Facts and Figures: NHL ties single-day mark for OT games

The NHL tied its single-day record for most overtime games Thursday, when eight of the 14 games on the schedule were decided after regulation.

It was the third time in NHL history eight games went into overtime on the same day. The record was set on Feb. 22, 2007 and matched on Nov. 27, 2015. In each case, eight of the 12 games on the schedule went into OT.
Six of the eight games that went past regulation Thursday ended in the five-minute overtime period, one shy of the highest single-day total in NHL history, set on March 27, 2004.
Two of the eight games that went into overtime did so because the home team scored a game-tying goal in the final minute of the third period. Buffalo Sabres forward Jeff Skinner scored with 56 seconds remaining against the Carolina Hurricanes and Philadelphia Flyers forward Jakub Voracek scored with 18 seconds left against the Los Angeles Kings. Two visiting teams tied the game with goals late in the third period: Colorado Avalanche forward Colin Wilson scored with 2:07 remaining against the Washington Capitals and center Elias Pettersson of the Vancouver Canucks scored with 1:52 remaining against the Chicago Blackhawks.

In all four of those instances, however, the team that tied the game lost in overtime.
There have been 27 game-tying goals in the final minute of regulation this season. Including Thursday, teams that scored to tie the game are 13-0-14. There have been 85 games that saw a team tie the score in the final 5:00 of regulation; those teams are 36-4-43 (two teams did it twice in the same game before losing in overtime).

Rookies continue to excel

Goalie Jordan Binnington made 32 saves before Brayden Schenn scored at 4:01 of overtime to give the St. Louis Blues a 1-0 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning at Amalie Arena. Binnington is 8-1-1 in his first 10 NHL starts; he is the 31st goalie in NHL history to win at least eight games in his first 10 career starts and the first since Andrew Hammond was 9-0-1 with the Ottawa Senators in 2014-15. The Blues (25-22-5) moved past the Canucks into the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference.
Miro Heiskanen scored the 10th goal of his season for the Dallas Stars in a 3-2 overtime loss to the Nashville Predators at Bridgestone Arena. The 19-year-old is the third rookie defenseman in Stars/Minnesota North Stars history to reach double figures in goals; the others were John Klingberg (11 in 2014-15 and Brad Maxwell in 1977-78. Heiskanen reached double figures in his 54th NHL game; the only teenage defensemen to do it faster were Phil Housley (45 games played), Bobby Orr (48), Zach Bogosian (48) and Larry Murphy (49).

Pettersson's goal was his 25th of the season. He is the 11th player in NHL history to score at least 25 goals in 44 or fewer games before turning 21. Washington Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin is the all-time leader with 32 goals in his first 44 games, one more than Richard Martin of the Buffalo Sabres. Pettersson matched the totals of Hall of Famers Wayne Gretzky and Dale Hawerchuk, as well as teammate Brock Boeser.

DeBrincat, Kane extend streaks, help Blackhawks win sixth straight

Forward Alex DeBrincat scored two goals and forward Patrick Kane had an assist for the Chicago Blackhawks in their 4-3 overtime victory against Canucks at United Center. The victory was the sixth in a row for the Blackhawks (22-24-9), the longest active streak in the NHL. Chicago trails the Blues by two points for the second wild card in the Western Conference.
Kane's assist on DeBrincat's goal at 17:59 of the first period extended his assist and point streaks to 12 and 13 games, respectively. Kane is the sixth player in the NHL this season to have a point streak of at least 13 games, and his assist streak trails only Stan Mikita (14 games from Nov. 26-Dec. 25, 1967) for the longest in Blackhawks history. Kane also tied Hurricanes center Sebastian Aho for the longest assist streak in the NHL this season.
DeBrincat extended his point streak to seven games, dating to Jan. 17. He is the fourth player in Blackhawks history with multiple point streaks of at least seven games in the same season prior to his 22nd birthday (also Oct. 4-20, 2018).

Price, Kotkaniemi help Canadiens stay hot

Goalie Carey Price made 32 saves and 18-year-old rookie forward Jesperi Kotkaniemi scored a goal for the fourth straight game for the Montreal Canadiens (31-18-6) in a 5-2 win against the Winnipeg Jets at Bell Centre that moved them into third place in the Atlantic Division.

Price won his seventh straight decision since to Jan. 12, becoming the fourth goalie in Canadiens history with at least five seven-game winning streaks; the others are Jacques Plante, Ken Dryden and Michel Larocque. Two active goalie have longer such streaks; Marc-Andre Fleury of the Vegas Golden Knights (eight) and Sergei Bobrovsky of the Columbus Blue Jackets (six).
Kotkaniemi (18 years, 216 days) became the 13th different 18-year-old player in NHL history to score a goal in at least four consecutive games. He's the fifth since 2001-02, joining Sean Monahan (2013-14), Jordan Staal (2006-07), Sidney Crosby (twice in 2005-06) and Ilya Kovalchuk (twice in 2001-02).
All 10 of Kotkaniemi's NHL goals have come at Bell Centre. He is one of six players to score each of his first 10 NHL goals at home, and the third to do so with at least some of those goals coming with the Canadiens, joining forward Bobby Sheehan (13 goals; eight with Canadiens, five with the California Golden Seals) and defenseman Sheldon Souray (11 goals; four with the New Jersey Devils, seven with the Canadiens).

McDavid second to 80-point mark

Center Connor McDavid became the second player in the NHL to reach 80 points this season when he had two assists for the Edmonton Oilers in a 4-1 win against the Minnesota Wild at Xcel Energy Center. McDavid, the two-time defending NHL scoring champion, has 31 goals and 49 assists; he is one point behind Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov, who leads the NHL in scoring with 81 points (22 goals, 59 assists).
Kucherov (Feb. 22, 2018) and McDavid (March 5, 2018; tied) were also the first and second players to reach 80 points last season. It's the seventh time in NHL history the same two players have been the first and second, respectively, to reach 80 points in consecutive seasons. The others: Phil Esposito and Bobby Orr (1969-70 and 1970-71, as well as 1973-74 and 1974-75); Guy Lafleur and Bryan Trottier (1977-78 and 1978-79); Wayne Gretzky and Jari Kurri (1983-84 and 1984-85); Jaromir Jagr and Mario Lemieux (1995-96 and 1996-97); and Alex Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin (2007-08 and 2008-09).

Burns powers surging Sharks past Flames

Brent Burns had a goal and two assists for the San Jose Sharks in a 5-2 win against the Calgary Flames at Scotiabank Saddledome. The Sharks (32-16-7) moved within two points of the Flames (34-15-5) for first place in the Pacific Division and the Western Conference.

Burns leads all defensemen in scoring with 61 points (11 goals, 50 assists) in 55 games. He is averaging 1.11 points per game, putting him on pace to become the first NHL defenseman to have a 90-point season since Ray Bourque of the Boston Bruins in 1993-94 (91 points; 20 goals, 71 assists in 72 games). Burns, San Jose's leading scorer, became the seventh defenseman in NHL history with 50 assists in 55 or fewer games, and the first since Sergei Zubov with the New York Rangers in 1993-94.
Burns and center Joe Thornton assisted on forward Evander Kane's goal at 12:39 of the first period that tied the score 1-1. The point was the 1,000th for Thornton since joining the Sharks from the Bruins in a trade on Nov. 30, 2005. Only longtime teammate Patrick Marleau (1,082) has more points in San Jose history. The assist was the 1,047th of Thornton's NHL career; he's two short of tying Gordie Howe for ninth place in League history.