Around the League notebook for Friday, Feb. 27

WARD HONORED IN RALEIGH

The Carolina Hurricanes honored goaltender Cam Ward in a pregame ceremony for playing in the 500th game of his NHL career, on Feb. 24 against the Philadelphia Flyers. Ward’s family, NHL Senior Vice President of Hockey Operations Jim Gregory and Hurricanes General Manager Ron Francis participated in the ceremony honoring Ward, who became the 64th goaltender in NHL history to play at least 500 games and just the fourth active netminder to appear in 500 with one team. Ward is the franchise’s all-time leader in games played (500), wins (240), shutouts (22) and saves (13,156) among Carolina and Hartford goaltenders.

FRIDAY’S RESULTS

Home Team in Caps

Boston 3, NEW JERSEY 2 (OT)

NY ISLANDERS 2, Calgary 1

CAROLINA 3, Washington 0

TAMPA BAY 4, Chicago 0

Colorado 5, DALLAS 4 (SO)

ANAHEIM 4, Los Angeles 2

ANAHEIM RALLIES FOR FREEWAY FACEOFF WIN

Facing a 2-0 deficit at the outset of the third period, the Anaheim Ducks scored four unanswered goals to defeat the Los Angeles Kings 4-2. The Ducks have won four of their last five games (4-1-0) and improved to 39-17-7 (85 points) overall, which extended their Pacific Division lead.

* Anaheim has won seven of its past eight regular-season games against Los Angeles, dating to a 4-0-1 season series win in 2013-14.

* Corey Perry (2-0—2) capped Anaheim’s rally with two goals; it's his sixth multiple-goal game of the season. The first also stood as the second game-winning goal of the season for Perry, who leads the Ducks in goals with 26.

* Ryan Kesler (1-1—2) scored his 16th goal and added his 23rd assist to post his ninth multiple-point performance of the season. Kesler is third on the club in points with 39 (16-23—39).

* In his ninth consecutive start, John Gibson made 20 saves to improve to 7-5-0 with a 2.63 goals-against average and a .914 save percentage. Gibson has won four of his last five decisions (4-1-0).

ISLANDERS DEFEAT FLAMES, TAKE FIRST IN METROPOLITAN

Jaroslav Halak made 26 saves to backstop the New York Islanders to a 2-1 victory against the Calgary Flames at a sold-out Nassau Coliseum. The Islanders, who swept their season series against the Flames (2-0-0), improved to 41-20-2 (84 points) and leapfrogged the idle New York Rangers for sole possession of first place in the Metropolitan Division standings.

* Halak stopped all but one of 27 shots he faced to improve his career-high record to 33-13-0 this season with a 2.46 goals-against average and a .911 save percentage. Halak stopped a penalty-shot attempt by Calgary’s Michael Ferland in the first period.

* With his 33rd win of the season, Halak set a franchise single-season record for victories by a goaltender. Halak broke a tie with Billy Smith, Chris Osgood and Rick DiPietro, who shared the previous record of 32.

* Cal Clutterbuck (1-0—1) scored his sixth goal of the season, into an empty net. It was the third game-winning goal of the season for Clutterbuck, tying a career-high set during the 2010-11 season as a member of the Minnesota Wild.

* John Tavares (0-1—1) had his team-leading 35th assist of the season and has 13 points (5-8—13) in his past eight games.

BOSTON’S SPOONER NETS FIRST CAREER GOAL IN OVERTIME VERSUS NEW JERSEY

Ryan Spooner (1-0—1) scored the first goal of his NHL career at 2:46 of overtime to lift the Boston Bruins to a 3-2 victory against the New Jersey Devils. The Bruins, who occupy the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference, improved to 30-22-9 (69 points) and moved four points ahead of the idle Florida Panthers.

* According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Spooner is the first Bruins player to score the first goal of his NHL career in overtime since Steve Heinze did it in a 4-3 win against the Buffalo Sabres on March 28, 1992.

* David Pastrnak (1-1—2) scored his seventh goal and added his sixth assist to post his third multipoint performance of the season.

* Niklas Svedberg made 29 saves through regulation and overtime to improve to 6-5-0 with a 2.39 goals-against average and a .917 save percentage. Five of Svedberg’s seven career wins have been earned in games that went past regulation, including four of his six victories this season.

* The Bruins swept their season series against the Devils (3-0-0). Boston is 15-3-0 in its past 18 games against New Jersey and 5-1-0 in its past six games at Prudential Center.

First goal & first star for Spooner as #NHLBruins beat Devils in OT. #BOSvsNJD infographic pres. by @NationalGridUS. pic.twitter.com/eFiB3chkQd

— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) February 28, 2015

AVALANCHE INCH CLOSER TO WILD CARD SPOT WITH IMPORTANT WIN OVER STARS

Ryan O’Reilly (0-1—1) scored the shootout winner to propel the Colorado Avalanche to a 5-4 victory against the Dallas Stars. The Avalanche improved to 27-24-11 (65 points) and moved within six points of the idle Minnesota Wild, who occupy the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference with a record of 32-22-7 (71 points).

* The Avalanche swept the season series with the Stars (5-0-0) for the first time since the franchise relocated to Denver. Prior to the relocation, the Quebec Nordiques swept the season series against the Minnesota North Stars in the 1984-85 season (3-0-0) and against Dallas in the 1993-94 season (2-0-0).

* Nate Guenin (1-2—3) scored his second goal and had two assists for the first three-point performance of his career. Tyson Barrie (1-2—3) scored his 10th goal and had two assists in his fourth three-point game of the season.

* Gabriel Landeskog (1-1—2) scored his 16th goal and added his 24th assist to record his eighth multiple-point game of the season.

* Matt Duchene (0-2—2) posted his third multiple-assist game of the season and extended his point streak to three games (1-3—4). O’Reilly had his 26th assist of the season and extended his season-high point streak to four games (0-5—5).

* Jarome Iginla (1-0—1) scored his team-leading 19th goal. With 1,209 career points (579-630—1,209), Iginla tied Bernie Nicholls for 44th on the NHL’s all-time list. Iginla also skated in the 1,372nd game of his career, tying Teppo Numminen for 43rd on the NHL’s all-time games played list.

* In his 18th straight start, Semyon Varlamov made 32 saves through 65 minutes and stopped all three shooters in the shootout to improve to 19-16-7 with a 2.68 goals-against average and a .917 save percentage. Varlamov improved to 5-3 in shootouts; he has stopped 21 of 30 shots (.700).

* Varlamov’s 18 consecutive starts represent the second-longest streak by an Avalanche goaltender since the franchise relocated to Denver; the longest streak is 23 straight by Craig Anderson in the 2009-10 season. The franchise record is 26 consecutive starts by Ron Tugnutt of the Quebec Nordiques in 1990-91. The game was also the 193rd of Varlamov’s Avalanche career, allowing him to pass Mario Gosselin for sole possession of fourth on the franchise’s all-time games played list among goaltenders.

TAMPA BAY, CAROLINA EARN SHUTOUT VICTORIES

Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Ben Bishop and Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Anton Khudobin each stopped all 28 shots he faced to backstop their respective clubs to a 4-0 win over the Chicago Blackhawks and a 3-0 win over the Washington Capitals.

* The Lightning improved to 38-19-6 (82 points) and moved within three points of the idle Montreal Canadians, who lead the Atlantic Division with a record of 40-16-5 (85 points).

* Bishop made 28 saves for his second shutout of the season and the 10th of his career. Bishop has won four consecutive games and improved to 31-10-3 with a 2.36 goals-against average and a .914 save percentage.

* Steven Stamkos (2-0—2) scored an even-strength goal and had his team-leading 10th power-play goal to post his sixth multiple-goal performance of the season. Stamkos has scored six times in his past seven games (6-1—7) and leads the Lightning in goals with 34. The performance also extended Stamkos’ point streak against the Blackhawks to six games (8-6—14).

* Jason Garrison (0-2—2) posted his second multi-assist performance of the season.

* Ryan Callahan (1-0—1) scored his eighth power-play goal of the season. Tampa Bay improved to 20-2-0 when Callahan scores a goal, dating to last season when he was acquired from the New York Rangers at the NHL Trade Deadline.

* Brian Boyle (1-0—1) opened the scoring in the second period with his 13th goal of the season; it was his fourth game-winning goal.

* The Lightning have won four consecutive home games against the Blackhawks.

* Khudobin made 28 saves for his first shutout of the season and the fourth of his career. Khudobin improved to 7-11-3 with a 2.60 goals-against average and a .906 save percentage.

* Andrej Nestrasil (0-2—2) posted his second multi-assist performance this season.

* Jeff Skinner (1-0—1) scored his 16th goal of the season and has found the back of the net in three consecutive games (3-0—3) for the second time this season. He has scored six times in his past eight games, which includes his first three-game goal streak of the season from Feb. 12-16 (3-0—3).

* Brett Bellemore (1-0—1) opened the scoring with his first goal of the season; it was the first game-winning goal of his career.

LOOSE PUCKS

Boston forward Daniel Paille (1-0—1) scored his third goal of the season. Two of the three have come during his past two games (2-0—2). ... Boston forward Loui Eriksson (0-1—1) extended his point streak to three games (1-2—3), which tied his season-high. ... New Jersey forward Jordin Tootoo (1-0—1) extended his point streak to a career-high five games (2-3—5). Tootoo eclipsed his previous-best streak of four games from Nov. 23-28, 2009 (0-4—4) as a member of the Nashville Predators. ... New Jersey forward Mike Cammalleri (0-1—1) extended his point streak to five games (5-2—7), which matched a season-high. ... New Jersey defensemen Mark Fraser (200) and Jon Merrill (100) each skated in milestone games. ... Tampa Bay forward Valtteri Filppula (0-1—1) and defenseman Victor Hedman (0-1—1) extended their point streaks to three games. Each is 0-3—3 in their respective streaks. ... Dallas forward Cody Eakin (2-1—3) had his second three-point performance of the season. ... Dallas forward Jason Spezza (1-0—1) extended his point streak to three games (3-1—4). ... Los Angeles defenseman Brayden McNabb (1-0—1) scored the second goal of his NHL career and his first as a member of the Kings. His first goal was on Dec. 26, 2011, as a member of the Buffalo Sabres. ... Los Angeles coach Darryl Sutter was behind the bench for the 1,100th game of his NHL career. ... The Chicago Blackhawks acquired defenseman Kimmo Timonen from the Philadelphia Flyers for a second-round pick in the 2015 NHL Draft and a conditional fourth-round pick in the 2016 draft. ... San Jose Sharks forward Logan Couture has been fined $5,000, the maximum allowable under the Collective Bargaining Agreement, for slew-footing Detroit Red Wings defenseman Brendan Smith.