ROOKIES HELP MAPLE LEAFS CONTINUE WINNING WAYS
The Maple Leafs (21-13-8, 50 points) erased an early 2-0 deficit with four straight goals to improve to 9-1-1 in their last 11 games and move within one point of the Bruins (23-19-5, 51 points) for second place in the Atlantic Division. Toronto holds five games in hand.

* Auston Matthews scored a go-ahead goal in the second period to take sole possession of the rookie lead in goals (22) and points (38). Elias notes that Sergei Berezin was the last Maple Leafs rookie to score more than 22 goals in a season, finishing with 25 in 1996-97 – five months before Matthews was born.

* Five other rookies – Connor Brown, Zach Hyman, Mitchell Marner, William Nylander and Nikita Zaitsev – also found the score sheet for Toronto. Elias notes that Maple Leafs rookies have combined for 167 points this season (61-106—167), 114 points more than the next-closest team (WPG: 26-27—53).

BLUE JACKETS RECLAIM TOP SPOT IN NHL STANDINGS
The Blue Jackets scored twice in a span of 35 seconds in the first period – with their first goal coming just 11 seconds after the Hurricanes opened the scoring – to become the first team to reach 30 wins this season.

* At 30-9-4 (64 points), the Blue Jackets are tied with the Capitals (29-9-6, 64 points) – in terms of points – for first place in the NHL. Columbus, however, has played one fewer game.

* Brandon Dubinsky (2-0—2) scored his third game-winning goal of the season to help the Blue Jackets improve to 10-1-0 in their past 11 games at Nationwide Arena.

* Sergei Bobrovsky made 24 saves in his return from a three-game absence to record his League-leading 27th win of the season (27-6-2, 1.97 GAA, .932 SV%, 3 SO).

DOWN, BUT NOT OUT
The Blackhawks (28-14-5, 61 points), Flames (24-20-3, 51 points) and Devils (19-18-9, 47 points) each overcame multiple deficits to earn wins:

* Rookies Tanner Kero (2-1—3) and Vinnie Hinostroza (2-0—2) each posted their first career multi-goal games to rally the Blackhawks past the Avalanche. Kero, who had 2-3—5 in his first 28 career outings, also set a career high for points in a game.

* The Flames faced a pair of one-goal deficits before scoring four unanswered goals – highlighted by three-point performances from MikaelBacklund (2-1—3) and Mark Giordano (1-2—3) – to improve to 5-1-0 in their past six home games.

* The Devils tied the game twice before Beau Bennett scored the go-ahead goal with 2:17 remaining in regulation to lift New Jersey to victory in the finale of their four-game road trip (3-0-1) and to a 5-0-1 mark in their past six road contests.

LOOSE PUCKS
Captain Henrik Sedin scored the lone goal in Vancouver’s victory to move within one of 1,000 career points (232-767—999) . . . Ryan Miller posted his 38th career shutout (second this season) as Vancouver extended its home point streak to seven games (6-0-1) . . . Rickard Rakell scored his team-leading 19th goal and fifth game-winner as Anaheim improved to 8-1-2 in its past 11 games . . . Mark Stone (2-0—2) and Mike Hoffman (2-0—2) each scored twice as Ottawa won for the third time in its past four games to climb into the second Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference . . . ICYMI: Wild defenseman Jared Spurgeon (1-1—2) gloved the puck to himself before batting it into the net for a spectacular goal . . . Maple Leafs forward James van Riemsdyk scored the game-winning goal to extend his point streak to eight games (3-9—12), while teammate Nazem Kadri (0-1—1) registered a point for the sixth straight game (5-3—8) . . . Panthers forward Vincent Trocheck (5-4—9) and Lightning forward Valtteri Filppula (1-4—5) extended their point streaks to five games . . . Blackhawks forward Marian Hossa tallied 0-3—3 to eclipse 600 career assists . . . Hurricanes goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic, a native of Parma, Ohio, denied all 17 shots he faced while making his NHL debut in his home state . . . Avalanche forward Rene Bourque (700), Blues forward Patrik Berglund (600) and Sabres defenseman Cody Franson (500) played in milestone games . . . The Islanders named assistant general manager Doug Weight as interim head coach . . . MUST SEE: Outtakes from the “Sharks for Life” ad campaign featuring Brent Burns and Joe Thornton.

SNEAK PEEK AT WEDNESDAY’S ACTION
All Times Eastern
Arizona @ Winnipeg, 7:30 p.m., SNW, FS-A
Pittsburgh @ Montreal, 7:30 p.m., SN1, SNE, SNO, SNP, RDS, ROOT
Boston @ Detroit, 8 p.m., TVAS, NBCSN
Florida @ Edmonton, 9:30 p.m., SN1, FS-F
San Jose @ Los Angeles, 10:30 p.m., NBCSN
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ORIGINAL SIX AND CALIFORNIA FOES CLASH ON WEDNESDAY NIGHT RIVALRY
An all-Original Six matchup and a season-series finale between California rivals highlight NBCSN’s Wednesday Night Rivalry doubleheader. First, the Bruins (23-19-5, 51 points) take on the Red Wings (19-19-6, 44 points) in their final regular-season visit to Joe Louis Arena, where Boston holds a 20-15-4 edge in 39 all-time regular-season matchups, including a 1-0 victory on Oct. 29, 2016. In the second game, the Sharks (26-16-2, 54 points) and Kings (22-18-4, 48 points) close their five-game season series at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles (SJS: 2-1-1; LAK: 2-2-0).

REMINDER: NHL CENTRAL SCOUTING MID-SEASON RANKINGS
NHL Central Scouting will release its mid-season rankings for the 2017 NHL Draft today at 10:00 a.m. ET. The rankings, which will be available on NHL.com, feature the top 217 skaters and 31 goaltenders in North America as well as the top 120 skaters and 10 goaltenders internationally.

the above information was supplied by the NHL PR department