U.S. HOCKEY HALL OF FAME INDUCTION CEREMONY . . .
The U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame will induct its 2014 class Thursday: Karyn Bye Dietz, Brian Rafalski, Jeff Sauer and Lou Vairo.

Click here for more details on the inductees.

* ICYMI: The quartet participated in a ceremonial puck drop prior to Wednesday’s Canadiens-Wild game. USA Hockey executive director Dave Ogrean then led the Wild’s traditional “Let’s Play Hockey” chant.

. . . AND CELEBRATION OF LESTER PATRICK
As part of Thursday’s induction ceremony, NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly and former player/coach and current Flyers executive Paul Holmgren will receive the Lester Patrick Trophy for outstanding service to hockey in the United States.

Click here for more information on the recipients.

ALFREDSSON ANNOUNCES RETIREMENT
Longtime Senators captain Daniel Alfredsson announced his retirement this morning during a news conference at Canadian Tire Centre.

A sixth-round pick (133rd overall) by the Senators in the 1994 NHL Draft, Alfredsson spent 17 of his 18 seasons in Ottawa, capturing the Calder Memorial Trophy in 1995-96, King Clancy Memorial Trophy in 2011-12 and Mark Messier NHL Leadership Award in 2012-13. He also led the club to the Presidents’ Trophy in 2002-03 and the Stanley Cup Final in 2007, pacing all players with 14 goals and 22 points in 20 postseason contests.

“I would like to thank Daniel for everything he has done for the city, for the organization, for the fans, for all of the people he has helped in his charities,” said Senators owner Eugene Melnyk. “I just want to say, welcome home Daniel.”

Among his many accomplishments, Alfredsson ranks first in Senators history in goals (426), assists (682), points (1,108) and games played (1,178). He returns to Ottawa after a one-season stint in Detroit, where he compiled 18-31—49 in 68 outings with the Red Wings.

As part of his retirement announcement, Alfredsson signed a one-day contract and will skate with the Senators during warmups for Thursday’s game against the Islanders.

WEDNESDAY’S RESULTS
Home Team in Caps
MINNESOTA 2, Montreal 1
CHICAGO 4, St. Louis 1
WINNIPEG 3, Edmonton 2 (OT)
ANAHEIM 5, Philadelphia 4 (SO)

DUCKS EDGE FLYERS IN SEESAW AFFAIR
Corey Perry (0-2—2) potted the decisive marker in the shootout to lead the Ducks to their second consecutive victory and fifth win in their past seven outings.

* At 16-6-5 (37 points), the Ducks are tied with the Lightning (17-6-3, 37 points) for the most points in the NHL. Tampa Bay, however, holds one game in hand.

* The Ducks erased a pair of second-period deficits, coming back from 1-0 and 3-1 holes, before taking a 4-3 lead late in the final frame. Flyers forward Wayne Simmonds then found the back of the net with 2.6 seconds remaining in regulation to force overtime.

* Perry recorded his second game-deciding goal in the shootout this season (also Nov. 20 at VAN). With a pair of assists, he now has 14-8—22 in 22 outings.

* Jakob Silfverberg also scored in the tiebreaker; he leads the NHL with five shootout goals this season (5-for-7, 71.4%). At 10-for-17 in his career, Silfverberg paces all active players with a 58.8% conversion rate in tiebreakers (minimum: 15 attempts).

* Ryan Getzlaf (1-1—2) and Patrick Maroon (1-1—2) contributed multi-point games. Maroon, a sixth-round selection (161st overall) by the Flyers in the 2007 NHL Draft, now has 2-1—3 in three games against his former team.

* Sami Vatanen added his seventh goal of the season (27 GP), surpassing his career high of six set in 2013-14 (48 GP). He also now has 21 points, equaling his career high set last season.

* Vatanen (7-14—21) is tied for second among defensemen with 21 points in 2014-15, five shy of Flames captain Mark Giordano (6-20—26 in 26 GP). Vatanen also now has 4-10—14 in his last 14 outings.

* The Ducks picked up their fourth consecutive victory over the Flyers dating to Oct. 29, 2013. They also extended their point streak in the head-to-head series to nine games dating to Jan. 2, 2009 (7-0-2).

DID YOU KNOW?
Wayne Simmonds’ goal at 19:57 of the third period marked the latest game-tying score in the NHL this season.

* There now have been seven total game-tying goals recorded in the final minute of regulation in 2014-15. The others: by Red Wings defenseman Niklas Kronwall (19:21, Oct. 23 vs. PIT), Red Wings forward Tomas Tatar (19:52, Nov. 5 at NYR), Sharks forward Patrick Marleau (19:26, Nov. 20 vs. FLA), Panthers forward Nick Bjugstad (19:29, Nov. 22 at NSH), Flames forward Curtis Glencross (19:55, Nov. 22 vs. NJD) and Senators forward Alex Chiasson (19:19, Nov. 25 at STL).

* Of the seven players, three saw their team go on to win in extra time (Kronwall, Glencross, Chiasson).

“PB&K” LINE POWERS BLACKHAWKS PAST BLUES
Knotted at 1-1 after 40 minutes, the “PB&K” Line – the trio of Patrick Kane (2-0—2), Brad Richards (0-1—1) and Kris Versteeg (1-2—3) – combined for 3-3—6 in the third period to power the Blackhawks to their fourth consecutive victory and seventh win in their last eight starts.

* At 16-8-1 (33 points), the Blackhawks are within one point of the Predators (16-6-2, 34 points) and Blues (16-7-2, 34 points) for the top spot in the Central Division.

* Versteeg posted his third consecutive multi-point game (1-6—7) and now has 4-10—14 in his last eight outings.

* Per Elias, Versteeg matched a career high for points in one period. The only other time he has registered three points in one frame was on Oct. 17, 2011, when he collected 1-2—3 in the third period of a 7-4 Panthers victory at TBL.

* Kane recorded his 22nd career multi-goal game and third of the season (also Nov. 16 vs. DAL and Nov. 20 at CGY). He paces the Blackhawks and is tied for 12th in the NHL with 12-13—25 in 25 contests.

* Kane now has 15-25—40 in 42 career games against the Blues, matching his most points against any opponent (also 15-25—40 in 28 GP vs. DAL).

* Antti Raanta made a career-high 40 saves, including 15 in the third period, to pick up his second win of the season.

* The Blackhawks improved to 14-0-2 in their last 16 meetings with the Blues at United Center dating to April 7, 2010 (regular season and playoffs).

PERREAULT PROPELS JETS IN OVERTIME
Mathieu Perreault scored 17 seconds into overtime to lift the Jets to their third victory in their past four outings (3-0-1).

* Elias says Perreault’s goal marks the second-quickest overtime score in Jets/Thrashers history. Andrew Ladd set the mark March 30, 2012, with a goal at 0:16 of the extra frame in a 4-3 victory at CAR.

* Perreault recorded his eighth career game-winning goal and first since Oct. 5, 2013 at MIN (w/ ANA), when he found the back of the net with 4.9 seconds left in the extra period for his first career overtime goal.

* Jacob Trouba collected 1-2—3 to set a career high for points in one game. He now has 4-3—7 in four career games against the Oilers.

* Per Elias, at 20 years, 280 days, Trouba is the youngest player to register three points for the Jets since the team relocated to Winnipeg. Overall, he is the fifth-youngest player in franchise history to post three points, following Evander Kane (18 years, 103 days), Zach Bogosian (18 years, 216 days), Ilya Kovalchuk (18 years, 223 days) and Patrik Stefan (19 years, 23 days).

* Dustin Byfuglien (1-1—2) scored the game-tying goal with 3:06 remaining in regulation and earned his first multi-point game since March 16, 2014 vs. DAL (2-1—3).

KUEMPER, WILD STAY HOT AT HOME
Darcy Kuemper made 18 saves – but fell 57.6 seconds shy of the shutout – to backstop the Wild to their seventh win in their last 10 games (7-2-1).

* The Wild improved to 8-2-1 (17 points) in 11 games at Xcel Energy Center this season. Kuemper has appeared in 10 of those contests, posting a 7-2-0 record with a 2.08 goals-against average, .902 save percentage and two shutouts.

* Including the postseason, Kuemper is 18-5-2 with a 1.89 goals-against average and .923 save percentage in his career at Xcel Energy Center.

* Jason Pominville scored what proved to be the game-winning goal to snap a 10-game drought. He has 1-2—3 during a three-game point streak and ranks second on the club with 5-11—16 in 24 outings this season.

* Jason Zucker also found the back of the net from a near-impossible angle just 19 seconds after the opening face-off. Elias says it marks the third-fastest goal in Wild history; Justin Fontaine owns the franchise record with his goal at 0:12 Oct. 12, 2013 vs. DAL, while Dany Heatley places second with a goal at 0:13 Feb. 9, 2012 vs. VAN.

* Zach Parise collected one assist to push his point streak to three games (1-4—5). He paces the club with 9-10—19 in 19 games this season.

LOOSE PUCKS
Flyers forward Jakub Voracek posted one helper to tie Penguins captain Sidney Crosby for the League lead in points (33) and assists (24) . . . Blues defenseman Ian Cole scored the team’s lone goal. He has 2-1—3 in his past four outings after being held off the scoresheet through the first 21 games of the season . . . Flyers forward Wayne Simmonds (2-0—2) recorded his 17th career multi-goal game and third of the season (also Oct. 9 vs. NJD and Oct. 11 vs. MTL) . . . Canadiens forward Alex Galchenyuk and Oilers forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins both found the back of the net to extend their point streaks to three games (1-2—3) . . . Canadiens defenseman P.K. Subban picked up one assist and now has 5-6—11 in six career games against the Wild . . . Oilers forward Jordan Eberle (300) and Jets forward Mark Scheifele (100) both played in milestone games . . . ICYMI: The Kings signed Alec Martinez to a six-year contract extension. The 27-year-old defenseman scored the Stanley Cup-clinching goal and Western Conference Final-clinching goal, both in overtime, during the 2014 playoffs . . . The Ducks announced that Ilya Bryzgalov has joined the team on a professional tryout. The 34-year-old goaltender was selected by Anaheim in the second round (44th overall) of the 2000 NHL Draft and served as a backup to Jean-Sebastien Giguere during the team’s 2006-07 Stanley Cup run . . . The Ducks acquired defenseman Colby Robak from the Panthers in exchange for defenseman Jesse Blacker and a future conditional pick . . . The Department of Player Safety suspended Penguins defenseman Robert Bortuzzo for two games for interference against Devils forward Jaromir Jagr.

SNEAK PEEK AT THURSDAY’S ACTION
All Times Eastern
Vancouver @ Pittsburgh, 7:00 p.m., SN360, ROOT
Washington @ Carolina, 7:00 p.m., CSN-DC, FS-CR
New Jersey @ Toronto, 7:30 p.m., MSG, TSN4
NY Islanders @ Ottawa, 7:30 p.m., RDS, MSG+, TSN5
Dallas @ Detroit, 7:30 p.m., NHLN-US, FS-SW, FS-D
Buffalo @ Tampa Bay, 7:30 p.m., MSG-B, BELL TV, SUN
Columbus @ Florida, 7:30 p.m., FS-O, FS-F
St. Louis @ Nashville, 8:00 p.m., FS-MW, FS-TN
Colorado @ Calgary, 9:00 p.m., SN1, TVA2, ALT
Los Angeles @ Arizona, 9:00 p.m., FS-W, FS-A
Boston @ San Jose, 10:30 p.m., SN360, NESN, CSN-CA
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TOP CLUBS FACE OFF IN PITTSBURGH . . .
Two of the top clubs in the NHL face off when the Canucks (17-7-1, 35 points) visit the Penguins (17-5-2, 36 points) at CONSOL Energy Center. Winners of three of its past four, Vancouver ranks sixth in the NHL standings and second in the Pacific Division with 35 points, two behind division leader Anaheim (though the Canucks hold two games in hand). Pittsburgh, meanwhile, has won four of its last five contests and ranks third in the NHL and first in the Metropolitan Division with 36 points. This marks the first of two matchups between these clubs in 2014-15; the Penguins have won four straight head-to-head meetings dating to Nov. 17, 2010.

. . . AND NASHVILLE
Two more top teams meet Thursday when the Predators (16-6-2, 34 points) play host to the Blues (16-7-2, 34 points) at Bridgestone Arena in a battle for Central Division supremacy. Knotted with 34 points apiece, Nashville and St. Louis rank seventh and eighth, respectively, in the NHL standings and share the top spot in the division (though the Predators hold one game in hand). This marks the third of five meetings between these clubs in 2014-15 and the first in the Music City; they have split their two contests to date (2-1 W by NSH Nov. 8, 4-3 W by STL Nov. 13). After signing a one-year deal this week, Martin Brodeur is expected to man the pipes for the Blues – marking his first NHL appearance with a team other than the Devils.

thanks to the NHL PR department for the above information