NHL MORNING SKATE – MARCH 8, 2019

THURSDAY’S RESULTS Home Team in Caps BOSTON 4, Florida 3 PITTSBURGH 3, Columbus 0 NY Islanders 4, OTTAWA 2 DETROIT 3, NY Rangers 2 (SO) Minnesota 3, TAMPA BAY 0 CHICAGO 5, Buffalo 4 (SO) DALLAS 4, Colorado 0 EDMONTON 3, Vancouver 2 2, Calgary 0 St. Louis 4, LOS ANGELES 0 SAN JOSE 5, Montreal 2

THREE HARD LAPS: QUICK HITS FROM THURSDAY

* The Bruins scored twice in the final minute of regulation to rally and defeat the Panthers, while extending their streak to 18 contests (14-0-4 dating to Jan. 29).

* Alexander Radulov and Jason Zucker netted hat tricks for the Stars and Wild, respectively, as their clubs strengthened their grips on Western Conference Wild Card positions.

* Connor McDavid led the Oilers to their fourth consecutive win after reaching the 60-assist mark for the third straight season.

Read below for more on each storyline.

BRUINS STAGE LAST-MINUTE COMEBACK TO EXTEND STREAKS After Matt Grzelcyk tied the game with 37 seconds remaining in regulation, Patrice Bergeron (2-0—2) tallied the game-winning 30 seconds later to help the Bruins (41-17-9, 91 points) extend their home win streak and overall point streak to nine and 18 contests (14-0-4 dating to Jan. 29), respectively.

* Thursday marked the 10th instance in NHL history, and second by the Bruins, in which a club overcame a deficit in the final minute of the third period and won in regulation. Boston first did so on Dec. 4, 1986, when Tom McCarthy (19:42) and (19:59) scored 17 seconds apart.

* The Bruins 18-game run matched the second-longest point streak in team history, trailing only the club’s 23 game-stretch during the 1940-41 campaign (15-0-8).

* Bergeron’s first of two tallies Thursday marked his second shorthanded goal in as many contests. He is the third skater to score a shorthanded goal in consecutive games this season, joining Mark Giordano (Dec. 12-15, 2018 w/ CGY) and Mark Jankowski (Dec. 27-29, 2018 w/ CGY). Meanwhile, he is just the fifth Bruins player in the last 30 years to accomplish the feat and first since Brian Rolston (Oct. 13-16, 2001).

RADULOV, ZUCKER NET HAT TRICKS TO LEAD CLUBS IN WILD CARD RACE Alexander Radulov and Jason Zucker each netted hat tricks to help the Stars (35-27-5, 75 points) and Wild (33-27-8, 74 points) strengthen their grips on the first and second Wild Card positions in the Western Conference standings, respectively.

* Radulov joined Jamie Benn (March 2 at STL), who also scored Thursday, as the second Stars player to record a hat trick this season. Meanwhile, Ben Bishop turned aside all 31 shots to post consecutive shutouts (also March 5 vs. NYR) for the first time in his career.

* Zucker scored the second natural hat trick of his NHL career and joined Marian Gaborik (Dec. 20, 2007 and Nov. 13, 2001) as the only players in Wild franchise history to post multiple such outings. Minnesota holds a three-point advantage over Arizona (33-29-5, 71 points), the next- closest club in the Western Conference standings - which also won Thursday.

McDAVID NETS THIRD STRAIGHT 60-ASSIST SEASON . . . Connor McDavid (0-2—2) factored on his team’s second and third goals to reach the 60-assist mark (33-61—94) for the third consecutive season and lift the Oilers (30-30-7, 67 points) to their fourth straight win. Edmonton sits seven points back of Minnesota (33-27-8, 74 points), with one game in hand, for the second Wild Card spot in the Western Conference.

* The Oilers joined Sharks forward (5 from 2005-10) as the only active NHL players to accomplish the feat in three or more straight campaigns. Additionally, McDavid is just the fifth Oilers player to do so, joining Wayne Gretzky (9 from 1979-88), Paul Coffey (5 from 1981-1986), Mark Messier (4 from 1986-90) and Jari Kurri (3 from 1983-86).

. . . WHILE 33-YEAR-OLD BURNS REGISTERS HIS FIRST Brent Burns collected his eighth assist in nine contests to record 60 assists for the first time in his NHL career as the Sharks (40-19-8, 88 points) reached the 40-win mark. Only three players in NHL history have recorded their first 60-assist campaign at an older age than Burns (33 years, 363 days).

* Since the Sharks entered the NHL in 1991-92, only four other franchises have registered more 40-win seasons than San Jose (16): Detroit (20), New Jersey (17), Dallas (17) and Philadelphia (17).

* Additionally, the 2018-19 campaign marks the sixth time in franchise history in which the Sharks recorded their 40th win in 67 contests or fewer. Only one season has featured the club reach the mark in fewer than 60 games (57 GP in 2008-09).

KUEMPER, COYOTES SHUT OUT CONFERENCE-LEADING FLAMES Darcy Kuemper turned aside all 30 shots he faced as the Coyotes (33-29-5, 71 points) shut out the Western Conference-leading Flames (41-20-7, 89 points). Arizona, which improved to 8-2-0 in its last ten games, moved within three points of the conference's final Wild Card spot.

* Kuemper improved to 16-4-3 (.928 SV%, 2.19 GAA, 3 SO) dating to Jan. 1 and tied Lightning netminder Andrei Vasilevskiy (16-5-2) and Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington (16-3-1) for the most wins over that span.

QUICK CLICKS

* extends goal streak to six games in Penguins victory * What Gender Equality Month means to me: Lyndsey Fry * Patrick Kane moves into fourth on Blackhawks’ all-time points list * Justin Williams front and center for resurging Hurricanes

SNEAK PEEK AT FRIDAY’S ACTION