February 19th NHL Recap

New York Islanders 5, Nashville Predators 2 (from New York) - The Islanders improved to 39-19-1 on the season thanks to a 5-2 win over the Nashville Predators, dropping them to 39-13-6. 

Goals:

NYI - Brian Strait (2) - from Frans Nielsen and Michael Grabner (1:00 1ST)
NYI - Johnny Boychuk (6) - from Nick Leddy and Michael Grabner (10:10 1ST)
NYI - John Tavares PPG (29) - from Nick Leddy and Johnny Boychuk (18:21 1ST) *GWG*
NSH - Filip Forsberg (20) - from Roman Josi and Calle Jarnkrok (19:42 1ST)
NSH - James Neal (21) - from Mike Ribeiro and Roman Josi (16:38 2ND)
NYI - Nick Leddy (8) - from Colin McDonald and Matt Martin (7:02 3RD)
NYI - Josh Bailey (12) - from John Tavares and Anders Lee (8:41 3RD)

Goalies:

WG - Jaroslav Halak (30 saves on 32 shots: 32-12-0) LG - Pekka Rinne (35 saves on 40 shots: 34-8-2) 

Three Stars:

3. Johnny Boychuk (1 goal, 1 assist) - New York

2. Nick Leddy (1 goal, 2 assists) - New York

1. John Tavares (1 goal, 1 assist, GWG) - New York

Vancouver Canucks 5, New York Rangers 4 (SO) - (from New York) - The Canucks improved to 33-21-3 on the season thanks to a 5-4 shootout win over the New York Rangers, dropping them to 34-16-6.

Goals:

NYR - Derek Stepan (11) - from Martin St. Louis and Dan Girardi (11:39 1ST)
VAN - Shawn Matthias (14) - from Jannik Hansen and Ronald Kenins (1:43 2ND)
NYR - Rick Nash (36) - from Derick Brassard and Mats Zuccarello (11:00 2ND)
VAN - Bo Horvat (8) - from Ronald Kenins and Jannik Hansen (13:18 2ND)
VAN - Henrik Sedin PPG (11) - from Adam Clendening and Daniel Sedin (3:55 3RD)
NYR - Martin St. Louis (16) - from Derek Stepan and Carl Hagelin (5:03 3RD)
NYR - Carl Hagelin (13) - from Dan Girardi (5:24 3RD)
VAN - Henrik Sedin (12) - from Dan Hamhuis and Daniel Sedin (18:00 3RD)
Shootout winner - Radim Vrbata (VAN)

Goalies:

WG - Ryan Miller (30 saves on 34 shots: 27-15-1) LG - Cam Talbot (24 saves on 28 shots: 9-5-3)

Three Stars:

3. Jannik Hansen (2 assists) - Vancouver

2. Martin St. Louis (1 goal, 1 assist) - New York

1. Henrik Sedin (2 goals) - Vancouver

Buffalo Sabres 3, Philadelphia Flyers 2 (SO) - (from Philadelphia) - The Sabres improved to 17-37-4 on the season thanks to a 3-2 shootout win over the Philadelphia Flyers, dropping them to 24-23-11.

Goals:

BUF - Nicolas Deslauriers (5) - from Brian Flynn and Rasmus Ristolainen (4:41 1ST)
PHI - Ryan White (1) - from Braydon Coburn and Brayden Schenn (7:23 1ST)
BUF - Brian Gionta (6) - from Torrey Mitchell and Matt Moulson (0:38 2ND)
PHI - Jakub Voracek PPG (19) - from Wayne Simmonds and Sean Couturier (8:45 2ND)
Shootout winner - Brian Flynn (BUF)

Goalies:

WG - Michal Neuvirth (36 saves on 38 shots: 4-15-2) LG - Ray Emery (30 saves on 32 shots: 10-10-4)

Three Stars:

3. Brian Gionta (1 goal) - Buffalo

2. Ryan White (1 goal) - Philadelphia

1. Brian Flynn (1 assist, shootout winner) - Buffalo

Columbus Blue Jackets 2, Pittsburgh Penguins 1 (from Pittsburgh) - The Blue Jackets improved to 26-27-3 on the season thanks to a 2-1 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins, dropping them to 32-17-9.

Goals:

CBJ - Scott Hartnell (4) - from Alexander Wennberg and Fedor Tyutin (17:43 1ST)
PIT - Evgeni Malkin (22) - from Paul Martin and Simon Despres (8:58 2ND)
CBJ - Brandon Dubinsky SHG (7) - from Matt Calvert and Fedor Tyutin (17:43 3RD) *GWG*

Goalies:

WG - Curtis McElhinney (29 saves on 30 shots: 10-9-1) LG - Marc-Andre Fleury (28 saves on 30 shots: 26-13-6)

Three Stars:

3. Marc-Andre Fleury (28 saves on 30 shots) - Pittsburgh

2. Curtis McElhinney (29 saves on 30 shots for the win) - Columbus

1. Brandon Dubinsky (1 goal, GWG) - Columbus

Washington Capitals 5, Winnipeg Jets 1 (from Washington) - The Capitals improved to 32-17-10 on the season thanks to a 5-1 win over the Winnipeg Jets, dropping them to 30-20-10. 

Goals:

WSH - John Carlson PPG (9) - from Nicklas Backstrom and Marcus Johansson (14:10 1ST) 
WSH - Alex Ovechkin (38) - from Karl Alzner and Matt Niskanen (18:35 1ST) *GWG*
WPG - Toby Enstrom (4) - from Andrew Ladd and Tyler Myers (11:17 2ND)
WSH - Nicklas Backstrom PPG (17) - from Mike Green and Troy Brouwer (13:07 2ND)
WSH - Nicklas Backstrom PPG (18) - from Alex Ovechkin and Marcus Johansson (15:47 2ND)
WSH - Troy Brouwer SHG/EN (17) - unassisted (13:33 3RD)

Goalies:

WG - Braden Holtby (19 saves on 20 shots: 28-12-9) LG - Ondrej Pavelec (28 saves on 32 shots: 13-13-7) 

Three Stars:

3. John Carlson (1 goal) - Washington

2. Alex Ovechkin (1 goal, 1 assist) - Washington

1. Nicklas Backstrom (2 goals, 1 assist) - Washington

Florida Panthers 3, Montreal Canadiens 2 (SO) - (from Montreal) - The Panthers improved to 26-19-12 on the season thanks to a 3-2 shootout win over the Montreal Canadiens, dropping them to 37-16-5.

Goals:

MTL - Brendan Gallagher (14) - from Max Pacioretty and David Desharnais (2:31 2ND)
MTL - Brendan Gallagher (15) - from P.K. Subban (10:32 2ND)
FLA - Tomas Fleischmann (7) - from Jonathan Huberdeau (11:54 2ND)
FLA - Steve Kampfer (1) - from Tomas Fleischmann and Scottie Upshall (4:57 3RD)
Shootout winner - Dave Bolland (FLA)

Goalies:

WG - Roberto Luongo (37 saves on 39 shots: 22-14-10) LG - Carey Price (19 saves on 21 shots: 32-11-3)

Three Stars:

3. Tomas Fleischmann (1 goal, 1 assist) - Florida

2. Brendan Gallagher (2 goals) - Montreal

1. Roberto Luongo (37 saves on 39 shots for the win) - Florida

San Jose Sharks 5, Dallas Stars 2 (from Dallas) - The Sharks improved to 30-22-8 on the season thanks to a 5-2 win over the Dallas Stars, dropping them to 27-23-8.

Goals:

SJS - Marc-Edouard Vlasic (7) - from Logan Couture and Joe Pavelski (3:24 1ST)
SJS - Andrew Desjardins (4) - from Tomas Hertl and Chris Tierney (3:38 2ND)
SJS - Andrew Desjardins (5) - from Justin Braun and Tomas Hertl (6:14 2ND) *GWG*
DAL - Trevor Daley PPG (15) - from Jamie Benn and Jason Spezza (8:00 2ND)
DAL - Erik Cole (16) - from Jamie Benn and Trevor Daley (17:44 3RD)
SJS - Patrick Marleau EN (12) - from James Sheppard (18:55 3RD)
SJS - Tommy Wingels EN (12) - from Joe Pavelski and Brenden Dillon (19:06 3RD)

Goalies:

WG - Antti Niemi (37 saves on 39 shots: 24-14-7) LG - Kari Lehtonen (14 saves on 17 shots: 25-13-8), Jhonas Enroth (9 saves on 9 shots in relief of Lehtonen)

Three Stars:

3. Jamie Benn (2 assists) - Dallas

2. Antti Niemi (37 saves on 39 shots for the win) - San Jose

1. Andrew Desjardins (2 goals, GWG) - San Jose

Three Stars of the Night:

3. John Tavares - Tavares scored the game-winning goal and added an assist in the Islanders 5-2 win over the Predators.

2. Andrew Desjardins - Desjardins scored 2 goals (including the game-winner) in the Sharks 5-2 win over the Stars.

1. Nicklas Backstrom - Backstrom scored 2 goals and added an assist in the Capitals 5-1 win over the Jets.

Interesting Stats of the Night:

-Filip Forsberg scored his 20th goal of the season, the 2nd rookie to do so this season (joining Mike Hoffman)

-Brandon Dubinsky is the only player in the NHL to have fought both Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby.

Current Winning/Losing Streaks (3 or more games):

Los Angeles Kings - 6 game winning streak

Washington Capitals - 3 game winning streak

Boston Bruins - 5 game losing streak

Arizona Coyotes - 4 game losing streak
Toronto Maple Leafs - 4 game losing streak

What's up next - Friday February 20th: There are 7 NHL games on tap for Friday night:

1. New York Rangers vs. Buffalo Sabres at 7:00 PM ET (In Buffalo)

2. Vancouver Canucks vs. New Jersey Devils at 7:00 PM ET (In New Jersey)

3. Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Carolina Hurricanes at 7:00 PM ET (In Carolina)

4. Boston Bruins vs. St. Louis Blues at 8:00 PM ET (In St. Louis)

5. Colorado Avalanche vs. Chicago Blackhawks at 8:30 PM ET (In Chicago)

6. Anaheim Ducks vs. Calgary Flames at 9:00 PM ET (In Calgary) {***Forman's Game of the Night***}

7. Minnesota Wild vs. Edmonton Oilers at 9:00 PM ET (In Edmonton)

-Joel Forman - The Forman Faceoff