After taking the San Jose Sharks to overtime at the SAP Center on Monday, Feb. 18, the Boston Bruins came out on top with a 6-5 victory. Defenseman Charlie McAvoy scored with a minute remaining in overtime and the Bruins withstood Sharks’ center Joe Thornton’s hat trick to win their season-high sixth straight game. Right wing Chris Wagner tied it with under two minutes left in the third period for Boston, which extended Boston’s point streak to 11 games (10-0-1) and moved three points ahead of the Toronto Maple Leafs for second place in the Atlantic Division. McAvoy took a pass from center David Krejci, who had three assists, and scored the game-winner from the slot. Goaltender Tuukka Rask made 33 saves on the evening.
The Boston Bruins outlasted the Vegas Golden Knights in a 3-2 shootout at T-Mobile Arena on Wednesday, Feb. 20. Left-wing Jake DeBrusk scored in his fifth straight game and helped the Bruins improve to 36-17-8. Boston’s backup goaltender Jaroslav Halak, who started for the Bruins against the Knights, extended his winning streak to three wins in three starts while only allowing an average of one goal per contest. Left wing Brad Marchand has 24 points (eight goals and 16 assists) in his past 16 games and Krejci extended his point streak to five games (two goals and eight assists).
On Saturday, Feb. 22 the Bruins lost in a shootout to the St. Louis Blues 2-1. The Bruins only goal of the game came when Wagner took the feed from defenseman Kevan Miller down low and buried a wrist shot into the net to tie the game at one in the second period. Wagner collected his ninth goal of the season while defenseman Torey Krug picked up his 37th assist of the year.
Trade Deadline Updates
The Washington Capitals traded defenseman Madison Bowey and a 2020 second-round draft pick to the Detroit Red Wings for defenseman Nick Jensen and a 2019 fifth-round draft pick. The Capitals also acquired forward Carl Hagelin from the Los Angeles Kings. The Kings get a 2019 third-round draft pick and a 2020 sixth-round draft pick.
The Columbus Blue Jackets acquired forward Matt Duchene and defenseman Julius Bergman from the Ottawa Senators. The Senators received forward Vitaly Abramov, forward Jonathan Davidson, a 2019 first round draft pick and a 2020 conditional first-round draft pick.
The Boston Bruins traded forward Ryan Donato and a fifth-round draft pick to acquire forward Charlie Coyle from the Minnesota Wild.
Hot Teams in the NHL
The Boston Bruins have been hot, going 9-0-1 in their last ten games and going 12-0-3 in their last 15. The Bruins (36-17-8) have moved up in the standing currently second in the Eastern Conference, only behind the Tampa Bay Lightning (47-11-4).
The Tampa Bay Lightning have gone 8-0-2 in their last ten games and currently are on an eight-game winning streak. The Lightning are first overall in the NHL with a record of (47-11-4) with 98 points. The Lightning have an 18 point lead on the aforementioned Bruins in the Eastern Conference. Forward Nikita Kucherov scored his 100th point in 61 games into the season, becoming the fastest player to reach 100 points since 1996-97 when Mario Lemieux scored his 100th point in his 61st game that season.
Teams on the Rise
The Carolina Hurricanes have started to get hot, going 7-3-0 in their last ten games putting them in ninth place, only one point behind the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Eastern Conference. With a record of 32-23-6, the Hurricanes need to continue to stay hot to find themselves in a playoff spot.
The St. Louis Blues have been moving up in the Western Conference standings after going 9-1-0 in the last ten games. The Blues have moved up to fifth place in the standings, tying the Golden Knights with the eighth place Wild only five points behind them.
Cold Teams in the NHL
The Ottawa Senators continue to hold the bottom spot in the NHL with a record of 22-33-5 and 49 points. In their last ten games the Senators have gone 3-7-0. With 20 games left, the Senators need to win at least 15 games to have a chance of going to the playoffs.
The Minnesota Wild have been cold lately, going 2-5-3 in the last ten games, dropping them to eighth place in the Western Conference. The Colorado Avalanche, Arizona Coyotes and the Chicago Blackhawks are only one point behind the Wild for the eighth place spot in the Western Conference.
