NHL MORNING SKATE – MARCH 21, 2021

THREE HARD LAPS

* The Lightning and Panthers earned wins on Saturday and are set to meet as the top two teams in their division at this stage of a season for the fifth time and first since 2015-16.

* Defenseman Dougie Hamilton extended his double-digit point streak and a group of goaltenders also continued recent strings of success.

* The Golden Knights will set their sights on a second six-game winning streak of the season when they face the Kings on NBCSN.

LIGHTNING, PANTHERS EARN WINS AHEAD OF TODAY’S SHOWDOWN The Lightning (22-6-2, 46 points) and Panthers (20-6-4, 44 points) earned wins on Saturday and enter their head-to-head meeting today at AMALIE Arena occupying first and second place, respectively, in the Discover Central Division standings:

* Andrei Vasilevskiy (30 saves) extended his win streak to a career-high 11 games (1.70 GAA, .938 SV%, 3 SO) and matched the longest by a Tampa Bay goaltender, a mark set by Louis Domingue in 2018-19. Vasilevskiy leads the League in victories this season and improved to 20-3-1 through 24 appearances (1.86 GAA, .933 SV%, 3 SO) – only one goaltender in NHL history has reached the 20-win mark in fewer games.

* MacKenzie Weegar (0-1—1) extended his career-high point streak to seven games (1-8—9) and Chris Driedger turned aside all 21 shots he faced as Florida rebounded from a 2-1 loss to Nashville on Thursday with a 2-0 win. Driedger recorded the second shutout of his NHL career – his first was on Nov. 30, 2019, also against the Predators.

HAMILTON EXTENDS POINT STREAK TO MATCH FRANCHISE RECORD Dougie Hamilton (0-1—1) extended his career-high point streak to 11 games (2-11—13) and matched the franchise record for longest by a Hurricanes/Whalers defenseman, a mark set by Hartford’s Mark Howe in 1979-80. Hamilton’s point streak trails only a 13-game run by Auston Matthews for the longest in the NHL this season.

SEVERAL GOALTENDERS ALSO EXTEND STREAKS ON SATURDAY Several other goaltenders also extended streaks across Saturday’s 13-game slate:

* Ville Husso made 29 saves to improve to 6-0-1 through the first seven road decisions of his NHL career (2.77 GAA, .909 SV%) and Ryan O'Reilly (1-3—4), David Perron (1-3—4) and (2-1—3) combined for 4-7—11 as the Blues defeated the Sharks. Only three goaltenders in League history have had seven wins through their first seven career road decisions, including one with St. Louis: Brent Johnson (1998-99–2000-01), Mike Morrison (2005-06) and Ilya Samsonov (2019-20).

* Philipp Grubauer turned aside all 31 shots he faced and Nathan MacKinnon assisted on three of Colorado’s six unanswered goals as the Avalanche blanked the Wild to extend their winning streak to six games. Grubauer earned his League-leading fifth shutout of the season and improved to 6-0-0 in his last six appearances (0.52 GAA, .976 SV%, 2 SO), matching the longest win streak of his NHL career set in 2016-17 (w/ WSH).

* Keith Kinkaid made 28 saves and Mika Zibanejad (1-1—2) scored the go-ahead with 2:32 remaining in regulation as the Rangers split their two-game set with the Capitals. Kinkaid saw his road shutout sequence end at 160:59 when John Carlson pulled Washington even at 5:55 of the third period – only two different goaltenders in franchise history have had a longer such run.

* Ilya Sorokin stopped 23 shots and Thomas Hickey recorded two assists in his emotional return to the NHL as New York earned its League-leading 13th home win of the season (13-1-2, 28 points). Sorokin improved to 7-0-0 in his last seven appearances (1.41 GAA, .938 SV%, 2 SO), extending the franchise record for longest win streak by a rookie.

* Carey Price denied five of six shootout attempts as the Canadiens improved to 14-0-4 in their last 18 games versus the Canucks dating to Nov. 16, 2015 (VAN: 4-11-3), their longest active point streak against a single opponent. Price improved to 11-0-3 in 14 appearances versus Vancouver over that span (2.10 GAA, .932 SV%, 2 SO).

* Jack Campbell (31 saves) of the Scotia North Division-leading Maple Leafs blanked the Flames to earn his second straight shutout and improve to 4-0-0 through four appearances this season (1.00 GAA, .965 SV%, 2 SO).

CROSBY CLIMBS ALL-TIME LISTS FOR MULTI-ASSIST AND MULTI-POINT GAMES notched 0-2—2 to spur the Penguins to their League-leading 16th comeback win of the season and move into sole possession of 20th place in NHL history for both career games with multiple assists (201; surpassing Doug Gilmour and Bobby Clarke) and multiple points (386; surpassing Jari Kurri). Crosby, who sits six points shy of 1,300 in his NHL career, paces the club with 11-20—31 (30 GP; 1.03 P/GP) and now has had a points-per-game average of 1.00 or better through 30 games played in a season in all but one of his 16 NHL campaigns.

QUICK CLICKS

* Kraft Hockeyville Canada announces Top 4 communities * Connor McDavid and reach 60- and 50-point mark, respectively * Derick Brassard scores first regular-season hat trick of NHL career * Canadiens, Canucks combine for 67 goals across nine-game season series

GOLDEN KNIGHTS VIE FOR SIX-GAME WIN STREAK The Golden Knights (21-6-1, 43 points) will look to pick up a sixth straight win when they face the Kings for the second time in three days. Vegas defenseman Shea Theodore (2-7—9 in 6 GP) can set a franchise record for longest point streak by a defenseman, while Los Angeles captain Anze Kopitar puts his eight-game home point streak on the line (5-7—12 in 8 GP at STAPLES Center).