THREE HARD LAPS: QUICK HITS FROM FRIDAY

* Alex Ovechkin scored to open a five-goal lead in the 2018-19 Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy race.

* Sebastian Aho recorded his fourth shorthanded goal of the season to move into a tie for the League lead.

* Joel Armia scored the Canadiens’ second hat trick in as many games.

Read below for more on each storyline.

OVECHKIN SCORES GAME WINNER AS CAPITALS CLIMB METROPOLITAN DIVISION . . .

Alex Ovechkin scored the go-ahead goal at 4:34 of the third period as the Capitals defeated the Islanders and extend their win streak to three games. Washington improved to 37-21-7 (81 points) this season and moved into a tie with New York (37-20-7, 81 points) for the most points in the Metropolitan Division standings; the Islanders, however, occupy first place by virtue of holding a game in hand.

* Ovechkin extended his point streak to eight games (7-4—11) and leads the League with 45 goals this season (45-30—75 in 64 GP) as he pursues another Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy, aiming to break a tie with Bobby Hull (7x) and become the first player in NHL history to finish atop the League’s goal-scoring race eight times. He scored 45 or more goals in a season for 10th time in his NHL career and eclipsed Wayne Gretzky and Mike Bossy (both 9x) for the most such campaigns in League history.

* Ovechkin scored the 106th game-winning goal of his NHL career and moved into a tie with Patrick Marleau for seventh place on the League’s all-time list.

^Ovechkin and Marleau own the most game-winning goals among active NHL players

. . . HURRICANES KEEP PACE WITH FOURTH CONSECUTIVE WIN
Sebastian Aho (1-1—2) scored the game-winning goal at 13:03 of the second period to help the Hurricanes extend their win streak to four games. Carolina improved to 35-23-6 (76 points) this season and leapfrogged idle Columbus (36-24-3, 75 points) for third place in the Metropolitan Division standings.

* Aho scored his fourth shorthanded goal of the season to move into a tie with Lightning forward Anthony Cirelli, Flames forward Mark Jankowski and Coyotes forward Michael Grabner for the League lead. His four shorthanded goals in 2018-19 are tied for the second-most in a season by a Hurricanes/Whalers player – a list topped by Kevyn Adams, who had five in 2003-04.

CANADIENS SCORE ANOTHER HAT TRICK IN WIN

Joel Armia (3-0—3) scored the first hat trick of his NHL career and Carey Price made 28 saves as the Canadiens defeated the Rangers. Montreal improved to 35-23-7 (77 points) this season and occupies the first Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference standings.

* The Canadiens have scored a hat trick in each of their last two games and three times in their last five (also Andrew Shaw on Feb. 26 at DET and Brendan Gallagher on Feb. 21 vs. PHI). It marked the first time Montreal scored a hat trick in consecutive games since Dec. 27-29, 2008 (Andrei Kostitsyn and Maxim Lapierre) and the first time it scored three in a span of five since Feb. 10-19, 1992 (Denis Savard, Stephan Lebeau and Brent Gilchrist).

JETS DEFEAT PREDATORS TO RECLAIM FIRST PLACE IN CENTRAL DIVISION

Five different Winnipeg skaters scored as the Jets overcame a 2-0 deficit to defeat the Predators. Winnipeg improved to 38-22-4 (80 points) this season and leapfrogged Nashville (37-25-5, 79 points) to reclaim first place in the Central Division standings.

* Mark Scheifele collected 1-2—3 and became the second Jets player to eclipse the 70-point mark this season (32-40—72 in 64 GP); he joined Blake Wheeler (13-63—76 in 64 GP), who also had 1-2—3 on Friday.

* The Jets featured multiple 70-point getters through games played March 1 for the second time in franchise history and first since 2005-06, when Thrashers forwards Marc Savard (24-50—74 in 59 GP) and Ilya Kovalchuk (37-36—73 in 55 GP) had reached the plateau.

^The original Winnipeg Jets featured multiple 70-point getters through games played March 1 on four occasions, most recently in 1992-93 (Teemu Selanne and Phil Housley)

QUICK CLICKS

* Kendall Coyne Schofield joins NHL Network as studio analyst

* Blues’ Jordan Binnington named NHL ‘Rookie of the Month’ for February

* Nikita Kucherov, Patrick Kane & Vladimir Tarasenko named ‘Three Stars’ For February

* Sidney Crosby ties Jaromir Jagr for 2nd most goals in Penguins franchise history

* Marc Crawford replaces Guy Boucher as coach of Senators

SNEAK PEEK AT SATURDAY’S ACTION

FLAMES TO RETIRE IGINLA’S No. 12 AT SCOTIABANK SADDLEDOME

The Flames will retire former captain Jarome Iginla’s No. 12 in a pre-game ceremony at Scotiabank Saddledome prior to their game against the Wild. Iginla, whose 20-season NHL career spanned from 1996-97 to 2016-17 and saw the power forward appear in 1,554 games with the Flames, Penguins, Bruins, Avalanche and Kings, is set to become the third player to have his number retired by the club, joining Lanny McDonald (No. 9) and Mike Vernon (No. 30).

^Two players have also had their number honored by the Flames: Al MacInnis (No. 2) and Joe Nieuwendyk (No. 25)

LEAGUE-LEADING LIGHTNING LOOK TO MATCH NHL RECORD WITH 50TH WIN

The League-leading Lightning (49-12-4, 102 points) look to earn their 50th win of the season when they host the Senators (22-37-5, 49 points) at AMALIE Arena. Tampa Bay can match the NHL record for fewest games required to reach 50 wins in a season, a mark set by Detroit in its 66th contest during the 1995-96 campaign (50-12-4, 104 points).

^The Red Wings lost only one more game that season en route to setting the League record for wins in a campaign (62-13-7)

The above information was supplied by the NHL PR department.