The Tampa Bay Lightning have firm control of first place in the Atlantic Division, while the Calgary Flames are still fighting for the top spot in the Western Conference and Pacific Division. Although. the Lightning did the Flames no favors on Tuesday night with a 6-3 win at Amalie Arena. Nikita Kucherov extended his NHL points lead with four points, including a goal and three assists in the win. Brayden Point added a goal and two assists in the Lightning's 42nd win of the season. With his big night Kucherov now has 88 points, including seven over his last two games. This comes after going two games without a point, which is a rare occurrence for the star player.
Within those 88 points are a career-high 63 assists, as he also overcame a recent 10-game goal drought in a 5-2 win over the Florida Panthers on Sunday night. Point has also racked up the points this season and now has 72 on the season, making him and Kucherov the second pair of Lightning teammates with 70 points in the team's first 57 games. Martin St. Louis and Vincent Lecavalier did it for them in the 2006-2007 season. The Lightning will will host the Dallas Stars on Thursday night, while the Flames will look to chase down the San Jose Sharks, and hope to help that process when they visit the Florida Panthers on Thursday.
Elsewhere in the East, the Columbus Blue Jackets continued their recent surge by taking care of business themselves against the team that they're chasing in the division. Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 20 shots, including 13 in the third period, to lead the Blue Jackets to a 3-0 shutout of the Washington Capitals. Nick Foligno scored a game-clincher in the third period, while Artemi Panarin added an empty-netter in the final seconds at Nationwide Arena. The win for the Blue Jackets was Bobrovsky's 27th-career shutout, despite him reportedly being on his way out after refusing to re-sign with the team.
The win for Columbus is their fourth in a row, as they now sit just two points behind the Capitals for second place in the Metropolitan Division. They took advantage of a Capitals team playing on the second night of a back-to-back, as they were coming off a win over the Los Angeles Kings on Monday night. Braden Holtby did have 29 saves in a losing effort, but the Capitals failed on all four power play opportunities, three of which came in the first period. Washington will kick off a six-game road trip on Thursday when they visit the San Jose Sharks. The Blue Jackets will do battle with the first-place New York Islanders that same night.
The hottest team in the NHL may end up being the surprise of the season if they can keep it up, and that's the St. Louis Blues. They are looking to dig their way from the basement of the Central Division, and a seven-game winning streak sure won't hurt that process. They continued their run on Tuesday night with an 8-3 blowout of the New Jersey Devils. Alex Pietrangelo and Ivan Barbashev each scored twice, as the Blues scored three goals in each of the first two periods, and at least two in all three. Pietrangelo and Barbashev each finished with three points at the Scottrade Center, as the Blues took advantage of a Devils team that is in last place in the Metropolitan Division.
Jordan Binnington made 20 saves between the pipes to extend his personal winning streak to six games, becoming the second goalie in Blues history with a winning streak of at least six games. He joins Brent Johnson, who did it for them in the 2000-2001 season. Ryan O'Reilly and Tyler Bozak each had a goal and an assist for the Blues, who are 11-2-1 in their last 14 games. They now have 61 points on the season, which is just two points behind the Dallas Stars for the third divisional spot in the Central. They will look to stay hot on Thursday night when they pay a visit to the Arizona Coyotes. The Devils will hit the road that same night against the Chicago Blackhawks, who just saw their seven-game winning streak come to an end on Tuesday with a 6-3 loss to the Boston Bruins.
Within those 88 points are a career-high 63 assists, as he also overcame a recent 10-game goal drought in a 5-2 win over the Florida Panthers on Sunday night. Point has also racked up the points this season and now has 72 on the season, making him and Kucherov the second pair of Lightning teammates with 70 points in the team's first 57 games. Martin St. Louis and Vincent Lecavalier did it for them in the 2006-2007 season. The Lightning will will host the Dallas Stars on Thursday night, while the Flames will look to chase down the San Jose Sharks, and hope to help that process when they visit the Florida Panthers on Thursday.
Elsewhere in the East, the Columbus Blue Jackets continued their recent surge by taking care of business themselves against the team that they're chasing in the division. Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 20 shots, including 13 in the third period, to lead the Blue Jackets to a 3-0 shutout of the Washington Capitals. Nick Foligno scored a game-clincher in the third period, while Artemi Panarin added an empty-netter in the final seconds at Nationwide Arena. The win for the Blue Jackets was Bobrovsky's 27th-career shutout, despite him reportedly being on his way out after refusing to re-sign with the team.
The win for Columbus is their fourth in a row, as they now sit just two points behind the Capitals for second place in the Metropolitan Division. They took advantage of a Capitals team playing on the second night of a back-to-back, as they were coming off a win over the Los Angeles Kings on Monday night. Braden Holtby did have 29 saves in a losing effort, but the Capitals failed on all four power play opportunities, three of which came in the first period. Washington will kick off a six-game road trip on Thursday when they visit the San Jose Sharks. The Blue Jackets will do battle with the first-place New York Islanders that same night.
The hottest team in the NHL may end up being the surprise of the season if they can keep it up, and that's the St. Louis Blues. They are looking to dig their way from the basement of the Central Division, and a seven-game winning streak sure won't hurt that process. They continued their run on Tuesday night with an 8-3 blowout of the New Jersey Devils. Alex Pietrangelo and Ivan Barbashev each scored twice, as the Blues scored three goals in each of the first two periods, and at least two in all three. Pietrangelo and Barbashev each finished with three points at the Scottrade Center, as the Blues took advantage of a Devils team that is in last place in the Metropolitan Division.
Jordan Binnington made 20 saves between the pipes to extend his personal winning streak to six games, becoming the second goalie in Blues history with a winning streak of at least six games. He joins Brent Johnson, who did it for them in the 2000-2001 season. Ryan O'Reilly and Tyler Bozak each had a goal and an assist for the Blues, who are 11-2-1 in their last 14 games. They now have 61 points on the season, which is just two points behind the Dallas Stars for the third divisional spot in the Central. They will look to stay hot on Thursday night when they pay a visit to the Arizona Coyotes. The Devils will hit the road that same night against the Chicago Blackhawks, who just saw their seven-game winning streak come to an end on Tuesday with a 6-3 loss to the Boston Bruins.
