NHL MORNING SKATE FOR MARCH 24, 2019

SATURDAY’S RESULTS

HOME TEAM IN CAPS

NEW JERSEY 2, Arizona 1 (SO)

NY Islanders 4, PHILADELPHIA 2

COLORADO 4, Chicago 2

Ottawa 4, EDMONTON 3 (OT)

NY Rangers 2, TORONTO 1 (OT)

MONTREAL 7, Buffalo 4

Boston 7, FLORIDA 3

CAROLINA 5, Minnesota 1

WINNIPEG 5, Nashville 0

ST. LOUIS 4, Tampa Bay 3

Pittsburgh 3, DALLAS 2

Calgary 3, VANCOUVER 1

Detroit 3, VEGAS 2 (OT)

LOS ANGELES 4, Anaheim 3 (SO)

THREE HARD LAPS: QUICK HITS FROM SATURDAY

* The Bruins and Jets clinched berths in the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs via milestone performances from two players on opposite ends of the age spectrum – 42-year-old Zdeno Chara and 22-year-old Kyle Connor.

* The playoff-bound Flames became the first Western Conference team to reach the 100-point mark this season as Mark Giordano joined rare company with a three-point night.

* Jake Guentzel continued his point-per-game pace in the month of March – a common theme for him when the winter ends and the spring begins.

BRUINS CLINCH BERTH IN 2019 STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS, ECLIPSE 100-POINT MARK

Hours after signing a one-year extension, Zdeno Chara (1-1—2) factored on two of seven goals to help the Bruins (46-20-9, 101 points) become the second Eastern Conference team to clinch a berth in the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs, their third consecutive postseason appearance. Boston will make its 72nd all-time appearance in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, second in NHL history behind only Montreal (83).

* The Bruins, who occupy second place in the Atlantic Division standings, reached the 100-point mark for the second straight season and 23rd time in club history – the highest such total among all 31 NHL franchises. The Red Wings, Canadiens and Flyers are the next-closest franchises with 19 100-point seasons each

* Chara, who celebrated his 42nd birthday on Monday, scored the 200th regular-season goal of his NHL career (200-441—641 in 1,479 GP) and became the 22nd player in League history listed as a defenseman to reach the milestone. His 200 career regular-season goals trail only Montreal’s Shea Weber (202) for the most among active defensemen.

* Chara (42 years, 5 days) became the oldest Bruins player to score a regular-season goal since Mark Recchi on April 2, 2011 (43 years, 60 days). He became the fifth different NHL defenseman age 42 or older to score a regular-season goal and first since Detroit’s Chris Chelios on March 20, 2008 (46 years, 55 days).

JETS ALSO PUNCH TICKET TO 2019 STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS

Kyle Connor (3-1—4) scored the first hat trick of his NHL career and Connor Hellebuyck turned aside all 33 shots he faced as the Central Division-leading Jets (45-26-4, 94 points) became the third Western Conference team to clinch a berth in the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs, their second straight postseason appearance and fourth in franchise history. The Jets aim to build on a historic 2018 playoff run that saw them win a playoff game for the first time and earn the first two series victories in franchise history – giving the city of Winnipeg its first Stanley Cup Playoffs series win since the original Jets defeated the Flames in Game 6 of the 1987 Division Semifinals.

* Connor scored his 30th, 31st and 32nd goals of 2018-19 (32-29—61 in 75 GP) to establish a career high for most in a season, eclipsing the previous mark of 31 he set as a rookie in 2017- 18 (31-26—57 in 76 GP). He became the second Jets player to reach the 30-goal mark this season, joining Mark Scheifele (35-45—80 in 75 GP).

GIORDANO HELPS FLAMES ECLIPSE 100-POINT MARK

Mark Giordano recorded 1-2—3 to eclipse 70 points in 2018-19 (16-56—72 in 73 GP) and help the Flames (47-21-7, 101 points) become the first Western Conference team to reach the 100- point mark this season. Calgary reached the 100-point mark in a season for the fifth time in franchise history and first since 2005-06 (46-25-11, 103 points).

* The Flames were the first team in their conference to reach 100 points in a season for the third time in franchise history; the other two instances were in 1987-88 (46-21-9, 101 points) and 1988-89 (46-15-8, 100 points) en route to first place finishes in the Clarence Campbell Conference.

* Giordano (35 years, 172 days) became the fourth defenseman in NHL history age 35 or older to reach the 70-point mark in a season, joining Boston’s Ray Bourque in 1995-96 (20-62—82 in 82 GP), Dallas’ Sergei Zubov in 2005-06 (13-58—71 in 78 GP) and Detroit’s Nicklas Lidstrom in 2005-06 (16-64—80 in 80 GP) and 2007-08 (10-60—70 in 76 GP).

ISLANDERS, PENGUINS INCH CLOSER TO DIVISION-LEADING CAPITALS

The Islanders (43-25-7, 93 points) and Penguins (41-24-11, 93 points) – who rank second and third place in the Metropolitan Division standings, respectively – each captured victories to inch closer to the Capitals (43-24-8, 94 points) for first.

* Josh Bailey scored the go-ahead marker with 3:57 remaining in regulation and tallied again 83 seconds later to snap a 12-game goal drought and help the Islanders defeat the Flyers. The Islanders and Capitals are set to square off once more this season in an April 6 showdown at Capital One Arena.

* Jake Guentzel opened the scoring to help the Penguins improve to 5-1-2 in their last eight games and keep pace with the Islanders. Guentzel has collected 9-6—15 in 13 contests since March 1 for an average of 1.15 points per game – in line with his career average of 1.14 points per game in the Stanley Cup Playoffs (23-19—42 in 37 GP).

CENTRAL DIVISION TEAMS EARN WINS IN PURSUIT OF POSTSEASON BERTHS

Two Central Division teams – the Blues (40-27-8, 88 points) and Avalanche (34-29-12, 80 points) – each earned wins in their pursuit of berths in the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

* Jordan Binnington made 39 saves to earn his 20th win of the season (20-4-1; 1.84 GAA, .929 SV%, 5 SO) and help the Blues pick up their third straight victory, while simultaneously snapping the Lightning’s win streak at seven games. St. Louis – which occupies third place in the Central Division standings – is set to face only two teams in possession of a playoff position through its remaining seven games of the season, with one such opponent being Colorado on April 1 (also March 25 vs. VGK).

* Philipp Grubauer made 29 saves to help the Avalanche extend their win streak to four games and leapfrog the Wild (35-32-9, 79 points) and Coyotes (36-32-7, 79 points) for the final Wild Card spot in the Western Conference standings. Colorado will face only Western Conference teams in its remaining seven games of the season, including five opponents either in possession of or within one point of a playoff position.

AHO, DOMI REACH MILESTONES AHEAD OF HURRICANES-CANADIENS SHOWDOWN

The Hurricanes (41-26-7, 89 points) and Canadiens (40-28-7, 87 points) each triumphed to strengthen their grip on the first and second Wild Card spots in the Eastern Conference standings, respectively. Carolina and Montreal will conclude its season series tonight at PNC Arena.

* Sebastian Aho collected an assist to reach the 80-point mark (30-50—80 in 74 GP) and help the Hurricanes improve to 3-1-0 in their last four games. Aho became the first Hurricanes player to reach the 80-point mark in a season since Eric Staal in 2007-08 (38-44—82 in 82 GP).

* Max Domi (1-2—3) factored on three of seven goals to eclipse 200 career regular-season points (62-140—202 in 297 GP) and help the Canadiens earn their third consecutive win. Domi reached the milestone in 539 fewer games than his father, Tie, who recorded his 200th career point in his 836th regular-season game on Jan. 30, 2003 (87-113—200).