NHL Rink Wrap: Ovechkin ties Jagr; Tons of goals, big upsets

There were some eye-popping performances (and upsets) around the NHL on Tuesday. Patrick Kane and Dylan Strome factored into one of the more significant ones.

Kane stood out the most with a whopping six points (1G, 5A), while Strome managed a hat trick and an assist. The Blackhawks scored five goals during the first period alone to downgrade the Ducks’ playoff chances 8-3.

That six-point outburst leaves Kane with 64 points in 54 points this season, lining up closely to last year’s 66 points in 56 games. Strome now has 30 points in 45 contests, with a strong chance to set a new career-high for goals (at 15 now, his peak was 17 in 2018-19).

There were plenty of honorable mentions for NHL player of the night on Tuesday. Nick Schmaltz remains red-hot with four points after his historic seven-point explosion. Carter Hart made 47 saves to help the Flyers narrowly upset the Golden Knights. Mark Scheifele scored four points (1G, 3A) as the Jets generated a medium-sized upset against the Lightning.

Oh, right. And Auston Matthews produced a hat trick, giving him 43 goals on the season (and helping the Maple Leafs avoid being part of that upset trend).

Watch that Auston Matthews hat trick:

Soak in those performances from Patrick Kane and Dylan Strome in what could serve as a painful loss for the Ducks. Could that shove them more fully into selling at the 2022 NHL Trade Deadline?

Might as well soak in the absurdity of the Coyotes’ output, too.

Roman Josi winning this for the Predators over the Stars in regulation could end up being important:

RT IF YOU LOVE ROMAN JOSI pic.twitter.com/BqZhO1TU3T

— Nashville Predators (@PredsNHL) March 9, 2022

Usually, an empty-netter only warrants a highlight mention if a goalie is involved. Alex