Rasmus Dahlin, the No. 1 pick in the 2018 NHL Draft, was one of four Buffalo Sabres defensemen to contribute offensively in a 5-4 victory against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday.
Dahlin and Zach Bogosian each had two assists, and Rasmus Ristolainen and Jake McCabe each had one to help the Sabres, with 56 points (25-18-6) and move within two points of the Pittsburgh Penguins (26-17-6) for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference.
Dahlin has 28 points (five goals, 23 assists) in 49 games; his two assists against Columbus moved him past Vancouver Canucks forward Elias Pettersson for the most among rookies this season. Dahlin also moved past Hockey Hall of Famer Ray Bourque for the sixth-most points in NHL history by an 18-year-old defenseman. He’s one behind Aaron Ekblad for fifth place and three shy of Jim Benning and Doug Bodger, who are tied for third with 31. Bobby Orr (38) is a distant second to the all-time leader, Phil Housley, who is Dahlin’s coach. Housley had 57 points before turning 19.
Scheifele becomes second member of Jets to reach 60 points
Mark Scheifele had two assists for the Winnipeg Jets in a 4-3 shootout win against the Boston Bruins at TD Garden (link to ), becoming the second Jets player to reach 60 points this season. Scheifele, who has 61 points (25 goals, 36 assists) joined linemate Blake Wheeler, who has 62 points (nine goals, 53 assists) to become the second set of teammates in Jets/Atlanta Thrashers history with at least 60 points within the team’s first 50 games of a season. It’s the first time that’s happened since 2005-06, when three Atlanta players (Ilya Kovalchuk, Marc Savard and Marian Hossa) did it.
Video: WPG@BOS: Hellebuyck denies Marchand to win shootout
The original Winnipeg Jets (now the Arizona Coyotes) had multiple players each with at least 60 points within the first 50 team games of a season in 1983-84 (Lucien DeBlois and Dale Hawerchuk) and 1984-85 (Hawerchuk and Paul MacLean).
Flyers top Rangers, extend winning streak to five games
Anthony Stolarz made 38 saves in his first NHL game since Dec. 15 and Oskar Lindblom scored 1:40 into the first period to help the Philadelphia Flyers to their fifth straight victory, 1-0 against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden. Philadelphia’s five-game winning streak is the longest active run in the NHL.
Video: PHI@NYR: Lindblom lifts loose puck to open scoring
Stolarz, coming off a lower-body injury, became the seventh goaltender in Flyers history to have a regular-season shutout against the Rangers at Madison Square Garden, and the first since Steve Mason, who defeated the Rangers 2-0 on Jan. 25, 2017.
Lightning visit Penguins on ‘Wednesday Night Hockey’
The Tampa Bay Lightning, who lead the NHL with 76 points (37-10-2), play their first game since Jan. 19 when they visit the Penguins at PPG Paints Arena in this week’s “Wednesday Night Hockey” game (8 p.m. ET; NBCSN, SN, TVAS). Tampa Bay is coming off its mandatory five-day break before 2019 Honda NHL All-Star Weekend.
The Lightning lead the NHL with 196 goals scored (4.00 per game) and are 3-0 in shootouts. They can become the first team to reach the 200-goal mark in a season in 50 or fewer games since 2005-06, when the Ottawa Senators scored goal No. 200 in their 48th game.
Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov, who leads the NHL with 78 points (22 goals, 56 assists) in 49 games, is two points shy of becoming the first player to 80 this season. He can set a Lightning record for fewest personal games required to reach the 80-point mark in a season; the current mark is 60, held by Vincent Lecavalier in 2006-07.
from A Viral Update http://bit.ly/2BacXAG
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