PREDATORS MATCH LONGEST WIN STREAK IN NHL THIS SEASON

Pekka Rinne made 31 saves to help the Western Conference-leading Predators (44-14-9, 97 points) extend their franchise-record win streak to 10 games, tied for the longest in the NHL this season (COL: 10-0-0 from Dec. 29 – Jan. 22). Nashville remains a point behind Tampa Bay (47-17-4, 98 points) for first place in the NHL standings (with one game in hand).

* Rinne improved to 37-9-4 this season (2.28 GAA, .928 SV%, 7 SO), including victories in each of his last eight appearances. His 37 wins trail only Tampa Bay’s Andrei Vasilevskiy (40) for the most among all goaltenders this season.

* ICYMI: The Predators honored David Poile in a pre-game ceremony for recently passing Glen Sather for the most regular-season wins by a general manager in NHL history.

JETS, LAINE EXTEND STREAKS IN VICTORY

Patrik Laine opened the scoring for the third straight game – his 14th goal in the past 10 contests – to help the Jets extend their road point streak to eight games (7-0-1), matching a franchise record established in 2014-15. Connor Hellebuyck made 41 saves to improve to 35-10-8 in 2017-18 and set a franchise record for most wins in a season, eclipsing the previous mark of 34 set by Kari Lehtonen in 2006-07 (w/ ATL).

* At 41-17-9 (91 points), the Jets rank second in the Central Division behind the Predators (44-14-9, 97 points). There are only two seasons in which the club has posted more overall wins: 2006-07 as the Thrashers (43) and 2014-15 as the Jets (43). The Jets/Thrashers have recorded at least 90 points in three other seasons: 2014-15 (99), 2006-07 (97) and 2005-06 (90).

* Laine extended his career-high point streak to 10 contests (14-6—20), becoming the fifth different player in the last 20 years (since 1997-98) to record at least 14 goals in a 10-game span and first since Anaheim’s Corey Perry in 2010-11. He is second in the NHL with 39 goals in 2017-18, the most in a season by a Jets/Thrashers player since Ilya Kovalchuk had 43 in 2008-09 (w/ ATL).

* Since beginning his 10-game point streak on Feb. 16, Laine has moved from a share of 12th to second place in the tightly-contested Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy race – where only two goals separate Alex Ovechkin (40), Laine (39) and Evgeni Malkin (38).

VASILEVSKIY MATCHES CLUB RECORD AS LIGHTNING EXTEND POINT STREAK

Andrei Vasilevskiy made 27 saves to become the second goaltender in franchise history to win 40 games in a season, backstopping the League-leading Lightning to their ninth consecutive game with a point (8-0-1).

* Vasilevskiy (40-12-3), who became the first goaltender to reach 40 wins this season, reached the milestone for the first time in his NHL career. Ben Bishop is the only other goaltender in franchise history to post 40 wins in a season (40-13-5 in 2014-15).

* Anthony Cirelli (1-2—3) led all Tampa Bay skaters with three points and now has 2-3—5 in four games since making his NHL debut on March 1 at DAL.

LUONGO RECORDS 75TH CAREER SHUTOUT AS PANTHERS STAY HOT

Playing in his 990th career game, Roberto Luongo turned aside all 40 shots he faced to record his 75th career shutout and help the Panthers extend their point streak to eight games (7-0-1).

* With a 14-3-1 record in their last 18 contests, Florida has moved within two points of Columbus (35-28-5, 75 points) for the final Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference. The Panthers hold three games in hand over the Blue Jackets, with the clubs slated to close their three-game season series on March 22 at Nationwide Arena (CBJ: 2-0-0; FLA: 0-1-1).

* Luongo moved within one shutout of tying Tony Esposito and Ed Belfour for ninth place on the NHL’s all-time list among goaltenders.

JONES, WERENSKI GUIDE BLUE JACKETS TO KEY VICTORY

The Avalanche overcame a 4-2 deficit in the third period, but Seth Jones (1-2—3) scored 59 seconds into overtime to power the Blue Jackets (35-28-5, 75 points) to their third straight win. Columbus occupies the final Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference standings and are one point back of New Jersey (34-26-8, 76 points), who suffered a regulation loss on Thursday.

* Jones notched his fourth career regular-season overtime goal with the Blue Jackets to establish a franchise record for most by a defenseman.

* Meanwhile, Zach Werenski (1-1—2) scored his 14th goal of 2017-18 to extend his single-season club record for goals by a defenseman.

GOLDEN KNIGHTS MATCH ANOTHER NHL RECORD WITH ROAD WIN

Alex Tuch (2-0—2) and Cody Eakin (2-1—3) combined for all four Vegas goals and Marc-Andre Fleury turned aside all 28 shots he faced as the Pacific Division-leading Golden Knights (43-19-5, 91 points) matched an NHL record with their 19th road win of the season.

* Vegas improved to 19-12-3 (41 points) as visitors to equal the NHL record for road wins by a team in its inaugural season, a mark set by Anaheim in 1993-94.

SHARKS, KINGS COLLECT KEY POINTS IN PACIFIC DIVISION PLAYOFF RACE

The Sharks (36-22-9, 81 points) and Kings (37-25-5, 79 points) each picked up key wins to gain ground in the Pacific Division standings, where seeds 2-4 are separated by just two points:

* Martin Jones turned aside all 16 shots he faced to record his fourth shutout of the season (19th career) and help the Sharks improve to 3-1-1 in their last five games. San Jose leapfrogged Anaheim (34-22-12, 80 points) for second place in the Pacific Division.

* Trevor Lewis scored the game-winning goal in his return from a 12-game absence due to injury to lift the Kings to a 7-3-0 record in their last 10 games. Los Angeles maintains a one-point lead over Colorado (35-24-8, 78 points) for the final Wild Card spot in the Western Conference standings and moved within one point of Anaheim for third place in the Pacific Division.

MARCHAND SCORES THIRD STRAIGHT GAME-WINNING GOAL

Brad Marchand scored the go-ahead goal with 22 seconds remaining in regulation – his third straight game-winning goal – as the Bruins (42-15-8, 92 points) improved to 5-0-0 on their season-high six-game homestand. Boston ranks second in the Atlantic Division, six points back of Tampa Bay (47-17-4, 98 points) for first place.

* Marchand became the seventh player in franchise history to score the winner in three consecutive team games and first since Tyler Seguin from Nov. 5-10, 2011.

* The Bruins host the Blackhawks on Saturday and can become the second team to sweep a six-game homestand this season, joining the Panthers from Feb. 22 – March 4. Prior to 2017-18, only five teams in NHL history had won every contest during a six-game homestand: Philadelphia in 1984-85, Edmonton in 1986-87, Detroit in 2011-12, Los Angeles in 2014-15 and Florida in 2015-16.

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