MRAZEK’S SHUTOUT LIFTS FLYERS INTO FIRST IN METROPOLITAN DIVISION
Petr Mrazek turned aside all 28 shots he faced and Sean Couturier scored the decisive marker in the shootout as the Flyers (34-19-10, 78 points) picked up their sixth consecutive victory to leapfrog the Capitals (35-21-7, 77 points) into first place in the Metropolitan Division. Philadelphia improved to 10-0-2 since Feb. 3, their longest point streak since a 12-game run from 2003-04.

* Mrazek, who was acquired by Philadelphia on Feb. 19, improved to 3-0-0 with the Flyers (1.30 GAA, .947 SV% and one shutout) to become just the ninth goaltender to win each of his first three appearances with the club (and first since Ilya Bryzgalov in 2011-12: 3-0-0). Mrazek is the only goaltender in franchise history to accomplish the feat following a mid-season trade.

* Philadelphia extended its road win streak to seven games, tied for the second-longest such stretch in franchise history. The Flyers’ other road win streaks of at least seven games: Dec. 22 – Jan. 16, 1983 (8-0-0) and Oct. 12 – Nov. 16, 1985 (7-0-0). Boston is the only other club to win seven consecutive road games this season (7-0-0 from Jan. 13 – Feb. 11).

* The Flyers posted a 10-1-2 record in February, marking the second time in franchise history that the club has posted 10 wins in the month (10-0-4 in February 1976).

BLUE JACKETS RIDE POTENT FIRST PERIOD TO VICTORY. . .
Seth Jones and Cam Atkinson each collected 1-2—3 as Columbus scored four goals in the first period en route to their third win in four contests. The Blue Jackets (32-26-5, 69 points) increased their lead to four points over the idle Islanders (29-27-7, 65 points) for the final Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference.

* Mark Letestu scored in his first game with the Blue Jackets since being acquired on Sunday. This is Letestu’s second stint with the club – he collected 43-55—98 in 233 games with Columbus from 2011-12 through 2014-15.

* Only nine points separate Nos. 1-5 in the Metropolitan Division. New Jersey has 20 games remaining, while each of the other four clubs among the top five have 19 contests left in 2017-18.

. . . OVECHKIN CLIMBS YET ANOTHER CAPITALS FRANCHISE LIST
Alex Ovechkin scored to move within one tally of his ninth 40-goal season and within three goals of 600 for his career, doing so in his 984th NHL game (all w/ WSH) – an appearance that propelled him past Calle Johansson (983 GP) into sole possession of first place in franchise history.

* Ovechkin – who has scored six times in his past seven games – became the 10th player in NHL history to lead a franchise in games played, goals, points, overtime goals, game-winning goals and power-play goals. Rick Nash is the only other active player to hold that distinction (w/ CBJ).

STAR PLAYERS LIFT WILD CARD CONTENDERS TO VICTORY

The Kings (34-24-5, 73 points) and Avalanche (33-24-5, 71 points) both earned wins on the strength of strong performances from their stars:

* Kings captain Anze Kopitar (1-2—3) converted a pass from Dion Phaneuf (0-1—1) – who has 3-1—4 since being acquired by Los Angeles (7 GP) – to tie the game in with 11.8 seconds remaining in regulation, setting the stage for an overtime goal by Dustin Brown (1-1—2). The Kings won after trailing by multiple goals in the third period for the first time this season, defeating the conference-leading Golden Knights (41-16-5, 87 points) to reclaim the final Wild Card spot in the West.

* Kopitar scored the second game-tying goal in the final 15 seconds of regulation in as many days, following Anaheim’s Rickard Rakell on Sunday vs. EDM. There have been 30 tying goals scored in the final minute of regulation this season, including 10 in the final 15 seconds.

* ICYMI: The gold medal-winning U.S. Olympic Women's Ice Hockey Team participated in the ceremonial puck drop.

* Avalanche forward Nathan MacKinnon (2-1—3) collected his 10th game with at least three points – including his ninth game-winning goal – to help Colorado improve to 11-1-0 in their last 12 games at Pepsi Center and move within two points of the Kingsfor the second Wild Card spot in the Western Conference.

* MacKinnon became the first Avalanche player with 10+ contests with at least three points since 2006-07 when Joe Sakic also had 10. Pittsburgh’s Evgeni Malkin (11) is the only player with more performances with at least three points this season.

LIGHTNING HOLD OFF MAPLE LEAFS IN ATLANTIC-DIVISION AFFAIR
Brayden Point netted the only goal in the shootout to guide the Lightning (43-17-3, 89 points) past the Maple Leafs (39-20-6, 84 points) – who hold second place in the Atlantic Division – and to their fourth straight victory. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 27 saves to earn his NHL-best 37th win of the season, three shy of the single-season Lightning franchise record.

QUICK CLICKS

· Eric Staal, Pekka Rinne and Ryan Getzlaf named Three Stars of the Week

· NHL to host PreGame fan festival at Stadium Series

· Sidney Crosby surprises 100 kids in Little Penguins youth hockey program

· Mike Fisher officially signs one-year contract with Predators

· First Indigenous player in NHL recalls improbable, inspirational journey

SNEAK PEEK AT TUESDAY’S ACTION

NBC Sports Channel Finder | Sportsnet Channel Finder | NHL Network Channel Finder

PREDATORS VISIT JETS IN CENTRAL DIVISION CLASH

The top two teams in the Central Division face off when the first-place Predators (38-14-9, 85 points) visit the second-place Jets (37-16-9, 83 points) at Bell MTS Place in Winnipeg. Nashville enters the contest on a four-game winning streak with forward Craig Smith riding a seven-game point streak (2-5—7). Winnipeg, meanwhile, owns a 7-3-0 mark in its last 10 games (including back-to-back victories) and boast three players on point streaks of at least five games: Blake Wheeler (4-10—14 in 8 GP), Dustin Byfuglien (1-10—11 in 6 GP) and Patrik Laine (6-3—9 in 5 GP).

STREAKS ON THE LINE AS DEVILS VISIT PENGUINS

The Penguins (36-23-4, 76 point) put their 11-game home winning streak on the line when they host the Devils (32-22-8, 72 points) at PPG Paints Arena:

* Pittsburgh’s current 11-game run on home ice is the longest in the NHL this season and two short of the franchise record (13-0-0 from Nov. 15, 2013 – Jan. 15, 2014). Last season, the Capitals led all teams with a 15-game home winning streak (15-0-0 from Jan 1 – Mar 4, 2017).

* Devils forward Taylor Hall enters the contest on a 14-game point streak (9-9—18) which began on Jan. 30 when he returned from a three-game absence. In addition, Hall has collected at least one point in 21 consecutive appearances dating to Jan. 2 (14-16—30).

* Hall’s 14-game point streak is one shy of matching the franchise record of 15 games set by Patrik Elias in 1999-00 and matched by Brian Gionta in 2005-06. He could also become just the fifth player in the last 25 years to record a point in 22 consecutive appearances.

the information above was provided by the NHL PR department