Facts and Figures: Lightning win 50th game, tie NHL record

With
a 5-1 victory
against the Ottawa Senators at Amalie Arena on Saturday, the Tampa Bay Lightning tied the NHL record for fastest to 50 wins in a season, doing so in their 66th game.

The Lightning (50-12-4), who lead the NHL with 104 points, tied the Detroit Red Wings from 1995-96, and accomplished the feat in one fewer game than the Montreal Canadiens (1976-77) and Boston Bruins (1970-71), who each reached 50 wins in their 67th game.
Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov had a goal and an assist Saturday and leads the NHL with 106 points (31 goals, 75 assists). He is two points shy of tying the Lightning record for points in a season (108), set by Vincent Lecavalier in 2006-07 when he scored 52 goals and had 56 assists.
Kucherov is trying to become the second Lightning player to win the Art Ross Trophy as the League's leading scorer. Martin St. Louis did so twice, in 2003-04 and 2012-13.

The 40-goal club

Edmonton Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl scored his 40th goal in
a 4-0 win
against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena.
Draisaitl is the third player with 40 goals this season. Washington Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin leads the NHL with 45 goals, and Chicago Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane also has 40.
The last time three or more players reached 40 goals through games played on March 2 was 2007-08 when Ovechkin (49), Ilya Kovalchuk (42) and Jarome Iginla (40) each had that many.
Draisaitl, who has an NHL career-high 81 points (40 goals, 41 assists), is the first Oilers player to score 40 goals in 65 games or fewer since Jimmy Carson did so in 55 games during the 1988-89 season.

Winning in the desert

The Arizona Coyotes won their sixth straight game,
a 3-1 victory
against the Detroit Red Wings at Gila River Arena.
It is the longest current winning streak in the NHL and the longest for the Coyotes since they won six consecutive games Feb. 16 - 28, 2012. That 2011-12 season marked the most recent time the Coyotes participated in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Arizona (32-28-5) is one point behind the Minnesota Wild for the second wild card into the playoffs from the Western Conference.

Rask, Bruins extend point streaks

Boston Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask made 20 saves in
a 1-0 victory
against the New Jersey Devils at TD Garden on Saturday.
Rask, who has allowed two goals in his past three starts, extended his personal point streak to 17 games (14-0-3) since Dec. 29.
The Bruins (39-17-9) are second in the Atlantic Division, three points ahead of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Boston is 12-0-4 in its past 16 games, marking the second consecutive season it has a point streak of at least 16 games (14-0-4, Dec. 16, 2017-Jan. 25, 2018).