Five Minute Major

*Photo from Boston Hockey Now*     The accomplishments just keep on coming for this bunch. Tyler Bertuzzi scored, David Pastrnak scored the winning goal, and the Boston Bruins defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets with a 2-1 overtime victory on Thursday night in Boston.    With the win, the Bruins are now 8-2-0 in their last 10 games. They also secured the Presidents Trophy, given to the team with the best regular season record in the league, also guaranteeing home ice advantage for as long as they go in the playoffs. This is the 4th time the Bruins have won the trophy.    Bruins captain Patrice Bergeron said of the achievement that "Of course, you're proud. It's a lot of games, a lot of hard work, and I'm proud of the way we've done it by sticking to our process and growing as a team and learning and really playing for each other. That being said, it's nice, but obviously you have your eyes set on bigger."    Jack Roslovic scored the only ...

*Photo from NHL.com*     It was a win they needed to get, and they did. Sam Reinhart scored the tying goal, Brandon Montour scored the winning goal, and the Florida Panthers rallied to defeat the Toronto Maple Leafs with a 3-2 overtime win on Wednesday night in Toronto.    The Panthers snapped a 4 game losing streak with the win, and move just one point behind the Pittsburgh Penguins for the final wild card spot in the Eastern Conference. Montour and Reinhart each had a goal and an assist for the Panthers, with 4 other skaters recording a point each.    Montour said of his goal that "I don't think we enjoyed or liked our first, but we kept pushing, obviously, and got the big two points. Their defenseman made a pretty good play, Barkov didn't have much room to get it over to me. He's one of the best in the world and makes big-time plays. I was just trying to get to the net and get open for him and luckily he found me."    The only goal of...

*Photo from the Observer-Reporter*     Sometimes games rely on defense. Sometimes they rely on offense. Dylan Larkin had a goal and two assists, David Perron had a hat trick, and the Detroit Red Wings defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins with a 7-4 victory on Tuesday night in Detroit.    Winning just their 4th game out of 10, the Red Wings are all but out of the playoff race, but were able to play spoiler to the Penguins playoff hopes, handing them their 6th loss in 8 games. Moritz Seider, Jordan Oesterle, and Pius Suter each had two assists to go with Perron and Larkin's performances.    Larkin said of playing the Penguins that "We all know the history with the Penguins and the back-to-back Stanley Cup, so it is special to play against them. They are in the position we want to be in next year, so this is very meaningful for our young team."    Jonatan Berggren got the Red Wings on the board, scoring a power play goal to make it 1-0, his 13t...

*Photo from the Bozeman Daily Chronicle*     The defending champions are staying hot at the ideal time. Nathan MacKinnon had a goal and an assist, Cale Makar had two assists, and the Colorado Avalanche defeated the Anaheim Ducks with a 5-1 victory on Monday night in Anaheim.    Colorado has been in the middle of a hot streak for an extended period now. They've won 3 straight, are 9-1-0 in their last 10 games, and have won 6 in a row on the road. Bowen Byram also had a goal and an assist for the Avalanche, who trail the Dallas Stars by one point for first place in the Central Division.    Ducks forward Ryan Strome said of the Avalanche that "You see the way their defense activates, how confident they are out there and how they skate and forecheck. There are a lot of great lessons we can learn from these teams. That's what I take from it, hopefully other guys do too."    The Ducks took a 1-0 lead at the 12:08 mark of the first period, with...

*Photo from the Bozeman Daily Chronicle*     The young kids are starting to play better, even though it's too late to salvage anything. Ethan Bear had two assists, Elias Pettersson scored two goals, and the Vancouver Canucks defeated the Chicago Blackhawks with a 4-2 victory on Sunday night in Chicago.    The win gives Vancouver their 3rd in a row and 8 of 10. They are 34-34-5, so the playoffs are all but forgotten, but it's an encouraging sign nonetheless for the Canucks as they look to avoid a complete rebuild. Brock Boeser, Andrei Kuzmenko, Pettersson, and Bear had two point games for the Canucks.    Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet said after the game that "I wasn't happy with the first, and we came on at the end and obviously got a couple goals. You've got to respect every opponent you play. Listen, I'm happy we won. I just didn't like our start."    Starting the scoring for Chicago was Connor Murphy, who got a shorthanded goal at th...

*Photo from NJ.com*     The rebuild is over, the light at the end of the tunnel has been reached. Nico Hischier had two assists, Jack Hughes had a goal and an assist, and the New Jersey Devils defeated the Ottawa Senators with a 5-3 victory on Saturday in Newark.    Entering the game needing to win to secure a playoff spot, the Devils instead got their ticket punched in the first period when the Florida Panthers lost to the New York Rangers. It's the Devils first playoff spot since 2017-2018, when they were eliminated by the Tampa Bay Lightning in 5 games.    Devils head coach Lindy Ruff said of the accomplishment that "I went into the dressing room after the game and said I'm proud of the work that was put in, proud of where we got to clinch tonight, and to be one of three teams that have an X next to their name. Part one, we set our goal to play meaningful games and to be in the playoffs, so we accomplished that. Part two is to make sure we don't mes...

*Photo from the San Diego Union Tribune*     When you're out of the race yourselves, you can play spoiler. Kent Johnson scored the Michigan goal, Boone Jenner scored the winner, and the Columbus Blue Jackets defeated the New York Islanders with a 5-4 overtime win on Friday night in Columbus.    The Blue Jackets, tied for the worst record in the NHL, have now won two straight games, and took away a point from an Islanders squad that needs all the points they can get in a tight playoff race. Jenner and Johnny Gaudreau had a goal and an assist to go with two assists from Jack Roslovic.    Columbus head coach Brad Larsen said of the win that "The Islanders are in a dogfight for points and the importance of this game for them, it forces you to get engaged. You can’t dip your toe in. I thought we had a real good start to this game. I really loved how we started. Even though we came out down, there were some real good things in that period."   ...

*Photo from NHL.com*     Despite a lost season, there's some success being had on Broad Street. Tyson Foerster scored, James van Riemsdyk scored the game winner, and the Philadelphia Flyers defeated the Minnesota Wild with a 5-4 shootout victory on Thursday night in Philadelphia.    The win gave head coach John Tortorella his 700th win in the NHL, while the Flyers as a team improved to 3-0-1 in their last 4 games and 4-4-2 in their last 10. Tony DeAngelo's two assist game made him the only multi point scorer for the Flyers, while van Riemsdyk also had an assist.    Asked about the team's recent success, Tortorella said that "Pucks are going in for us. We're scoring some goals obviously. When we were losing some games, we weren't playing that bad, we just couldn't find the net. Now pucks have been going for us."    Starting the scoring in the first period for the Flyers was Scott Laughton. He gave them a 1-0 lead 12:58 into the period, assiste...

*Photo from CTV News Edmonton*     The best player in the NHL today just keeps hitting milestones. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored twice, Connor McDavid had two goals to reach a milestone, and the Edmonton Oilers defeated the Arizona Coyotes 4-3 in overtime on Wednesday night in Edmonton.    With the win, the Oilers have now won 5 straight games and 9 of 11, trailing the Los Angeles Kings by two points for second place in the Pacific Division. Nugent-Hopkins and McDavid led the way with two goal games, while Leon Draisaitl assisted on all 4 goals for the Oilers.    Edmonton head coach Jay Woodcroft said "When you look at that game tonight, we gave up 17 shots on net against a team that has lost one time in regulation in their last 10. I think it's important to realize Andre Tourigny and his staff do a heck of a job, his team plays very hard. They played hard tonight. Though we didn't give up a lot, I thought there were some situations we could handle a litt...

*Photo from Davy Jones locker room*     After regulation drama, they held on after all. Brandon Tanev had two goals and an assist, Adam Larsson scored the game winning goal, and the Seattle Kraken held on to beat the Dallas Stars with a 5-4 overtime victory on Tuesday night in Dallas.    The Kraken are now 6-3-1 in their last 10 games, further strengthening their hold on the top wild card spot in the Western Conference. However, two of those losses were to the Stars. After a late game rally, it looked like loss number 3 was in order, but they flipped the script this time around.    Kraken head coach Dave Hakstol said that "We played hard tonight, played hard all the way through the game. There's portions of the game where it was up and down, a little bit of a track meet, which isn't in our favor against that team. At the end of the day, we were able to settle things down well enough. When you give up those two at the end, it can be pretty disappointing, yet...

*Photo from Sportsnet*     Positive and heartwarming stories in the NHL are always fun. Thomas Chabot scored, Dylan Ferguson shined in goal, and the Ottawa Senators defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins with a 2-1 victory on Monday night in Pittsburgh.    Before signing with the Senators, Ferguson had previously played 9 minutes in the Vegas Golden Knights debut season when they had goalie injuries mounting. He bounced around in the minors ever since before the Senators signed him to a two way deal with goalies Cam Talbot and Anton Forsberg injured.    He performed well enough for AHL Belleville to earn a callup to the NHL, where he then proceeded to shut down the Penguins at every turn. Right before the Senators signed him, the AHL's Toronto Marlies were preparing to send him down to the ECHL.    Ferguson said of getting his first NHL win that "It's still sinking in, to be honest. My big focus tonight was just go out there and be me, don't try to...

*Photo from the Bozeman Daily Chronicle*     Don't look now, but Gloria is starting to play more and more again. Nathan Walker scored, Kasperi Kapanen had a goal and an assist, and the St. Louis Blues defeated the Winnipeg Jets with a 3-0 victory on Sunday afternoon in St. Louis.    The Blues have now taken home two straight wins and have 4 wins in their last 6 games. It might be a little late for them to make a playoff push, though. On the scoresheet, Kapanen was the only multi point scorer with his two point game. 5 other skaters registered a point in the win.    Blues head coach Craig Berube said of Kapanen that "I've been happy with him, with his game. He had some good looks in the first period, too. He's been pretty solid all around. Defensively, I said his awareness is good and he plays good 'D.' Offensively, I think he's gaining more confidence as it goes along, to be honest with you."    It was Kapanen who started the scoring for the ...

*Photo from the Santa Maria Times*     After a period of dormancy, the comeback cats are back. Aleksander Barkov had a goal and an assist, Matthew Tkachuk scored two goals, and the Florida Panthers rallied to beat the New Jersey Devils 4-2 on Saturday in Sunrise.    The Panthers now have two wins in a row and are 7-2-1 in their last 10 games. It's that hot streak that has moved them only one point behind the Pittsburgh Penguins for the final wild card spot in the Eastern Conference. Their latest win came on the strength of 4 goals in the 3rd period.    Panthers head coach Paul Maurice said of the rally that "Having come back in a few games lately was in their memory. They knew we could come back. And we deserved that win. They are one of the elite teams in the NHL and you would expect them to control some parts of the game, but overall I thought we were strong."    The first period went scoreless. Nico Hischier broke the ice in the second per...

*Photo from the San Diego Union Tribune*     St. Patrick's day in Toronto didn't disappoint for the fans in the building. Zach Aston-Reese scored twice, Calle Jarnkrok had two assists, and the Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Carolina Hurricanes with a 5-2 victory on Friday night in Toronto.    Wearing their Toronto St. Pats jerseys, the Maple Leafs improved to 4-2-1 in their last 7 games and 6-3-1 in their last 10 games. Jarnkrok and John Tavares each had two assists and Aston-Reese had two goals, the first time he's scored even one goal since October of 2019 with the Pittsburgh Penguins.    Aston-Reese said of his two goal game that "It's always easy to play the rest of the game when you score on your first shift. They were pretty easy goals for me to put in. Gustafsson with a great shot, a great move by him too with that little shimmy at the top to get free, and then Lafferty with a great sauce pass. I was hoping for the third but I'm happy wit...

*Photo from the Los Angeles Times*     Things are heating up in southern California. Carl Grundstrom had a goal and an assist, Drew Doughty scored, and the Los Angeles Kings defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets with a 4-1 victory on Thursday night in Los Angeles.    Los Angeles has now won two games in a row, 7 of their past 8, and are 8-1-1 in their last 10, now 40-20-9 and second place in the Pacific Division. Grundstrom was the only multi point scorer, with 8 other Kings skaters registering a point.    It was Doughty started the scoring for the Kings, making it 1-0 on his 5th goal of the season, assisted by Grundstrom and Rasmus Kupari 4:44 into the second period. Anze Kopitar scored 7:42 into the second, doubling the Kings lead to 2-0 on his 26th goal of the season. Viktor Arvidsson then scored his 19th goal of the season to make the lead 3-0.    Doughty said of his goal that "I used to do that all the time when I was younger. I kind of put...

*Photo from the Connecticut Post*     Well, hello there, desperation rally. Tom Wilson scored the tying goal, TJ Oshie won the game, and the Washington Capitals rallied to defeat the Buffalo Sabres with a 5-4 shootout victory on Wednesday night in Washington.    The win moves Washington 5 points back of the second wild card spot in the Eastern Conference playoff chase, with the Capitals still facing an uphill climb. Oshie and Alex Ovechkin each had a goal and an assist, while Dylan Strome had a two assist game.    Washington head coach Peter Laviolette said after the game that "It was really good. It was a team effort. We need everybody on that rope and pulling things in our direction. There's no question our big guys had some big games."    Ilya Lyubushkin scored 4:49 into the game, giving the Sabres a 1-0 lead on his second goal of the season. At the 8:50 mark of the period, JJ Peterka scored to double the Sabres lead to 2-0. Oshie then sco...

*Photo from the Raleigh News and Observer*     It was a bounce back game like this that was necessary. Brady Skjei had a goal and an assist, Jesperi Kotkaniemi had two goals and an assist, and the Carolina Hurricanes defeated the Winnipeg Jets with a 5-3 victory on Tuesday night in Raleigh.    Playing after news that Andrei Svechnikov will miss the rest of the season with a torn ACL, the Hurricanes got a bounce back win after being shut out in both of their last two games. They moved ahead of the New Jersey Devils for first place in the Metropolitan Division and are 6-4-0 in their last 10 games.    Kotkaniemi said after the game that "The games haven't really gone our way the past couple before this one, and then tough news this morning. So, it was just good to get a win, and a big win for 'Svechy' too. He's a big piece of this team, and we're going to miss him for sure."    Jaccob Slavin scored the only goal of the first period, making it 1-...

*Photo from Mile High Hockey*     This was no regular game, it was an offensive gunshow. Cale Makar had 3 assists, Artturi Lehkonen had two goals and an assist, and the Colorado Avalanche defeated the Montreal Canadiens with an 8-4 victory on Monday night in Montreal.    Makar, Lehkonen, and Valeri Nichushkin each had 3 point games for the Avalanche, with Nichushkin having a goal and two assists. Devon Toevs and Logan O'Connor also had two assists. Unfortunately for Lehkonen, he also broke his finger during the game and will be out long term.    Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar gave an injury update on Lehkonen, saying that "He'll leave tomorrow from Toronto to head back and then follow it up with surgery the next day. I know he got hit with a shot."    Lehkonen got the Avalanche on the board first, scoring 2:59 into the game to make it 1-0 Avalanche. Bowen Byram, Matt Nieto, and Lehkonen scored again for the Avalanche, making it a 4-0 score. Jos...

*Photo from Knights on Ice*     This was a night to remember for a few rookies. Pavel Dorofeyev scored, William Karlsson had a goal and an assist, and the Vegas Golden Knights defeated the St. Louis Blues with a 5-3 victory on Sunday night in St. Louis.    Karlsson, Dorofeyev, and Alex Pietrangelo each had a goal and an assist for the Golden Knights, with Reilly Smith also having a two assist game. Vegas also won their 3rd straight game and 6th out of 7, now with a 3 point cushion on the Los Angeles Kings in the Pacific Division race.    Golden Knights head coach Bruce Cassidy said that "We just kept playing. It was a good goal by them. I don’t look at it as a huge breakdown after breakdown after breakdown. That’s when you get worried. So they made a good play. They can score, but we also know they can give up some goals so we just said let’s just stick with it, get back to work, and we did."    It was Karlsson who got the scoring started, gi...