APRIL 1•STAR-TELEGRAM.COM
Lightning hope to carry March momentum into Red Wings tiltThough Monday’s home game against the Detroit Red Wings kicks off April and the start of the final 2 1/2 weeks of the regular season, the Ta...
Brandon Hagel - Keeps piling on career highsHagel picked two apples Saturday in a 4-1 win over the Islanders.
ImpactThe points established a new career mark for Hagel, whose previous best season came last year with 64 points (81 games). Now, he has delivered 66 (23 goals, 43 assists) in 73 games, and he has done it with less output on the power play (seven points vs. 13 last season). With nine games remaining, Hagel has an opportunity to climb into the low-70s and establish a new mark for shots, too. He has 164, which is just 14 from tying his output from last season.
MARCH 31•ROTOWIRE
Nikita Kucherov - Continues on record paceKucherov picked up two assists Saturday in a 4-1 victory over the Islanders.
ImpactKucherov now sits second in league scoring with 126, one point behind Nathan MacKinnon and one ahead of Connor McDavid. With nine games remaining, he will undoubtably shatter his career mark of 128 points set in 2018-19. That was the season Kucherov won the Hart, Ted Lindsay and Art Ross Trophies. It's a tight race this season, but he will contend for all of them this season, too.
MARCH 31•ROTOWIRE
Flyers host the Islanders on losing streak
The Philadelphia Flyers will try to stop a four-game skid when they take on the New York IslandersMARCH 31•ASSOCIATED PRESS
Lightning bring 3-game win streak into matchup against the Red Wings
The Tampa Bay Lightning come into a matchup against the Detroit Red Wings as winners of three consecutive gamesMARCH 31•ASSOCIATED PRESS
Semyon Varlamov - Game improving, but results varyVarlamov made 36 saves in a 4-1 loss to Tampa Bay on Saturday.
ImpactVarlamov has gone 3-1-1 in his last five starts in the last three weeks, which is a nice boost after going 0-4-2 in seven starts between Dec. 16 and Feb. 22. The Isles went up 1-0 early in the first period on a fluke deflection, but Darren Raddysh and Anthony Cirelli scored 35 seconds apart later in the frame, and the Bolts never looked back. Varlamov and the Isles play back-to-back games Monday in Philly and Tuesday at home against Chicago. Both are theoretically winnable games, even for a struggling New York squad. And Varlamov will get one of them.
MARCH 31•ROTOWIRE
Andrei Vasilevskiy - Peaking at right timeVasilevskiy made 27 saves in a 4-1 win over the Islanders on Saturday.
ImpactKyle Palmieri was the only Islander who solved Vasilevskiy, and it came just 2:25 into the game when the forward's shot deflected off Matt Dumba's skate and in. Vasy is 7-0-1 in his last eight starts, with just one or fewer goals allowed in four of those starts. Vasilevskiy is a big reason why the Bolts currently hold the first wild card and are within four points of the Leafs for third place in the Atlantic. He's peaking at the right time.
MARCH 31•ROTOWIRE
