NHL MORNING SKATE FOR MARCH 3, 2019

SATURDAY’S RESULTS

HOME TEAM IN CAPS

Edmonton 4, COLUMBUS 0

LOS ANGELES 6, Chicago 3

BOSTON 1, New Jersey 0

TORONTO 5, Buffalo 2

Pittsburgh 5, MONTREAL 1

TAMPA BAY 5, Ottawa 1

Carolina 4, FLORIDA 3 (OT)

Dallas 4, ST LOUIS 1

ARIZONA 3, Detroit 1

Minnesota 4, CALGARY 2

THREE HARD LAPS: QUICK HITS FROM SATURDAY

* The Lightning earned their 50th win of the season in just their 66th game to tie the 1995-96 Red Wings for fewest games to 50 wins in NHL history.

* Sidney Crosby had a four-point night to leapfrog longtime rival Alex Ovechkin for 48th on the NHL’s all-time points list and pass Jaromir Jagr for second place on the Penguins’ all-time goals list.

* The Coyotes extended the NHL’s longest active winning streak to six games as they continue to push for their first postseason appearance since 2011-12.

LIGHTNING TIE RECORD FOR FASTEST TO 50 WINS

Nikita Kucherov (1-1—2) factored on two of five goals to boost his League-leading point total and lift the Lightning (50-12-4, 104 points) to their 50th victory in their 66th game. Tampa Bay matched the NHL record for fewest games to reach the 50-win mark, originally set by Detroit in 1995-96.

* The Red Wings improved to 50-12-4 with a victory in their 66th game on March 10, 1996. Detroit went on to lose only one other contest in regulation en route to setting the NHL record for wins in a season (62-13-7).

* Kucherov (31-75—106), in search of becoming the second player in franchise history to capture the Art Ross Trophy (Martin St. Louis in 2003-04 and 2012-13), moved within two of matching the club’s benchmark for points in a single season: Vincent Lecavalier in 2006-07 (52-56—108 in 82 GP).

* Victor Hedman, Ryan McDonagh, Mikhail Sergachev and Erik Cernak each found the back of the net Saturday. It marked the first time in Lightning franchise history that four defensemen each scored in the same game. The Capitals (Jan. 20) are the only other team to accomplish the feat in 2018-19.

WHILE OTHER ATLANTIC DIVISION CLUBS ALSO COLLECT VICTORIES

The Bruins (39-17-9, 87 points) and Maple Leafs (40-21-4, 84 points), who occupy the second and third seeds in the Atlantic Division, respectively, also earned wins on Saturday. Including the League-leading Lightning, the Atlantic Division owns three of the top five records in the overall NHL standings.

* Tuukka Rask turned aside all 20 shots he faced to help the Bruins extend their point streak to 16 contests (12-0-4). It marked the second consecutive season Boston has recorded a point streak of at least 16 games (14-0-4 in 2017-18). The longest point streak in Bruins history was a 23-game stretch in 1940-41 (15-0-8).

* Rask, who extended his own personal point streak to 17 decisions (14-0-3 dating to Dec. 29, 2018), became just the second netminder in NHL history to post multiple point streaks of at least 17 decisions. Pete Peeters accomplished the feat with the Flyers (27 GP in 1979-80) and Bruins (21 GP in 1982-83).

* John Tavares (1-2—3) and Auston Matthews (0-1—1) reached the 70- and 60-point marks, respectively, as the Maple Leafs required the fewest games in franchise history to record their 40th win (65 GP).

* Tavares (37-34—71) became the fourth player to reach the 70-point mark in his first season with the franchise, joining Tom Fergus (31-42—73 in 1985-86), Eddie Olczyk (42-33—75 in 1987-88) and Nikolai Borschevsky (34-40—74 in 1992-93).

CROSBY CATCHES OVECHKIN, JAGR WITH FOUR-POINT NIGHT

Sidney Crosby (1-3—4) registered his 32nd career outing with at least four points to move within one of the 1,200-point milestone (440-759—1,199 in 926 GP) and eclipse long-time rival Alex Ovechkin (652-545—1,197) for 48th on the NHL’s all-time list. The last time Crosby finished a game with more career points than Ovechkin was Jan. 5, 2011, a lead he held for three days until Ovechkin tallied two points on Jan. 8, 2011.

* The Penguins captain, who reached the 80-point mark for the 10th time in his career, also netted his 440th NHL goal (all w/ PIT) to eclipse Jaromir Jagr (439) for second place on the franchise’s all-time list behind only Mario Lemieux (690).

IN THE THICK OF A PLAYOFF RACE

A number of teams entrenched in playoff races earned key victories on Saturday:

* The Coyotes (32-28-5, 69 points) extended the League’s longest win streak to six contests en route to leapfrogging the Wild into the second Wild Card spot in the Western Conference... for approximately two hours. Minnesota (32-27-6, 70 points) later reclaimed the position with a road victory in Calgary - their fifth consecutive win.

* Arizona has strung together six consecutive victories for the first time since the 2011-12  campaign (Feb. 16-28, 2012), which also marked the last time the club participated in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

* Sebastian Aho scored in overtime to propel the Hurricanes (36-23-6, 78 points), who hold the Metropolitan Division’s third seed, to their fifth straight win. Aho has collected the game-winning goal in each of the Hurricanes last three contests, becoming the first player in Hurricanes/Whalers franchise history to ever do so.

* Jamie Benn (3-0—3) recorded his fifth career hat trick to help the Stars (33-27-5, 71 points) - who hold the First Wild Card position in the Western Conference - move within three points of the Blues (34-25-6, 74 points) for third place in the Central Division. Dallas, which snapped St. Louis’ franchise record 11-game win streak on Feb. 21, played spoiler again Saturday by halting Jordan Binnington’s seven-game home win streak.

DRAISAITL THIRD PLAYER TO 40 GOALS IN 2018-19

Leon Draisaitl recorded 1-2—3 in the Oilers victory to extend his point streak to 10 contests (8- 7—15) and improve his season totals to 40-41—81 in 65 games. Draisaitl joined Alex Ovechkin (45) and Patrick Kane (40) as the third 40-goal scorer of 2018-19.

* The last campaign to see three or more players reach 40 goals through games played on March 2 was 2007-08, when Alex Ovechkin (49), IIya Kovalchuk (42) and Jarome Iginla (40) each hit the mark.

* Draisaitl became the first Oilers player to reach the 40-goal plateau in 65 games or fewer since Jimmy Carson (55 GP) in 1988-89. The fastest Edmonton player to 40 goals in a season was Wayne Gretzky (35 GP) in 1983-84.

* This marks the second consecutive season an Oilers player has reached 40 goals after Connor McDavid (41) also did so in 2017-18. The last time Edmonton had a 40-goal scorer in  consecutive seasons was the early 1990s, when Mark Messier (45 in 1989-90) and Petr Klima (40 in 1990-91) combined for the feat.

* With his seventh three-point performance of the campaign, Draisaitl became just the third Oilers player since the 1990-91 season to record 80 or more points in 65 games or fewer. The others: Connor McDavid earlier this season (53 GP) and Doug Weight (61 GP in 1995-96).

FLAMES LIFT IGINLA’S No. 12 INTO THE RAFTERS

Former Flames captain Jarome Iginla had his No. 12 raised into the rafters of Scotiabank Saddledome. In 16 seasons with the Flames, including nine as captain, Iginla captured a multitude of franchise records and remains the club’s all-time leader in regular-season games played (1,219), goals (525), points (1,095), power-play goals (161) and game-winning goals (83).

QUICK CLICKS

* Jakob Silfverberg signs five-year contract with Ducks

* Predators embrace adversity with eye toward playoffs

* Mitch Marner dedicates three-point game to friend celebrating seventh birthday

* Jets forward Adam Lowry suspended two games for high sticking