MALKIN CONTINUES CHASE FOR ART ROSS, RICHARD IN PENGUINS WIN

Evgeni Malkin collected 1-1—2 to guide the Penguins (40-26-4, 84 points) to their League-leading 26th home victory of the season (26-8-1, 53 points). Overall, Pittsburgh became the seventh team to reach the 40-win mark this season and leapfrogged Washington (38-23-7, 83 points) for first place in the Metropolitan Division.

* Malkin extended his assist/point streak to six games (3-8—11) and leads the NHL with 25-26—51 in 2018 (30 GP). Since Jan. 1, he has moved from a share of 22nd to second place in the tightly-contested Art Ross Trophy race – where only four points separate Nikita Kucherov, Malkin and Connor McDavid.

* Malkin’s 39 goals trail only Patrik Laine (40) and Alex Ovechkin (40) for the most in the NHL this season. He moved within one tally of reaching the 40-goal mark for the third time in his NHL career (47 in 2007-08, 50 in 2011-12).

GIBSON MAKES 50 SAVES AS ISLANDERS SNAP SLIDE

In his seventh NHL appearance, Christopher Gibson made a career-high 50 saves to help the Islanders (30-29-10, 70 points) snap an eight-game slide (0-4-4). New York sits seven points behind Columbus (36-28-5, 77 points) for the final Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference standings.

* Gibson became the ninth goaltender in franchise history to make at least 50 saves in a game and just the second rookie to do so, joining Billy Smith on Nov. 22, 1972 at PHI (55).

* In fact, Gibson became just the 21st different rookie goaltender to make 50 or more saves in a game (since 1955-56 when shots on goal became an official NHL statistic) and first since 2009-10, when Jimmy Howard (51) and Devan Dubnyk (52) did so.

EKMAN-LARSSON HELPS COYOTES CONTINUE RECENT SUCCESS

Oliver Ekman-Larsson scored the only goal of the contest on a power-play to lift the Coyotes to a 10-3-2 record in their last 15 games. Ekman-Larsson leads all defensemen with 27 game winners since beginning his NHL career in 2010-11, while his 45 power-play goals trail only Shea Weber (64) for the most among blueliners in that span.

* Darcy Kuemper (27 saves), who was acquired by Arizona from Los Angeles on Feb. 21, registered his career-high fourth shutout of the season and first in a Coyotes uniform.

BLACKHAWKS SPLIT HOME-AND-HOME SET WITH BRUINS . . .

Patrick Kane (1-1—2) scored the go-ahead goal with 3:16 remaining in regulation to help the Blackhawks split their home-and-home set with the Bruins and snap Boston’s win streak at six games.

* Kane (310-508—818) moved within a point of tying John LeClair (406-413—819) for 14th place on the NHL’s all-time list among U.S.-born players. Kane (Buffalo, N.Y.) is the NHL’s leader in points among active U.S.-born players.

. . . AS CHARA CLIMBS ALL-TIME LISTS

Boston’s Zdeno Chara scored his 195th career goal to move within one of tying Scott Stevens (196) for 22nd place on the NHL’s all-time list among defensemen. Chara (195-432—627) is the NHL’s leader in goals and points among active blueliners.

* Chara also skated in his 1,417th career regular-season game, passing Al MacInnis (1,416) and tying Luke Richardson for 33rd place on the NHL’s all-time list.

QUICK CLICKS

· Patrik Laine, Alex Ovechkin chasing goal-scoring crown for Jets, Capitals (via Tom Gulitti)

· Marc-Andre Fleury keeps Golden Knights loose on way to his 400th NHL win (via Mike Zeisberger)

· World's Longest Hockey Game enduring passion for Oilers optometrist (via Tim Campbell)

· Hurricanes goalie prospect scores another goal

SNEAK PEEK AT MONDAY’S ACTION

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NHL’S TOP TWO GOAL-SCORERS MEET IN WASHINGTON

Alex Ovechkin and Patrik Laine, who share the League lead with 40 goals apiece this season, are set to meet tonight when theCapitals (38-23-7, 83 points) host the Jets (41-18-9, 91 points).

* Ovechkin sits two tallies shy of becoming the 20th player in NHL history to reach the 600-goal milestone. He is looking to secure his seventh Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy, the most among all players since it was first awarded in 1999.

* Laine, meanwhile, looks to extend his point streak to a franchise-record 12 games. Since beginning his streak on Feb. 16, Laine has collected 15-6—21 (1.91 P/GP) and moved from being tied for 12th to a share of first place in the tightly-contested Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy race – where only one goal separates Ovechkin (40), Laine (40) and Evgeni Malkin (39).

FLEURY CLOSES IN ON 400-WIN MILESTONE

Vegas goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury can earn the 400th win of his NHL career when the Golden Knights (44-19-5, 93 points) conclude their five-game road trip against the Flyers (35-23-11, 81 points).

* Fleury would become the 13th netminder in League history (third active) to reach the 400-win milestone. Since beginning his NHL career in 2003-04, only two goaltenders have earned more regular-season wins than Fleury: Henrik Lundqvist (430) andRoberto Luongo (412).

PANTHERS LOOK TO EXTEND FRANCHISE-RECORD HOME WIN STREAK

The Panthers (34-25-7, 75 points) aim to extend their franchise-record home win streak to nine games when they host the Senators (23-33-11, 57 points). Florida owns a 15-3-1 record in its last 19 outings overall – including an active nine-game point streak (8-0-1) – and sits two points behind Columbus (36-28-5, 77 points) for the final Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference standings.

Thanks to the NHL PR Department for the above information.