* Sami Vatanen (1-1—2) opened the scoring on the power-play and reached a new career-high with 23 points this season (8-15—23). Among NHL defensemen, Vatanen ranks fourth in points (23), first in power-play goals (5) and second in power-play points (tied – 13).

* Rene Bourque (0-2—2) picked up his first multi-point effort of the season while Palmieri (2-3—5) and Ryan Kesler (4-2—6) both extended point streaks to four games.

* Making his career-high 17th consecutive start, Frederik Andersen stopped 21 shots to improve to 16-4-4 with a 2.44 goals-against average and .913 save percentage in 25 games.

* Nate Thompson scored into the empty net to give the Ducks their first win by more than a one-goal margin since Oct. 24 vs. CBJ; each of the club’s previous 12 wins were one-goal decisions.

. . . PENGUINS KEEP PACE, RECLAIM TOP SPOT IN EAST
The Penguins opened a 2-0 lead before the five-minute mark of the first period and Marc-AndreFleury stopped 26 shots, including 13 in the last 20 minutes, to guide Pittsburgh to its eighth straight win over Calgary (dating to Dec. 6, 2007).

* The Penguins have won 14 of the past 17 matchups against the Flames in Pittsburgh since the 1989-90 season (14-1-2).

* The Metropolitan Division-leading Penguins improved to 19-6-3 (41 points) and leapfrogged the Red Wings (17-6-7, 41 points) and idle Lightning (19-8-3, 41 points) into top spot in the Eastern Conference.

* Fleury has posted a 7-1-2 record with a 2.05 goals-against average and .930 save percentage in his past 10 starts. Overall Fleury ranks second in the League in wins (tied – 16), fifth in goals-against average (2.10) and sixth in save percentage (.926).

* Evgeni Malkin (15-20—35) notched two assists to tie Sidney Crosby (9-26—35) and JakubVoracek (10-25—35) for second in League scoring, one point behind Tyler Seguin (22-14—36).

* Malkin has nine multi-point performances this season and has at least one point in 23-of-28 games (82.1%), including 13-of-15 contests at CONSOL Energy Center.

* Blake Comeau shares third on the club in goals and has 9-8—17 in 27 games, surpassing his 61-game total from 2013-14 (5-11—16). He tallied 9-13—22 in parts of two seasons with the Flames (91 GP).

* Kris Letang scored his fifth goal of the season in his return from a five-game absence; he has 2-4—6 in his past four games played.

PRICE GUIDES CANADIENS PAST KINGS
Carey Price stopped a season-high 44 shots and Montreal built a 3-0 lead through 40 minutes en route to a 6-2 win over Los Angeles. The Canadiens have won 13 of their past 16 meetings with the Kings in Montreal dating to Mar. 10, 1991 (13-2-1).

* At 19-10-2 (40 points), the Canadiens are one point behind the Lightning (19-8-3, 41 points) and Red Wings (17-6-7, 41 points) for first place in the Atlantic Division.

* According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Price was the third goaltender to face 40 or more shots on goal in a game against the defending Stanley Cup champion Kings this season, and the two other netminders to do that were also victorious: the Flyers' Ray Emery (Oct. 28, 40 shots, won 3-2 in overtime) and the Stars' Kari Lehtonen (Nov. 22, 41 shots, won 5-4). Price improved to 12-4-3 in his career when making 40-plus saves in a game (regular season).

* Jiri Sekac posted his first career multi-goal game to move into a share of fifth among NHL rookies with six goals. The Kladno, Czech Republic native has points in three straight games (2-2—4) for the second time this season (also 2-2—4 from Nov. 8-13).

* Sven Andrighetto scored his second career goal and now has a point in each of his first three NHL games (2-1—3). According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Andrighetto is the first Canadiens player to record a point in each of his first three NHL games since Pierre Mondou in 1977-78.

* P.K. Subban (1-2—3) tallied his third game-winning goal of the season, which is tied for the League-lead among defensemen. He has 3-6—9 in his past seven contests and shares the team lead in points with 8-14—22 this season.

* Thirteen Montreal skaters found the scoresheet, including David Desharnais (1-1—2) and
Tomas Plekanec (0-1—1), who stretched his point-streak to four games (1-3—4).

PANTHERS MOVE INTO SECOND WILD CARD SPOT
Roberto Luongo stopped 29 shots and both shootout attempts he faced and Brandon Pirri and Vincent Trocheck found the back of the net in the tiebreaker to lift the Panthers to a 3-2 win over the Red Wings. With the victory, the Panthers (12-8-7, 31 points) moved into the second Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference.

* Luongo improved to 10-6-6 with a 2.37 goals-against average and .924 save percentage (9th in NHL) this season. He has 36 career shootout victories, which ranks seventh among active goaltenders.

* Trocheck registered his first game-deciding goal and is now a perfect 2-for-2 in career shootout attempts. Pirri is 3-for-5 (60.0%) in his career.

* Nick Bjugstad tallied an assist to stretch his point streak to four games (4-3—7). He paces all Panthers with 12-7—19 in 27 games.

* Tomas Fleischmann and Jonathan Huberdeau each scored their third goal of the season in regulation. Fleischmann extended his point streak to four games (2-3—5) while Huberdeau snapped an 11-game goal drought.

* The Panthers have earned a win in each of their past four visits to Joe Louis Arena, including two shootout victories; they posted a 2-5-4 record in their first 11 trips to Detroit.

SHARKS UNVEIL STADIUM SERIES JERSEY
The Sharks unveiled their jersey for the 2015 Coors Light NHL Stadium Series, which will be contested Saturday, Feb. 21, at Levi’s Stadium (10:00 p.m. ET, NBCSN, CBC, TVA2).

The uniforms use the concept of amplification to embrace the significantly larger scale of the Stadium Series venue, including a modified striping pattern and enlarged number system. The traditional Sharks crest features a carbon fiber finish for greater visual impact and a new mark paying tribute to Northern California – incorporating the state of state of California, a star on San Jose and the iconic dorsal shark fin – is positioned on the left shoulder.

Click here for a closer look at the features of the new jersey.

LOOSE PUCKS
The Red Wings (2-for-4) scored multiple power-play goals for the ninth time this season, a feat they accomplished only 10 times in 2013-14. The club leads the entire NHL in power-play goals (26) and home-ice power-play goals (18) and has the League’s eighth-best overall efficiency (22.0%) . . . Rob Klinkhammer recorded his first goal/point since joining the Penguins via trade on Dec. 5 . . . Flames forward Johnny Gaudreau scored his sixth goal of the season; he ranks second among NHL rookies in assists (16) and points (22) . . . Kings forward Mike Richards registered his 300th NHL assist . . . Detroit’s Pavel Datsyuk notched an assist and now has 7-13—20 in 15 career games vs. FLA . . . Kings defenseman Drew Doughty (1-1—2) posted his second straight multi-point game (also 0-2—2 vs. OTT) . . . Canadiens forward Brandon Prust tallied an assist in his 400th NHL game . . . Ducks forward Patrick Maroon played in his 100th NHL game . . . Flames defenseman Deryk Engelland returned to Pittsburgh for the first time since departing as a free agent in the off-season; he played 243 games with the Penguins from 2009-14 . . . Avalanche forward Gabriel Landeskog shared his journey to the NHL.

SNEAK PEEK AT SATURDAY’S ACTION
All Times Eastern
Ottawa @ Boston, 1:00 p.m., RDS, TSN5, NESN
Carolina @ Philadelphia, 1:00 p.m., FS-CR, CSN-PH
Florida @ Buffalo, 7:00 p.m., FS-F, MSG-B, BELL TV
Detroit @ Toronto, 7:00 p.m., CBC, NHLN-US, TVA, FS-D
Chicago @ NY Islanders, 7:00 p.m., SN, WGN, MSG
Tampa Bay @ Washington, 7:00 p.m., FX-CA, SUN, CSN-DC
Pittsburgh @ Columbus, 7:00 p.m., ROOT, FS-O
Anaheim @ Winnipeg, 7:00 p.m., CITY, FS-W
Minnesota @ Arizona, 8:00 p.m., FS-N, FS-A
New Jersey @ Dallas, 8:30 p.m., MSG+, FS-SW
St. Louis @ Colorado, 10:00 p.m., NHLN-US, TVA, FS-MW, ALT
NY Rangers @ Vancouver, 10:00 p.m., CBC, MSG
Nashville @ San Jose, 10:30 p.m., FS-TN, CSN-CA
NBCSN Channel Finder
Sportsnet Channel Finder

FIVE GAMES HIGHLIGHT SATURDAY’S NATIONAL SCHEDULE
Five games highlight Saturday’s Hockey Night in Canada telecast: The Red Wings visit the Air Canada Centre to face the Maple Leafs (CBC); the Blackhawks take on the Islanders (SN); the Lightning are in Washington to face the Capitals (FX-CA); the Ducks travel to Winnipeg to meet the Jets (CITY); the Rangers continue their west coast road trip in Vancouver against the Canucks (CBC).

EXCLUSIVE OWNERS’ ROUND TABLE INTERVIEW ON ROGERS
Earlier this week at the NHL Board of Governors meeting, George Stroumboulopoulos sat down for an exclusive interview with NHL owners Larry Tanenbaum of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Jeremy Jacobs of the Boston Bruins and Murray Edwards of the Calgary Flames. This will air in three parts during Saturday’s Hockey Night in Canada broadcast.

The above information provided by the NHL PR department.