Five Minute Major

*Photo from the San Diego Union Tribune*     One goal down, time for the next one. Cale Makar had a goal and two assists, Nathan MacKinnon had two goals and two assists, and the Colorado Avalanche defeated the Nashville Predators with a 7-4 victory on Saturday night in Denver.    After two straight losses, the Avalanche picked up a win with a 7 goal showing to secure a playoff spot as they look to get back on top of the hockey world. Makar and MacKinnon paced the Avalanche on the scoresheet as 4 skaters registered multi point games.    Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar said of securing a playoff spot "That's the goal, right? Get in the playoffs and give yourselves a chance. So it just shows the dedication, the hard work that all the guys are putting into every season and trying to keep improving from the season before. Yep, feels good."    Cole Smith gave the Predators a 1-0 lead when he scored 3:41 into the first period. Jonathan Drouin answ...

*Photo from the Buffalo News*     This game turned on its head quick. Alex Tuch had two assists, Tage Thompson had 4 goals, and the Buffalo Sabres defeated the New Jersey Devils with a 5-2 victory on Friday night in Buffalo.    With the Sabres playoff hopes fading, they stayed alive for a little longer with the win, their 6th in 10 games. Tuch extended his point streak to 7 games with his two assist game, but Thompson's natural hat trick and 4 goal game made the difference for the Sabres.    Tuch said after the game that "I don't think we got down on ourselves. I think we just tried to play a little simpler, get our energy up a little bit and it took us a little longer than wanted to. But all in all, I thought it was a good game by us and when we needed him to, beast was keeping them out. And we just tried to capitalize on some of the mistakes."    Max Willman started the scoring in this one, giving the Devils a 1-0 lead on his 3rd goal ...

*Photo from Reuters*     This team will be playing hockey deep into April and maybe even May. Jake Guentzel had two assists, Sebastian Aho had a goal and two assists, and the Carolina Hurricanes defeated the Detroit Red Wings 4-0 on Thursday night in Raleigh.    Needing to win to clinch a playoff spot, the Hurricanes did just that by dispatching the Red Wings in shutout fashion. Aho and Seth Jarvis had the same lines on the scoresheet to go with Guentzel's two point game as the Hurricanes secured their 6th straight playoff berth, all under Rod Brind'Amour.    Brind'Amour, the Hurricanes head coach, said of the feat that "It’s unfortunate it gets overlooked a little because of where we sit. You forget how hard that is to accomplish, and to do that with 8 games left. That’s impressive, and these guys deserve credit for that. It’s a huge accomplishment."    After a scoreless first period, Aho kicked off the scoring in the second period. With ass...

*Photo from The Hockey News*     From the beginning, this one felt over pretty quick. Boris Katchouk had a goal and an assist, Shane Pinto had a goal and 3 assists, and the Ottawa Senators rolled past the Buffalo Sabres with a 6-2 victory Wednesday night in Buffalo.    The Senators won for the 3rd straight time and are 6-4-0 in their last 10 games as they rode a 5 goal first period to a convincing win. Brady Tkachuk, Jakob Chychrun, and Drake Batherson all joined Katchouk with a goal and an assist each while Pinto had a 4 point game.    Senators interim head coach Jacques Martin said of the win that "I thought that we were ready to go. We got some pucks at the net, we got people at the net. Took advantage of our opportunities and, I think, built a nice lead. And then I thought, in the third period, we continued again. Our goaltending was good. Made some key saves. But I thought we shut them down in the third period good."    Artem Zub gave th...

*Photo from the San Diego Union Tribune*     Games aren't over until they're over. Ryan O'Reilly had a goal and two assists, Roman Josi scored the game winning goal, and the Nashville Predators rallied to defeat the Vegas Golden Knights with a 5-4 overtime victory on Tuesday in Nashville.    The Predators picked up their 6th straight win in the process and extended their current point streak to 18 games. This streak is the longest in the NHL this season and 16 of the 18 games ended in wins for the Predators. Their last regulation loss was on February 15.    Josi said of the team's point streak that "There’s a lot of confidence in this room. Like I said before, there’s a lot of trust in our game. We trust ourselves that we can play a really good game. We’re not going to have it every night but I think we showed, especially in the last couple of games, there’s times where we maybe didn’t have it as much but we found a way to get it back. That was the same thi...

*Photo from TheScore*     There's a freight train running through the league, and it's from Florida. Brandon Montour had 3 assists, Sam Reinhart had two goals and an assist, and the Florida Panthers defeated the Philadelphia Flyers with a 4-1 victory on Sunday in Philadelphia.    The Panthers snapped a 4 game losing streak with the win but are still just one point away from a tie for the league lead, currently holding 97 points. Reinhart made history for the Panthers, reaching 50 goals on the season to join Pavel Bure as the only 50 goal scorers in a season in team history.    Reinhart said of his achievement that "It's pretty cool. That's obviously a number I've never really thought about. Certainly, the recipient of being put in some very good positions this year and playing with some very good players. So, it's been fun."    The lone goal of the first period came from Reinhart. He scored his 49th goal of the season 10:34 into the game, ass...

*Photo from the Los Angeles Times*     Game, set, Gavrikov. Anze Kopitar had two assists, Vladislav Gavrikov scored the game winning goal, and the Los Angeles Kings defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-3 in overtime on Saturday night in Los Angeles.    The Kings snapped the Lightning's 5 game win streak with the win, extending their own win streak to 3 games as they maintain 3rd place in the Pacific Division. They also have 5 wins in their last 7 games and are 6-3-1 in their last 10.    Los Angeles defenseman Mikey Anderson said of the winning streak that "In the room, we know what we have and how good we can be if we do it the right way consistently and together. Obviously, if we have things going the right way, we like our chances against anyone. They’ve had a lot of success the last couple years, so they’re a good team to test yourself against. They know how to win, so being able to come out and play that well against them, we’re moving the right way....

*Photo from the Durango Herald*     A heat wave is rolling through Colorado. Mikko Rantanen had two goals and an assist, Nathan MacKinnon had a goal and an assist, and the Colorado Avalanche stomped the Columbus Blue Jackets with a 6-1 win on Friday night in Denver.    Thanks to 9 wins in their last 10 games and an 8 game winning streak, the Avalanche have stormed their way to the top of the Central Division. They got multi point games from Rantanen, Jonathan Drouin, Cale Makar, and MacKinnon, who extended his home point streak to 33 games.    Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar said of MacKinnon that "I love coaching the guy because he brings an intensity and a drive to his game that's like unmatched in my opinion in the League. The streak is a result of all the hard work and dedication that he brings to the game on a nightly basis. There's not a guy on that bench that didn't know he hadn't had a point yet, and then when he got it, everyone was pretty h...

*Photo from The Hockey News*     Things keep humming along in western Canada. Ilya Mikheyev had two assists, Nikita Zadorov scored a pair of goals, and the Vancouver Canucks defeated the Montreal Canadiens with a 4-1 victory on Thursday night in Vancouver.    The Canucks won their second straight game and are 6-1-1 in their last 8 games. They lead the Western Conference in points with 96 and are one point behind the Boston Bruins for the most in the league. Mikheyev and Zadorov paced the Canucks on the scoresheet.    Late in the first period was when the Canucks got the scoring started. Zadorov did the honors, making it 1-0 Canucks on his 5th goal of the season with Mikheyev and Elias Lindholm assisting. Zadorov scored his second goal of the game with 27 seconds left in the first, doubling the lead to 2-0 with help from Mikheyev and Sam Lafferty.    Conor Garland gave the Canucks a 3-0 lead with 1:46 left in the second period, scoring his 15th goa...

*Photo from Spectrum News*     Things are clicking in Texas. Tyler Seguin scored, Jason Robertson had a goal and an assist, and the Dallas Stars defeated the Arizona Coyotes with a 5-2 victory on Wednesday night in Dallas.    The Stars won their second straight game and have wins in 7 of their last 9, sitting in 3rd place in the Central Division. Seguin returned after an 11 game injury absence while Nils Lundkvist had two assists to join Robertson as the team's multi point contributors.    Seguin said of making his return "Great to be back. Had a smile all day, couldn’t nap, it was just a lot of fun. It felt good. Personally, there’s a little rust in certain areas. I think I lost my first three draws, things like that. Definitely a game to build on."    Clayton Keller scored the only goal of the first period with 15 seconds left to make it1-0 Coyotes. Logan Stankoven scored 7:45 into the second for the Stars to tie the game 1-1. Jamie Benn ch...

*Photo from the Los Angeles Times*     Sometimes you just get "goalied." Ryan Hartman had a goal and an assist, Matt Boldy had a pair of assists, and the Minnesota Wild defeated the Anaheim Ducks with a 4-0 shutout victory on Tuesday in Anaheim.    The Wild won for the second time in 6 days against the Ducks, both in shutout fashion after blanking them 2-0 on Thursday. They are 6-2-2 in their last 10 games and are in 5th place in the Central Division. Boldy and Hartman led the team on the scoresheet with their multi point games.    After a scoreless first period, the Wild jumped ahead in the second period. Hartman scored just 35 seconds into the second period, making it a 1-0 game on his 18th goal of the season. Jon Merrill scored 1:21 later for the Wild, doubling the lead to 2-0 with assists from Frederick Gaudreau and Marat Khusnutdinov.    Later in the second period, Kirill Kaprizov netted the 3rd goal of the period for the Wild. He scored...

*Photo from The Hockey News*     More history is being made for the great 8. Alex Ovechkin scored two goals, Dylan Strome had a goal and an assist, and the Washington Capitals defeated the Calgary Flames with a 5-2 victory on Monday night in Calgary.    The Capitals picked up their 3rd straight win and moved into a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Ovechkin's two goals gave him a 20 goal season, the 19th season in a row he's reached 20 goals. He's the 6th player in NHL history to have at least 19 seasons of 20 goals or more.    Strome said of Ovechkin's landmark "That's pretty impressive, I think. It's impressive. He's a world-class player. He's a Hall of Famer. There's not many things that haven't been said about him, but he keeps doing it, even at age 38. It's fun to be a part of, fun to watch."    The first period's only goal came from Strome, who scored his 23rd goal of the season. Ovechkin scored on a power play 5:58 ...

*Photo from Yahoo Sports*     The talent throughout this lineup is evident. Dmitry Orlov had two goals and two assists, Sebastian Aho had 3 assists, and the Carolina Hurricanes rolled over the Ottawa Senators with a 7-2 victory on Sunday in Ottawa.    New acquisitions Jake Guentzel and Evgeny Kuznetsov each had a goal and an assist as the Hurricanes won their 3rd straight game and their 8th of 10. Brendan Lemieux also had a goal and an assist while Aho and Orlov each had big games as well.    Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind'Amour said of Orlov's play that "He's been playing really well. He’s got a pretty heavy shot, and tonight we were able to see that. He’s been coming along. He hasn’t really gotten any breaks, right? Like, he’s had a lot of good opportunities and I think, maybe, hopefully, this kind of springboards him because he has been playing really well."    Orlov started the scoring for the Hurricanes, giving them a 1-0 lead 7:19 into...

*Photo from the San Diego Union Tribune*     Johnny Gaudreau had a goal and two assists, Alex Nylander had two goals and an assist, and the Columbus Blue Jackets defeated the San Jose Sharks with a 4-2 victory on Saturday in Columbus.    The Blue Jackets had lost 4 of their last 5 entering the game and took down the Sharks at home to snap that spiral. Nylander made headlines for the Blue Jackets as he scored twice, giving him 8 goals in 11 games since they acquired him from the Pittsburgh Penguins at the trade deadline.    Blue Jackets head coach Pascal Vincent said of Nylander that "The first time he got here my message to him was, ‘I want to see you compete, I want to see you skate, and when you have a chance, shoot the puck.' What I didn't know was his brain. He has a good brain. He can read the game offensively and defensively. I rely quite a bit on him defensively as well. So, we wanted to give him a chance, and he's taken advantage of it."  ...

*Photo from the Morganton News Herald*     The noise is getting a little louder in western New York. Zach Benson had a goal and two assists, Bowen Byram scored two goals, and the Buffalo Sabres rolled over the Detroit Red Wings with a 7-3 victory on Tuesday night in Buffalo.    Jordan Greenway and Tage Thompson each had two assists to aid the multi point games from Benson and Byram as the Sabres are 7-3-1 in their last 11 games. Though in 6th place in the Atlantic Division, 5 points separate the Sabres from the final playoff spot. Byram has 4 points in 3 games with the Sabres.    Byram said of his early success that "Coming to a new team, you definitely want to help the team win any way you can. If that’s scoring goals, blocking shots or playing physical, good D, whatever it might be, it’s a good feeling to be helping out there. I thought we had a lot of guys that played well tonight and, like I’ve been saying, we’ve got to continue that down the stret...

*Photo from Yahoo Sports*     Alex Iafallo scored, Connor Hellebuyck was stellar in net, and the Winnipeg Jets defeated the Washington Capitals with a 3-0 shutout victory on Monday night in Winnipeg.    The Jets won for the 7th time in 10 games with the shutout, sitting two points behind the Dallas Stars for the top spot in the Central Division. Coming off a shutout loss to the Vancouver Canucks, the Jets rebounded behind Hellebuyck, who reached the 30 win mark for the 5th time in his career with his latest win.    Jets head coach Rick Bowness said of the win "Give the guys credit. They weren’t very happy with our game in Vancouver. They knew they had to bounce back, and they did. It was a solid team effort tonight. That’s what it takes."    Neal Pionk started the scoring for the Jets in this one. He scored the only goal of the first period, giving Winnipeg a 1-0 lead on his 5th goal of the season, assisted by Mason Appleton and Adam Low...

*Photo from AP News*     Sometimes, big risks have big rewards. Joel Eriksson Ek had two assists, Matt Boldy had a 3 point game, and the Minnesota Wild defeated the Nashville Predators in overtime with a 4-3 win on Sunday in Saint Paul.    This was no ordinary overtime win for the Wild. In OT, head coach John Hynes made the move to pull goalie Marc-Andre Fleury for an extra skater. By doing so, the Wild risked the one point they gained by the game going to overtime. If the Predators had scored with Fleury out of the net, the Wild would have gotten zero points instead of one. The gamble paid off for the Wild thanks to Boldy's goal.    Hynes said of his decision that "It's not something that you do all the time, but I think in our position, we want to be aggressive, we want to get two points, we want to continue to fight. We believe in our group and continue to fight to play meaningful games down the stretch and let the chips fall where they may. So, I think ...

*Photo from Yahoo Sports*     There is a little joy in San Jose. Thomas Bordeleau scored a pair of goals, Magnus Chrona stepped up in goal, and the San Jose Sharks defeated the Ottawa Senators with a 2-1 victory on Saturday night in San Jose.    While things are overall pretty tough in San Jose, Chrona got a nice moment for the franchise. He picked up his first NHL win even as the Sharks are mired in a season long slump, going 1-7-2 in their last 10 and are dead last in the Pacific Division with a 16-40-7 record. It was the first win for the Sharks since February 15 when they beat the Calgary Flames.    Starting the scoring in the game was Bordeleau. He provided the only goal of the first period, scoring his 3rd goal of the season 6:24 into the game, giving the Sharks a 1-0 lead with his power play goal, assisted by Mikael Granlund and Fabian Zetterlund.    Ottawa provided an answer in the second period. On the power play 9:18 into the period, Tim...

*Photo from NBC Sports*     Big trades are all the rage right now. The Vegas Golden Knights have acquired C Tomas Hertl along with 3rd round draft picks in 2025 and 2027 from the San Jose Sharks in exchange for forward David Edstrom and a 2025 first round pick, according to TSN's Bob McKenzie. The trade has been confirmed by both teams.    The Sharks are retaining 17 percent of Hertl's salary in the trade. Hertl is currently in year two of an 8 year, $65.1 million contract. With the retained salary, Vegas will pay $6.75 million annually instead of the just over $8 million total AAV. Hertl has a modified no trade clause and no movement clause for the remainder of the contract.    Hertl is in the middle of his 11th season with the Sharks, the only team he's ever played for. He has 15 goals and 19 assists for 34 points, authoring a -26 rating while averaging 20:54 of ice time in 48 games for the Sharks. Hertl is currently recovering from left knee surgery. ...