KINGS, FLAMES EARN WINS TO GAIN GROUND IN WILD CARD RACE
The Kings (26-21-4, 56 points) and Flames (26-24-3, 55 points) each earned wins to gain ground in the Western Conference Wild Card race, where seven teams are separated by four points:

* Jeff Carter (2-0—2) registered his sixth multi-goal game of the season and Peter Budaj (22 saves) posted his second shutout in his last three outings as Los Angeles picked up their fourth consecutive win to strengthen their grip on the first Wild Card spot. Carter ranks second in the NHL with 26 goals, while Budaj shares the League lead with a career-high six shutouts this season.

* Brian Elliott turned aside 28 of 29 shots as Calgary snapped Minnesota’s franchise-record road point streak at 14 games (12-0-2). The Flames moved ahead of the idle Blues (24-21-5, 53 points) to take sole possession of the final Wild Card spot in the Western Conference.

LOOSE PUCKS
Bruins forward Brad Marchand (2-1—3) scored multiple goals for the third time in his past four outings. Elias notes that Marchand became the first Bruins player to record three multi-goal outings in a span of four team games since Cam Neely did so from Jan. 8-15, 1992 . . . Wild forward Mikael Granlund (0-1—1) extended his career-high point streak to a franchise-record 11 games (2-11—13) . . . Kings defenseman Drew Doughty (0-1—1) extended his point streak to six games (1-6—7) . . . Barry Trotz (WSH) earned his 692nd career win as an NHL head coach to tie Dick Irvin for sixth on the all-time list. Darryl Sutter (LAK) registered his 621st career win to move past Bryan Murray (620) into sole possession of 11th place all-time . . . Capitals forward Evgeny Kuznetsov, Bruins forward Brad Marchand and Sharks defenseman Brent Burns were named the NHL’s “Three Stars” for the month of January . . . Maple Leafs forward Mitchell Marner was named the NHL’s Rookie of the Month for January . . . MSG Networks Inc. announced that it has reached an agreement with the NHL for live streaming rights to Rangers, Devils, Islanders and Sabres games . . . Mike Yeo was named head coach of the Blues.

SNEAK PEEK AT THURSDAY’S ACTION
All Times Eastern
Montreal @ Philadelphia, 7 p.m., CSN-PH, SNE, RDS
NY Rangers @ Buffalo, 7:30 p.m., SNO, TVAS, NBCSN, MSG
Ottawa @ Tampa Bay, 7:30 p.m., SUN, RDS2, TSN5
Edmonton @ Nashville, 8 p.m., FS-TN, SNW
Winnipeg @ Dallas, 8:30 p.m., FS-SW, TSN3
Chicago @ Arizona, 9 p.m., FS-A, CSN-CH
Toronto @ St. Louis, 9 p.m., FS-MW, TSN4
San Jose @ Vancouver, 10 p.m., SNP, CSN-CA
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HOCKEY IS FOR EVERYONE MONTH BEGINS
In support of their longstanding commitment to diversity and inclusion in hockey, the NHL, the League’s Member Clubs and the NHLPA will spotlight a variety of community-related initiatives for Hockey Is For Everyone month.

* Every day throughout February, Hockey Is For Everyone activities will focus awareness on such areas as LGBTQ; ethnicity and gender equality; socio-economic status and those with disabilities. The campaign is conducted in partnership with the You Can Play Project – a nonprofit committed to supporting the LGBTQ community and fighting homophobia in sports.

* Teams will host Hockey Is For Everyone awareness nights honoring and recognizing hockey players of all ages from diverse backgrounds. The Capitals and Islanders each participated in events on the opening day of the campaign.

* Sportsnet’s Hockey Night in Canada game on Feb. 11 (TOR vs. BUF, 7 p.m. ET) and NBCSN’s Wednesday Night Rivalry game on Feb. 22 (WSH vs. PHI, 8 p.m. ET) will be dedicated as Hockey Is For Everyone national broadcast nights.

thanks to the NHL PR department for the information above