. . . HUBERDEAU HELPS PANTHERS OUTLAST SHARKS
Florida surrendered leads of 3-1 and 5-3, but Jonathan Huberdeau (1-1—2) scored at 1:38 of overtime to lift the Panthers to their fifth win in their last six games.

* At 25-20-10 (60 points), the Panthers climbed within three points of the idle Maple Leafs (26-19-11, 63 points) for the final Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference. Florida holds a game in hand.

* Huberdeau has collected at least one point in all four games since making his season debut on Feb. 3, compiling 3-4—7 including two game-winning goals. His tally in San Jose marked the first overtime goal of his career (276 GP).

* Aleksander Barkov (2-1—3) and Nick Bjugstad (2-0—2) each scored twice for the Panthers, who have tallied 13 goals in winning their past two games. Barkov, who has scored in three straight games (4-1—5), shares second on the club with 13-20—33 this season despite playing in only 40 games.

DID YOU KNOW?
Wednesday’s contest between the Panthers and Sharks was the 41st game this season in which teams combined for at least 10 goals (845 GP). Elias notes that the last season with more such contests was 2010-11, when 53 of 1,230 games featured 10 or more goals.

BLUES SWEEP FIVE-GAME ROAD TRIP FOR FIRST TIME IN FRANCHISE HISTORY
Carter Hutton (25 saves) registered his second straight shutout and Ivan Barbashev scored what stood as the game-winning goal just 2:06 after the opening face-off as the Blues completed a sweep of their five-game road trip – a first in franchise history.

* The Blues (30-22-5, 65 points), who share the NHL lead in wins (6) and points (12) in February, have registered three shutouts in their last five games and occupy the No. 3 seed in the Central Division, three points ahead of the Predators (27-21-8, 62 points).

* Hutton, who has three shutouts in his past four appearances, improved to 9-7-2 with four blank sheets in 24 contests this season (2.52 GAA, .907 SV%). He had four shutouts in his first 76 career appearances.

BLUE JACKETS REGISTER 20TH HOME WIN OF THE SEASON
Five different skaters scored to help the Blue Jackets improve to 36-15-5 (77 points) this season and move back into a tie – in terms of points – for second place in the Metropolitan Division and Eastern Conference.

* With the victory, Columbus eclipsed their point total from the entire 2015-16 campaign (34-40-8, 76 points), aided by a 20-8-1 mark on home ice this season.

* Elias notes that Columbus, who registered their 20th home win in their 29th game at Nationwide Arena, required the fewest home contests to hit 20 home wins in their 17-year history. The previous mark of 32 games was set in 2008-09 (20-10-2, 42 points), when the club won a franchise record 25 games on home ice.

LOOSE PUCKS
Matthew Tkachuk tallied 1-1—2 as the Flames improved to 5-2-0 in their last seven contests . . . Sharks defenseman Brent Burns (1-1—2) scored his 25th goal of 2016-17 to become the first blueliner since Al MacInnis (1989-90 and 1990-91) to reach the 25-goal mark in consecutive seasons (2015-16: 27 G). Burns shares second in the NHL with 25-36—61 this season (58 GP) . . . Sharks captain Joe Pavelski (2-2—4) reached the 20-goal mark for the eighth time in 11 NHL seasons, while Blue Jackets captain Nick Foligno hit the mark for the second time (also 2014-15: 31 G) . . . The NHL announced details for The PreGame, the official tailgate party of the 2017 Coors Light NHL Stadium Series . . . Members of the Senators recently hosted several guests as part of Hockey Is For Everyone month . . . Red Wings forward Gustav Nyquist was suspended for six games for high-sticking Wild defenseman Jared Spurgeon . . . The Kings traded defenseman Tom Gilbert to the Capitals for future considerations . . . The Canadiens signed recently-hired head coach Claude Juliento a five-year contract . . . The Red Wings honored late owner Mike Ilitchin a pre-game ceremony at Joe Louis Arena and debuted commemorative patches in his honor.

SNEAK PEEK AT THURSDAY’S ACTION
All Times Eastern
NY Rangers @ NY Islanders, 7 p.m., TVAS, MSG+ 2, MSG
Ottawa @ New Jersey, 7 p.m., MSG+, TSN5, RDS
Winnipeg @ Pittsburgh, 7 p.m., ROOT, TSN3
Colorado @ Buffalo, 7:30 p.m., NBCSN
Vancouver @ St. Louis, 8 p.m., SN, SN360, FS-MW
Dallas @ Minnesota, 8 p.m., FS-N, FS-WI, FS-SW
Philadelphia @ Edmonton, 9 p.m., SNW, CSN-PH
Arizona @ Los Angeles, 10:30 p.m., FS-W, FS-A
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CROSBY AIMS FOR 1,000TH CAREER POINT WHEN PENGUINS HOST JETS
Sidney Crosby (368-631—999), who leads the League with 30 goals this season, aims to become the 86th player in NHL history (eighth active) to reach the 1,000-point milestone when the Penguins (35-13-7, 77 points) host Patrik Laine and the Jets (26-29-4, 56 points) at PPG Paints Arena. Laine, who ranks second among rookies with 26 goals, scored three times on Tuesday vs. DAL to become the first player in NHL history to register three hat tricks before his 19th birthday.

the information above was supplied by the NHL PR department