3 things we learned in the NHL: Punctuality is key

hurricanes-celebration

Carolina Hurricanes' Warren Foegele (13) and teammates celebrate. (Karl B DeBlaker/AP)

A New York Rangers goaltender continued his strong play, the Carolina Hurricanes and Edmonton Oilers proved how important punctuality is, and Bob Murray’s undefeated run came to an end.

Here are three things we learned in the NHL Friday:

Georgiev is on fire

Coming off a 55-save performance against the Toronto Maple Leafs on his birthday, New York Rangers goalie Alexandar Georgiev stayed hot against the Buffalo Sabres Friday night.

Georgiev turned aside 31 of the 33 shots he faced, picking up his third straight victory in the process. The rookie has now stopped 86 of his past 89 shots, which is making King Henrik seem human.

With the win, the Rangers delivered a blow to the playoff-hopeful Sabres, who sit two spots out of a post-season position. The Maple Leafs and Boston Bruins are starting to grab some breathing room in the race for the second and third seeds in the Atlantic Division, so Buffalo’s chances will almost certainly come down to the wild card. The Sabres are battling with the Montreal Canadiens, Pittsburgh Penguins and Hurricanes for the two coveted spots.

Speaking of those Hurricanes…

Always show up on time

Any Carolina fan who strolled into PNC Arena a little late for Friday’s matchup with the Edmonton Oilers would have missed a whirlwind of goals. With the game barely more than two minutes old, the Hurricanes held a 2-1 lead. That score would stand until the dying minutes of the third period, when Nino Niederreiter collected his second of the game to clinch things for Carolina.

If the home crowd missed any of the theatrics to start the game, they were treated to another dandy of a post-game celebration from their club to make up for it.

The Hurricanes are scorching hot and own the NHL’s best record since Dec. 31. With the torrid stretch, they’ve firmly entrenched themselves in the wild-card conversation and are very much in the Metropolitan Division mix with 66 points.

Nobody’s perfect

Murray’s untarnished coaching record didn’t last long.

In just his second game since taking over as interim head coach of the reeling Anaheim Ducks, he saw his team revert to its losing ways. Anaheim was shut out by the Bruins as the club’s miserable 2019 continued.

Without any professional coaching experience, Murray may be hard-pressed to scratch out wins the rest of the way. Even if his duties behind the bench go awry, he seems to be on solid ground as the Ducks’ general manager after signing a two-year extension in December that keeps him under contract through 2021-22.

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