Auston Matthews scores his 69th goal of the season! Boston succeeds in shootout on Penguins ice, spoils Erik Karlsson’s jubilee

Toronto fell to Detroit 4:5 in overtime. The Red Wings moved up to 8th place in the Eastern Conference standings. Boston confirmed its role as the favourite and dominated the shootout in Pittsburgh.

Auston Matthews is one goal away from reaching 70 goals on the season

American forward Auston Matthews confirmed his great shooting form. In the home game against the Red Wings, he scored a goal for the 8th consecutive game and is one shot away from surpassing the 70-goal mark for the season. However, Toronto lost its second consecutive game before the start of the playoffs.

Detroit, on the other hand, recorded an important win. Captain Dylan Larkin, who recently broke the 500-point mark in the NHL, decided the game for his team in overtime.

Detroit moved back to the 8th place in the conference thanks to Pittsburgh’s hesitation. However, the table is so balanced that a single defeat can move the team down 3 places.

The Red Wings dominated the first period, winning 4-1. Toronto came alive in the middle period to tie the game. In the third period, the score did not change and the teams went into overtime, when Dylan Larkin scored on the power play at 60:41 to put his team in a playoff position for the time being.

Larkin scored his 9th goal in overtime. He is tied for second in Red Wings franchise history with Steve Yzerman and Brendan Shanahan.

The record is held by Sergei Fedorov with 12 such hits. Auston Matthews’ 107th point of the season set his personal best in an NHL season. He recorded 60 goals and 46 assists in the 2021-22 season.

Pittsburgh fell to Boston on their home ice

The Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Boston Bruins (4:6) game turned into a shootout. In the end, Boston was the more successful team. After a scoreless first period, the Bruins decided their victory in the second 20 minutes, which they won 4:2.

Pavel Zacha scored a goal and an assist for Boston, while David Pastrňák also had two assists. The Bruins confirmed their role as favourites and tuned up for the upcoming playoffs. On the other hand, they still have a theoretical chance to win the Eastern Conference.

The scalded Penguins couldn’t manage to turn the game around, they only adjusted the game score. This defeat hurts the Penguins twice as much, as Pittsburgh dropped from the 8th position in the conference standings to the 11th position. This made the 1000th regular season game bitter for Erik Karlsson, who scored an assist in the game.

He accumulated a total of 814 points for 188 goals and 626 assists in the regular season, which is a testament to his tremendous productivity. However, after this defeat, the three-time NHL’s best defenseman is in danger of missing the playoffs again this season.

That would put the Penguins’ unprecedented pursuit drive to naught. That number of points by a defenseman in 1,000 games is the 10th highest in NHL history. The record is held by Paul Coffey with 1,249 points.

What’s the Eastern Conference standings?

The 8th place is held by Detroit, which has two games to play and 87 points. Washington has the same number of points and also has two games to play. Philadelphia also has 87 points, but has one game left in the regular season. Pittsburgh is on 86 points and has two games left to play in the regular season. That leaves four teams competing for one playoff spot.

Source: NHL