News – The “Morning Skate” of Sunday February 13

NHL – Le “Morning Skate”

Night Stats

• Two Western Conference Wild Card contenders benefited from outstanding star performances to earn two crucial points in the standings.
• Patrik Laine continued his recent winning streak and helped the Blue Jackets win in the dying seconds of the regulation game.

51 stops for Demko

The Canucks (22-21-6, 50 points) and Jets (20-17-8, 48 points) benefited from strong performances from Thatcher Demko (51 saves) and Blake Wheeler (2-3-5), respectively, to earn two crucial points in the race for the Western Conference Wild Card. The inactive Ducks (23-17-9, 55 points) currently sit in last place.

• Demko, who joined Elvis Merzlikins (56 saves on Jan. 26 with the CBJs) as the second goaltender to make 50+ saves this season, became the second Canucks goaltender to make at least 50 saves in a regular season game and to win (Richard Brodeur: 51 saves on February 10, 1985).
• Demko is no stranger to big performances after making a name for himself during the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs – posting performances of 42 and 48 saves as a rookie to help Vancouver erase a 3-1 deficit in the series and force a seventh game against Vegas.
• Wheeler posted his second career five-point game (also Nov. 9, 2018) and Kyle Connor (1-1-2) eclipsed the 300-point mark as Winnipeg overcame a multi-goal deficit to win for third times this season. Seven teams have recorded more such wins in 2021-22: Columbus (5), Minnesota (5), Colorado (4), Edmonton (4), Florida (4), Pittsburgh (4) and Vegas (4).

Wool the multi-stitch

Patrik Laine (1-1-2) assisted in both of his team’s goals, scoring the winning goal eight seconds from time, and extended his points streak to six games (7-5-12 in 6 GP), his longest streak with the Blue Jackets.

• Laine, with multiple points in five of his last six games, is averaging points per game this season (13-14-27 in 27 GPs) – which puts him ahead of all Columbus players – after missing 19 games from November 3 to December 30 due to injury.

In short

• The Wild trade goaltender Andrew Hammond with the Canadiens

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