PANTHERS STUN MAPLE LEAFS IN CRUCIAL EASTERN CONFERENCE SHOWDOWN
After Auston Matthews (37-25—62) scored his 37th goal of the season to give Toronto a 3-1 lead, Mike Hoffman (1-1—2) factored on two of Florida’s four third-period goals to help the Panthers (29-17-5, 63 points) rally and retake third place in the Atlantic Division from the Maple Leafs (28-18-7, 63 points).

* The Panthers (51 GP), who registered their fourth multi-goal, third-period comeback win of the season, hold two games in hand on the Maple Leafs (53 GP) and are set to play each other two more times this season (Feb. 27 at FLA, March 23 at TOR).



* Mark Pysyk (3-0—3) capped Florida’s five-goal outing with his first career hat trick and the Panthers’ League-leading fifth three-goal performance of the season. Their five such outings in 2019-20 matched the 1999-00 campaign for the highest single-season total in franchise history.

* The Panthers have scored five goals in two of their last three victories and sit tied with the Lightining (188) for the third-most goals for among all teams this season (including shootout-deciding goals). They trail only the Capitals (193) and Maple Leafs (191).

* Additionally, Florida’s 3.63 goals for per game played in 2019-20 trails only Colorado (3.64) for the League’s highest such total this season. Meanwhile, the franchise has never finished higher than seventh in that category, posting an average of 2.98 in 1999-00.

HAYES SCORES ANOTHER SHORTHANDED GOAL AS FLYERS CLIMB STANDINGS
Kevin Hayes scored his second shorthanded goal in as many games and Brian Elliott (16 saves) registered his second shutout in three contests to backstop the Flyers (29-17-7, 65 points) into the Eastern Conference’s first Wild Card spot – moving past the Islanders (29-15-6, 64 points), Hurricanes (30-19-3, 63 points) and Maple Leafs (28-18-7, 63 points) in the process.



* Hayes, who has found the score sheet in four of his last five games, became the fifth Flyers player since 1989-90 to tally a shorthanded goal in consecutive games. The others: Matt Read (2 GP in 2013-14), Mike Richards (3 GP and 2 GP in 2008-09), Jeff Carter (2 GP in 2008-09) and Ilkka Sinisalo (2 GP in 1989-90).

* Elliott improved to 4-0-2 in his last six games, highlighted by a 19-save shutout against the Penguins on Jan. 21. The 34-year-old became the first Flyers netminder to register at least two such performances in a three-game span since Michal Neuvirth in 2015-16 (2 from Oct. 12-21, 2015).

35-YEAR-OLD PAVELSKI, STARS TOPPLE 18-YEAR-OLD KAKKO, RANGERS
Joe Pavelskihelped Dallas erase an early deficit and propelled the Stars (30-18-4, 64 points) to their second comeback win in as many games (also Feb. 1 at NJD). Their 15 such victories in 2019-20 are tied with the Flames and Blue Jackets for the third-most this season. The Capitals pace all clubs with 17.

* Pavelski, who also scored in Saturday’s contest at New Jersey, netted his 56th career multi-goal game and second with the Stars this season (Nov. 13 at CGY). The last time a Stars player aged 35 or older registered more such performances in a single season was Mike Modano in 2008-09 (3).

* New York’s Kaapo Kakko (0-1—1) also factored on a game-tying goal in the first period and boosted his season totals to 7-10—17. The second-overall pick in the 2019 NHL Draft, set to skate in four more games before celebrating his 19th birthday on Feb. 13, surpassed Manny Malhotra (8-8—16 in 1998-99) for the most points by an 18-year-old in franchise history.

QUICK CLICKS

* Leon Draisaitl, Steven Stamkos and J.T. Miller lead NHL’s “Three Stars” for the week
* Color of Hockey: John Paris first black coach to win pro hockey title
* Stadium Series ice crew weathers storm at Air Force
* Evgeni Malkin takes Penguins equipment truck for joyride after practice
* Justin Faulk to play first game for Blues against Hurricanes since trade

PREVIEW OF TODAY’S ACTION

KANE, DRAISAITL LOOK TO KEEP POINT STREAKS ALIVE

Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane (5-13—18 in 12 GP) and Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl (7-15—22 in 11 GP) look to extend active point streaks to 13 and 12 games, respectively, when they take to the ice on Tuesday.

* Should Draisaitl extend his point streak to a dozen contests, he would become the third player to record multiple point streaks of 12 or more games this season, joining Kane (also 15 GP from Nov. 2-30, 2019) and David Pastrnak (13 GP from Oct. 8 – Nov. 5, 2019 and 12 GP from Dec. 14, 2019 – Jan. 9, 2020).

* Prior to this season, the last time two or more different players each recorded multiple point streaks of 12-plus games in one campaign was 1996-97: Brett Hull (12 GP and 12 GP) and Wayne Gretzky (15 GP and 12 GP).

* The last time at least three different players recorded multiple point streaks of 12 or more games in one season was 1988-89 when Bernie Nicholls (17 GP and 13 GP), Mario Lemieux (15 GP and 12 GP), Steve Yzerman (28 GP and 12 GP) and Gretzky (23 GP and 16 GP) all did so.

* This marks the sixth time in his career that Kane has recorded a point streak of at least 12 games – the only active player with as many.

* Draisaitl (29-54—83 in 52 GP), the only player to reach 80 points so far in 2019-20, can become the first Oilers skater to record multiple point streaks of 12 or more games in one season since Gretzky in 1986-87 (19 GP, 16 GP and 14 GP).

* Draisaitl has recorded multiple points in each of his last five outings dating to Jan. 14, the second-longest such run of his career (6 GP from March 14-23, 2017).

AVALANCHE, KINGS CONTINUE ROAD TO STADIUM SERIES SHOWDOWN
With their imminent clash at the 2020 NHL Stadium Series on Feb. 15 at U.S. Air Force Academy’s Falcon Stadium approaching, the Avalanche and Kings take to the ice against the Sabres and Capitals, respectively.

* At KeyBank Center, Colorado’s 21-year-old Cale Makar (11-26—37) and Buffalo’s 19-year-old Rasmus Dahlin (3-27—30) will go head-to-head.

* Makar – second in rookie scoring this season – sits one point shy of establishing a single-season Avalanche/Nordiques franchise record by a rookie defenseman. Meanwhile, Dahlin has points in eight of his last 10 contests and is fresh off passing Bobby Orr for the fourth-most points by a teenage blueliner in NHL history.

* At Capital One Arena, 34-year-old netminder Jonathan Quick – the winningest goaltender in Kings history – will try to cool off a 34-year-old Alex Ovechkin (695-570—1,265) who continues his pursuit of his 700th career regular-season goal.

* Ovechkin has netted five goals and 10 points in 13 career regular-season contests against Quick – highlighted by the 200th of his career nearly 11 years to the day on Feb. 5, 2009. At the time, Ovechkin became the fourth player in NHL history to reach the 200-goal mark within his first four seasons, joining Wayne Gretzky, Mike Bossy and Mario Lemieux.

Thanks to the NHL PR department for the information above.