* Andrew Desjardins scored two of the club’s opening three goals for his fourth career multi-point game and first two-goal performance since Oct. 8, 2011 vs. PHX. His five goals this season are one better than his previous high set in 2011-12 (76 GP).

* Joe Pavelski (0-2—2) and Tomas Hertl (0-2—2) each notched two assists. Pavelski has tallied 6-6—12 in his last 10 outings and paces the club with 31-24—55 this season.

* The Sharks earned their fourth straight win against the Stars and improved to 5-0-1 in their past six meetings.

CANUCKS RALLY THREE TIMES TO CLIMB IN PACIFIC
Henrik Sedin scored with two minutes left in regulation to help the Canucks tie the game for the third time and Alex Burrows potted the game-deciding goal in the shootout to lift the Canucks to their first win at Madison Square Garden since Nov. 19, 2008.

* With the victory, the Canucks (33-21-3, 69 points) leapfrogged the idle Flames (32-22-4, 68 points) into second place in the Pacific Division, where teams ranked two through five are separated by only three points.

* Per Elias, the Canucks tied a game at least three times and won for the first time since Apr. 3, 2012 vs. ANA (5-4 SO W).

* H. Sedin (2-0—2) recorded his second multi-goal game (also Jan. 3 vs. DET) and 13th multi-point performance of the season. He paces the club with 12-38—50 in 57 GP, surpassing his goal total and equaling his overall points from 2013-14 (11-39—50 in 70 GP).

* Burrows netted his third career game-deciding goal. Radim Vrbata clinched the win with his 36th career shootout tally, three shy of active leaders Jonathan Toews and Brad Boyes.

* Ryan Miller stopped 30 shots – and both attempts in the tiebreaker – to earn his first win against the Rangers since Mar. 23, 2012 (4-1 w/ BUF). He leads all active goaltenders with 52 career shootout wins.

* Bo Horvat (3-2—5) scored to stretch his point streak to five games, while Jannik Hansen posted 0-2—2 to push his point streak to four games (1-4—5). Daniel Sedin and Ronalds Kenins also contributed two assists.

HALAK MATCHES FRANCHISE RECORD AS ISLES WIN TOP-TIER BATTLE . . .
Jaroslav Halak stopped 30 shots, including 16 in the opening frame, to match a franchise record with his 32nd win of the season and backstop the Islanders to their sixth win in their last seven outings.

* Halak (32-12-0 in 44 GP) equaled the single-season Islanders wins record previously shared by Billy Smith (1981-82, 46 GP), Chris Osgood (2001-02, 66 GP) and Rick DiPietro (2006-07, 62 GP). Only Nashville's Pekka Rinne (34 wins) has more victories this season.

* The Islanders improved to 39-19-1 (79 points) to move into a tie with the Canadiens (37-16-5, 79 points) – in terms of points – for first place in the Eastern Conference and within five points of the Predators (39-13-6, 84 points) for top spot in the NHL.

* The Islanders’ 39 wins through their first 59 games of the season are the second-most in franchise history, behind only the 1981-82 team that went on to win the Stanley Cup (40-13-6).

* Nick Leddy tallied 1-2—3 to match a personal best established on Mar. 16, 2013 at DAL (also 1-2—3 w/CHI). He also snapped a 12-game goal drought with his eighth tally of 2014-15, eclipsing his previous career high set in 82 games last season.

* John Tavares registered 1-1—2 to extend his goal/point streak to four games (5-4—9), including three multi-point outings. His 29th goal of the season, two shy of his career high in 2011-12, also counted as his sixth game-winner of the campaign.

* Johnny Boychuk (1-1—2) registered his seventh multi-point game of the season (49 GP); he had six such performances in his first 400 career games (regular-season and playoffs). The goal was his sixth of the season, setting a career high.

. . . BACKSTROM, OVECHKIN HELP CAPITALS RISE IN METROPOLITAN
Nicklas Backstrom tallied 2-1—3, including a pair of power-play goals in the second period, and Alex Ovechkin (1-1—2) scored his League-leading 38th goal to power the Capitals to their third straight win and a 7-3-0 record in their last 10 outings.

* At 32-17-10 (74 points), the Capitals moved into a tie with the Rangers (34-16-6, 74 points) – who lost in a shootout – for second place in the Metropolitan Division, where only six points separate the top four clubs.

* Backstrom increased his season total to 18-45—63. He leads the NHL in assists and is tied for first in points with Chicago's Patrick Kane (27-36—63). Ovechkin climbed to a tie for third in League scoring with 38-23—61.

* Backstrom and Ovechkin have 7-20—27 and 22-11—33, respectively, in their last 24 outings dating to Dec. 29; they also increased their respective career totals vs. WPG/ATL to 13-26—39 (37 GP) and 42-42—84 (56 GP).

* Ovechkin extended his goal streak to four games and point streak to six games (6-5—11) with his third straight multi-point performance (20th of the season). His goal also counted as his eighth game-winner, tying Anaheim's Matt Beleskey for first place in the NHL.

* Backstrom (145-412—557) also surpassed Bengt Gustafsson (196-359—555) and Dale Hunter (181-375—556) into sole possession of fifth place on the franchise’s all-time points list.

* Braden Holtby has won each of his last seven games against the Jets franchise after losing his first two appearances. Overall, he ranks sixth in the League with 28 wins and also ranks among the top five in goals-against average (4th – 2.15) and save percentage (t-4th – .925).

* Troy Brouwer (1-1—2) and Marcus Johansson (0-2—2) also registered multiple points for the Capitals, who improved to 13-2-2 at home against the Jets/Thrashers dating to Mar. 14, 2008, including three straight wins. Overall, Washington is 11-2-2 at Verizon Center since Dec. 11.

PANTHERS RALLY TO CLOSE GAP IN WILD CARD RACE
Roberto Luongo stopped 37 shots – and five more in the shootout – and Dave Bolland tallied the game-deciding goal in the sixth round of the tiebreaker to help the Panthers overcome a 2-0 deficit for their second straight win.

* The victory boosted the Panthers (26-19-12, 64 points) within one point of the idle Bruins (28-20-9, 65 points) for the last Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference. Boston, however, owns the ROW tiebreaker (BOS: 26, FLA: 20). The teams will meet three more times this season – Mar. 21 at FLA, Mar. 31 at BOS and Apr. 9 at FLA.

* Luongo improved to 3-1-2 this season when making at least 35 saves. The Montreal native earned his 22nd victory of the season and fifth win in 16 career appearances in his hometown.

* Tomas Fleischmann scored fewer than 90 seconds after the Canadiens took a 2-0 lead. It was his seventh goal of the season (48 GP), one shy of his 80-game total from 2013-14.

* Steven Kampfer tied the game less than five minutes into the third period with his first goal since Mar. 24, 2012 at BUF (w/ MIN). Kampfer, a fourth-round pick (93rd overall, ANA) in the 2007 NHL Draft, had 8-11—19 with the AHL San Antonio Rampage before being recalled on Feb. 5.

* Serving in his 199th game as a NHL head coach, former Canadiens assistant coach GerardGallant earned the victory in his first visit to Montreal as bench boss of the Panthers.

AROUND THE RINKS
Highlights from the rest of Thursday’s action:

* Brandon Dubinsky scored the tiebreaking goal at 17:43 of the third period to lift the Blue Jackets over the Penguins for their fifth win in their last seven contests. Dubinsky scored his ninth career shorthanded goal to stretch his goal streak to a career-high four games (4-2—6). Teammate Scott Hartnell potted the club’s other marker to extend his point streak to eight games (4-7—11), matching a career high set from Dec. 21, 2013 – Jan. 7, 2014 (4-5—9 w/ PHI). Curtis McElhinney stopped 29 shots to earn his third consecutive victory and improve to 5-1-0 with a 2.00 goals-against average and .943 save percentage in his last six starts.

* Michael Neuvirth stopped 36 shots – and made three more saves in the tiebreaker – to help the Sabres end a four-game slide and earn their first regular-season win in Philadelphia since Mar. 5, 2011, snapping a five-game skid. Brian Flynn (0-1—1) notched his second career game-deciding goal (3-for-5, 60.0%). Brian Gionta (1-0—1) also scored in the tiebreaker, after posting his 500th career point earlier in the game.

LOOSE PUCKS
Islanders forward Frans Nielsen stretched his point streak to four games (2-5—7) . . . Predators forward James Neal scored his 21st goal of the season; he has 10-8—18 in 19 career games vs. NYI . . . Teammate Filip Forsberg became the second rookie to reach the 20-goal plateau . . . Despite the loss, the Rangers stretched their point streak to six games (4-0-2) . . . Rangers skaters Carl Hagelin (1-1—2), Martin St. Louis (1-1—2), Derek Stepan (1-1—2) and Dan Girardi (0-2—2) each posted multiple points . . . Teammate Derick Brassard extended his point streak to five games (0-6—6) . . . Flyers forward Jakub Voracek scored his 19th goal and 61st point of the season to keep pace in the overall scoring race; he is tied for third with Alex Ovechkin . . . Stars forward Jason Spezza pushed his point streak to seven games (3-8—11) . . . Teammate Jamie Benn posted 0-2—2 to stretch his point streak to five games (6-3—9) . . . Stars forward Brendan Ranford, nephew of former NHL goaltender Bill Ranford, made his NHL debut . . . Brendan Gallagher posted his second multi-goal game of the season, eclipsing 100 career points . . . Teammate P.K. Subban stretched his point streak to a season-high five games (0-6—6) . . . Panthers forward Aleksander Barkov played in his 100th NHL game . . . Eric Desjardins was inducted into the Flyers Hall of Fame during a pre-game ceremony. Click here to hear Chris Therien speak about his former teammate.

SNEAK PEEK AT FRIDAY'S ACTION
All Times Eastern
NY Rangers @ Buffalo, 7:00 p.m., MSG, MSG-B, BELL TV
Vancouver @ New Jersey, 7:00 p.m., SNP, MSG+
Toronto @ Carolina, 7:00 p.m., SNO, FS-CR
Boston @ St. Louis, 8:00 p.m., NESN, FS-MW
Colorado @ Chicago, 8:30 p.m., ALT, CSN-CH
Anaheim @ Calgary, 9:00 p.m., PRIME, SNW
Minnesota @ Edmonton, 9:00 p.m., FS-N+, SNOL

SHARKS, KINGS TO PRACTICE AT LEVI'S STADIUM
The Sharks (3:30 p.m., PT) and Kings (6:30 p.m., PT) will practice today at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., ahead of the 2015 Coors Light NHL Stadium Series game Saturday night (7 p.m. PT / 10 p.m. ET, NBCSN, CBC, TVA2). Both practices will be followed by media availabilities.

A sunset view of Levi's Stadium Thursday:

NHL NETWORK OFFERS LIVE STADIUM SERIES COVERAGE
NHL Network will broadcast live, on-site Practice Day coverage. Kathryn Tappen will serve as host with Heidi Androl and Mark Roe reporting when the Kings and Sharks first hit the Levi's Stadium ice with teammates and family members.

More information on NHL Network coverage surrounding the 2015 Coors Light NHL Stadium Series is available here.

the above information was provided by the NHL PR department