DAVID POILE BECOMES WINNINGEST GENERAL MANAGER IN NHL HISTORY

Nashville’s David Poile recorded his 1,320th career victory to surpass Glen Sather (1,319) for the most regular-season wins by a general manager in NHL history. He owns a record of 726-574-205 in 1,505 games with the Predators and posted a record of 594-454-132 in 1,180 games with the Capitals from 1982-83 through 1996-97.

* Poile took his first role as NHL GM with the Capitals on Aug. 30, 1982, leading Washington – who at that point had never clinched a postseason berth – to 14 consecutive playoff appearances beginning with his first campaign.

* On July 9, 1997, the expansion Predators hired Poile as the first (and still only) general manager in franchise history. At the 1998 NHL Draft, Poile traded up to select David Legwand at No. 2 with the club’s first-ever draft pick. Legwand remains the Predators’ all-time leader in goals, assists, points and games played.

* Poile, who has employed only five head coaches during nearly 36 years as a general manager, built his rosters with bold trades and calculated draft selections, including late-round steals Peter Bondra (8th round, 156th overall in 1990), Andrew Brunette(7th round, 174th overall in 1993), Pekka Rinne (8th round, 258th overall in 2004) and PatricHornqvist (7th round, 230th overall in 2005).

KREJCI (HAT TRICK) POWERS BRUINS’ EIGHT-GOAL OUTBURST

David Krejci (3-0—3) scored three of Boston’s eight goals to lead the Bruins (39-15-8, 86 points) past the Penguins (36-25-4, 76 points). Boston, who scored eight goals in a game for the first time since March 19, 2012 (8-0 W vs. TOR), leapfrogged Toronto (39-20-7, 85 points) for second place in the Atlantic Division.

* Krejci scored the fourth regular-season hat trick of his NHL career and first since March 4, 2014 vs. FLA. He also has two hat tricks in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

* Tuukka Rask (22 saves) earned the 230th victory of his NHL career (all w/ BOS) to move into a tie with Frank Brimsek for second place on the franchise’s all-time wins list among goaltenders.

* Rick Nash (1-1—2), who has 2-1—3 since being acquired by the Bruins on Feb. 25 (3 GP), reached the 20-goal mark for the 13th time in his NHL career. Brian Gionta, meanwhile, collected two assists in his Bruins debut.

DID YOU KNOW?

The Bruins led the Penguins 5-3 at the end of the first period. Boston and Pittsburgh were the first teams to combine for at least eight goals in the first period of a game since March 28, 2013, when the Coyotes led the Predators 6-3 through 20 minutes.

HALL EXTENDS STREAKS WITH GOAL

Devils forward Taylor Hall scored to extend his point streak to 16 games (11-10—21), marking his 23rd consecutive appearance with a point dating to Jan. 2 (16-17—33).

* Hall, who began his 16-game point streak upon his return from a three-game absence on Jan. 30, is the first player in Devils franchise history to record at least one point in 16 consecutive team games. His point streak is the longest in the NHL this season.

* Hall’s stretch of 23 consecutive appearances with at least one point also is the longest such run in Devils franchise history. He is just the eighth different player in the last 30 years (since 1987-88) to record at least one point in 23 or more consecutive appearances.

* Hall leads the Devils with 28-41—69 overall in 2017-18 (59 GP). He established a single-season career high for goals, eclipsing the mark of 27 set in 2011-12 (61 GP w/ EDM) and matched in 2013-14 (75 GP w/ EDM).

HURRICANES, PANTHERS CLOSE IN ON FINAL WILD CARD SPOT

The Hurricanes (28-25-11, 67 points) and Panthers (30-25-6, 66 points) each earned wins to inch closer to the Blue Jackets (32-27-5, 69 points) for the final Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference:

* Justin Williams (2-1—3) factored on three of four goals to help the Hurricanes snap a six-game slide (0-4-2) and move within two points of the Blue Jackets. Carolina ended Philadelphia’s win and point streaks at six and 12 games (10-0-2), respectively.

* Aleksander Barkov scored twice and Roberto Luongo made 29 saves to help the Panthers extend their win streak to four games and improve to 11-3-0 in their last 14 contests. Florida has three games in hand on Columbus and Carolina.

CONFERENCE-LEADING CLUBS EXTEND STREAKS

The Eastern Conference-leading Lightning (44-17-4, 92 points) and Western Conference-leading Predators (40-14-9, 89 points) each earned wins to extend streaks:

* The Stars tied the game with 3.5 seconds remaining in regulation, but Cory Conacher scored at 4:19 of overtime to power the League-leading Lightning to victory, their sixth consecutive outing with at least one point (5-0-1). Anthony Cirelli (1-1—2) became the fourth player in franchise history to record multiple points in his NHL debut and first since Conacher on Jan. 19, 2013 (1-1—2 vs. WSH).

* Down 2-0, the Predators scored four unanswered goals to defeat the Oilers and earn their sixth straight victory, the longest active win streak in the NHL. Nashville also extended its road point streak to 10 games (7-0-3), the second-longest such run in franchise history (13 GP in 2015-16: 10-0-3).

SHARKS ERUPT FOR SEASON-HIGH SEVEN GOALS

The Sharks (35-21-9, 79 points) erupted for a season-high seven goals to defeat the Blackhawks and extend their home win streak to four games. San Jose, who scored seven goals in a game for the first time since Jan. 9, 2016 (7-0 W vs. TOR), is second in the Pacific Division.

PREPARATIONS CONTINUE FOR STADIUM SERIES IN ANNAPOLIS

Preparations continue at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in advance of the 2018 Coors Light NHL Stadium Series outdoor game between the Capitals and Maple Leafs on Saturday at 8 p.m. ET (NBC, CBC, SN, TVAS) – the first-ever NHL regular-season outdoor game to be played at a service academy.

* The game features a rematch of the 2017 First Round series between the Maple Leafs and Capitals, which saw Washington advance in six games with every contest ending in a one-goal margin (including five that required overtime).

* Alex Luey, a cancer survivor from Niagara Falls, Ont., will be on hand in Annapolis as a guest of Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin. The last time Luey was Ovechkin’s guest for a game was Nov. 25 (also against TOR), when the Capitals captain – who currently sits three goals shy of 600 – notched a hat trick.

* ICYMI: NHL.com’s Mike Zeisberger takes a look at the friendly rivalry between Capitals forward Nicklas Backstrom and Maple Leafs forward William Nylander, which dates back to ping pong matches during Backstrom’s rookie season when he lived with the Nylanders under the tutelage of William’s father, former NHLer Michael Nylander.

* The 2018 Coors Light NHL Stadium Series Interactive Information Guide – featuring notes about the Capitals-Maple Leafs rivalry as well as a list of records, full register and complete history of outdoor NHL games – is available for download to subscribers of the League’s Media site.

QUICK CLICKS

· Stadium Series: By the Numbers

· Stadium Series to display Marine tradition and pageantry (via Tom Gulitti)

· Sled Series teams from Canada, United States ready for fun

· Eric Staal, Evgeni Malkin, Reilly Smith named Three Stars for February

· Seattle 'shell-shocked' at ticket drive response

SNEAK PEEK AT FRIDAY’S ACTION

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

the information above was provided by the NHL PR department