's tallied two goals and four assists.

(Video courtesy: NHL.com)

Copyright © 2017 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Babcock: Leafs earned ‘absolutely huge point’ in OT loss to Blackhawks

The "loser point" doesn't have a huge fan club, but Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Mike Babcock was proud of his team for securing one by making it to overtime in a loss to the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday.

"That's a huge point for us (tonight), an absolutely huge point," Babcock told reporters following the 2-1 defeat, according to TSN's Mark Masters.

"Every day you talk about how big the game is, but that's what we're going to do right to the end, obviously," Babcock added.

Auston Matthews ended his seven-game point drought when he opened the scoring in the first period, but John Hayden potted his first career marker in the second and Ryan Hartman tallied the winner for the Western Conference-leading Blackhawks with 17 seconds left in overtime.

Despite the loss, the Leafs restored their one-point lead over the New York Islanders for the second Eastern Conference wild-card spot. The Islanders earned a point of their own earlier Saturday in an overtime loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Toronto has a game in hand on both New York and the Tampa Bay Lightning, who fell 5-3 to the Washington Capitals on Saturday night and now sit two points behind the Leafs.

Copyright © 2017 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Rangers’ road dominance bodes well for potential playoff seeding

They may reside at the "World's Most Famous Arena," but the New York Rangers prefer life on the road.

The Blueshirts made the trek to Minnesota on Saturday to close out the second portion of their weekend back-to-back, and eked out an important 3-2 win over the Wild.

This shouldn't come as a surprise, though, as the Rangers have been the NHL's best road team all season long, leading the league in wins away from home.

Thanks to a foolish playoff system and a ridiculously competitive Metropolitan Division, the Rangers are slated to begin the playoffs as a wild-card seed. As it currently stacks up, New York would begin the postseason on the road in Montreal - a draw that sounds particularly unfavorable, until you look at the numbers.

Location Record GF GA PP PK
Home 19-15-3 (41 pts) 116 108 15.24% 76.60%
Away 26-9-0 (52 pts) 112 78 21.90% 83.30%

The splits are inexplicably staggering, but in the long run, New York's trend of getting it done away from The Garden could pay dividends come Spring time, although they'd like find some consistency before then.

"We try to figure out why we are so good on the road and why it changes at home," forward Rick Nash told Jessi Pierce of NHL.com prior to the win in Minnesota. "It seems like we play straight lines on the road, get pucks deep, and at home we try to make the cute plays and not get as many shots on net. We are trying to bring that road game home."

However, perfecting the home game will have to wait, as four of the Rangers' next five games come on the road - something they probably aren't too upset about.

Copyright © 2017 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Canadiens hold off Senators to stay atop Atlantic

OTTAWA - Paul Byron and Alexander Radulov scored in the shootout to give the Montreal Canadiens a 4-3 victory over the Ottawa Senators on Saturday night in the first half of the teams' home-and-home series.

Andrew Shaw, Phillip Danault and Brendan Gallagher scored in regulation for Montreal, and Carey Price finished with 28 saves. Montreal extended its lead in the Atlantic Division to two points over second-place Ottawa.

The teams meet again Sunday at Montreal.

Derick Brassard, Ryan Dzingel and Erik Karlsson scored for the Senators. Craig Anderson, who had missed the past two games with a lower-body injury, stopped 29 shots.

There had been some debate in the morning as to who would start in goal for the Senators as it remained questionable whether Anderson was fit to play.

The Senators had a chance to win in overtime when Max Pacioretty took a penalty, but were unable to capitalize on the power play.

Trailing 2-1 to start the third, the Canadiens scored twice within 31 seconds.

Danault tied the game as he was able to beat Anderson through the legs at the 6:15 mark - it was Montreal's first shot of the period despite having just come off a power play. Then, Gallagher gave the Canadiens the lead, beating Anderson over the shoulder from a sharp angle.

With just under five minutes remaining Karlsson tied the game with a shot from the point.

After 40 minutes the Senators held a 2-1 lead after scoring twice in a span of 76 seconds.

Montreal opened the scoring at the two-minute mark of the second period after a defensive breakdown by Ottawa that allowed Danault to find Shaw all alone at the side of the net.

The Canadiens took advantage of the momentum and held the edge in play until the Senators tied things with a power-play goal with 7:24 to go in the period as Kyle Turris found Brassard streaking through the slot and was able to beat Price stick side.

Just over a minute later, Dzingel gave the Senators the lead as he battled for the puck at the side of the net and was able to squeeze it behind Price.

NOTES: Ottawa D Mark Borowiecki was back in the lineup after missing the last four games with a lower-body injury. ... Senators RW Mark Stone remains sidelined with a lower-body injury, missing his fourth straight game. ... Montreal D Alexei Emelin, LW Andreas Martinsen and RW Michael McCarron were healthy scratches.

Copyright © 2017 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Karlsson’s late surge reopens Norris talk

Not so fast, Brent Burns.

Erik Karlsson is making his case as the league's top defenseman.

The Ottawa Senators blue-liner has been the team's most valuable player this season, and he's now picking up his production through the most crucial part of the calendar.

While Burns has gone ice-cold in his last 10 outings - unable to find the back of the net after scoring 27 through his first 60 - Karlsson's offensive touch has only picked up steam:

Defenseman Games G A Points Pts/GP
Brent Burns 1-60 27 37 64 1.07
Brent Burns 61-70 0 6 6 0.60
Erik Karlsson 1-60 10 44 54 0.90
Erik Karlsson 61-70 4 7 11 1.10

The offensive numbers are close - Burns outpaces Karlsson by five points. But the stat line isn't as even in the defensive zone. There, Karlsson ranks as the NHL's best with 187 blocked shots, far ahead of Burns' 119.

But it's truly Karlsson's dominance in the opposition's end that has the two-time Norris winner once again in the conversation for top defenseman honors.

Karlsson, who last captured the trophy in 2015, has at least one former winner in his corner. Edmonton Oilers great Paul Coffey, who twice won it with the Oilers, and then repeated the feat a decade later with the Detroit Red Wings, evidently sees a lot of his own game in the Senators defenseman.

"I'll tell you one thing, a guy like Karlsson, not everybody can do it or they'd be doing it," Coffey told Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Citizen. "No disrespect to anybody in the game or the way they play but the other side isn't hard. It's just commitment."

Coffey's second Norris with the Oilers came in the 1985-86 campaign, when he finished with a career-high 48 goals and 90 assists.

"Do you want Karlsson to stay back and be defensive or do you want him to play? You want him to play," Coffey added. "That's not easy. That's a talent."

Copyright © 2017 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Capitals down Lightning, become 1st team to clinch playoff berth

TAMPA, Fla. - T.J Oshie had three goals and an assist, Justin Williams and John Carlson had early third-period goals, and the Washington Capitals clinched a playoff spot by beating the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-3 on Saturday night.

Oshie scored twice, including an early power-play goal, as the Capitals took a 2-0 lead midway through the first. He completed the hat trick with an empty-netter during the final minute. Oshie has 10 goals and 19 points in 14 games against Tampa Bay.

Williams had a redirection goal 3:14 into the period before Carlson swatted a thigh-high puck home to make it 4-2 at 5:30.

Washington also got four assists from Nicklas Backstrom, and Braden Holtby stopped 26 shots.

Nikita Kucherov had two goals, and Alex Killorn had the other goal for the Lightning. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 30 saves.

Kucherov got Tampa Bay within a goal with 4-3 with 1:30 left, but Oshie sealed it with his third goal.

The Lightning tied it at 2 late in the first as Kucherov, on a power play set up by Oshie's high-sticking penalty, and Killorn had goals 16 seconds apart.

Killorn stopped a 16-game goal drought, while Kucherov got his 32nd goal this season and 100th overall.

Alex Ovechkin assisted on Oshie's goal and tied Florida's Jaromir Jagr for the most points against Tampa Bay with 83. He has played the Lightning 63 times.

Ovechkin, who has one goal in his last 13 games, had a couple of quality chances stopped by Vasilevskiy during the first.

NOTES: Capitals LW Andre Burakovsky returned after missing 15 games with a hand injury. ... Tampa Bay played without with centers Tyler Johnson (five games), Cedric Paquette (five games) and Vladislav Namestnikov (three games), who are all out with lower-body injuries. Center Steven Stamkos, out since right knee surgery in November, went through a full practice Friday but is not ready to play. ... Washington LW Marcus Johansson left due to illness. ... The Capitals have outscored their opponents 73-33 in the first period.

UP NEXT:

Capitals: Play the first of three straight at home against Calgary on Tuesday night.

Lightning: Complete a three-game homestand against Arizona on Tuesday night.

Copyright © 2017 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Remember, we are all Canucks!