NHL MORNING SKATE FOR MARCH 31, 2019

SATURDAY’S RESULTS

HOME TEAM IN CAPS

Florida 4, BOSTON 1

CAROLINA 5, Philadelphia 2

OTTAWA 4, Toronto 2

Washington 6, TAMPA BAY 3

St. Louis 3, NEW JERSEY 2 (OT)

NY ISLANDERS 5, Buffalo 1

Montreal 3, WINNIPEG 1

Columbus 5, NASHVILLE 2

SAN JOSE 4, Vegas 3 (OT)

Anaheim 5, EDMONTON 1

VANCOUVER 3, Dallas 2 (SO)

LOS ANGELES 3, Chicago 2 (OT)

THREE HARD LAPS: QUICK HITS FROM SATURDAY

* The Islanders scored five goals for the second time in as many contests to clinch their fourth postseason appearance in seven seasons and 25th in franchise history.

* Alex Ovechkin found the back of the net twice to record the eighth 50-goal season of his career as the Capitals topped the League-leading Lightning.

* The NHL witnessed two League benchmarks fall in a pivotal Pacific-Division clash between the Sharks and Golden Knights.

ISLANDERS SCORE FIVE GOALS AGAIN TO CLINCH POSTSEASON BERTH

The Islanders scored five goals for the second time in as many contests to reach the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the fourth time in the last seven seasons.

* New York, which will contest its home games in the First Round of the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Nassau Coliseum, are 82-44 in 126 all-time postseason games as hosts (80-41 at Nassau Coliseum, 2-3 at Barclays Center). The Islanders’ .651 home winning percentage ranks third in NHL history behind only Edmonton (.667; 90-45 in 135 GP) and Montreal (.661; 253- 127-3 in 383 GP).

OVECHKIN REACHES 50-GOAL MARK FOR EIGHTH TIME IN NHL CAREER

Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin (2-0—2) recorded his 132nd multi-goal game to reach the 50- goal mark for the eighth time in his NHL career.

* Ovechkin became the third player in League history to record eight or more 50-goal seasons – a list topped by Mike Bossy and Wayne Gretzky, who each had nine. He was the first player to 50 goals in a season for the seventh time in his NHL career; the only other players in League history who were the first to reach the 50-goal mark in a season four or more times are Phil Esposito (5x), Bobby Hull (4x) and Gretzky (4x).

* Ovechkin (33 years, 201 days as of April 6, 2019) became the fifth player in NHL history to record multiple 50-goal seasons after his 30th birthday, joining Esposito (4x), Hull (2x), Marcel Dionne (2x) and Mario Lemieux (2x).Overall, the Capitals captain is the third-oldest player in NHL history to record a 50-goal season. Ages based on final game of respective regular season

* Ovechkin owns a four-goal edge over Edmonton’s Leon Draisaitl (47-54—101) in the Maurice Rocket” Richard race as he aims to break a tie with Hull (7x) and become the first player in NHL history to finish atop the League’s goal-scoring race eight times.

* With his two-goal outing, Ovechkin eclipsed Brendan Shanahan for 13th on the NHL’s career regular-season goals list, while his power-play goal propelled him ahead of Phil Esposito and into a tie with Luc Robitaille (247) for fourth place on the NHL’s career power-play goals list.

LEAGUE BENCHMARKS FALL IN OVERTIME THRILLER

The NHL witnessed two benchmarks fall in a Pacific Division clash between the Sharks (44-25- 9, 97 points) and Golden Knights (42-30-7, 91 points).

* Despite surrendering a game-tying goal in the third period, 38 seconds after taking their first lead of the contest, Brent Burns scored 22 seconds into overtime to help the Sharks halt a seven-game skid (0-6-1). Burns netted his 14th career regular-season overtime goal to eclipse Scott Niedermayer (13) for the most by a defenseman in NHL history.

* The Golden Knights, who would play the Sharks in the First Round of the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs if the postseason began today, required the fewest games for a franchise to collect their 200th standing point.

HURRICANES WIN AHEAD OF CRUCIAL MATCHUP WITH PENGUINS . . .

Five different players scored and Petr Mrazek made 30 saves to help the Hurricanes (43-28-7, 93 points) move within two points of the idle Penguins (42-25-11, 95 points) for third place in the Metropolitan Division, with the two clubs set to square off in a crucial divisional matchup Sunday evening.

* After Pittsburgh (40 ROWs) captured the first of three meetings against Carolina (41 ROWs) this season (3-0 W on Dec. 22, 2018), the Hurricanes have won each of the last two meetings - outscoring the Penguins 7-2 (including shootout-deciding goals).

* Carolina enters the contest with its sights on winning three regular-season games against Pittsburgh for the fifth time in Hurricanes / Whalers franchise history. The others: 2009-10 (3-0-1), 2006-07 (3-1-0), 2005-06 (3-1-0), 2000-01 (3-1-0) and 1986-87 (3-0-0).

* The Hurricanes have earned 27 victories since the turn of the calendar (27-11-2, 56 points) and trail only the League-leading Lightning (28-8-2, 58 points) for the most during that span. Additionally, the club’s 43 wins in 2018-19 trail only the 2005-06 (52) and 2008-09 (45) campaigns for the highest single-season total in franchise history.

* Mrazek improved to 9-2-0 in his last 11 starts and 21-14-3 (2.46 GAA, .911 SV% and 4 shutouts) in 2018-19. Only three netminders in their first season with the franchise (min. 30 GP) have concluded the season with a lower goals against average than Mrazek: Trevor Kidd (2.17 in 1997-98), Arturs Irbe (2.22 in 1998-99) and Anton Khudobin (2.30 in 2013-14).

WHILE WILD CARD HOPEFULS KEEP PACE

The Blue Jackets (44-30-4, 92 points) and Canadiens (42-29-8, 92 points) each skated to victories Saturday to keep pace with the Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference Wild Card race.

* Columbus currently sits in the second Wild Card position and has four games remaining in 2018-19 (March 31 at BUF, April 2 vs. BOS, April 5 at NYR and April 6 at OTT), while Montreal only plays three more contests (April 2 vs. TBL, April 4 at WSH and April 6 vs. TOR).

* Artemi Panarin assisted on four of his team’s five goals to boost his season totals to 27-56—83 and establish Blue Jackets single-season franchise marks for assists and points, eclipsing his own benchmark set in 2017-18 (27-55—82).

* Meanwhile, Cam Atkinson (41-27—68) scored twice to match Rick Nash’s 2003-04 campaign (41-16—57) for the highest single-season goal total in Blue Jackets franchise history. Additionally, he became the ninth player to reach the 40-goal mark in 2018-19. The last campaign to conclude with more such performances was 2007-08 (10).

* Jeff Petry netted his fourth game-winning tally of the season with his 13th goal to establish a career high, besting his 2017-18 totals (12-30—42). The most such goals by a Canadiens defenseman in a single campaign is six, held by Guy Lapointe (1976-77), Chris Chelios (1988-89) and Sheldon Souray (2006-07).

QUICK CLICKS

Renous, New Brunswick awarded Kraft Hockeyville 2019

Rickard Rakell nets second-period natural hat trick

Lightning have busy pregame with Presidents' Trophy, Stamkos honor

Nick Schmaltz signs seven year contract with Coyotes