Facts and Figures: Hart, Flyers dominate at home
Goalie 19-2-2 at Wells Fargo Center; Philadelphia wins ninth straight game
NHL.com @NHLdotcom
Carter Hart and the Philadelphia Flyers continue to make Wells Fargo Center an unhappy place for opponents.
Hart is 19-2-2 in Philadelphia this season after making 38 saves in a 3-1 win against the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday. (His first home win this season was against the Chicago Blackhawks in the Czech Republic at the NHL Global Series on Oct. 4.) The Flyers (41-20-7) won their ninth game in a row that kept them tied for first place in the Metropolitan Division with the Washington Capitals (41-20-7), who won 5-2 at the Pittsburgh Penguins earlier in the day.
The 21-year-old has won his past seven decisions and is 24-12-3 with a 2.43 goals-against average, .913 save percentage and one shutout. He had an eight-game winning streak as a rookie last season and is the first goalie in NHL history with multiple streaks of at least seven consecutive victories at age 21 or younger.
Hart is 8-0-0 in his past eight home games.
Capitals top Penguins, continue road success
Washington won for the 23rd time away from Capital One Arena to keep its share of first place in the Metropolitan Division.
The Capitals are 23-10-2 on the road and tied with the Colorado Avalanche (23-10-2) for the most road wins this season. Washington scored at least five goals in a road game for an NHL-leading 13th time, three more than the Calgary Flames, Florida Panthers and Toronto Maple Leafs (10).
Predators complete home-and-home shutouts of Stars
The Nashville Predators shut out an opponent in both ends of a home-and-home set for the first time since entering the NHL in 1998 when they defeated the Dallas Stars 1-0 at American Airlines Center, two days after a 2-0 victory at Bridgestone Arena.
Nashville is the 11th team in the past 45 years to shut out an opponent in a home-and-home set, and the first since the Minnesota Wild did it against the Flyers on Nov. 11-14, 2017. The Predators (34-26-8) moved into a tie with the Vancouver Canucks (35-26-6) and Winnipeg Jets (35-28-6) for the first wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference.
Juuse Saros made 37 saves for his second shutout in as many games, joining Pekka Rinne (Oct. 24 and Oct. 29) as the second Predators goalie to have consecutive shutouts this season. The Predators are the first team to achieve that feat since the St. Louis Blues in 2015-16 (Jake Allen, two games from Nov. 7-10, 2015; Brian Elliott, three games from March 19-25, 2016).
Koskinen helps Oilers tie for first in Pacific
Mikko Koskinen came up 59 seconds short of a shutout but made 45 saves for the Edmonton Oilers in a 4-1 win against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Rogers Place. The victory moved the Oilers (37-24-8) into a tie with the Vegas Golden Knights (37-24-8) for first in the Pacific Division.
Koskinen, who made 49 saves in a 6-3 victory against the Flyers on Oct. 16, became the sixth goalie in Oilers history to have multiple wins with at least 45 saves. Grant Fuhr has a team-record six such victories.
Kucherov, Lightning keep Bruins from reaching 100 points
Nikita Kucherov became the seventh NHL player to have at least one point in 50 games this season when he scored for the Tampa Bay Lightning in their 5-3 win against the Boston Bruins at TD Garden. The loss prevented the NHL-leading Bruins (43-14-12) from becoming the first team to reach 100 points this season and ended their four-game winning streak.
The Lightning (43-30-5) reached the 90-point mark for the seventh straight season. They trail Boston by seven points in the Atlantic Division and the race for the Presidents' Trophy.
Kucherov, who led the NHL in scoring last season (128 points; 41 goals, 87 assists), is first on the Lightning with 83 points (33 goals, 50 assists) and has at least one point in 29 of Tampa Bay's 32 games since Jan. 1.
Bruins forward David Pastrnak, one of the other six players to have at least one point in 50 games this season, scored his NHL-leading 48th goal. He is two from becoming the sixth different player in Bruins history to score 50 goals and first since Cam Neely in 1993-94.