The Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-2. Making his first appearance since January 21st, Sergei Bobrovsky saved 28 out of 31 shots for a .903 save percentage. In the 27 games Bobrovsky has played in, he only has a .911 save percentage. On the other side of the ice, Penguins goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury got the win as he saved 25 out of 27 shots for a .926 save percentage. Also, Fleury reached a huge milestone and joined some pretty elite company. Fleury’s win last night was his 350th of his career, making him only the 20th goalie with 350 NHL career victories.
Carl Hagelin returned to the Pens lineup after suffering an upper-body injury and scored the game-winning goal. The goal was his 26th point of the season and 14th point as a Penguin. Hagelin is getting hot again and now has six points in his last six games. While this might be expected, take a look at Hagelin’s productivity when Evgeni Malkin is and isn’t in the lineup. Hagelin has scored three goals and eight assists in the 12 games where Malkin’s been in the lineup compared to the one goal and two assists in 10 games without Malkin in the lineup. So far, as long as Malkin’s playing, Hagelin has scored at almost a point per game. I bring this up because Malkin was injured last night after being hit in the second period. It isn’t known how long he’ll be out but we’ll keep you updated.
The Philadelphia Flyers continued their recent run of success with a victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning by a score of 3-1. The Flyers are only two points back for the final playoff spot now with a game in hand on the Red Wings. Both goalies didn’t face a lot of action with neither goalie seeing more than 25 shots. Steve Mason collected his 15th win of the season as he stopped 18 out of 19 shots for a .947 save percentage. Ben Bishop didn’t have a great night since he only had a .864 save percentage. Bishop only managed to save 19 out of the 22 total shots.
Sam Gagner opened the scoring when he tallied the Flyers’ first goal on the powerplay in the first period. It was Gagner’s 12th point of his season but his fifth goal in his last nine games. In that stretch, Gagner has also seen a big jump in ice time as he has only played less than 15 minutes once in the past nine games. While Gagner’s been a healthy scratch frequently this year, he is making it very difficult for the Flyers to keep him out of the lineup. I’m not exactly sure what the Flyers might do with Gagner when Jakub Voraceck returns to the lineup but Broad Street Hockey takes a look and does a really good job.
Brayden Schenn scored a goal for the Flyers and extended his point streak to three games. Schenn has been absolutely on fire lately with six goals and six assists in the last 10 games and five goals and five assists in the last seven games. He has already broken his previous career high for goals and is only one point away from breaking his career high in points. At 46 points this season, Schenn only neds one more point to match the 47 points he scored last year. This year, Schenn has seen a little more time with Claude Giroux but what’s helped his production most has been an increase in shots and shooting percentage. Last year, Schenn took 156 shots compared to the 184 he’s on pace for this year. While it’s not a big difference, his shooting percentage is also four points above his career average. Combine both of these factors and Schenn is scoring goals at a much higher pace this season.
The St. Louis Blues beat the Anaheim Ducks 5-2. Jake Allen recorded his fifth straight win for the Blues and finished the night with a .929 save percentage. In Brian Elliott’s absence, Allen has been excellent. In his past five games, Allen has five wins and a .936 save percentage. On the season, Allen now has 22 wins and a .923 save percentage in 40 games. Frederick Andersen had a poor outing and conceded four goals. Out of the 22 shots he faced from the Blues, Andersen only stopped 18 out of them and registered a .818 save percentage. Andersen’s loss breaks his seven game winning streak.
Jori Lehtera scored a goal for the Blues and now has 29 points in 66 games this year. Lehtera has been doing better lately with two goals and three assists in his last seven games but he has still scored at a below average pace this year. For a guy that spends about 45% of his even-strength ice tie with Vladimir Tarasenko, I’d expect a lot more from him. In the total 141 games that Lehtera has played for St. Louis, he has only scored 73 points, a pace that averages out to 42 points over a full season. I find this a little alarming considering that after this year, Lehtera will be making $4.7 million a year for the next three years. Maybe Lehtera can finish the season strong and pad his totals but I wouldn’t count on it.
The Arizona Coyotes beat the Calgary Flames by a score of 4-1. Louis Domingue had a much better outing than in his last game, recording a .960 save percentage. Out of the 25 shots in total that he faced, he stopped 24 of them. Joni Ortio had a below average night since he only saved 22 shots on 25 in total for a .880 save percentage.
Mikael Backlund picked up a short-handed goal in last night’s contest and now has 36 points 68 games this season. Backlund has been heating up as he now has four goals and one assist in the past five games and is looking to set a new career high in points. His current career high is 39 points set two seasons ago but with so many games left to go, Backlund should have no problem reaching 40 points.
The Dallas Stars defeated the Chicago Blackhawks 5-2 in last night’s game. Kari Lehtonen started for the Stars and managed to get the victory as he stopped 21 out of 23 shots. Corey Crawford initially started the game for the Hawks but was pulled halfway into the game. In his relief, Scott Darling came in to replace Crawford and stopped the final 10 shots of the game.
Jason Spezza extended his goal-streak to five games with last night’s goal and assist and has nine points in his last 10 games. With 51 points in 63 games, Spezza is on pace for 66 points, exceeding his point totals from last year. Surprisingly, Spezza has actually relied on Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin less this year. Last year, Spezza scored 15 even-strength points with either one of Benn or Seguin on the ice while this season, Spezza has only scored three with one of them on the ice. Spezza has been doing a lot better in his second season in Dallas and might even hit 70 points if he can keep up his hot run.
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