Around the League notebook for Friday, March 6

FRIDAY’S RESULTS

Home Team in Caps

Columbus 3, NEW JERSEY 2

Minnesota 3, CAROLINA 1

OTTAWA 3, Buffalo 2

Calgary 5, DETROIT 2

CHICAGO 2, Edmonton 1 (SO)

Pittsburgh 5, ANAHEIM 2

PENGUINS DOWN DUCKS, MALKIN MOVES INTO TIE FOR LEAGUE LEAD IN POINTS

The Pittsburgh Penguins built a 4-0 lead en route to a 5-2 victory against the League-leading Anaheim Ducks. Pittsburgh has earned points in eight of its past 10 road games (7-2-1) and improved to 37-18-9 (83 points). The Penguins moved within two points of the idle New York Rangers, who are second in the Metropolitan Division standings with a record of 39-17-7 (85 points).

* Evgeni Malkin (1-1—2) scored his 28th goal and added his 39th assist to record his 18th multi-point game of the season. The performance extended Malkin’s point streak to seven games (7-7—14), the longest active streak in the NHL. With 67 points (28-39—67), Malkin also moved into a tie with Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals (43-24—67), Nicklas Backstrom of the Capitals (18-49—67) and John Tavares of the New York Islanders (31-36—67) for the League lead in points.

* Sidney Crosby (1-1—2) scored his 21st goal and added his team-leading 45th assist to record his 18th multi-point game of the season. The performance also extended Crosby’s point streak against Anaheim to six games (6-4—10).

* Patric Hornqvist (2-0—2) posted his fourth multiple-goal performance of the season. Hornqvist’s second goal also stood as his third game-winner of the season. Blake Comeau (1-1—2) opened the scoring with his 15th goal and added his 13th assist to post his sixth multi-point performance of the season.

* Thomas Greiss made 27 saves to earn his third straight win and improved to 8-3-3 this season with a 2.76 goals-against average and a .908 save percentage.

* Pittsburgh has won four straight games against Anaheim.

MINNESOTA EARNS FIFTH STRAIGHT VICTORY IN WIN OVER CAROLINA

The Minnesota Wild earned a 3-1 victory against the Carolina Hurricanes for their fifth consecutive win. The Wild, who have earned points in 20 of their last 23 games (18-3-2), improved to 36-22-7 (79 points). Minnesota occupies the first wild-card spot in the Western Conference and moved three points ahead of the idle Winnipeg Jets, who hold the second wild-card spot with a record of 32-21-12 (76 points).

* Minnesota has won six straight road games in regulation and has earned points in 12 of its last 13 games away from home (10-1-2). According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the six-game streak is the first time in franchise history that the Wild have won six consecutive road games in regulation. Elias also says that the last time the club won six or more straight games away from home including overtime and shootout victories was from Nov. 13-Dec. 10, 2011, when the Wild won seven consecutive road games.

* In his franchise-record 23rd straight start, Devan Dubnyk made 37 saves to win his fifth consecutive decision. Dubnyk improved to 27-8-3 with a 2.09 goals-against average and a .929 save percentage. Dubnyk ranks second among League goaltenders in GAA and save percentage. Since being acquired by Minnesota on Jan. 14, Dubnyk has posted a record of 18-3-1.

* Mikael Granlund (1-1—2) scored his seventh goal and had his 22nd assist for his eighth multiple-point performance of the season. The game-winning goal was his second of the season, which matched a career-high. Zach Parise (1-1—2) scored his 26th goal and added his 24th assist to record his 13th multi-point game of the season.

* Jason Pominville (0-2—2) posted his seventh multi-assist game of the season.

* Minnesota has earned points in eight of their last 10 games versus Carolina (6-2-2).

OTTAWA RALLIES PAST BUFFALO, HAMMOND’S STRONG PLAY CONTINUES

Facing a 2-0 deficit at the outset of the second period, the Ottawa Senators scored three unanswered goals to defeat the Buffalo Sabres 3-2. Ottawa has points in eight straight games (7-0-1) and improved to 29-23-11 (69 points). The Senators moved within three points of the idle Boston Bruins, who occupy the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference with a record of 31-22-10 (72 points).

* Andrew Hammond made 24 saves to improve to 7-0-1 this season with a 1.43 goals-against average and a .954 save percentage. Hammond has allowed two or fewer goals in each of his eight career starts, which have been made consecutively. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Hammond is just the second goaltender in the last 75 years to allow two or fewer goals in each of his first eight or more career starts; Martin Jones of the Los Angeles Kings also allowed two or fewer goals in the first eight starts of his career from Dec. 3-21, 2013.

* Only three other goaltenders have accomplished the same feat. Frank Brimsek of the Boston Bruins allowed two or fewer goals in the first 12 starts of his career from Nov. 3-Dec. 27, 1938; Clarence Dolson of the Detroit Red Wings allowed two or fewer goals in the first 10 starts of his career from Nov. 15-Dec. 13, 1928, and Tiny Thompson of the Boston Bruins allowed two or fewer goals in the first nine starts of his career from Nov. 15-Dec. 9, 1928.

* Mark Stone (1-1—2) scored his 16th goal and added his 26th assist for his seventh multi-point performance of the season. Stone’s tally also stood as his third game-winning goal of the season. Milan Michalek (0-2—2) recorded his fourth multi-assist game of the season.

* Erik Karlsson (1-0—1) scored his 16th goal of the season 26 seconds into the second period and extended his point streak to four games (2-3—5). Mika Zibanejad (1-0—1) scored his 17th goal of the season, which established a new career-high and extended his career-high point streak to six games (3-3—6).

* Ottawa has won six in a row at home against Buffalo.

HUDLER LEADS FLAMES TO THIRD STRAIGHT VICTORY IN WIN OVER RED WINGS

Jiri Hudler (2-0—2) had his third multiple-goal game of the season, which included the game-winner, to power the Calgary Flames to their third straight win, a 5-2 victory against the Detroit Red Wings. The Flames improved to 36-25-4 (76 points) and tied the idle Vancouver Canucks for second in Pacific Division standings points. Although both clubs own equal ROW tiebreakers (VAN: 32, CGY: 32), the Canucks hold one game in hand over the Flames.

* The performance extended Hudler’s point streak to three games (4-2—6). Hudler’s first tally also stood as his fourth game-winning goal of the season, which matched a career-high.

* Sean Monahan (1-1—2) scored his 24th goal of the season on a power-play and added his 22nd assist to post his 10th multipoint performance of the season. It was the seventh power-play goal of the season for Monahan, who has scored in three straight games (3-1—4).

* Dennis Wideman (0-2—2) had his second consecutive multiple-assist game and his seventh of the season.

* Jonas Hiller made 33 saves to improve to 20-17-3 with a 2.45 goals-against average and a .914 save percentage.

AROUND THE RINKS

Antoine Vermette (shootout winner) of the Chicago Blackhawks and Marko Dano (game winner) of the Columbus Blue Jackets powered their respective clubs to a 2-1 win against the Edmonton Oilers and a 3-2 victory against the New Jersey Devils.

* Chicago has earned points in 11 of its past 14 games (8-3-3) and improved to 39-21-5 (83 points). The Blackhawks moved within two points of the idle St. Louis Blues, who are second in the Central Division with a record of 40-19-5 (85 points).

* Corey Crawford made 46 saves through 65 minutes and stopped all three shooters in the shootout to improve to 26-14-4 with a 2.26 goals-against average and a .922 save percentage. Crawford also improved to 6-2 in shootouts this season; he has stopped 23 of 29 shooters for a .793 save percentage. The 46 saves and 47 shots against established career-highs for Crawford; the totals eclipsed his previous bests of 44 saves and 46 shots against, which were established during the same game on March 11, 2008, a 3-1 loss to the Detroit Red Wings.

* Vermette has converted on five of nine shootout attempts this season, including three game-deciding goals.

* Dano’s tally was his fourth goal of the season and the first game-winning goal of his career.

* Brandon Dubinsky (1-1—2) scored his ninth goal and added his 15th assist to record his seventh multi-point game of the season and extended his point streak to three games (2-2—4). Justin Falk (1-1—2) scored his first goal and added his first assist to post his first multi-point performance of the season.

* Sergei Bobrovsky made 21 saves to improve to 17-16-2 with a 2.86 goals-against average and a .912 save percentage.

LOOSE PUCKS

Columbus forward Nick Foligno (0-1—1) extended his point streak to three games (1-2—3). ... Columbus forward Mark Letestu skated in the 300th game of his NHL career. ... New Jersey defenseman Andy Greene (0-1—1) extended his point streak to a season-high three games (1-2—3). ... New Jersey goaltender Cory Schneider appeared in the 200th game of his NHL career. ... Ottawa forward Bobby Ryan (0-1—1) extended his point streak to three games (2-2—4). ... Buffalo forward Philip Varone (1-1—2) posted his second multi-point performance of the season. ... Buffalo forward Tyler Ennis (1-0—1) scored his 16th goal of the season; it was the 200th point of his NHL career. ... Buffalo goaltender Anders Lindback made 34 saves. ... Calgary forward Mikael Backlund (0-1—1) extended his point streak to four games (1-3—4). ... Detroit forward Justin Abdelkader (2-0—2) recorded his second multiple-goal game of the season and extended his point streak to three games (3-1—4), which tied a season-high. ... Detroit forward Henrik Zetterberg (0-2—2) posted his second consecutive multi-assist performance and his ninth of the season. ... In his second game with the club, Detroit forward Erik Cole (0-2—2) recorded his first multi-assist performance of the season. ... Detroit forward Pavel Datsyuk skated in the 876th game of his NHL career and passed Norm Ullman for sole possession of 10th on the franchise’s all-time games played list. ... Chicago forward Marian Hossa (0-1—1) has seven points (1-6—7) in three games against Edmonton this season. ... Edmonton goaltender Ben Scrivens made 38 saves through 65 minutes and stopped two of three shooters in the shootout. ... Pittsburgh forward Chris Kunitz (0-1—1) recorded an assist while skating in his 400th career game with the Penguins. ... TV play-by-play voice of the Anaheim Ducks John Ahlers was behind the microphone for his 2,000th professional hockey game on Friday night.