Five Minute Major

*Photo from TheScore*     It was a win that the Winnipeg Jets absolutely needed to have, and they worked hard to get it. Evgeny Svechnikov scored, Kyle Connor scored two goals, and the Jets rallied to defeat the Arizona Coyotes with a 5-3 win on Sunday afternoon in Glendale.     The win comes as the Jets snap a 4 game losing streak, with an 0-3-1 record in that time. The Jets have really been skidding in the second half of the season, and there were concerns about whether it was the coaching staff or the players who were more to blame. The Jets showed resolve in this one, trailing 3-2 entering the 3rd period before rattling off 3 unanswered goals.    Connor said of the mentality in the locker room that "We didn't point fingers, blame each other, we really came together there, and we had a good push. Obviously, the way we've been playing, things weren't going the right way, but we came in here really focused."    An interesting quirk of t...

*Photo from the San Diego Union Tribune*     The scene was incredible, the night was perfect, now, we just need to find a winner. We found one. Brayden Point scored, Steven Stamkos had a goal and two assists, and the Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the Nashville Predators with a 3-2 win at Nissan Stadium on Saturday night.    It was the first outdoor game to be played in Nashville in league history, with the stadium series serving as the first. It was new for both teams as well. It was the Predators second outdoor game, after playing in the 2020 winter classic against the Dallas Stars. It was Tampa Bay's first in history, and they were able to win it thanks to 3 points from Stamkos.    The crowd was the 7th largest in NHL history, in their 34th outdoor game since 2003. With the win, the Lightning improved to 34-11-6 on the season, sitting in second place in the Atlantic Division, and have now won 4 straight games. Nikita Kucherov's goal and assist was the only...

*Photo from the St. Louis Post Dispatch*     If this year has proven anything, it's that this is Jordan Kyrou's breakout year. Kyrou scored two goals, Jake Walman scored, and the St. Louis Blues defeated the Buffalo Sabres with a 5-3 victory on Friday night in St. Louis.    Since the calendar turned to 2022, the Blues have been on a tear. In their most recent winning streak, they've now won 3 straight games, including a 5-0-1 stretch in their last 6 games, good for a 6 game point streak. The Blues record improves to 31-14-6 on the season with the win, sitting in second place in the Central Division.    Blues head coach Craig Berube said that "The energy was low yesterday I thought, and today a little bit. That fed off into the game. It's pretty normal I would say after a long road trip like that and come home. They know it's one game, then we're back on the road trip again. Guys are a little edgy, which is OK. They found a way to fight through it and win a ...

*Photo from the Seattle Times*     On a night honoring the best goalie in team history, it was only fitting that his heir apparent helped get the win. Phillip Tomasino scored, Mikael Granlund scored, and the Nashville Predators defeated the Dallas Stars with a 2-1 win in a shootout on Thursday night in Nashville.    After a 4 game losing streak dropped the Predators to 4th place in the Central Division, they have returned a bit back to form, with two straight wins. The Predators record improves to 30-18-4 this season, still in 4th place in the Central, but they are gaining some momentum.    Before the game began, the Predators retired the number 35 worn by Pekka Rinne, who strutted his stuff in Nashville for 15 years. Rinne is in possession of most of the important team history goalie records, and helped lead the Predators on a Stanley Cup run, making the finals to end the 2016-2017 season, before losing to the Pittsburgh Penguins in 6 games. It was a perfe...

*Photo from the Orange County Register*     One team that's been catching fire lately, and one team that's outright terrible. Yet, it ended up being a close game. Viktor Arvidsson scored two goals, Blake Lizotte scored, and the Los Angeles Kings rallied to defeat the Arizona Coyotes with a 3-2 win on Wednesday night in Arizona.    After beating the Coyotes 5-3 on February 19, the Kings came out 4 days later and did the same thing, picking up another win. They've now won 3 straight games, have a 7-0-2 record in their last 9 road games, and have a 7-1-2 record in their previous 10 games, improving to 27-17-7 this season, sitting in 3rd place in the Pacific Division.    With an assist on one of Arvidsson's goals, Phillip Danault increased his current point streak to 5 games. In those 5 games, he has two goals and 4 assists. A fast paced second period saw the first 3 goals of the game come within a span of 1:10, before tapering off significantly.    A...

*Photo from Jackets Cannon*     It may have taken a while, but trading for Patrik Laine is finally paying off for the Columbus Blue Jackets. Laine scored two goals, Brendan Gaunce scored, and the Blue Jackets defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs with a 4-3 overtime win on Tuesday night in Columbus.    Laine has been on a serious heater lately. He has a 10 game point streak going, with goals aplenty coming in that time. He's finally looking like the goal scoring dynamo the Jackets wanted when they got him last season, after a bit of a rocky start to his tenure in Columbus. It's the second longest point streak in his career, short of 15 that he had with the Winnipeg Jets.    Recently, Laine's energy has been rubbing off the whole team as well. The Jackets have now won 3 straight games, and have also won 6 of their last 7 games. Columbus captain Boone Jenner has a 4 game point streak in this recent success, and Zach Werenski is close to becoming the highest scorin...

*Photo from NESN*     The key for David Pastrnak was just to get one in the net. Get one he did. Pastrnak scored two goals, Jake Debrusk scored, and the Boston Bruins defeated the Colorado Avalanche with a 5-1 win in Boston on Monday afternoon.     Pastrnak said after the game that "Sometimes you just need to get one to kind of flush whatever happened before. I felt good going into the game, I love afternoon games. The goal the other day helped me. I had been fighting it lately, so it's a good bounce back."    After having not scored in 4 games, Pastrnak has now scored 3 goals in his last two games, including the OT winner on Saturday against the Ottawa Senators. Pastrnak also contributed an assist for a 3 point night, and linemate Taylor Hall had a 3 assist game for the Bruins, who are 3-1-1 in their last 5 games, their only two losses coming to the New York Rangers and New York Islanders.    Bruins captain Patrice Bergeron also ha...

*Photo from the Las Vegas Review-Journal*     Now, I don't normally do multiple game recaps, but I feel that the situation today requires it. There were some really good stories, from Andrew Hammond and the Canadiens to this game. That's why I'm doing two game recaps, so give this one a read too.    Jack Eichel needed this. The Vegas Golden Knights needed this. Now, all that is behind them. Eichel scored, Max Pacioretty scored, and the Golden Knights defeated the San Jose Sharks with a 4-1 win on Sunday night in San Jose.    In his 3rd game with the Golden Knights after a trade and recovery from artificial disk replacement surgery, Eichel scored his first goal in the new threads, and it was also his first goal in over a year, with his last coming on January 28, 2021, with the Buffalo Sabres. His goal helped Vegas snap what had become a 3 game losing streak.    Vegas head coach Pete Deboer said that "It just takes a little bit of pressure off him....

*Photo from Sportsnet*     It had been almost 4 years coming for Andrew Hammond, and he sure made the most of it. Jeff Petry scored, Rem Pitlick scored the winning goal, and the Montreal Canadiens defeated the New York Islanders with a 3-2 shootout win on Sunday afternoon.    Due to injuries to Carey Price and Jake Allen, combined with a struggling Cayden Primeau and Sam Montembeault, the Canadiens acquired Hammond in a trade with the Minnesota Wild, with Hammond playing for the AHL Iowa Wild. It was Hammond's first NHL start in nearly 4 years, his last start coming on April 22, 2018, which was a 5-0 loss to the Nashville Predators in game 6 of the first round.    Postgame, Hammond said that "If I wouldn't have been preparing for this moment over the last four years, and then I get it, I'd be living with a lot of regret. That's the only way I know how to approach it. If it had never happened, it'd be what it is, but obviously I'm very happy it did." ...

*Photo from Yahoo! Sports*     Maybe a new face behind the bench was what the Edmonton Oilers needed. Zach Hyman scored, Connor McDavid contributed a goal and two assists, and the Oilers defeated the Winnipeg Jets with a 4-2 win on Saturday afternoon in Winnipeg.    The 3 points for McDavid gives him 71 on the season, leading the NHL in overall points scored, two ahead of teammate Leon Draisaitl. This was also the 5th straight win for the Oilers, all under new head coach Jay Woodcroft. They've catapulted into 3rd place in the Pacific Division, thanks to a power play that has been working again, and got them on the board tonight.    Oilers D-Man and power play quarterback Tyson Barrie said of the PP that "We've been fighting it a little bit on the power play. If you watch us over the last few years, we make plays off of shots and getting pucks back. That's where Connor, Leon and Nuge, those guys go to work. Trying to establish a shot and be a threat up top o...

*Photo from Sportsnet*     This was no ordinary game, they can't always be high scoring. This was a goaltending exhibition. Jason Robertson scored in the shootout, Jacob Peterson scored the winner, and the Dallas Stars defeated the Chicago Blackhawks with a 1-0 shootout victory on Friday night in Chicago.    This game was an exhibition of goaltending and defense, the game remained in a 0-0 stalemate all the way through regulation and overtime. In the shootout, 3 combined players scored, with Dallas ending up on top. Because the goals were allowed during a shootout, they do not count against a goalie's GAA or save percentage, so this game was a rare double shutout, with both goalies not allowing anything.    With the win, the Stars have now picked up two straight wins, and have won 4 of their last 5 as well, jumping to a 27-19-12 record, holding 5th place in a tight central division. The shootout went 6 rounds in total, with Peterson getting a little slick t...

*Photo from the San Diego Union Tribune*     What's a better way to finish off an exciting game with overtime? Quinn Hughes scored, JT Miller scored the overtime winner, and the Vancouver Canucks rallied to defeat the San Jose Sharks with a 5-4 win in overtime on Thursday night in San Jose.    Hughes had a two point night in his first game since being activated from the league's Covid-19 protocols, and Miller had a goal and an assist for a two point night as well. The Canucks have now won two of their last 3 games, but they still face an uphill climb in the tightly contested Pacific Division, as they remain in 6th place.    Canucks head coach Bruce Boudreau said postgame that "To give it up with less than a second left was pretty upsetting, but we got the two points. I don't know if we deserved it, but sometimes those are the games you need to get a jump-start."    Getting the start and keeping the Canucks going was Thatcher Demko, who p...

*Photo from Fox News*     You can just keep on calling them the comeback cats, because they just keep coming back. Sam Reinhart scored, Aaron Ekblad tallied the winner, and the Florida Panthers rallied to defeat the Carolina Hurricanes 3-2 in overtime on Wednesday night in Raleigh.    Playing for the first time since a February 1 loss to the New York Rangers, the Panthers played like it early on. But they consistently got better as the game progressed, outshooting the Hurricanes 22-8 in the final two periods, tying the game with less than a minute left in regulation, and scoring quickly into overtime to complete a comeback.    Panthers head coach Andrew Brunette said that "Coming off that break, it was a grinding game and we were very ready to grind. We probably didn't have our best game with the puck, but I thought we did a lot of the right things. We defended in packs, we kept them a little bit to the outside and we had energy."    The only...

*Photo from TSN*     With their new guy fresh out of Montreal, the Calgary Flames just kept on rolling. Tyler Toffoli scored, Elias Lindholm had a goal and two assists, and the Flames defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets with a 6-2 win on Tuesday night in Calgary.    This was Toffoli's first game in a Flames uniform, after he was acquired from the Canadiens on Monday, in exchange for some draft picks and a prospect. He scored in his debut, tallying the 6th and final goal of the night for the Flames, coming at the 11:04 mark of the 3rd period.    With the win, the Flames continue, pun intended, riding the heat wave. They have now won 7 straight games, and have won 9 out of their last 10. Additionally, they have also won 7 straight home games. In those 7 games, they have outscored their opponents 35-8 in that time, and they have 3 more games at home in this current homestand.    Making his first home start of the season for the Flames was rookie Dan V...

*Photo from the San Diego Union Tribune*     The old guard that has been aiding the Chicago Blackhawks for years just gave them another win. Patrick Kane had a goal and an assist, Alex DeBrincat scored, and the Blackhawks defeated the Winnipeg Jets with a 3-1 win on Monday night in Winnipeg.    With the win, the Blackhawks close out a 3 game road trip with a 2-1-0 record, improving to 18-24-7 on the season. In addition to a two point night from Kane and the game winning goal from DeBrincat, Kirby Dach finished with a two assist night, assisting on Kane and DeBrincat's goals.    After the game, DeBrincat said that "I think their 'D' were far back in their zone and I had a lot of space. So they had to gap up, and I felt like I had the lane to shoot. I guess I put it where I wanted it. I was lucky it went in. Getting four out of six points on the road is not bad. Going home I think we can capitalize on the homestand and hopefully get a lot more ...

*Photo from the Denver Post*     Before the super bowl got underway on Sunday, there was some matinee hockey to be played, including one game (enters into song) deep in the heart of Texas. Gabe Landeskog scored two goals, Nazem Kadri scored, and the Colorado Avalanche defeated the Dallas Stars with a 4-0 win on Sunday afternoon.    The Avalanche have been a completely different team since mid December, morphing into a completely unstoppable team. They've increased their point streak to 19 games with this shutout, and have not lost in regulation since December 16 against the Nashville Predators. With his goal, Kadri set a new career best with 62 points this season.    Asked about that new record, Kadri said "It's in the back of your mind. You're mindful to it, but it's not something I focus on too much. I just feel like I'm in a zone right now, and the best way to continue that is to just to stay focused and not get too far ahead of yourself."   ...

*Photo from MLive.com*     One of the reasons for the Detroit Red Wings having a successful season as the rebuild nears an end is Moritz Seider. Safe to say he has continued to live up to the billing. Seider scored, Tyler Bertuzzi scored, and the Red Wings defeated the Philadelphia Flyers with a 4-2 win in Detroit on Saturday night.    With the win, the Red Wings have now swept a home and home series with the Flyers, as they had beaten them in Philadelphia by a 6-3 score on Wednesday. The Red Wings get over .500 with the win, with their record now at 22-21-6, 5th place in the Atlantic Division. Besides Seider, Dylan Larkin led the way with a 3 assist performance.    Getting the start after a long stint in Covid-19 protocols was goalie Thomas Greiss. He hadn't played since January 9, and had been in protocols since January 17. Greiss had a great first start back, saving 32 of 34 shots, posting a .941 save percentage. His record improved to 7-7-1 in 16 starts...

*Photo from the Copper and Blue*     So far, the Jay Woodcroft era is off to a good start in Edmonton. Cody Ceci scored, Zach Hyman scored, and the Edmonton Oilers bounced back with a 3-1 victory against the New York Islanders on Friday night at home.     With head coach Dave Tippett and assistant coach Jim Playfair being fired early Friday morning by the Oilers, Woodcroft got promoted to head coach after 4 seasons as head coach for their AHL affiliate in Bakersfield. This win helps snap a two game skid for the Oilers, who lost by a combined 8-1 score.    Woodcroft said of the game that "I enjoyed the way the game was played today. I thought our players really played hard for each other. Mike Smith really turned in an 'A' performance, it allowed us a chance to work our way into the game. I thought we got better as the game went on tonight, and what I really liked to see, when the game was on the line in the third period, we valued hard plays and t...