Predators tie franchise record with points in 10 straight games

The Nashville Predators are on a roll.

With a 5-3 win over the Dallas Stars on Tuesday, the Music City squad pushed its recent record to 7-0-3, tying a franchise record with points in 10 consecutive games.

Nashville's past three wins, all in regulation, have come against Chicago, St. Louis, and, now, Dallas, all teams that sit ahead of the Predators in the Central Division standings.

The latest win helped the Predators secure their hold on the first wild-card spot in the Western Conference, and their upcoming schedule appears conducive to at least a few more wins.

While Nashville remained quiet at the trade deadline, the addition of Ryan Johansen earlier in the season and, more importantly, the resurgence of Pekka Rinne, have given the Predators the look of a legitimate challenger come playoff time.

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Wild leapfrog Avalanche into playoff spot after 6-goal outburst

The Minnesota Wild's scoring woes appear to be a thing of the past as John Torchetti's club matched a season-high in goals in Tuesday's 6-3 win over the Colorado Avalanche.

The two points draw the Wild even with the Avalanche at 68 points, but with a game in hand, Minnesota holds the final Western Conference wild-card spot.

Western Conference Wild Card Standings

Rnk Team GP  W L O Pts
1 Nashville 64 32 21 11 75
2 Minnesota 64 29 25 10 68
3 Colorado 65 32 29 4 68

It was just over a month ago when the Wild scored six goals over a six-game period from Jan. 9-20. The team has now scored at least five goals in five of nine games since replacing head coach Mike Yeo with Torchetti on Feb. 13.

A big part of their recent success has been the production from their third line of Erik Haula, Jason Pominville, and Nino Niederreiter. The trio combined for seven points against the Avalanche, with all three scoring breakaway goals in the first period, ending the night of Avalanche starter Semyon Varlamov.

"They want to play on both sides of the puck," Torchetti said of the line, per Michael Russo of the Star Tribune. "I think the whole team can learn from that.

"We talk a lot, on the bench, to support each other," Niederreiter added. The winger would score on an empty net in the third to help him and Pominville finish with three-point nights.

"This game was one I think everyone had marked down and wanted to win," Pominville said postgame. "And everyone responded."

Less than a minute before Niederreiter's empty-netter, Charlie Coyle scored his team-leading 21st of the year.

The Wild now have a great chance to pick up another four points with a quick two-game road trip in the East as they'll visit the league-worst Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday before a Saturday visit with the Buffalo Sabres.

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McDavid takes Round 1 from Eichel with OT winner

Advantage Connor McDavid.

In the initial showdown between the first and second overall picks from the 2015 NHL Entry Draft, it was the Edmonton Oilers who came out on top against Jack Eichel and the Buffalo Sabres, 2-1.

McDavid, who opened the scoring a mere 22 seconds into the first period, finished things off in overtime with this goal on Robin Lehner. The goal came moments after a glorious opportunity for Eichel.

Considering these two youngsters will be linked for quite some time, McDavid sounded as though he was happy to get their first encounter out of the way.

McDavid now has 12 goals in 28 games, while Eichel rests at 17 through 64.

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VIDEO: Senators’ Pageau ties game vs. Blues with regulation buzzer-beater

Ottawa Senators forward J.G. Pageau literally scored at the absolute last possible moment to send Tuesday's game against the St. Louis Blues to overtime.

The goal came with 0.1 seconds left on the clock and was Pageau's 16th, with the 15th coming less than three minutes earlier to make it 3-2.

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Capitals’ Holtby picks up win No. 40 vs. Penguins

With a fantastic glove save to rob Carl Hagelin in the final minute, goaltender Braden Holtby ensured his second consecutive 40-win season, as the Washington Capitals beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-2 on Tuesday.

Holtby needed just 52 games to hit the milestone, compared to 73 games one year ago, as he approaches Martin Brodeur's single-season record of 48 wins. It's an especially noteworthy milestone for Holtby considering he hasn't allowed less than two goals in a game since Jan. 14 - a span in which he's gone 11-3-1.

The Capitals have now gone 10 games without holding a lead at the end of the first period, but that clearly hasn't stopped them from winning games, as they've won seven of their last 10 contests.

Mike Richards, Evgeny Kuznetsov, and former Penguin Matt Niskanen all beat rookie netminder Matt Murray in the win.

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