Bruins become fastest in history to 100 points
David Pastrnak had a goal and two assists just a few hours after signing a new contract and the surging Boston Bruins became the fastest team in NHL history to reach 100 points by beating the visiting Buffalo Sabres 7-1 on Thursday night.
Jakub Lauko scored twice, Dmitry Orlov added a goal and two assists and Jeremy Swayman stopped 26 shots as the Bruins overcame the loss of Brad Marchand to a lower body injury to win their ninth straight.
Boston improved to 48-8-5 in its 61st game, besting the Montreal team from 1976-77 that reached 100 points in 62 games.
The victory capped an eventful day for the Bruins. They acquired Tyler Bertuzzi from Detroit and inked Pastrnak to an eight-year, $90 million extension. SENATORS 5, RANGERS 3 » Claude Giroux broke a tie early in the third period, former Ranger Derick Brassard scored twice and Ottawa won at New York to spoil Patrick Kane’s Rangers debut.
Kane made his debut following his acquisition from Chicago, where he won the Stanley Cup three times. He had four shots on goal. The Rangers led 3-2 entering the third after Vladimir Tarasenko scored a highlightreel goal late in the second, but Ottawa scored twice in a two-minute span.
PENGUINS 5, LIGHTNING 4, OT » Jason Zucker scored his second goal of the game 2:13 into overtime and visiting Pittsburgh completed a threegame season sweep of Tampa Bay. Zucker was wide-open in the slot and one-timed a shot past Andrei Vasilevskiy. The Penguins moved into the first wild card playoff berth in the Eastern Conference, a point ahead of the Islanders. KRAKEN 5, RED WINGS 4, OT » Oliver Bjorkstrand scored on a power play at 3:33 of overtime to lift Seattle at Detroit. Jared McCann had two goals for the Kraken, scoring twice in the opening 12 minutes and giving him a careerhigh 29 goals.
STARS 5, BLACKHAWKS 2 » Roope Hintz extended his scoring streak to four games with his third career hat trick and Dallas beat Chicago in the Blackhawks’ first home game since the Patrick Kane trade. Jamie Benn snapped a tie in the third period and Matt Murray made 19 saves in his NHL debut, helping Dallas (33-16-13) to its third win in four games.
MAPLE LEAFS 2, FLAMES 1 » Calle Jarnkrok broke a tie at 2:20 of the third period and Joseph Woll made 25 saves in Toronto’s victory at Calgary. After Jacob Markstrom stopped Morgan Rielly on a breakaway, Jarnkrok was able to score off the rebound as the net came off its moorings.
PREDATORS 2, PANTHERS 1 » Kevin Lankinen made 30 saves and Nashville won at Florida. Matt Duchene and John Leonard each scored for Nashville.
EL SEGUNDO » There was a stretch of sunny days and temperatures in the 70s in Columbus recently, while Southern California had one of its coldest, wettest weeks in memory.
But Vladislav Gavrikov and Joonas Korpisalo didn’t move here for the weather. They left the worst team in the Eastern Conference by record and arrived Thursday to a Kings club that finds itself in the midst of a sprint toward what could be its first divisional title since 1991.
“The only time I’ve been here is for the road trips with Columbus, so that’s usually in and out,” Korpisalo said.
“You mean the burgers?” Gavrikov, a defenseman, interjected.
“I get the burgers, too,” the goalie replied.
While their comedic timing was sharp on Day 1, a look at their defensegoalie exchange would have to wait until at least Saturday. Gavrikov was inserted directly into the lineup Thursday against the Montreal Canadiens, skating on the third pairing with Sean Walker, but the Kings wanted to give Korpisalo a buffer period. He seemed likely to make his debut Saturday against the St. Louis Blues.
For Gavrikov, there was little time to waste given that an aborted trade with another club left him in limbo for nearly three weeks. He last played Feb. 11, after which the Blue Jackets placed the shrink wrap on him pending a swap. But a deal with the Boston Bruins never materialized, and Gavrikov remained in purgatory until late Tuesday night.
“I’d never been in a situation like that before, so I didn’t know exactly what to expect. Obviously, as a player, you want to play, so that’s it,” Gavrikov said. “After one game or two, it’s kind of weird to watch your team play.”
Gavrikov and Korpisalo arrived from the Blue Jackets, who made an enormous splash in the offseason. A franchise that had
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historically had tremendous difficulty retaining its own players managed to land winger Johnny Gaudreau, the most coveted free agent of last season and arguably multiple offseasons. But four of Columbus’ defensemen went down early in the campaign, including top blue-liner Zach Werenski, and their forward group was also decimated by injuries over time.
This duo goes from a team at the bottom of one conference’s standings that’s been ravaged by absences to a competitive organization that will possess its full complement of toplevel players once Trevor Moore (upper body) returns later this month.
While Gavrikov saw his role expand because of injuries prior to being scratched for trade purposes, Korpisalo was playing on a one-year contract because of a series of maladies during his contract year. Illnesses, injuries and ultimately major hip surgery were all part of a nightmarish 2021-22. This season, he has had to backstop a roster that’s allowed the third-most shots per game in the NHL and forced him to elevate his game in order to give them any sort of chance each night.
McLellan said Korpisalo and incumbent Pheonix Copley, who made his Kings debut in early December and got the start Thursday, should view themselves as “starters.”
“After last season, I signed that one-year deal and had the hip surgery, so there were a lot of question marks. I did my best for the start and throughout the whole season, and I knew there was a chance of me getting traded,” Korpisalo said. “Getting here is a great spot, a great team with big games in the future, so I’m very excited.”
McLellan said Gavrikov would play the left side but did not commit to balancing the pairings on an ongoing basis, nor would he specify if Walker or someone else was the partner he envisioned for Gavrikov in the long run. For now, the focus was on getting Gavrikov, Korpisalo and their families situated.
“Everyone has been just top notch, guys try to help us out, it’s amazing, to make everything easier for us. That’s exactly what we need right now and we really appreciate that,” Gavrikov said of the transition.
There was only time for a brief orientation for the two newest Kings, who made themselves at home instantaneously.
“As a new guy, you come in, usually you’re going to be super quiet, but they were not quiet, they were