It may not have been pretty, but San Jose Sharks defenseman Brent Burns tied a franchise record for goals by a defenseman in a single season with his 26th goal of 2015-16 on Tuesday.
Burns threw a shot at the Boston Bruins' net midway through the second period and got some help from Bruins forward Ryan Spooner, who redirected the shot into his own goal.
The marker knots Burns with Sandis Ozolinsh, who tallied 26 goals during the 1993-94 season.
With an assist on Joel Ward's third-period goal, the 31-year-old picked up his 64th point of the season, also tying a record for most points in a season by a Sharks defenseman, a record Ozolinsh set in the same campaign.
Burns sits seven ahead of Arizona Coyotes defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson for most goals by a blue-liner this season.
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Since dropping their second game in a week to the Anaheim Ducks earlier in March and losing their spot atop the Pacific in the process, the Los Angeles Kings have looked nearly unstoppable.
The Kings have retaken their division lead with a five-game point streak (4-0-1), including a pair of commanding wins on back-to-back nights. They beat the reigning Cup champion Blackhawks 5-0 on Monday, before a 5-2 win against the West-leading Stars on Tuesday.
#LAKings now 10-4-2 versus the Central Division.
— Jon Rosen (@lakingsinsider) March 16, 2016
Captain Anze Kopitar and newcomer Kris Versteeg led the way for the Kings, with three points each over the past two games. Jonathan Quick shut out Kane, Toews and Co. on Monday, before Jhonas Enroth led the way with a 24-save performance against the Benn- and Seguin-led Stars.
Related: VIDEO: Kings' Kopitar dances around Kris Russell, scores
Despite their dominating past two nights, those wins may not have been their most impressive in the past week. Jeff Carter provided the overtime-winner on Wednesday to beat the Washington Capitals 4-3, after the league's top team scored three third-period goals to send the game into extra time.
With their recent run of high-powered offense and impressive goaltending against the league's top teams, it's hard not to consider the Kings as Stanley Cup favorites if the season ended today.
But if they plan to take on the Blackhawks, Stars, or even the Capitals in a future seven-game series, they'll need to figure out a way to beat the red-hot Ducks. The final regular-season meeting between the crosstown rivals is scheduled for April 7 at Staples Center.
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With a 4-1 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs Tuesday, the Tampa Bay Lightning missed a chance to claim top spot in the Atlantic Division, but Steven Stamkos doesn't care.
The Lightning failed to pass the Boston Bruins, while watching the Florida Panthers jump into first place in the division, but the Lightning captain insists once playoffs start, division titles mean nothing.
"That doesn't mean anything in today's NHL," Stamkos said, according to the Fourth Period's David Pagnotta. "I mean it's a nice thing to have on the resume, but once playoffs starts no one gives a crap about who won the division or who won the league, or how many points a player had.
"It's about what you do in the playoffs. I mean, we want to win as many games down the stretch as we can; if that happens to be the division title, great, if not, it doesn't make a difference to us once the playoffs start."
Stamkos might be on to something, as last season the Lightning finished second in their division before making it all the way to Stanley Cup Finals.
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Erik Karlsson picked up assists on a pair of game-tying goals for the Ottawa Senators in regulation, and the Norris favorite ended the game himself in overtime.
The 25-year-old wired a slap shot past Minnesota Wild goalie Devan Dubnyk to clinch a 3-2 victory for the Senators. The goal was his 13th of the season, and his second overtime winner.
Per @EliasSports: @ErikKarlsson65 is 1st defenseman in @Senators history to score multiple overtime goals in a season (also Dec. 5 vs. NYI).
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) March 16, 2016
With a goal and two assists, Karlsson now has 73 points in 71 games, putting him on pace to record the highest-scoring season by a defenseman in the past 20 seasons.
Erik Karlsson above a point-per-game now, has chance for most points by a D-man since Brian Leetch had 85 in 1995-96 pic.twitter.com/FuCN8vicRi
— StatsCentre (@StatsCentre) March 16, 2016
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The Philadelphia Flyers now sit just one point shy of the final Eastern Conference playoff spot after picking up a 4-3 win Tuesday against the team currently sitting in the second wild-card position, the Detroit Red Wings.
Michael Raffl recorded the second multi-goal game of his career - both coming against the Red Wings. Wayne Simmonds scored his 25th goal of the season, while a backhand from rookie phenom Shayne Gostisbehere would serve as the eventual game-winner.
Gostisbehere can't help but score goals. #FlyersTalk https://t.co/8WgJZUnlt1
— Comcast SportsNet (@CSNPhilly) March 16, 2016
Steve Mason now has a personal five-game point streak in the Flyers' net, making 34 saves on the night to pick up his 17th win of the year. He's 4-0-1 with only 10 goals against in his current run.
Red Wings netminder Petr Mrazek was even busier, allowing only two goals in a first period that saw the Flyers outshot 23-3. He finished the night with 42 saves.
Andreas Athanasiou, Pavel Datsyuk, and Tomas Tatar provided the goal-scoring for Detroit.
The Flyers now have two games in hand as they sit just one point behind Detroit in the standings, but will face two tough tests later in the week. They visit the Blackhawks on Wednesday, before hosting the Penguins - who currently hold the other wild-card spot in the East - on Saturday.
The Red Wings next three games all come on the road, including stops in Columbus, Florida, and Tampa Bay.
| Rnk | Team | GP | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Penguins | 69 | 82 |
| 2 | Red Wings | 70 | 79 |
| 3 | Flyers | 68 | 78 |
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