Blue Jackets tie franchise record for wins

BLUE JACKETS MATCH FRANCHISE RECORD FOR WINS IN A SEASON

* Sergei Bobrovsky (29 saves) saw his personal shutout streak end at 182:19, the second-longest run by a goaltender in franchise history ( Steve Mason: 199:19 from Dec. 23, 2008 - Jan. 2, 2009). Bobrovsky earned his fourth consecutive victory to improve to 36-13-4 in 2016-17 (2.07 GAA, .930 SV%, 6 SO), extending his career high and franchise record for wins in a season.
* Zach Werenski had an assist to establish a franchise record for points in a season by a rookie (9-31-40), besting the previous mark set by Rick Nash in 2002-03 (17-22-39).

FRIDAY'S RESULTS

Home Team in Caps
COLUMBUS 4, Buffalo 3
DETROIT 4, Chicago 2
Minnesota 7, FLORIDA 4
ST. LOUIS 4, Anaheim 3
Pittsburgh 3, EDMONTON 2 (SO)

WILD RALLY TO PAD LEAD ATOP WESTERN CONFERENCE

Facing a 4-3 deficit in the third period, the Minnesota Wild scored four unanswered goals to improve to 43-17-6 (92 points) and open a three-point lead atop the Western Conference and Central Division.
* Devan Dubnyk entered the game at the start of the third period and made 11 saves to improve to 36-14-3 (2.03 GAA, .932 SV%, 5 SO). His 36 wins match his career high from 2014-15 and are one shy of the franchise record for most in a season, set by Niklas Backstrom in 2008-09 (37-24-8).
* Eric Staal (2-1-3) had his fourth three-point game of the season to reach the 20-goal mark for the 10th time in his NHL career.

PENGUINS, BLUES EXTEND WIN STREAKS

The Pittsburgh Penguins (42-16-8, 92 points) and St. Louis Blues (34-27-5, 73 points) won their games to extend their respective win streaks and maintain their grip on playoff positions:
* Phil Kessel scored the decisive goal in the shootout to give the Penguins their fourth consecutive win, keeping pace with the Blue Jackets in the Metropolitan Division. Marc-Andre Fleury (40 saves) earned the 374th win of his NHL career to tie John Vanbiesbrouck for 15th on the all-time list. Fleury also ranks third in NHL history with 53 shootout wins, trailing only Ryan Miller (57) and Henrik Lundqvist (56).
* Joel Edmundsonscored the first game-winning goal of his NHL career with 19 seconds remaining in regulation to give the Blues their third consecutive win, maintaining their grip on the second wild card berth into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference. The Elias Sports Bureau notes that Edmundson became the first Blues player to score a game-winning goal with 19 seconds or less remaining in regulation since Doug Weight (59:58) on March 27, 2003 vs. the Florida Panthers (2-1 W).

DID YOU KNOW?

Blues forward Vladimir Tarasenko (1-1-2) scored 12 seconds into the game to reach the 30-goal mark for the third consecutive season. He's the first St. Louis player to do so since Keith Tkachuk from 2001-02 to 2003-04.

LOOSE PUCKS

Tomas Tatar (2-1-3) and Gustav Nyquist (0-3-3) each had three points to help the Detroit Red Wings end the Chicago Blackhawks franchise-record road win streak at eight games. … Blackhawks teammates Duncan Keith (900) and Andrew Desjardins (400) each skated in milestone games. … Calgary Flames forward Johnny Gaudreau and Los Angeles Kings defenseman Jake Muzzin were fined $2,000 as supplementary discipline under NHL Rule 64 (Diving/Embellishment). … The Blues honored fans Collin Fenton and Jared Grzywacz in a pregame ceremony for rescuing an 88-year-old woman from a burning home on Sunday night. … A statue of NHL legend Gordie Howe was unveiled outside the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto as part of opening ceremonies unveiling a new NHL Centennial Exhibit.

#

SNEAK PEEK AT SATURDAY'S ACTION

All Times Eastern
Philadelphia @ Boston, 1 p.m., SN360, NHLN, NESN, CSN-PH
Nashville @ San Jose, 4 p.m., SN, CSN-CA, FS-TN
Ottawa @ Colorado, 7 p.m., CITY, TVA Sports, ALT
Calgary @ Winnipeg, 7 p.m., SN
Columbus @ Buffalo, 7 p.m., MSG-B, FS-O
Florida @ Tampa Bay, 7 p.m., SUN, FS-F
Toronto @ Carolina, 7 p.m., CBC, FS-CR
New Jersey @ Arizona, 8 p.m., FS-A PLUS, MSG
NY Islanders @ St. Louis, 8 p.m., NHLN, FS-MW, MSG+
Pittsburgh @ Vancouver, 10 p.m., CBC, SN, ROOT
Washington @ Los Angeles, 10:30 p.m., FS-W, CSN-DC+

#

FLAMES, SENATORS AIM TO EXTEND STREAKS ON HOCKEY NIGHT IN CANADA

Four of the 11 games on Saturday will be part of Hockey Night in Canada, highlighted by the Flames (37-26-4, 78 points) and Ottawa Senators (38-22-6, 82 points) aiming to extend their respective win streaks. Calgary looks for its ninth consecutive win when it visits the Winnipeg Jets (30-32-6, 66 points), and Ottawa goes for its sixth straight win when it faces the Colorado Avalanche (19-44-3, 41 points) in Denver. Also, the Toronto Maple Leafs (30-22-14, 74 points) visit the Carolina Hurricanes (27-27-10, 64 points) at PNC Arena, while the Vancouver Canucks (28-30-9, 65 points) host the Pittsburgh Penguins (42-16-8, 92 points) at Rogers Place.