OVI PASSES SELANNE FOR THIRD-MOST POWER-PLAY GOALS IN NHL HISTORY
Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin scored his 256th career power-play goal in the regular season to pass Teemu Selanne (255) for sole possession of third place on the NHL’s all-time list, trailing only Dave Andreychuk (274) and Brett Hull (265).

* The marker was Ovechkin’s 682nd career regular-season goal overall, moving him within two of matching Selanne (684) for 11th place in League history.

* Ovechkin owns a career power-play goals per game average of 0.228, the fourth-highest total in NHL history (min. 100 PPG).

THORNTON, FLEURY ALSO CLIMB ALL-TIME LISTS

* Mario Ferraro (1-1—2) and Joel Kellman recorded their first NHL goals and Timo Meier (3-0—3) scored his first career hat trick, but it was Sharks forward Joe Thornton who stole the spotlight by posting his 1,079th career regular-season assist to tie Adam Oates for the seventh-most in League history. Forty-year-old Thornton had already played 61 career NHL games (55 regular season, 6 playoffs) before Ferraro – the youngest of the aforesaid Sharks trio – was born on Sept. 17, 1998.

* Golden Knights goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury (27 saves) earned his 454th career regular-season win to tie Curtis Joseph for sixth place on the NHL’s all-time list. Fleury and Joseph appeared in one all-time head-to-head matchup, which occurred on Oct. 18, 2008 when the former played for Pittsburgh and the latter was in his second stint with Toronto.

PANARIN, CARLSON NEWEST MEMBERS OF THE 50-POINT CLUB
Rangers forward Artemi Panarin (0-3—3) and Capitals defenseman John Carlson (0-2—2) each collected at least two assists Saturday to become the seventh and eighth players to reach the 50-point mark this season.

* Panarin (21-30—51 in 38 GP), who was signed by New York on July 1, became the fifth player to record his first 50 regular-season points with the franchise in 38 games or less (NHL debut or otherwise) and first since Marian Gaborik on Dec. 31, 2009 (26-25—51 in 38 GP).

* Carlson (13-37—50 in 40 GP) established a franchise record for fewest games to 50 points by a defenseman, eclipsing the previous mark of 43 set by Mike Green in 2008-09 (22-28—50). He became the first blueliner on any team to reach the 50-point mark in 40 games or fewer since Detroit’s Paul Coffey in 1994-95 (13-37—50 in 40 GP).

PENGUINS HANG ON TO WIN IN PREDATORS’ LAST GAME BEFORE WINTER CLASSIC
Nashville tied the contest after facing deficits of 3-0 and 4-1, but Bryan Rust (2-2—4) factored on both Pittsburgh goals in the final 63 seconds of regulation as the Penguins defeated the Predators – who played their final game before the 2020 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic.

* Predators captain Roman Josi (0-3—3) will enter the 29th outdoor game in League history with a career-high seven-game point streak (7-6—13), the longest active run in the NHL. Only two defensemen in franchise history have recorded at least one point in more than seven consecutive team games within a regular season: Shea Weber from Dec. 31, 2010 – Jan. 16, 2011 (3-10—13 in 9 GP) and Ryan Suter from March 3-18, 2009 (2-8—10 in 8 GP).

* Josi leads the team with 39 points this season (14-25—39 in 38 GP), the second-most among all defensemen behind only Washington’s John Carlson (13-37—50 in 40 GP).

QUICK CLICKS

* Winter Classic ice crew unsung heroes of NHL outdoor event
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* Robin Lehner shares heartfelt moment with Islanders fan
* 3 'Star' keys to success for U.S. against Russia in World Juniors
* All-Star Game rosters as selected by NHL.com

PREVIEW OF TODAY’S ACTION

The information above was provided by the NHL PR department.