The Carolina Hurricanes are Jeff Skinner's team.

The seeds were planted back in 2011, when he stole the show and Hurricanes fans' hearts on home ice at the All-Star Game as an injury replacement for Sidney Crosby - months before winning the Calder Trophy as the NHL's surprise rookie of the year.

While a string of concussions kept him from matching the production levels of his first season, questions were raised along the way about his long-term future with the team, with local reporters advocating for a trade.

But with the departure of Eric Staal last season amid a personal resurgence for a healthy Skinner, it became clear the faith demonstrated by the Hurricanes in the young forward was about to reap a rich harvest.

Case in point: Skinner's two goals in less than a minute against Buffalo on Friday en route to his second straight three-point performance and, more importantly, a Carolina win.

"He took the game over, in my opinion. He was just that dominant. He has the capability of doing that," goalie Cam Ward said after the game, per Michael Smith of the team's website. "He's been one of, if not our best player all season long.

"To see him get a couple goals and achieve a milestone on his part too is pretty impressive," Ward added, referring to the fact Skinner recorded his 300th career point in the win.

High praise from the team's longest-tenured player.

The win gave the Hurricanes a 13-1-1 record in the past 15 home games, and kept the team well within reach of a playoff berth. Carolina sits three points back of Philadelphia for the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference, with two games in hand.

And it's Skinner who leads the team in scoring with 17 goals and 35 points in 41 games, putting him on pace for 34 goals and 69 points - both of which would mark career highs. He's also on pace to smash his previous high in shots, averaging 3.6 per night.

Health permitting, he's one of the most consistent scorers in the game, and fun to watch as a bonus.

Skinner will represent Carolina at the All-Star Game once again this season, but leading the team to its first playoff appearance since 2009 would go a long way toward proving these Hurricanes should be taken seriously.

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

Jonathan Toews won't let his teammates forget this one.

The Chicago Blackhawks captain offered some pointed words following a lopsided 6-0 loss to the Capitals in Washington on Friday.

The game was one of 82 for a Blackhawks team that sits first in the Central Division, and Chicago had won four straight heading into Friday's supposed battle of two top teams.

The Minnesota Wild, however, sit two points back with five games in hand, meaning Toews' team's place atop the divisional standings is tenuous at best.

The loss was Chicago's worst of the season, topping a 5-0 decision at the hands of the Edmonton Oilers back in November.

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

Upon scoring his second goal of the night on Roberto Luongo and the Florida Panthers, New York Islanders captain John Tavares reached a personal point milestone.

The goal was quite nice, to boot.

The 500th point was recorded in his 550th career appearance. Tavares capped the hat trick with an empty-net goal, officially giving him a career point-per-game average of 0.91.

How fitting.

(Video courtesy: NHL.com)

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

Jay Beagle scored twice to lead a balanced blowout for the Washington Capitals as they won their eighth consecutive game, beating the Chicago Blackhawks 6-0 on Friday night in a matchup of the NHL's hottest teams.

Nicklas Backstrom, Brett Connolly, Tom Wilson and T.J. Oshie also scored for Washington, which snapped Chicago's winning streak at four.

The Capitals have ended five different opposing win streaks of three games or more already in 2017 while playing their best hockey of the season.

Braden Holtby stopped all 24 shots he faced and got the benefit of goaltender interference on Vinnie Hinostroza's would-be goal for his fifth shutout in the past 14 games. The Vezina Trophy winner is 9-2-2 with a 1.34 goals-against average and .950 save percentage over that time.

The Capitals tilted the ice against the Blackhawks, outshooting them 14-5 in a three-goal first period and dominating throughout, even when Chicago was on the power play. Blackhawks All-Star goaltender Corey Crawford allowed five goals on 30 shots before giving way to Scott Darling.

Beagle continued his own personal run of success against Chicago, opening and closing the scoring to reach eight goals on the season. The fourth-line center has four goals in two games against the Blackhawks this season and six in eight career games against them.

Three of his four multi-goal games have come against Chicago.

Alex Ovechkin contributed career point No. 1,002 with a secondary assist on Backstrom's goal. Backstrom, who assisted on Oshie's third-period goal, has scored in three games in a row.

It's no coincidence that Holtby, Ovechkin and Backstrom are rolling as Washington is on its longest winning streak of the season. Holtby hasn't allowed a 5-on-5 goal in five games as the Capitals climbed past the Blue Jackets, who were in action at the Tampa Bay Lightning on Friday night.

NOTES: D Karl Alzner became the first player in Capitals franchise history to play 500 consecutive regular-season games. Alzner joined Keith Yandle and Jay Bouwmeester as the only defensemen since 1943-44 to play 500 games in a row. Baseball ironman Cal Ripken Jr. was featured in a video message congratulating Alzner on the achievement. ... Washington improved to 23-3-3 when scoring first. ... D Michal Rozsival returned to the Blackhawks' lineup after missing six consecutive games as a healthy scratch, replacing Michal Kempny.

UP NEXT:

Blackhawks: Host the Central Division-rival Wild on Sunday, their first game against Minnesota this season. The Wild trail the Blackhawks by just two points and have played five fewer games.

Capitals: Try to make it nine straight when they host the Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday at 1 p.m., moved back from 12:30 as a domino effect from the Steelers-Chiefs AFC playoff game shifting to prime time because of weather in Kansas City.

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

P.K. Subban knows how to kill time in style.

Looking dapper as ever, the Nashville Predators defenseman posted a photo of some of the winnings he and his teammates took away from Dave & Busters during a travel delay.

What's noteworthy here is that Subban is traveling with the team despite not playing since Dec. 15 due to an upper-body injury.

The Predators kick off a five-game road trip Saturday in Colorado, while Subban has been able to skate with the team in recent days.

Either way, expect the Predators to officially announce the addition of a new plumber to the staff.

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

P.K. Subban knows how to kill time in style.

Looking dapper as ever, the Nashville Predators defenseman posted a photo of some of the winnings he and his teammates took away from Dave & Busters during a travel delay.

What's noteworthy here is that Subban is traveling with the team despite not playing since Dec. 15 due to an upper-body injury.

The Predators kick off a five-game road trip Saturday in Colorado, while Subban has been able to skate with the team in recent days.

Either way, expect the Predators to officially announce the addition of a new plumber to the staff.

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

Martin St. Louis' number won't ever be worn by another Tampa Bay Lightning player.

The diminutive legend had his No. 26 retired at Amalie Arena on Friday night following a series of speeches by Lightning luminaries, including former head coach John Tortorella, current general manager Steve Yzerman, and injured captain Steven Stamkos.

Related - Tortorella: Martin St. Louis was 'a pain in the ass to coach'

St. Louis made special mention of his late mother during his speech before the banner was raised.

"There's one person not here tonight who I wish could be here more than anything: My mom," he said.

"I know she is here with us tonight," he added. "She always said, 'Show them, Marty. Show them.' Well, mom, I think I did."

St. Louis is the first player in Lightning history to have his number retired, and his career numbers with Tampa Bay certainly validate the honor.

He also scored perhaps the most memorable goal in franchise history, netting the double-overtime winner in Game 6 of the 2004 Stanley Cup Final to send the series - which the Lightning eventually won - back to Tampa Bay.

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

One of the most decorated athletes in Canadian sports history is hanging up the skates.

Five-time Winter Olympian Hayley Wickenheiser took to Twitter on Friday to announce her retirement.

"It has been the greatest honor of my life to play for Canada," Wickenheiser told Donna Spencer of the Canadian Press. "I'll miss it."

Wickenheiser ends her playing career with four gold medals and one silver from the Winter Olympics, along with seven gold medals and six silvers from the Women's World Championships.

She also ranks first in goals (18) and points (51) in all-time Olympic scoring across all nations, as well as first in points (86) at the World Championships.

Wickenheiser spent time playing men's professional hockey in Sweden and Finland, and trained with NHL players in the offseason.

"Her record speaks for itself winning so many gold medals, but in years to come, the biggest memory will be how she inspired so many girls to play the game," said Bob Nicholson, CEO of Oilers Entertainment Group and former president of Hockey Canada.

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

Washington capitalized early and quickly.

Hosting the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday, the Capitals scored two goals in quick succession, with the first coming off the stick of Jay Beagle.

Meanwhile, Nicklas Backstrom is on fire, scoring in his third consecutive game only 13 seconds later.

The burst of offense marked the Capitals' fastest back-to-back goals this season.

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

John Tortorella has mellowed in recent years, but he can still channel his old self when the moment is right.

Such was the case Friday night, when the Columbus Blue Jackets head coach and former Tampa Bay Lightning bench boss opened his remarks ahead of Martin St. Louis' jersey retirement ceremony with a classic one-liner.

"I need to make something perfectly clear, and I want his kids to know this too," Tortorella said. "Marty was a pain in the ass to coach."

The quotable coach wasn't done there.

Both men were critical cogs in the Lightning's Stanley Cup championship squad in 2004, and Tortorella coached St. Louis for seven of the forward's 13 seasons in Tampa Bay.

"He is a man who has been told 'no' so many times in his career," Tortorella added Friday night. "I just have so much respect for him in how he did it."

St. Louis' No. 26 will be the first number to ever be retired by the Lightning.

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