The St. Louis Blues have a special player in Vladimir Tarasenko.
With this snipe Tuesday in Ottawa, the 24-year-old's 30th goal of the season, Tarasenko became the youngest Blues player with back-to-back 30-goal campaigns since Brendan Shanahan in 1992-93 and 1993-94.
Episode #30 of the Tarasenkshow. #STLvsOTThttps://t.co/oJIz8zxAIP
— NHL (@NHL) March 2, 2016
Shanahan reached 51 and 52 goals at ages 24 and 25, respectively, while Tarasenko's career high to date is 37. Unlike Shanahan, however, Tarasenko will likely be in St. Louis for the majority of his career.
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Will the Colorado Avalanche defense please stand up?
The Minnesota Wild's third line of Nino Niederreiter, Jason Pominville, and Erik Haula stayed hot Tuesday, as all three scored on first-period breakaways.
After Haula's marker - which gave his team a 3-1 lead - he made some friends by sticking out his tongue while skating by the Avs' bench.
Haula lookin like an emoji 😝😝😝 pic.twitter.com/NoRvXqwGQu
— Devan Dubnyk (@ThatDudeDubnyk) March 2, 2016
Interestingly for the Avalanche, their deadline-day, blue-line acquisition Eric Gelinas wasn't on the ice for any of Minnesota's early goals.
(Video courtesy: NHL.com)
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[HIGHLIGHT] @DerekAllenRyan scores a PPG in his first @NHL game! #Redvolution #CARvsNJD https://t.co/POGyaUpA8X
— Carolina Hurricanes (@NHLCanes) March 2, 2016
Derek Ryan, at 29 years old, became the oldest player to make his NHL debut in Carolina Hurricanes history Tuesday against the , and he didn't take long to make an impact at the game's highest level.
Ryan found the back of the net during a second-period power play, wristing a shot past New Jersey Devils netminder Cory Schneider, tying the game at one.
What a nice story @DerekAllenRyan is. Four years CIS. Three in Austria. One in Sweden. Gets first NHL goal in first NHL game at age 29!
— James Mirtle (@mirtle) March 2, 2016
It's surely a special moment for the forward, as his father and sister flew in from Spokane, Wash. to watch him play in Newark. Ryan played for the WHL's Spokane Chiefs for three seasons where he was coached by none other than current Hurricanes coach Bill Peters.
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Welp, it took McDavid 22 seconds to find the net. #EDMvsBUFhttps://t.co/Fx33wigCnd
— NHL (@NHL) March 2, 2016
They say second place is the first loser.
Connor McDavid briefly had Buffalo feeling that way, as the Edmonton Oilers rookie phenom - drafted first overall ahead of Jack Eichel - needed only 22 seconds to open the scoring against the Sabres on Tuesday.
The goal was McDavid's 11th in 28 games, while Eichel came into the night sitting at 17 through 63 contests.
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After Boston Bruins general manager Don Sweeney decided to hold on to winger Loui Eriksson at the NHL trade deadline, the two sides are in a position - at least in theory - to negotiate a long-term agreement to keep the nine-year veteran with the organization.
Eriksson said Tuesday he's happy to still be with the Bruins and that a contract extension is certainly possible.
"It's definitely nice to be still here," Eriksson said, according to Matt Kalman of NHL.com. "It was kind of a stressful day (Monday) and not really knowing what's going to happen. I'm just happy to be here. It's a lot easier for me and my family to stay here and finish the season and try to make this team make the (Stanley Cup) playoffs and be a good team. So I'm really happy to be still here."
Added Eriksson, "Now we have some more time to negotiate and maybe get something done and like I said, all I can do now is just to play games and try to win games and help this team."
The 30-year-old is in the midst of a productive season for the Bruins, with 23 goals and 28 points through 63 games. Those numbers, however, are boosting his bid to secure a big-money contract, something the Bruins seem unwilling to commit to at this point.
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The New York Islanders spent a third-round pick to acquire forward Shane Prince from the Ottawa Senators on deadline day, and the club isn't wasting any time throwing him into the spotlight.
The 23-year-old will make his Islanders debut on the first line alongside Dylan Strome and captain John Tavares as they face the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday, head coach Jack Capuano told Newsday's Arthur Staple.
"(Prince) is a player we feel can rotate up and down the lineup to different lines and has some untapped potential," added general manager Garth Snow. "He can help us now and hopefully in the future."
The Rochester, N.Y. native has spent most of the season on a line with grinders Zack Smith and Chris Neil, but will finally get a chance to show if he can produce in a scoring role.
The Prince acquisition was a surprising one for the Islanders, as it was rumored the team was trying to acquire Tavares' former linemate P.A. Parenteau from the Toronto Maple Leafs, but were ultimately unwilling to give up a second-round pick.
The rookie has three goals and nine assists in 42 games.
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