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On Wednesday night, Canadian hockey forward Nathan MacKinnon became the seventh player of the ongoing NHL season to reach the 100-point mark. He contributed to the triumph of his Colorado on the San Jose ice 4:3 after extra time with a 1+2 record.
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Leon Draisaitl led Edmonton to a 3-1 victory over the Los Angeles Kings with his 31st power-play goal, leading the pro league in that stat. After the duels on Wednesday night, Washington lost the chance to advance to the playoffs.
The Capitals will miss the playoffs for the first time since 2014, when they finished 13th in the Eastern Conference. It was decided by Florida’s 2-1 victory over Buffalo. The Panthers moved into the first wild card position with 87 points, second to the New York Islanders with the same number of points.
Washington can match them in points if they win the remaining five duels, but even that won’t be enough. Definitely more wins in regulation time and overtime, except for wins on drives. Florida and the New York Islanders already have 38, and Washington can reach a maximum of 37. Slovak defenseman Martin Fehérváry so he can strengthen the representation at the WC in Latvia and Finland after the regular part.
MacKinnon reached the 100-point mark for the first time in his career with 36 goals and 64 assists. He scored his 100th point in the year in the 4th minute of extra time, when he made a solo escape and beat home goalkeeper Kaap Kähkönen with a shot. “My amazing teammates helped me. Of course, I don’t have to say names, but everyone supported me a lot during the season. It’s definitely great to get so many points.” MacKinnon told nhl.com.
Thanks to the victory, Colorado secured a place in the Western Conference playoffs, in which they will defend the Stanley Cup. MacKinnon became the first Avalanche player to reach 100 points since Joe Sakic in 2006/07. At the same time, he became the club’s all-time leader with 10 goals in overtime, surpassing the record of Czech striker Milan Hejduk (9).
“He came close to 100 points in a season a few times. I’m sure he was very happy about that. He’s been doing great in the last few games. He had a three-point night, so I’m really happy he did it. Hopefully Mikko he will soon reach the 50-goal mark,” coach Jared Bednar addressed MacKinnon and expressed his wish that Mikko Rantanen could score 50 goals in the season. The Finnish striker needs one more accurate shot to do so and there are six games left in the regular season.
German forward Draisaitl had two assists and in the 53rd minute scored the decisive goal on the power play, his 31st of the season in multiple advantages. The only players since 1933/34 to score more goals in one season are Tim Kerr (34 in 1985/86) and Dave Andreychuk (32 in 1992/93). Draisaitl has four more games to go.
The second goal in the numerical advantage was scored by Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, who already has 99 points this season: “We believe in power-ups. We stuck to the system and it helped us succeed.” The Canadian forward can become the third Oilers player with 100 or more points this year. The last time he had three or more players with that many points in a season was Pittsburgh ((1995/96). The Oilers also became the first team in history to have four players each score 15 power play goals in a season (Draisaitl 31, Connor McDavid 21, Zach Hyman and Nugent-Hopkins 15 each).
Captain McDavid assisted on both goals in the numerical advantage and leads the league in scoring with 147 points: “Most of the players who play in special formations have been around for a long time. It’s pretty cool to be part of a power play like that. It’s not about how much you score, but when.” McDavid said.
