Five Minute Major

*Photo from Sportsnaut*     It's early March and we already have a ticket punched. Hampus Lindholm scored, Garnet Hathaway scored the winning goal, and the Boston Bruins rallied to defeat the Detroit Red Wings with a 3-2 victory on Saturday afternoon in Boston.    The win gives the Bruins their 50th of the season in 64 games, becoming the fastest team in NHL history to reach that mark. They also officially punched their ticket to the playoffs on Saturday, becoming the first team in the league to do so. It was a bounce back win after their 10 game win streak was snapped.    Hathaway said of the milestone that "Fifty wins is great. And it’s kind of a testament to how hard this team has continued to work throughout the year. But I think guys want 51, you know? Guys are excited to play this team tomorrow already."    Andrew Copp got the Red Wings an early lead, scoring shorthanded just 1:36 into the game to make it 1-0, scoring his 7th goal of th...

*Photo from the Los Angeles Times*     The Mighty Ducks movie taught us to never underestimate the power of a Duck. Max Comtois had a goal and an assist, Derek Grant had an identical line, and the Anaheim Ducks defeated the Calgary Flames with a 3-1 victory on Friday night in Calgary.    With the Flames needing points any way they can get them in the middle of the wild card race, the Ducks came into Calgary and stonewalled them, improving to 5-2-3 in their last 10 games. They also snapped the Flames ongoing 8 game point streak against them.    Comtois said postgame that "It's been such a tough year for our group that I think we just want to win. We don't like the fact that we're at the bottom of the standings. We don't like the fact that it's been like that for the last three, four years. We have a really proud group and a lot of character on this team. We just want to win and whoever's in front of us, we want to beat them."    After a scorel...

*Photo from the Dallas Morning News*     Games like this one are called statements. Jamie Benn had a goal and two assists, Jason Robertson had 3 assists, and the Dallas Stars trounced the Buffalo Sabres with a 10-4 victory on Thursday night in Buffalo.    The Stars picked up their 5th win in 7 games with the 6 goal victory, getting a win to start a 6 game road trip. 16 of the 18 Stars skaters registered at least one point, with Benn and Robertson having 3 point games to go with Evgenii Dadonov posting a goal and an assist.    Benn said of the road trip opening win that "You always want to win the first one. And we've got, obviously, a big road trip here. Some good teams ahead of us. We're going to need guys to step up now that we might have lost one guy. So it's going to be a big trip for us and it's a good start."    Wyatt Johnston got the Stars on the board 7:06 into the game on his 16th goal of the season. Both teams then combined for 3 go...

*Photo from MLive.com*     They needed it big time, and they were rewarded. Lucas Raymond tied the game, Dominik Kubalik scored the winning goal, and the Detroit Red Wings rallied to defeat the Chicago Blackhawks with a 4-3 victory on Wednesday night in Detroit.    Entering the game on a 6 game losing streak, the Red Wings rallied from a 2-0 and 3-2 deficit to pick up the streak snapping win. Alex Chiasson's two assists made him the only Red Wings skater with multiple points as 10 other Red Wings skaters registered one point.    Detroit head coach Derek Lalonde said of the win that "I liked this game a ton. We've talked about not giving up on the season, and tonight was a perfect example of that. We were down 2-0, had an unbelievable second period, then got down 3-2 and still came back."    On the power play 15:51 into the game, Taylor Raddysh scored his 15th goal of the season to give the Blackhawks a 1-0 lead with Lukas Reichel and Andreas ...

*Photo from The Rink Live*     College arena magic is a real thing. Clayton Keller had a goal and two assists, Travis Boyd scored twice, and the Arizona Coyotes defeated the St. Louis Blues with a 6-2 victory on Tuesday night in Tempe.    Keller and Boyd led the Coyotes on the scoreboard, with Nick Schmaltz and Christian Fischer each registering a goal and an assist to go with two assists from Mattias Maccelli and Barrett Hayton. At their temporary home of Mullett Arena, the Coyotes are 15-11-3 this season.    Boyd said of playing at Mullett that "I wouldn't say we really had this kind of home-ice advantage last year. At the end of the day, this is a tough place to come in and play, and I think our record speaks to that. We're excited for the stretch run, and hopefully we can mess up some teams trying to make the playoffs."    Pavel Buchnevich started the scoring, giving the Blues a 1-0 lead just 2:12 into the game on his 19th goal of th...

*Photo from the San Diego Union Tribune*     For this team's sake, hopefully it's a streak starter. Jonathan Huberdeau had two assists, Tyler Toffoli scored the winning goal, and the Calgary Flames defeated the Dallas Stars with a 5-4 victory on Monday night in Dallas.    Entering this showdown with an 0-3-2 record in their last 5 games, the Flames finally got in the win column while chasing a wild card spot. Huberdeau, MacKenzie Weegar, and Nazem Kadri each had two assists in the win, while 5 different players scored goals.    Calgary forward Elias Lindholm said of the win postgame that "We always have to make it a tight game towards the end. It was nice to find a way and get some bounces towards the end. There hasn't been a lot of them this year. Nice to get the two points at the end."    New acquisition Nick Ritchie got the Flames on the board, scoring the only goal of the first period with Huberdeau and Weegar assisting. Nikita Zadorov sc...

*Photo from the Bozeman Daily Chronicle*     The storm surge is starting to pick up steam once again. Jesperi Kotkaniemi had a 5 point game, Teuvo Teravainen had a hat trick, and the Carolina Hurricanes shut out the Tampa Bay Lightning with a 6-0 victory on Sunday in Raleigh.    Kotkaniemi's goal and 4 assists for a 5 point game are a career best. New acquisition Shayne Gostisbehere had a goal and two assists, while Teravainen recorded a hat trick. The Hurricanes have won two in a row, 7 of their last 9, and 14 of their last 17 to remain in first in the Metro Division.    Carolina head coach Rod Brind'Amour said of the large dose of success that "I think it helps the guys feel good about themselves. You want to have some confidence. We've had a lot of games this year where we put a lot of action at the net but didn't score. Especially against these guys, generally, we don't get a lot because their goalie is the difference. So, it's nice to see us get a...