The Rangers are in the post-season, the Islanders rebound, the Panthers come up with a franchise record and more.
Here are five things we learned in the NHL on Monday night.
Islanders rebound
When an old-school coach like Jack Capuano calls you out before the media, you listen.
The New York Islanders bench boss called out his team Monday morning ahead of their game against the Tampa Bay Lightning, highlighting three players in particular.
“We need [Ryan] Strome to be better. We need Brock [Nelson] to be better. We need [Josh] Bailey to be better. We need guys to be better if we’re going to have any chance at all,” Capuano said.
“We’ve struggled with a few guys, for sure, about their compete level and their work ethic. It has to be better. There’s no doubt that those guys they have to figure it out at some point…The guys mentioned need to pick their pick their [expletive] up and start playing.”
As New York’s 5-2 win would suggest, Capuano’s message was received.
While Bailey and Strome were kept off the scoresheet, Nelson made his presence known when he went top shelf with a nice backhand to put the Islanders up 3-1 in the second period.
Team captain John Tavares — who challenged his teammates to “look themselves in the mirror and ask themselves how much they want it” after their dismal 5-0 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins Saturday night — backed up his own words Monday.
Tavares scored once and assisted on two goals to help his team rebound and earn a crucial two points in the playoff race.
Tampa netminder Ben Bishop was pulled after letting in all five goals, while the Islanders’ Thomas Greiss made 32 saves in the win.
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A win on Monday night would have seen the Lightning clinch a playoff berth, but no such luck for the team from Tampa. (Though, considering their second-place position in the Atlantic, they’re a safe bet to get in.) Now without captain Steven Stamkos (blood clot) and Anton Stralman (leg), what might we expect from the Lightning in the playoffs?
Rangers are in
The New York Rangers are officially in the post-season. After failing to punch their ticket in their last three games, they finally clinched the berth with a 4-2 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets Monday night.
This will be their sixth straight playoff appearance.
The team saw two of its offensive leaders reach the 20-goal milestone on the season: Chris Kreider kicked things off to reach the 20-goal marker for the second straight year, and Derek Stepan did so for the second time in his career (he also registered 20 in 2010-11). Watch the highlights at the top of this post.
While the game’s outcome was positive, the team may be in danger of losing their captain to injury. Defenceman Ryan McDonagh took a shot off his hand, and left the game in the first period. He did not return.
Head coach Alain Vigneault said after the game that McDonagh will be further evaluated Tuesday.
Panthers are the best they’ve ever been
The success of the Florida Panthers has been among this season’s biggest surprises. Now, that success has found its way into the record books.
With their 4-3 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs Monday night, the Panthers have officially made 2015-16 their best regular season in franchise history.
Their 45-25-9 record has them sitting at 99 points, topping their previous record of 98 points in 1999-00 (43-27-12).
The Maple Leafs, without Nazem Kadri, were kept off the scoresheet for most of the game, but made things interesting with a third-period rally thanks to two goals from Colin Greening and T.J. Brennan’s first marker as a Maple Leaf.
As Sportsnet’s Damien Cox points out, it wasn’t so long ago that the Panthers and Maple Leafs were neighbours in the NHL’s basement. Now, not so much. Read his story here.
Blues keep surging
How about those St. Louis Blues?
Despite losing goaltender Jake Allen and captain David Backes for the remainder of the regular season, the team is firing on all cylinders right now.
Their 5-2 win over the Arizona Coyotes Monday has them tied for first place in the Western Conference with the Dallas Stars at 105 points. (The Stars have played one less game.)
They have now won 13 of their last 16 games.
Down 2-0 after the first period, the Blues netted five straight to earn the win, propelled by Vladimir Tarasenko’s go-ahead goal in the third.
Tarasenko’s 37th goal of the season matches his single-season career high from 2014-15.
Kyle Brodziak had two goals in the effort.
They’re certainly making a statement at the right time — even if they are limping into the playoffs.
Also of note from the game: Coyotes rookie Anthony Duclair reached goal No. 20.
Toffoli is king
Just a few days ago, we weren’t sure if the Vancouver Canucks would get another win this season. Now, they’re got three straight — and against some powerhouse West Coast teams, no less.
The trio of Ws (versus the Sharks, Ducks and now Kings) is nice change of pace after the Canucks’ nine-game losing streak.
Jared McCann, 19, gets the credit for the game-winner in the 3-2 victory.
The playoff-bound Los Angeles Kings have been stumbling on the road lately.
Though their road efforts may be cause for a little concern heading into the post-season, the play of Tyler Toffoli is giving the team plenty of reasons to be excited.
Toffoli opened the scoring in the eventual loss, marking his 30th of the season for a career-high. That makes him first King to reach the 30-goal plateau in a single season since Anze Kopitar had 34 goals in 2009-10.
The 23-year-old, while leading the Kings in goals, is also ranked third for total points (56), surpassing last season’s totals of 23 goals and 49 points.
We won’t have to wait long to see what he does in the playoffs.