BERGERON SCORES TWICE AS BRUINS CLOSE IN ON FIRST PLACE

Patrice Bergeron scored two of Boston’s six unanswered goals to lead the Bruins (33-11-8, 74 points) to their fourth straight win and within one point of the Lightning (36-14-3, 75 points) for first place in the NHL.

* The Bruins extended their road point streak to 12 games (10-0-2) dating to Dec. 13. This marks the fifth time in franchise history that the Bruins have recorded at least a point in 12 or more consecutive road games.

* Bergeron, who started 2017-18 with five goals in his first 23 games, has tallied 19 goals in his past 24 contests. Additionally, Bergeron has collected at least one point in all but three games since Dec. 30, compiling 14-8—22 in 16 games – the Penguins trio of Evgeni Malkin (17-10—27 in 16 GP), Sidney Crosby (3-22—25 in 16 GP) and Phil Kessel (8-16—24 in 16 GP) are the only players with more points during that span.

* Bergeron, who recorded two hat tricks in a six-game span in January (including his first career four-goal game), leads the Bruinswith 24 goals this season (47 GP) – the fourth-most in his 14 NHL seasons. With 283 career goals (all w/ BOS), Bergeron is six goals shy of tying Ken Hodge (289) for sixth on the Bruins’ all-time goals list.

PASTRNAK EXTENDS POINT STREAK TO 10 GAMES (AGAIN)

David Pastrnak set up Boston’s third goal to extend his point streak to 10 games (4-8—12), his second double-digit run of the season – he had a 12-game point streak from Nov. 22 to Dec. 18 (5-9—14) that stands as the longest by any player in 2017-18.

* Pastrnak, who shares the team lead with 21-30—51 (52 GP), joined Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov as the only players with multiple double-digit point streaks this season – Kucherov started 2017-18 with a point in each of his first 11 games and posted a 10-game streak in December.

* Pastrnak and Kucherov are among a group of five players with multiple point streaks of 10+ games within a season over the past eight campaigns. The others: Patrick Kane in 2013-14 (w/ CHI), Ryan Johansen in 2014-15 (w/ CBJ) and Sidney Crosby in 2015-16 (w/ PIT). The last Bruins player to accomplish the feat was Cam Neely in 1993-94.

ANDERSEN, MAPLE LEAFS KEEP PACE IN ATLANTIC DIVISION

James van Riemsdyk (1-0—1) scored the decisive marker in the shootout and Frederik Andersen made 44 saves to help the Maple Leafs (32-19-5, 69 points) improve to 7-2-2 in their last 11 contests.

* The Maple Leafs, who improved to 2-0-0 on their current five-game homestand, rank third in the Atlantic Division behind the Lightning (36-14-3, 75 points) and Bruins (33-11-8, 74 points) and own the third-most points in the entire Eastern Conference.

* Andersen, who ranks fifth in the NHL in wins this season (26), outdueled Nashville’s Pekka Rinne (30 saves) – who saw his eight-game win streak end – to earn his League-leading fifth victory when making 40 or more saves.

DOUGHTY JOINS ELITE COMPANY IN KINGS WIN
Drew Doughty collected two assists and the Kings scored three times in the final 5:27 of regulation – after surrendering a 2-0 lead – to pick up their third straight win at Staples Center. At 29-19-5 (63 points), the Kings leapfrogged the idle Flames (27-18-8, 62 points) and Ducks (26-19-10, 62 points) into third place in the Pacific Division.

* Doughty (100-301—401) collected the 300th assist and 400th point of his NHL career to join Rob Blake (161-333—494) as theonly defensemen in Kings franchise history to reach either milestone. Doughty reached the feat while competing in the 741st game of his career, 64 games fewer than Blake (805) totaled in a Kings uniform.

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CENTRAL DIVISION RACE IN THE SPOTLIGHT

All six teams chasing the idle Jets (32-13-9, 73 points) for first place in the Central Division – where positions Nos. 1-6 are separated by 11 points – take to the ice on Thursday:

* The Predators (32-12-8, 72 points), who sit in second in the division and trail the Jets by one point, visit Canadian Tire Centre to face off against the Senators (18-25-9, 45 points). Nashville has registered at least one point in each of its past five road games (3-0-2) and has won 11 of its past 17 games overall (11-3-3).

* The Blues (32-20-3, 67 points), who hold third place in the Central Division, host the Avalanche (29-19-4, 62 points), who sit one point behind the Wild (29-19-5, 63 points) for the final Wild Card position in the Western Conference. The Wild, meanwhile, put their 10-game home point streak (8-0-2) on the line when they host the Coyotes at Xcel Energy Center.

* In an all-Central Division matchup, the Stars (31-19-4, 66 points) – who have won three consecutive games and are 7-2-1 in their past 10 contests – visit the Blackhawks (24-21-8, 56 points) at United Center.

CENTRAL DIVISION QUICK HITS

* John Klingberg (DAL) leads all NHL defensemen in points (6-44—50 in 54 GP) while P.K. Subban (NSH) leads all blueliners with 13 goals.

* Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck ranks second in the NHL in wins (28) and shutouts (5; tied) while Predators goaltender Pekka Rinne ranks third in wins (27; tied) and second in shutouts (5; tied).

* Blues goaltender Carter Hutton leads all NHL goaltenders with a 1.74 goals-against average and .943 save percentage (min. 18 games played).

* Two players from the Central Division rank in the top five in assists this season: Klingberg (t-3; 44) and Jets forward Blake Wheeler (t-3; 44).

* Avalanche forward Nathan MacKinnon is the lone player from the Central Division to rank in the top ten in points (t-6th; 24-37—61 in 49 GP) while Tyler Seguin is the only skater in the division to rank in the top ten in goals (8th; 26).

* Three of the top five face-off teams reside in the Central Division: Dallas (1st; 53.0%), Nashville (4th; 52.6%) and Winnipeg (5th; 52.4%).

Information above was supplied by the NHL PR department