NHL Roundup: Jason Robertson nets another hat trick, Igor Shesterkin stops 45, and more
Anthony Scultore
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Today’s NHL Roundup takes us across the league on a busy Sunday, March 6, 2022. There were 8 games on the dockets with plenty of heroics for everyone.
The Ducks won on a controversial goal by Rickard Rakell in OT, which still has the Sharks head coach steaming. Igor Shesterkin’s hunt for the Vezina and Hart trophies continued with a stellar 45 save performance to round the Jets in Winnipeg.
However, we start our recaps with the red-hot Jason Robertson picking up his second hat trick in as many games to lead the Stars over the Wild.
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Stars 6, Wild 3
Jason Robertson recorded his second consecutive hat trick and Minnesota native Jake Oettinger made 32 saves to lift the Dallas Stars to a 6-3 victory over the Wild on Sunday in Saint Paul, Minn.
Robertson’s back-to-back hat tricks give him eight tallies in his last five games. He became the fourth active NHL player to score three or more goals in consecutive games — along with Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin, the Florida Panthers’ Noel Acciari and the Nashville Predators’ Filip Forsberg.
“I’m just glad we won the game and didn’t blow that lead,” Robertson said. “My linemates worked really hard today and got those opportunities, and when you start feeling good, you start to shoot the puck more with more confidence.”
Joe Pavelski and captain Jamie Benn each collected a goal and an assist, and Minnesota native Riley Tufte netted his first career NHL goal for the Stars, who have won four in a row. Roope Hintz and defenseman John Klingberg each notched a pair of assists as Dallas improved to 14-4-1 in its last 19 games.
Kirill Kaprizov scored twice in a 1:44 stretch late in the third period and Nico Sturm also tallied for the Wild, who have dropped eight of their last 10 games after a scintillating 11-1-1 run.
Devils 3, Blues 2 (OT)
Dougie Hamilton scored the overtime winner to lift New Jersey past St. Louis in Newark, N.J.
Ty Smith and Dawson Mercer also scored for the Devils and Jack Hughes had two assists. Nico Daws made 19 saves to earn the victory.
Torey Krug and Jordan Kyrou each scored in the third period and Vladimir Tarasenko had two assists for the Blues, who are winless (0-2-1) in their last three games. Ville Husso stopped 30 of 33 shots while taking the loss.
Kings 3, Sabres 0
Andreas Athanasiou scored twice, Cal Petersen crafted his second shutout this season and Los Angeles earned a shutout victory over host Buffalo.
Athanasiou notched his 100th career goal in the second period, then he and Dustin Brown each scored into an empty net in the final minute as Los Angeles won its second straight and improved to 20-6-3 against the Eastern Conference. On a fairly light day of work, Petersen had 19 saves in his third career shutout.
The Sabres were coming off consecutive games of five goals scored and lost for the first time in three games ahead of a visit from the Florida Panthers on Monday. Dustin Tokarski recorded 29 saves for Buffalo.
Rangers 4, Jets 1
Chris Kreider scored twice, Igor Shesterkin made 45 saves and New York opened a four-game road trip with a victory over Winnipeg.
“The way [Shesterkin] is playing right now, I mean, we are truly spoiled,” Kreider said. “The guy is unbelievable. He’s been our best player all year. At this point, nothing really surprises me. He’s just otherworldly. I don’t think there are any superlatives left for him, he’s that good. It really is incredible.”
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Kreider scored for the third straight game and netted his 37th and 38th goals. He pulled into a tie with Edmonton’s Leon Draisaitl for second and moved within one of Auston Matthews for the league lead.
Barclay Goodrow and Zibanejad also tallied for the Rangers, who won their third straight game and improved to 8-2-1 in their past 11. Nikolaj Ehlers scored a power-play goal in the second for the Jets, who lost for the sixth time in eight games (2-4-2).
Lightning 6, Blackhawks 3
Visiting Tampa Bay scored three goals in a 32-second span early in the third period and defeated Chicago.
Victor Hedman scored two goals and Mikhail Sergachev had a goal and two assists for the Lightning, who have won seven of their past eight games. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 24 saves and improved to 12-0 in his career against the Blackhawks.
Dylan Strome, Patrick Kane and Alex DeBrincat each had a goal and an assist for the Blackhawks, who have lost six of eight (2-5-1). Marc-Andre Fleury made 26 saves.
Hurricanes 3, Kraken 2
Martin Necas scored for the first time in 19 games, breaking a third-period tie as Carolina defeated Seattle in Raleigh, N.C.
Necas has nine goals this season, but he hadn’t found the net since Jan. 15. Nino Niederreiter and Teuvo Teravainen scored second-period power-play goals for the Hurricanes, who hold an 11-game point streak on home ice. Antti Raanta made 28 saves.
Alex Wennberg and Calle Jarnkrok scored in the second period for the Kraken, who lost for the ninth time in the last 10 games (1-8-1). Jarnkrok also had an assist. Goalie Philipp Grubauer made 30 saves, though he was unsuccessful in gaining his first victory in his last eight decisions.
Golden Knights 2, Senators 1
Jack Eichel scored a power play goal with 5.2 seconds remaining and Jonathan Marchessault scored for the third straight game as Vegas defeated Ottawa in Las Vegas.
Eichel picked up a rebound of a Max Pacioretty shot in the left circle and then fired a wrist shot inside the near left post and past goalie Anton Forsberg’s blocker for his third goal of the season. The goal snapped an 0-for-17 drought for the Golden Knights on the power play.
Marchessault added an assist for Vegas, which improved to just 5-6-3 in its last 14 home games. Robin Lehner tied his season high with 39 saves. Brady Tkachuk scored for Ottawa, which lost its fifth straight game. Forsberg finished with 40 saves.
Ducks 3, Sharks 2 (OT)
Rickard Rakell scored on a controversial breakaway 14 seconds into overtime as Anaheim defeated visiting San Jose.
“This win was huge for us,” Rakell said. “I thought we battled throughout the whole game. It was a tough game, but it’s nice to come out with the two points.”
Adam Henrique and Sonny Milano also scored for the Ducks, who finished 3-3-0 on the six-game homestand, their longest of the season. Logan Couture and Marc-Edouard Vlasic scored for San Jose, which lost for the 11th time in its past 13 games (2-6-5).
Rakell jumped onto the ice and took a long lead pass from Troy Terry at the San Jose blue line. He skated in alone on Zach Sawchenko and slipped a forehand shot between the rookie’s pads. The Sharks argued Anaheim had too many players on the ice to no avail.
“It’s a complete, disastrous blown call– too many men all day long,” Sharks coach Bob Boughner complained after the game.
–Field Level Media contributed to this report.