Happy St. Patrick’s Day! With nine games on Tuesday’s schedule, it was a busy night in the NHL.
NHL GMs discussed a possible 3-on-3 overtime format, Henrik Lundqvist has been cleared to practice with the New York Rangers, the Flames fell out of a playoff spot, and Andrew Shaw got in some hot water over a head-butting incident.
Here are six more things we learned in the NHL on Tuesday:
The Hamburglar strikes again
Andrew “Hamburglar” Hammond continued his historic run, remaining undefeated as the red-hot Ottawa Senators edged the Carolina Hurricanes 2-1 in overtime. Hammond, now 11-0-1, made 35 saves against the Hurricanes, including this dandy:
The win puts the White Rock, B.C. native in some pretty elite company, becoming the first NHL goaltender to let in two goals or less in each of his first 12 starts since Frank Brimsek in 1938.
Of course, Hammond wasn’t the only member of the Senators to be at the top of his game Tuesday. Centreman Kyle Turris made a pretty sweet dangle before connecting with teammate Mark Stone who scored the overtime winner:
Canucks celebrate the life of a legend
Tonight was a fitting occasion for the Vancouver Canucks to celebrate the life of the legendary Pat Quinn. The Canucks paid tribute to their former coach and Canadian hockey icon (and proud Irishman) with a ceremony prior to their game versus the Philadelphia Flyers — the team with which Quinn actually started his NHL coaching career. The Canucks also officially unveiled the newly-named Pat Quinn Way outside of Rogers Arena.
Quinn died in Vancouver last November at age 71.
Toews reaches season best
Chicago Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews has really stepped up his game in the absence of the goal-scoring Patrick Kane. Toews scored twice and added two assists Tuesday against the New York Islanders, earning him a season-high four points as the Blackhawks beat the Islanders 4-1. Both goals came in the first period, and one of them defied the laws of physics:
Toews set up Marian Hossa’s 20th goal of the season in the second period, and then found Patrick Sharp 57 seconds into the third period to pick up his fourth point of the night.
Wild love life on the road
The Minnesota Wild are proving themselves to be unstoppable on the road. Tuesday’s overtime win in the Nashville Predators’ barn not only gave the Wild the playoff boost they needed — the team currently holds the West’s first wild card spot with 85 points — it also marked their franchise-record eighth consecutive road win.
Matt Dumba scored a quick overtime goal to win the game, launching himself into the franchise records books, too.
The Jets fight back
Let’s take a moment to look at the Winnipeg Jets, shall we? The team has been devastated by injuries (Tyler Myers, Dustin Byfuglien and Paul Postma to name a few recent cases), yet here they are — a prominent player in the push for the postseason. After the Los Angeles Kings bumped them out of the West’s second wild card spot Monday night, the Jets fought back Tuesday, defeating the San Jose Sharks with a decisive 5-2 victory to re-capture the wild card spot. It’s teams like Winnipeg that make the playoff race so exciting.
The Maple Leafs are seeing green
In the spirit of St. Patrick’s Day and all things green… In case they hadn’t already packed their golf bags, the Toronto Maple Leafs can officially book their tee times. The Boston Bruins earned a single point in Tuesday’s overtime loss to the Buffalo Sabres, which was enough to officially eliminate the Maple Leafs from the postseason. Look back on the highs, lows, and rock-bottoms of the Leafs’ tumultuous season.
(Want more green? Check out the top six St. Patrick’s Day moments in the NHL.)
