OVECHKIN TIES ESPOSITO FOR SIXTH PLACE ON NHL’S ALL-TIME GOALS LIST
Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin scored the 717th goal of his NHL career, tying Phil Esposito for sixth place on the League’s all-time list. Ovechkin now trails only five players: Wayne Gretzky (894), Gordie Howe (801), Jaromir Jagr (766), Brett Hull (741) and Marcel Dionne (731).



* Did You Know? Ovechkin reached 717 career goals in nearly 100 fewer games than Esposito. The pair had the same amount of games with exactly one goal at the time of number 717 – Ovechkin owned the edge in two-goal outings, while Esposito had the advantage in three- and four-goal games.



PANTHERS PASS IDLE ISLANDERS FOR FIRST PLACE IN NHL STANDINGS
Aleksander Barkov (1-2—3) factored on three of Florida’s five unanswered goals and Sergei Bobrovsky made 26 saves as the Panthers (19-5-4, 42 points) erased a 3-1 deficit to defeat the Blackhawks and move ahead of the idle Islanders (19-6-4, 42 points) for first place in the NHL standings.



MALKIN PROPELS PENGUINS WITH 1,100TH POINT
Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin (1-1—2) found the score sheet for an eighth consecutive game (4-8—12) to reach 1,100 career regular-season points (424-676—1,100 in 935 GP), becoming the third player in franchise history to collect as many with Pittsburgh.

* Malkin also became just the fifth active NHL player with at least 1,100 career points and required the second-fewest games among that group to reach the milestone – he trailed only teammate Sidney Crosby (1-2—3), who also played a pivotal role for the Penguins on Monday.


* Crosby, who extended his point streak to seven games (4-7—11), recorded at least two assists in a contest for the fifth time this season and 200th time in his NHL career. He became the 22nd skater in NHL history with at least 200 career multi-assist games – only one other active player has as many (Joe Thornton: 238).

* Malkin and Crosby sparked Pittsburgh to its sixth straight win and 12th home victory of the season (12-2-0, 24 points), which is tied for the most in the NHL (w/ NYI). The Penguins can extend the run and add to their home wins when they host the Bruins again tonight.

STONE, GOLDEN KNIGHTS CONTINUE TO ROLL
Mark Stone (1-1—2) scored his sixth game-winning goal of the season as the Honda West Division-leading Golden Knights (19-6-1, 39 points) picked up their third straight victory. Stone has found the score sheet in each of his eight appearances since March 1 (6-10—16) – his six game-winning goals in 2020-21 are tied for the highest single-season total by a Golden Knights player.



KANE CLIMBS NHL’S ALL-TIME POINTS LIST AMONG U.S.-BORN PLAYERS
Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane (1-0—1) recorded the 1,064th point of his NHL career (401-663—1,064 in 1,003 GP) and surpassed Joe Mullen (502-561—1,063 in 1,062 GP) for sole possession of fifth place on the League’s all-time list among U.S.-born players. Kane needs one to match Keith Tkachuk (538-527—1,065 in 1,201 GP) for fourth.

* Kane reached 42 points on the season (12-30—42 in 30 GP), which ranks third in the NHL behind Connor McDavid (17-36—53 in 31 GP) and Leon Draisaitl (17-29—46 in 31 GP). Kane’s 42 points are his second-highest total through 30 games in a season – the only instance in which he had more was in 2015-16 en route to winning the Art Ross Trophy.



QUICK CLICKS

* Philipp Grubauer of Avalanche, Colorado hospital employee NHL First Stars of Week
* Blues game at Kings postponed because of snowstorm
* Rangers honor Walter Gretzky, Mark Pavelich with moment of silence
* Flames improve to 3-0-0 since Darryl Sutter officially returned for second stint with club

ISLANDERS, HURRICANES, WILD LOOK TO EXTEND LENGTHY STREAKS ON TUESDAY
The Islanders (19-6-4, 42 points), Hurricanes (20-6-1, 41 points) and Wild (17-8-1, 35 points) are set to put their streaks on the line across Tuesday’s seven-game slate.

* The MassMutual East Division-leading Islanders, who are 9-0-0 in their last nine games dating to Feb. 28, can extend the League’s lengthiest win streak of the season to double digits when they visit the Capitals at Capital One Arena – New York has posted a win streak of 10 or more games on two occasions in franchise history. Washington has earned victories in each of its last five games, including a 6-0 win in Buffalo on Monday in which Vitek Vanecek (23 saves) recorded the first shutout of his NHL career.

* The Hurricanes look to extend their win streak to nine games and keep pace with the Islanders’ run when they take on the Red Wings at Little Caesars Arena. Dougie Hamilton has found the score sheet in each contest during Carolina’s streak (2-8—10 in 8 GP).

* The Wild are 7-0-0 in their last seven games at Xcel Energy Center and aim to extend the NHL’s longest home win streak of the season when they host the Coyotes for the final contest of a three-game set in St. Paul, Minn. Kaapo Kahkonen is 8-0-0 in his last eight appearances dating to Feb. 18 (1.62 GAA, .940 SV%, 1 SO), although Cam Talbot has backstopped Minnesota to victory in each of its last two games (0.50 GAA, .979 SV%, 1 SO).

Thanks to the NHL PR department for the information above.