THREE HARD LAPS: QUICK HITS FROM MONDAY

* Juuse Saros recorded his third shutout of 2018-19 to help the Predators clinch their fifth consecutive postseason appearance and 12th in the last 15 seasons.

* The Lightning scored three times in the final frame to flex their offensive muscle and outlast the Bruins in a battle of Eastern Conference elites.

* John Tavares scored four goals, Mitchell Marner became the youngest Toronto player with a 90-point season and Morgan Rielly became the third Toronto blueliner to hit 70 points.

PREDATORS CLINCH FIFTH CONSECUTIVE POSTSEASON APPEARANCE
Juuse Saros recorded 29 saves to post his third shutout of the season and help the Predators (43-28-6, 92 points) become the fourth Western Conference club to clinch a berth in the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

* After missing out during its first five NHL seasons, Nashville has qualified for the playoffs in 12 of the past 15 campaigns dating to 2003-04. Only three teams have as many postseason trips in that span: San Jose (14), Detroit (12) and Pittsburgh (12).

EASTERN ELITE FLEX MUSCLE AS PLAYOFFS APPROACH

Steven Stamkos (2-2—4) and Brad Marchand (2-0—2) each scored twice before the League’s leading scorer Nikita Kucherov tied the game to set the stage for Anthony Cirelli’s winner with 52.2 seconds on the clock, giving Tampa Bay its 59th victory of the season - three shy of the League record with five games remaining.

* The Lightning (59-14-4, 122 points) now rank sixth in League history with 122 standings points, with the ability to tie the single-season NHL record of 132 points set by the 1976-77 Canadiens if they win-out.

* The Lightning have yet to lose multiple games against an Eastern Conference opponent this season, falling only six times in total in intraconference matchups (losing to BOS, BUF, NYI, OTT, PIT and TOR). The only teams to defeat Tampa Bay multiple times in 2018-19: Nashville, St. Louis and Minnesota.

* Matching a franchise record with their 32nd home win of the season, the Lightning improved to 9-6-0 in games in which they have trailed by multiple goals. Tampa Bay shares the League lead with nine multi-goal comeback wins overall (tie w/ CGY) and three multi-goal comeback victories in the third period (tied w/ PHI and NJD).

* Stamkos (41-52—93 in 77 GP) joined Brayden Point (40-50—90) as the second 40-goal scorer on the Lightning - and third 90-point player - with Kucherov (38-83—121 in 77 GP) not far behind. They are the first team with multiple 40-goal scorers since the 2011-12 Penguins and can become the first team since the 1995-96 Penguins with at least three members of the 40-goal club.

* Cirelli tied a single-season franchise rookie record with his fifth game-winning goal, equaling the mark set last season by teammates Yanni Gourdeand Mikhail Sergachev. Cirelli now sits two tallies shy of becoming the sixth player to score 20 goals for Tampa Bay this season.

TAVARES’ FOUR-GOAL SHOWING LEADS MILESTONE NIGHT FOR MAPLE LEAFS

John Tavares scored four times while Mitchell Marner (0-3—3) and Morgan Rielly (0-2—2) combined for five assists as Toronto outlasted Florida and boosted its goal total to 271 on the season, second only to Tampa Bay (306 GF). It was the 20th game to feature 12 or more goals thus far in 2018-19 (1,177 GP), the most at this stage of a season in 23 years (34 in 1995-96).
^Goal totals include shootout-deciding goals

* Tavares (45-41—86 in 76 GP) set a career high for goals in a game, continuing his best campaign in terms of goals and matching his career-high for points in a season (38-48—86 in 2014-15 w/ NYI).

* With his second hat trick in a Maple Leafs uniform, Tavares surpassed Eddie Olczyk (42 G in 1987-88) for the most goals by a player in his first season with the club. The only player to score more goals than Tavares in his first full season with Toronto is Dave Andreychuk, who tallied 53 goals in 1993-94 after joining the team part way through the 1992-93 campaign.

* Marner became the youngest player in Maple Leafs history to record 90 points in a season and first to hit the benchmark for Toronto in 22 years, following Mats Sundin who tallied 41-53—94 in 1996-97 (82 GP). Marner’s 65 assists this season are the most by a Toronto player in 25 years andfifth-most in franchise history.

* Rielly (20-50—70 in 76 GP) became the third defenseman in Maple Leafs franchise history - and first in 39 years - to record at least 70 points in a season, joining Borje Salming (1976-77, 1977-78, 1978-79 and 1979-80) and Ian Turnbull (1976-77). Rielly, who leads NHL defensemen in goals, also joined Salming (5x), Turnbull (2x) and Tomas Kaberle (2005-06) as the only blueliners in franchise history to collect 50 assists in a season.

ST. LOUIS PUTS BRAKES ON VEGAS, PULLS CLOSER TO DIVISION LEAD
With an opportunity for the Golden Knights (42-28-6, 90 points) to clinch their second postseason berth in as many seasons, the Blues (41-27-8, 90 points) instead collected their fifth win in six contests to keep pace with the Predators (43-28-6, 92 points) and move within four points of the Jets (45-27-4, 94 points) for the Central Division lead.

* After ranking last in the overall standings on Jan. 2, St. Louis now is on the verge of accomplishing a feat managed only six times in the NHL’s expansion era (since 1967-68): make the playoffs after ranking last in the entire League at any point after New Year’s Day (min. 20 GP). The 1976-77 North Stars, 1979-80 Oilers, 1982-83 Maple Leafs, 1987-88 Kings, 1987-88 Maple Leafs and 1996-97 Senators are the only teams to accomplish the feat in that era.

* The Blues’ surge up the standings has them only four points back of first place in the Central. Only one team in NHL history has won its division after sitting in last place in the League at any point after its 20th contest. The 2007-08 Capitals sat in last place overall through 30 games before claiming the Southeast Division crown by a two-point edge over the Hurricanes.

SEGUIN, LAINE NET 30TH GOALS IN CENTRAL DIVISION CLASH
Tyler Seguin (2-0—2) and Patrik Laine (1-0—1) each found the back of the net for the Stars (39-31-6, 84 points) and Jets (45-27-4, 94 points), respectively, as the former opened up a three-point cushion on the idle Avalanche (34-29-13, 81 points) for the first Wild Card spot in the Western Conference.

* Seguin, who reached the 30-goal mark for the fifth time in six seasons since joining the Stars in 2013-14, became the sixth player in Stars/North Stars franchise history to register five such campaigns. Mike Modano paces all Stars/North Stars players with nine 30-goal seasons.

* Laine has recorded 30 goals in each of his first three NHL seasons and became the fourth Finnish-born player to reach the benchmark in 2018-19. At age 20 years, 340 days, Laine joined Jimmy Carson, Dale Hawerchuk and Wayne Gretzky as just the fourth player in NHL history to reach the 30-goal mark in three seasons before age 21. Gretzky’s third 30-goal campaign came in 1981-82 when he scored 61 of his League-record 92 goals that season before his 21st birthday on Jan. 26, 1982.

* Thirty-eight players have hit the 30-goal mark already in 2018-19 with 14 others within three goals of the benchmark. The last season to conclude with more such instances was 2008-09 (39).

QUICK CLICKS

* Capitals put wrap on Stanley Cup party with White House visit

* Kyle Connor, Steven Stamkos and Philipp Grubauer named NHL Three Stars of the Week

* Five Questions with Renata Fast

* Coyotes learning how to win high-stakes games in bid to reach playoffs

SNEAK PEEK AT TUESDAY’S ACTION

TUESDAY’S FOCUS TURNS TO METROPOLITAN DIVISION SHOWDOWNS

The Penguins (42-24-11, 95 points) scored five unanswered goals on Monday to overcome an early 2-0 deficit and move within one point of first place in the Metropolitan Division, where one point separates No. 1 from No. 3 and five points separate No. 1 from No. 5. The tightest divisional race in the NHL will be the focus of tonight’s seven-game slate, with four of the top five clubs taking part in all-Metropolitan matchups:

* In D.C., the Capitals (44-24-8, 96 points) host the Hurricanes (42-26-7, 91 points) as both clubs look to move closer to locking in a playoff spot. Washington is inching toward its 12th 100-point season, while Carolina will match the third-highest single-season win total in franchise history with its next victory (2005-06: 52, 2008-09: 45, 2007-08: 43; and 1986-87: 43 for HFD).

* In Ohio, the Blue Jackets (41-30-4, 86 points) and Islanders (44-25-7, 95 points) will battle in a contest between clubs coming off shutout victories (CBJ: 5-0 W at VAN and NYI 2-0 W vs. ARI). Columbus will look to jump back into a playoff position - needing help from the Panthers, who visit the Canadiens (40-28-8, 88 points) - as they host a New York team that has matched the franchise record for shutouts in a season with ten (also 1975-76) in pursuit of its first playoff berth in three years.

the information above was provided by the NHL PR department