* Making his first appearance since Jan. 8, Toffoli registered 1-1—2 for his seventh multi-point game of the season. He has 13 goals in 42 outings, surpassing his career high established in 2013-14 (12 G in 62 GP).

* Muzzin added his third game-winning goal of the season, tied for first on the Kings and fifth among NHL defensemen.

* Anze Kopitar collected two assists and has 5-21—26 in his last 17 contests. Jonathan Quick made 26 saves to improve to 17-12-10 in 40 appearances this season (2.48 GAA, .911 SV%, 3 SO).

* The Kings improved to 16-6-6 this season at STAPLES Center. Their 38 home points are tied for the second-most in the NHL and also equal a franchise record through 28 home games, achieved in 1980-81 and 1990-91.

OVECHKIN, HOLTBY LIFT CAPITALS OVER PENGUINS
Alex Ovechkin scored twice and Braden Holtby stopped all 27 shots he faced to help the Capitals end a four-game slide (0-3-1).

* At 25-14-9 (59 points), the Capitals leapfrogged the idle Rangers (27-14-4, 58 points) for third place in the Metropolitan Division. They also moved within three points of the Penguins (27-13-8, 62 points) for second place in the division.

* Ovechkin notched his 28th and 29th goals of the season to overtake Rick Nash and Tyler Seguin for the League lead. He also recorded his 13th power-play goal, moving past Joe Pavelski and into sole possession of first place in the NHL.

* Ovechkin has found the back of the net 13 times in his past 13 outings, totaling 13-4—17 in that span. His first goal stood as the game-winning marker; Ovechkin shares the League lead with six decisive goals this season, tied with Matt Beleskey and Oliver Ekman-Larsson.

* Holtby recorded his 16th career shutout and fifth of the season, setting a new career high. He also shut out the Penguins on Dec. 27 in Pittsburgh (31 saves).

* Holtby improved to 23-10-8 with a 2.25 goals-against average and .922 save percentage in 42 appearances this season. He ranks in the top 10 in the NHL in wins (t-6th), goals-against average (8th), save percentage (7th) and shutouts (t-2nd). His 23 victories also equal a career high achieved in 2012-13 (36 GP) and 2013-14 (48 GP).

* Nicklas Backstrom collected two assists to stretch his point streak to five games (2-6—8). He is tied for fourth in the NHL with 35 assists and tied for seventh in the League with 50 points in 48 contests this season.

* Mike Green added 1-1—2 for his 10th multi-point performance of the season. He has 1-5—6 in his last five outings.

* The Capitals improved to 8-0-2 in their past 10 home games dating to Dec. 11. Elias says the club last earned points in 10 or more consecutive home games from Oct. 23 – Nov. 28, 2010 (9-0-1).

DID YOU KNOW?
Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin registered his 93rd career multi-goal game to tie Peter Bondra for the most such performances in franchise history. Since entering the NHL in 2005-06, Elias says only three players are within 40 games of Ovechkin’s multi-goal total: Jarome Iginla (66), Sidney Crosby (59) and Rick Nash (53).

SCHNEIDER BACKSTOPS DEVILS PAST MAPLE LEAFS
Cory Schneider made 29 saves and denied both shootout attempts he faced to lead the Devils to their third victory in their past four outings.

* Trailing 1-0 late in the third period, Adam Larsson potted the tying goal with 2:50 remaining in regulation. Larsson has 2-8—10 in 30 contests this season after registering 1-2—3 in 2013-14 (26 GP) and 0-6—6 in 2012-13 (0-6—6).

* Jacob Josefson recorded the game-deciding goal in the tiebreaker. He improved to 3-for-8 (37.5%), with two decisive goals, in his shootout career.

* Patrik Elias notched one assist and also found the back of the net in the shootout. He has 2-6—8 in his past eight outings after collecting 4-9—13 in his first 30 appearances of the season.

* The Devils have earned points in four consecutive meetings with the Maple Leafs dating to Nov. 8, 2013 (2-0-2), including a pair of victories in 2014-15. They close their season series on Feb. 6 at Prudential Center.

LOOSE PUCKS
Blackhawks forwards Patrick Kane and Patrick Sharp both registered 1-1—2. Kane shares second in the NHL with 23-30—53 in 48 appearances this season. His 23 goals also pace the team and rank seventh in the League . . . Middletown, N.J., native and Maple Leafs forward James van Riemsdyk scored his team-leading 21st goal of the season while playing in front of approximately 100 relatives and friends. He has 7-6—13 in 19 career games vs. NJD . . . The Capitals improved to 24-1-4 when scoring first this season, 15-1-2 when leading after the first period and 22-1-3 when leading after two frames . . . Penguins goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury made 32 saves, his highest single-game total since Dec. 22 at FLA (34 saves) . . . Devils forward Martin Havlat collected one assist to stretch his point streak to four games (2-2—4) . . . Playing against his former team, Capitals defenseman Brooks Orpik collected one assist. Washington improved to 9-0-0 this season when Orpik records at least one point . . . Penguins defenseman Robert Bortuzzo played in his 100th NHL game . . . The NHL fined Islanders forward Cal Clutterbuck $2,000 as supplementary discipline under NHL Rule 64 (Diving/Embellishment).

SNEAK PEEK AT THURSDAY’S ACTION
All Times Eastern
Boston @ NY Islanders, 7:00 p.m., SN360, SNO, SNP, TVA, NESN, MSG+
Montreal @ NY Rangers, 7:00 p.m., NBCSN, SNE, RDS, MSG
Winnipeg @ Philadelphia, 7:00 p.m., TSN3, CSN-PH
Arizona @ Toronto, 7:30 p.m., FS-A, TSN4
Dallas @ Ottawa, 7:30 p.m., FS-SW, TSN5, RDS2
Detroit @ Tampa Bay, 7:30 p.m., FS-D+, SUN
Columbus @ Florida, 7:30 p.m., FS-O, FS-F
Nashville @ St. Louis, 8:00 p.m., FS-TN, FS-MW
Minnesota @ Calgary, 9:00 p.m., FS-N, SNW
Buffalo @ Edmonton, 9:30 p.m., MSG-B, BELL TV, SNOL
Anaheim @ San Jose, 10:00 p.m., NBCSN, SN360
NBCSN Channel Finder
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RED WINGS, LIGHTNING BATTLE FOR ATLANTIC SUPREMACY . . .
The top two clubs in the Atlantic Division face off when the Red Wings (28-11-9, 65 points) visit the Lightning (30-15-4, 64 points) at Amalie Arena. This marks the second of four meetings between these teams in 2014-15; Tampa Bay has won five of their past six head-to-head matchups dating to 2013-14, including a 4-3 shootout victory on Nov. 9 at Joe Louis Arena. Overall, the Red Wings have won six straight games, their first such winning streak since Feb. 8-19, 2012. The Lightning, meanwhile, are 3-1-0 in their past four outings, but fell 4-2 to the Hurricanes on Tuesday.

. . . AS DO PREDATORS, BLUES IN CENTRAL DIVISION
The top two teams in the Central Division also meet when the Predators (31-10-5, 67 points) face the Blues (29-13-4, 62 points) at Scottrade Center. This marks the fifth and final game between these clubs in 2014-15; Nashville leads the season series with a 3-1-0 record (STL: 1-3-0), including a 3-2 victory in their most recent meeting on Dec. 30 at Bridgestone Arena. Overall, the Predators have picked up points in 12 of their past 13 outings dating to Dec. 27 (9-1-3), while the Blues are riding an eight-game point streak dating to Jan. 3 (7-0-1).

SPEZZA RETURNS TO OTTAWA FOR FIRST TIME
Former Senators captain Jason Spezza makes his return to Ottawa when the Stars visit Canadian Tire Centre. The No. 2 overall selection by the Senators in the 2001 NHL Draft, Spezza played his first 11 seasons in Ottawa, collecting 251-436—687 in 686 games prior to an offseason trade. He also recorded 17-35—52 in 56 playoff games with the Senators, leading the team to the Stanley Cup Final in 2007 (7-15—22 in 20 GP). The 31-year-old center logged 14:56 of ice-time and won 10-of-13 face-offs (76.9%) in his first game against his former club, a 5-4 victory on Jan. 13 at American Airlines Center.

“It’s a date that’s been circled on my calendar, so it’s kind of nice to have it here and get it over with,” Spezza said in advance of the game. “This is a little bit of the closing of the book on the move. That’s kind of how I’m looking at it.”

Thanks to the NHL PR department for the information above.