In the match in which the Montreal Canadiens beat the Philadelphia Flyers 4-1 at home, the place in the play-off battles was secured by the Boston Bruins. The Montreal club celebrated their third straight victory, handing their opponents their third loss in three games.
The home team scored two goals at the end of the game by throwing the puck into an empty net. Mike Matheson stood out with three assists, while Joel Armia and Nick Suzuki scored two (1+1) points each. In goal, Caden Primo saved 29 guest shots.
The scoring streak of home offensive leader Nathan McKinnon ended in the Colorado Avalanche’s 2-3 shootout loss at home to the New York Rangers.
McKinnon had at least one point in his last 19 games and 35 home games since the start of the season. During this time, he collected 77 (29+48) efficiency points.
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The streak is the second longest behind Wayne Gretzky’s 1988/1989 Los Angeles Kings. reached in the season when he had a 40 game streak.
Igor Shestjorkin saved 39 shots in the winning goal, including five by McKinnon.
In the most productive match of the day, the Arizona Coyotes beat the Nashville Predators 8-4 at home, ending their opponents’ 19-game streak of at least one point in the standings.
Logan Cooley had his first hat-trick in the league, and Clayton Keller had four (1+3) assists. In addition, Keller scored all four points in less than nine minutes in the second period.
Connor Ingram made 33 saves in the winning goal
Roman Jozi collected three assists in his 900th game in the league for “Predators”, while Jason Zakers scored two goals.
In the goal, Jūse Saros saved 21 of 27 shots, Kevin Lankinen, who replaced him, made all 11 shots, but two pucks flew into the visitors’ empty net.
After Thursday’s games, five teams have secured a Stanley Cup berth – the New York Rangers, Carolina Hurricanes, Boston Bruins and Florida Panthers in the Eastern Conference and the Dallas Stars in the Western Conference.
In another match, the Florida Panthers, without defenseman Uvja Balinsky, who was sent to the American Hockey League’s Charlotte Checkers, lost 3-4 at home to the Boston Bruins, but secured a place in the Stanley Cup.
The Panthers are fourth in the Eastern Conference with 97 points in 73 games.
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