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Around the NHL notebook for Wednesday, March 18

Thursday, 03.19.2015 / 2:25 AM / News

By NHL Public Relations

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Around the NHL notebook for Wednesday, March 18
Around the National Hockey League notebook for Wednesday, March 18, 2015.

WEDNESDAY'S RESULTS

Home Team in Caps

Chicago 1, NY RANGERS 0

Columbus 4, EDMONTON 3 (SO)

ANAHEIM 3, Los Angeles 2 (OT)

DUCKS STAGE (ANOTHER) FREEWAY FACEOFF RALLY, MOVE INTO FIRST PLACE

Trailing 1-0 at the outset of the third period, the Anaheim Ducks pulled ahead 2-1 before surrendering a late goal to the Los Angeles Kings. But Ryan Kesler tallied the game-winner 45 seconds into overtime to give Anaheim the win in the fifth and final installment of the Freeway Faceoff (ANA: 4-0-1, LAK: 1-1-3).

* The Ducks (45-20-7, 97 points) reached 45 wins for the fifth time in franchise history and tied the St. Louis Blues for the most victories in the NHL. The Ducks also leapfrogged three clubs into first place in the NHL standings.

* The Ducks overcame a deficit at any point in the third period in all four of their wins against the Kings this season. They lead the League with 12 wins when trailing after two periods (12-20-0) and hold an NHL-best .375 winning percentage in those scenarios; the Calgary Flames rank second with 10 such wins, and the Detroit Red Wings are second with a .346 winning percentage.

* Kesler scored his second overtime goal with the Ducks (72 GP), each against a Pacific Division opponent (also Dec. 22 vs. the San Jose Sharks, a 3-2 win). He had three overtime tallies in 655 career games with the Vancouver Canucks. Overall, he has 29 career game-winning goals (four this season).

* The goal also was the 200th of Kesler's career, making him the 11th active U.S.-born player to reach the milestone. He ranks third on the Ducks with 18-27—45 this season, including 5-2—7 in five games against the Kings.

* Patrick Maroon got the Ducks on the board 45 seconds in into the third period. Jakob Silfverberg added his 12th goal of the season; he has 3-5—8 in his last eight games.

* John Gibson denied 29 shots, including 16 in the third period, to pick up his third straight win and improve to 12-6-0 in 19 appearances (2.48 GAA, .920 SV%).

DARLING, RICHARDS STEAL SPOTLIGHT ON BROADWAY

Scott Darling stopped all 25 shots he faced and Brad Richards scored the lone goal at 7:19 of the third period to give the Chicago Blackhawks a 1-0 victory against the New York Rangers. It was Chicago's their fourth straight win and seventh straight game with a point (6-0-1).

* At 43-21-6 (92 points), the Blackhawks pulled within three points of the idle St. Louis Blues (45-20-5, 95 points) for the top spot in the Central Division. The teams meet twice more this season, on April 5 at Chicago and April 9 at St. Louis.

* Darling earned his first career shutout and improved to 7-3-0 with a 1.96 goals-against average and .936 in 10 NHL appearances. He and fellow rookie Antti Raanta (Oct. 21 vs. the Philadelphia Flyers and Dec. 21 vs. the Toronto Maple Leafs) have combined for three of the club's five shutouts this season (Corey Crawford: 2).

* The Elias Sports Bureau says this is the third time in franchise history that the Blackhawks have multiple rookie goaltenders with a shutout in the same season. The first time was in 1967-68 when Dave Dryden and Jack Norris each earned one; Michael Leighton (2) and Craig Anderson did it in 2003-04.

* The Blackhawks shut out the Rangers for the first time since Oct. 22, 1997, when Chris Terreri made 31 saves and Eric Daze scored the lone goal at Madison Square Garden. Elias says the last rookie goaltender to post his first NHL shutout in the building for any opposing team was Richard Bachman (Dec. 13, 2011, with the Dallas Stars, also 1-0).

* Richards scored his third game-winning goal of the season and second in his last four games (also March 12 at the Arizona Coyotes), matching his total from his last two seasons (128 GP with the Rangers).

* Richards compiled 29-55—84 in 105 regular-season games at Madison Square Garden during his time with the Rangers (2011-12 to 2013-14), but registered just his third goal and ninth point in the building as a visitor (3-6—9, 17 GP).

BLUE JACKETS SNAP SKID IN EDMONTON

After opening a 2-0 lead, the Columbus Blue Jackets surrendered three straight goals to the Edmonton Oilers before Mark Letestu tied the game at 10:09 of the third period and Alexander Wennberg scored the game-deciding goal in the shootout.

* The Blue Jackets improved to 4-1-0 in their last five games, including two shootout decisions against the Oilers. Wennberg's only other shootout goal also clinched Columbus' 5-4 win against Edmonton on Friday at Nationwide Arena.

* The Blue Jackets won their third straight game against the Oilers and picked up their first win at Rexall Place since Jan. 7, 2010, halting a six-game skid in Edmonton.

* Curtis McElhinney made a career-high 44 saves, including 19 in the third period and overtime, to halt a personal six-game skid (0-5-1) and pick up his career-high 11th victory of the season.

* Ryan Johansen scored in regulation and also improved to 5-for-9 (55.6%) in shootout attempts this season. He has 23-36—59 in 2014-15, four points shy of his career high set last season (33-30—63, 82 GP). He trails only Nick Foligno (25-37—62) for the team lead in both goals and points.

* Letestu snapped an 18-game goal drought with his first tally since Feb. 7 at the Ottawa Senators. David Savard added the other regulation goal, while Scott Hartnell stretched his point streak to five games (5-1—6).

LOOSE PUCKS

The Kings (34-22-14, 82 points) earned one point to move into sole possession of third place in the Pacific Division, one point ahead of the idle Calgary Flames (38-27-5, 81 points). . . . Despite the loss, the Rangers extended a franchise record by allowing one goal or fewer in regulation for an eighth consecutive game. Elias says the last NHL team to do that was the Stars from March 13-28, 2001. . . . Nail Yakupov (1-1—2) of the Oilers picked up his 12th career multi-point effort and third this season. . . . Oilers forward Jordan Eberle extended his point streak to six games (4-8—12), equaling a career-high and matching the longest stretch by an Edmonton player this season. Eberle has 7-9—16 in 14 career games against the Blue Jackets. . . . Edmonton's Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored his team-leading 20th goal, reaching the milestone for the first time in his NHL career. He also hit the 50-point mark for the third time. He is second on the club this season behind Eberle (19-37—56). . . . Jeff Carter and Justin Williams scored goals for the Kings. . . . Blue Jackets forward Artem Anisimov played in his 400th NHL game. . . . The Department of Player Safety suspended Maple Leafs forward Nazem Kadri for four games for an illegal check to the head against Oilers forward Matt Fraser.

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