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Remember when the Seattle Kraken decided to take Vince Dunn from St. Louis in the expansion draft over Vladimir Tarasenko? Well, to be fair to Seattle, they weren’t the only team that thought twice about Tarasenko this season. He asked to be traded and the Blues couldn’t fulfill that request. His $7.5 million cap hit coupled with the fact that he played in just 34 games between the 2019-20 and 2020-21 campaigns doubtlessly contributed to that.
When training camp started, Tarasenko addressed the situation by saying, “I’m here to work. As long as I play here, I will work 100 percent. I’m 100 percent healthy.”
He’s certainly a man of his word. Regardless of whether or not Tarasenko wanted to be here at the beginning of the season, he’s given them his best, as he did again on Thursday when he scored a hat trick and registered two assists to lead the Blues to a 6-2 victory against Buffalo. With that effort, Tarasenko is up to 31 goals and 72 points in 67 games. That not only represents a full recovery, it also shows that Tarasenko has played arguably the best hockey of his career. He’s now just three points shy of his career-high.
The Blues’ win on Thursday was also their seventh straight and their ninth win in 10 contests. They’re looking very strong with the playoffs just around the corner.
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OTTAWA 3 BOSTON 2
Tim Stutzle scored the game-winning goal and registered two assists. That gives him 18 goals and 50 points in 71 contests.
Brady Tkachuk contributed a goal and registered an assist for Ottawa. He has 27 goals and 58 points in 71 games.
Anton Forsberg turned aside 40 of 42 Bruins shots. Both of the goals he surrendered were scored in the first period, but he was perfect beyond that to allow the comeback. Even in the third period when Boston outshot Ottawa 18-9, he held down the fort.
Jesper Froden scored a goal for the Bruins. It was his first NHL goal and point in six career games.
Linus Ullmark got the start and saved the eight shots he faced. Unfortunately, he suffered an undisclosed injury and had to leave after the first period. Jeremy Swayman stopped 21 of 24 shots the rest of the way.
ST. LOUIS 6 BUFFALO 2
Vladimir Tarasenko led the Blues with a hat trick and registered two assists. He’s up to 31 goals and 72 points in 67 games.
Robert Thomas also had a huge night with five helpers. That gives him 18 goals and 71 points in 64 contests.
If there’s a silver lining here for Buffalo, it’s that Owen Power got his first NHL point. Power assisted on Alex Tuch’s second period goal.
Craig Anderson stopped 22 of 27 Blues shots. He’s allowed four or more goals in three of his last four starts.
At the other end of the ice, Jordan Binnington saved 35 of 37 shots. He has a 15-13-4 record, 3.14 GAA, and .902 save percentage in 33 contests.
TORONTO 7 WASHINGTON 3
Michael Bunting, Ilya Mikheyev, and William Nylander each contributed two goals in Toronto’s blowout win. Nylander has 30 goals and 71 points in 73 games.
Auston Matthews registered a pair of assists for the Maple Leafs. Those were his 100th and 101st points of the season.
Ilya Samsonov got the start for Washington, but he was pulled halfway through the second after allowing four goals on 19 shots. Vitek Vanecek didn’t fare better, stopping 10 of 13 shots in relief.
John Carlson had a goal and an assist for the Capitals. He’s up to 15 goals and 66 points in 70 games.
Jack Campbell stopped 22 of 25 Capitals shots. On the plus side, he got the win, but he’s also now allowed at least three goals in four of five games since coming back from injury.
TAMPA BAY 4 ANAHEIM 3 (OT)
Anthony Cirelli scored the overtime winner and registered an assist. He has 16 goals and 41 points in 69 contests.
Alex Killorn also had a goal and an assist for the Lightning. He’s up to 22 goals and 54 points in 74 games.
The Lightning took a 2-0 lead in the first period, but the Ducks rallied back in the second, scoring three unanswered goals. After stopping 10 of 13 shots through 40 minutes, Andrei Vasilevskiy was pulled by the Lightning in favor of Brian Elliott, who saved the 13 shots he faced to help win the game.
Adam Henrique scored a pair of goals during Anaheim’s strong second period. He has 17 goals and 38 points in 52 games.
Anthony Stolarz turned aside 27 of 31 shots last night. That’s the third straight start where he’s allowed at least three goals.
PITTSBURGH 6 NY ISLANDERS 3
Jake Guentzel was the Penguins’ main contributor with two goals and two assists. He has 37 goals and 78 points in 70 games.
Sidney Crosby scored a goal and registered two helpers for Pittsburgh. That gives him 29 goals and 80 points in 63 games.
Tristan Jarry stopped 36 of 39 Islanders shots. That brought his personal five-game losing streak to an end.
Brock Nelson assisted on two of New York’s three goals. He has 33 goals and 54 points in 64 games.
Ilya Sorokin turned aside 22 of 26 shots on Thursday. He dropped to 24-15-7 with a 2.34 GAA and .925 save percentage in 46 starts.
DETROIT 3 CAROLINA 0
Alex Nedeljkovic made 46 saves against his former team to earn the shutout. This was his third start against Carolina this season and he’s now won two of those three contests.
Sebastian Aho challenged Nedeljkovic with four shots. Aho also had a block and minus-one rating in 18:21 minutes of ice time.
Moritz Seider scored the first and therefore game-winning goal. He has six markers and 47 points in 74 games.
Filip Zadina also found the back of the net for the Red Wings. He is up to 10 goals and 22 points in 71 contests.
Antti Raanta stopped 19 of 22 shots on Thursday. He’s 12-5-4 with a 2.45 GAA and .913 save percentage in 23 games.
EDMONTON 4 NASHVILLE 0
Mike Smith made 30 saves to earn the perfect game. He’s been on a roll lately, allowing just four goals over his last four starts.
Leon Draisaitl also had a huge night with a hat trick. He’s up to 54 goals and 105 points in 74 contests.
Connor McDavid assisted on two of the Oilers’ four goals. That gives him 42 goals and 110 points in 74 games.
Roman Josi had three shots on goal for the Predators. Nevertheless, he’s now been held off the scoresheet for four straight games, which makes this his longest slump of the season.
Juuse Saros stopped 28 of 32 Oilers shots. Only one of those goals was actually scored at even strength. Two of them were scored during Oilers power plays and one of them was netted while Edmonton was shorthanded.
MINNESOTA 3 DALLAS 2 (OT)
Kevin Fiala scored two goals and registered an assist for the Wild. He’s up to 28 goals and 67 points in 73 contests.
Frederick Gaudreau provided the overtime marker and had two assists. That gives him 12 goals and 36 points in 67 games.
Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 34 of 36 Stars shots. He has a 23-22-5 record, 2.90 GAA, and .910 save percentage in 50 starts.
Jason Robertson netted both of Dallas’ goals. He’s up to 36 goals and 68 points in 66 contests.
Scott Wedgewood saved 24 of 27 shots on Thursday. He’s allowed at least three goals in nine of his last 10 games, though it is worth noting that the one exception was a shutout.
COLORADO 3 NEW JERSEY 1
Andre Burakovsky scored the game-winning goal. It was his 22nd goal and 56th point in 72 games.
Artturi Lehkonen contributed a goal and an assist for the Avalanche. That gives him 15 goals and 45 points in 66 contests.
Pavel Francouz stopped 26 of 27 Devils shots. That extended his personal winning streak to six games.
At the other end of the ice, Andrew Hammond saved 27 of 30 shots. All the damage was done in the third period where he allowed three goals on 14 shots.
Jesper Bratt provided the Devils’ lone goal. He has 24 goals and 69 points in 70 games.
VEGAS 6 CALGARY 1
William Karlsson and Jonathan Marchessault each had a goal and two assists for the Golden Knights. Marchessault is up to 29 goals and 63 points in 69 games.
Evgenii Dadonov provided the game-winning goal and registered an assist. Michael Amadio and Nicolas Roy also each finished the game with a goal and an assist for Vegas.
Logan Thompson saved 35 of 36 shots last night. He’s won his last five starts while allowing just eight goals over that span.
Dillon Dube scored the Flames’ only goal. It was his 11th marker and 25th point in 71 games.
Jacob Markstrom stopped 13 of 17 shots before getting pulled midway through the second period. Dan Vladar entered the contest and saved six of eight shots in the losing effort.
VANCOUVER 7 ARIZONA 1
Vasily Podkolzin scored two goals and registered an assist for the Canucks. Alex Chiasson also had a great night for Vancouver with two goals of his own.
J.T. Miller was the standout player though with five assists. That gives him 29 goals and 91 points in 73 games.
Thatcher Demko saved 21 of 22 shots on Thursday. He has a 32-20-6 record, 2.64 GAA, and .918 save percentage in 60 contests.
Karel Vejmelka stopped 16 of 22 Canucks shots through two periods. Harri Sateri was in net for the third and kicked out four of the five shots he faced.
Andrew Ladd scored the Coyotes’ only goal. He has seven goals and 10 points in 47 games.