Top-5: Wild pull goalie in overtime, Marchesseault takes advantage

There were 15 games on the schedule yesterday in the National Hockey League, which means that only two teams were not in action.

The other 30 teams made sure to put on quite a show, with countless highlights.

No kidding, I think this will be the longest, biggest top-5 in the history of DansLesCoulisses, so much happened yesterday.

So, without further ado, strap on your toque with a good brooch, because here we go with a panoply of highlights and interesting statistics.

1. Wild lose overtime point for pulling goalie

Yesterday, the Minnesota Wild hosted the Vegas Golden Knights in a game with no tomorrow.

With the Wild on the outside of the playoff picture and nine points behind the Golden Knights (79 vs. 88), they absolutely had to win this game if they were to have any hope of making the spring tournament.

After almost two periods, it was still tied 0-0 until Kirill Kaprizov opened the scoring with a power-play goal on Jack Eichel’s five-minute suspension for his gesture to Kaprizov.

Eichel was ejected from the game.

The Wild were on their way to mission accomplished, but the Golden Knights tied the game in the third period.

The game went into overtime, with Minnesota needing to win at all costs.

With this in mind, Wild head coach John Hynes decided to withdraw his goaltender in favor of a fourth skater, a decision that had proved conclusive earlier this season.

This time, however, the result was different.

WE’VE GOT AN EMPTY NET OT WINNER

Jonathan Marchessault ends it in @Energizer overtime after the Wild pulled the goalie in attempt to pick up two points! pic.twitter.com/tdPVhoKe7m

– NHL (@NHL) March 30, 2024

In short, the Wild lost the game, and remember, the NHL rule states that a team pulling its goalie in overtime who loses the game with an empty-net goal will lose the point awarded for going to overtime.

However, on the NHL’s official website, the Wild still seem to have pocketed a point in the standings, given that they have 80 and not 79.

To be continued.

In any case, the Minnesota Wild are virtually eliminated from the playoffs, which means that the Golden Knighs will have technically ended Marc-André Fleury’s streak of 16 consecutive seasons with a playoff appearance.

With today’s loss, the Minnesota Wild are 8 points out of a playoff with 9 games to play

The Vegas Golden Knights have essentially ended Marc-Andre Fleury’s playoff appearance streak (16 seasons) the longest active in North America. #mnwild pic.twitter.com/m9mBj5uvzg

– – Andy (@codedandunited) March 30, 2024

2. Jonathan Marchesseault follows in Martin St-Louis’ footsteps

With his zany overtime goal against the Wild, Marchesseault reached the 40-goal plateau this season.

That’s an impressive plateau for the Quebecer, who, it should be remembered, has never been drafted.

With this plateau, the 33-year-old forward joins the elite ranks of undrafted players, only the fourth undrafted player in the last 20 years to reach the 40-goal plateau in a single season.

This list includes a certain Martin St-Louis, now a Hall of Famer.

3. Auston Matthews reaches an impressive 60-goal plateau

Another very important plateau was reached by an NHL player yesterday, and this one has been expected for some time now.

Auston Matthews scored his 60ᵉ goal of the season last night in a 3-0 win over the Buffalo Sabres.

This is the second time in his career that Matthews has reached this plateau, and let’s just say it puts him in VERY good company.

That’s another 60-goal season for Auston Matthews!

The @MapleLeafs forward became the third player in NHL history with multiple 60-goal seasons for an Original Six club, following Phil Esposito (4 w/ BOS) and Steve Yzerman (2 w/ DET). #NHLStats: https://t.co/6vd7O5fG8d pic.twitter.com/udoIi8rKg8

– NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) March 31, 2024

At just 26, do you think Matthews can top this list by the end of his career?

4. First career hat trick for Alexis Lafrenière

Alexis Lafrenière is having a truly excellent campaign with the New York Rangers.

In his fourth NHL season, Laffy finally seems to be settling in and making his mark in the NHL.

Last night, he scored his first career hat trick in an 8-5 win over the Arizona Coyotes.

HATTY FOR LAFFY

Alexis Lafrenière picks up the very first hat trick of his career as part of a five-point outing!

Hat Trick Challenge presented by @AstraZenecaUS pic.twitter.com/soObNuued0

– NHL (@NHL) March 31, 2024

He scored five points in total in this game, which also enabled him to reach the 50-point plateau, as he now has 52 points (25 goals, 27 assists) in 74 games.

In short, the 22-year-old Quebecer is quietly continuing his development, and who knows, maybe one day he’ll be one of the NHL’s top players, as was foreseen when he was selected first overall in 2020.

5. The East’s playoff race continues to go crazy

There was a lot of movement in yesterday’s NHL Eastern Conference standings.

Firstly, the Philadelphia Flyers lost 5-1 to the Chicago Blachawks and the New York Islanders lost 4-1 to the Tampa Bay Lightning.

And secondly, the Washington Capitals (3-2 to the Boston Bruins) and the Detroit Red Wings (3-2 to the Florida Panthers) both lost BUT IN BARRIERS.

The point obtained by both the Capitals and the Red Wings is extremely crucial.

With these various defeats, here’s how the Eastern standings currently look.

The Capitals have overtaken the Flyers for third place in the Metropolitan Division.

As for the last two playoff spots, the first two Wild Card teams, well, the Lightning are comfortable, while the Flyers are barely hanging on.

In short, things got moving yesterday, and that’s likely to be the case for the rest of the season.

Loose in the NHL :

• A spectacular save by Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen.

MY GOODNESS, UKKO-PEKKA LUUKKONEN

: @ESPNPlus https://t.co/FmPv8M6v1l
: @Sportsnet or stream on Sportsnet+ https://t.co/sEijvXhbA1 pic.twitter.com/45VJWbZOTw

– NHL (@NHL) March 31, 2024

• Ilya Samsonov struck back a few minutes later.

ILYA SAMSONOV IS PUTTING ON A SHOW!

: @ESPNPlus https://t.co/FmPv8M6v1l
: @Sportsnet or stream on Sportsnet+ https://t.co/sEijvXhbA1 pic.twitter.com/sgesuT4oeK

– NHL (@NHL) March 31, 2024

• Well, what do you know? Bedard was punished for interference on the goalie on this sequence. I don’t get it.

Do you think goaltender interference on Connor Bedard was the right call here?

via @espn pic.twitter.com/XcDTb35xhU

– BarDown (@BarDown) March 31, 2024

• Logan Cooley is on fire right now, with nine points in his last eight games. Overall this season, he has 39 points (17 goals, 22 assists) in 74 games.

• While we’re on the subject of the Coyotes, it’s worth noting that Josh Doan, Shane’s son, has scored at least one point in each of his first three games, which is a franchise record. He has five points (two goals and three assists).

In bulk outside the NHL :

• For the first time in the history of professional hockey, we were treated to a starting lineup featuring only people of color. It happened in the ECHL with the Cincinnati Cyclones.

For the first time in professional hockey history, tonight’s starting five skaters are all players of color!

Representation matters pic.twitter.com/P4sABLcIgF

– Cincinnati Cyclones (@CincyCyclones) March 30, 2024

• Spencer Knight is having a great time in the American League, having set a franchise record with 213 consecutive minutes without allowing a goal. To give you an idea, that’s about three and a half games.

Extensions

– Here are yesterday’s NHL results.

– Here are yesterday’s top scorers.

– Today’s NHL program: a single game.