PANTHERS WIN SIXTH STRAIGHT, CLIMB TO TOP OF ATLANTIC
Aleksander Barkov scored twice, including the game-winning goal, to lift the Panthers to their sixth consecutive victory, their longest such run since they tied a franchise record with seven straight wins March 2-16, 2008.

* At 20-12-4 (44 points), the Panthers leapfrogged three clubs – the Red Wings (18-10-7, 43 points), Canadiens (20-14-3, 43 points) and Bruins (19-12-4, 42 points) – for first place in the Atlantic Division, where the top five teams are separated by two points.

* Barkov posted his second career multi-goal game. His other: March 28 at MTL (2-0—2). He also collected his third game-winning goal of the season (26 GP), equaling a career high established in 2014-15 (71 GP).

* Barkov, the second overall selection in the 2013 NHL Draft, has 33-47—80 in 151 career appearances. That ranks third among his draft class, behind Avalanche forwardNathan MacKinnon (48-83—131 in 182 GP) and Flames forward Sean Monahan (65-57—122 in 191 GP).

LEHTONEN, STARS EARN SPLIT OF HOME-AND-HOME WITH BLUES . . .
Kari Lehtonen stopped all 22 shots he faced, including 10 in the final period, to earn his 33rd career shutout (first this season) and lead the Stars to a split of their home-and-home series with the Blues.

* At 27-7-3 (57 points), the Stars moved three points ahead of the idle Capitals (26-6-2, 54 points) for first place in the NHL standings. Washington, however, holds three games in hand.

* The Stars improved to 15-4-0 (30 points) on home ice this season, including wins in seven of their last eight games at American Airlines Center. Their 15 home victories and 30 home points both pace the NHL.

* Lehtonen improved to 12-2-0 in 17 appearances this season (2.48 GAA, .915 SV%, 1 SO). That includes 5-2-0 record on home ice (7-0-0 on the road).

. . . SENATORS, MAPLE LEAFS OPEN HOME-AND-HOMES WITH WINS
The Senators and Maple Leafs recorded wins in the first halves of their home-and-home series with the Bruins and Islanders, respectively:

* Mark Stone scored twice to power the Senators to their fifth consecutive victory at Canadian Tire Centre, where they are 10-4-4 (24 points) this season. Stone registered his third career multi-goal game and first since April 11 at PHI (2-0—2), last year’s season finale that propelled Ottawa into the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

* Jonathan Bernier made 25 saves to help the Maple Leafs pick up points for the seventh time in their last eight outings (5-1-2). Bernier improved to 3-1-2 in six starts following a conditioning stint in the AHL; he was 0-8-1 in nine appearances this season prior to this stretch.

JETS EARN RARE 1-0 VICTORY
Connor Hellebuyck turned aside all 30 shots he faced and Bryan Little scored on a first-period penalty shot to lead the Jets to their fifth victory in their past six games at MTS Centre.

* Via Elias, the Jets became the fourth team in NHL history to earn a 1-0 win, with their lone goal recorded via a penalty shot. The others, with the respective scorers in parentheses: the Rangers on Jan. 16, 1936 vs. TOR (Bert Connelly), the Maple Leafs on March 19, 2006 at PIT (Chad Kilger) and the Canadiens on April 12, 2014 vs. NYR (Brian Gionta, OT).

* Hellebuyck, who made his NHL debut on Nov. 27 at MIN, posted his first career shutout (9 GP) and improved to 6-3-0 overall (2.13 GAA, .926 SV%).

* ICYMI: Defenseman Tyler Myers made a pair of last-minute saves to preserve Hellebuyck’s shutout.

AROUND THE RINKS
* Mikkel Boedker (1-1—2) scored with 42.1 seconds remaining in overtime to help the Coyotes extend their point streak to four games (3-0-1). Boedker registered his third overtime goal of the season (35 GP; also Nov. 9 at ANA and Dec. 11 vs. MIN), tied for first in the NHL. Elias says that his three such goals also equal a Coyotes/Jets single-season record, achieved by Paul MacLean in 1983-84 (76 GP), Shane Doan in 2009-10 (82 GP) and Oliver Ekman-Larsson in 2014-15 (82 GP).

* Eddie Lack made a season-high 35 saves, including 18 in the third period, to backstop the Hurricanes to their second win in as many days as well as a 7-3-1 record in their past 11 contests. Lack, who fell three seconds short of his seventh career shutout, improved to 3-0-1 in his last four appearances following a 1-6-1 start to the season.

* Corey Perry scored twice, including the tying and winning goals, to power the Ducks to their third victory in their past four outings at Honda Center. Perry recorded his third multi-goal game of the season, also Nov. 11 vs. EDM (2-0—2) and Nov. 24 vs. CGY (2-1—3, including GWG).

MILESTONES & BENCHMARKS
* Avalanche forward Jarome Iginla (1-0—1) moved within one goal of becoming the 19th player in NHL history to reach the 600-goal milestone.

* Panthers goaltender Roberto Luongo (15 SV) earned his 416th career victory to move within seven of tying Tony Esposito (423) for seventh place on the NHL’s all-time wins list among goaltenders.

* Ducks forward Ryan Getzlaf (1-1—2), who has spent his entire NHL career with Anaheim, became the second player in franchise history to reach the 700-point milestone (210-490—700 in 740 GP). The other: Teemu Selanne (457-531—988 in 966 GP).

* Maple Leafs forward Michael Grabner (1-0—1) scored his 100th NHL goal while facing his former team, the Islanders, for the first time since an offseason trade. Grabner posted 90 of his 100 goals over the past five seasons with the Islanders (297 GP).

* Blackhawks defenseman Brent Seabrook (800) and Maple Leafs forward Daniel Winnik (600) both played in milestone games.

LOOSE PUCKS
Senators captain Erik Karlsson collected two assists to extend his point streak to six games (3-6—9). He leads the NHL with 31 assists this season and shares fourth overall with 40 points (36 GP) . . . Stars teammates Jamie Benn and Patrick Sharp both posted 1-1—2 to extend their assist/point streaks to five games (3-5—8 apiece) . . . Hurricanes defenseman Justin Faulk scored his 14th goal of the season, tied for first among defensemen with Brent Burns (SJS) . . . Flyers forward Jakub Voracek (1-0—1) extended his point streak to six games (3-5—8), while Maple Leafs forward Nazem Kadri(0-2—2) extended his point streak to five games (1-6—7) . . . Coyotes goaltender Anders Lindback made a season-high 38 saves . . . Oilers forward Benoit Pouliot (2-0—2) registered his 11th career multi-goal game and first since March 16 vs. TOR (2-0—2) . . . The Canadiens acquired goaltender Ben Scrivens from the Oilers in exchange for forwardZack Kassian . . . ICYMI: Blues goaltender Brian Elliott made a sensational glove saveto rob Stars forward Ales Hemsky of an open net . . . Family members of legendary Islanders head coach Al Arbour participated in a ceremonial puck drop at Barclays Center . . . Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher and Dallas native Clayton Kershaw dropped the ceremonial opening puck before the Blues-Stars game.

SNEAK PEEK AT MONDAY’S ACTION
All Times Eastern
Washington @ Buffalo, 7:00 p.m., SNO, SNW, SNP, CSN-DC+, MSG-B
Montreal @ Tampa Bay, 7:30 p.m., SNE, RDS, SUN
NY Rangers @ Nashville, 8:00 p.m., TVAS, MSG, FS-TN
Detroit @ Minnesota, 8:00 p.m., FS-D, FS-N+
Los Angeles @ Vancouver, 10:00 p.m., FS-W, SNP
Colorado @ San Jose, 10:30 p.m., SNE, SNO, SNW, ALT, CSN-CA
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CANADIENS FACE LIGHTNING FOR FIRST TIME SINCE PLAYOFFS
The Canadiens (20-14-3, 43 points), who have lost 10 of their last 11 games to fall out of first place in the Atlantic Division, look to reverse their fortunes when they visit the Lightning (18-15-3, 39 points) at Amalie Arena. This marks the first meeting between these clubs since the Second Round of the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs, when Tampa Bay eliminated Montreal in six games en route to an appearance in the Stanley Cup Final. During the 2014-15 regular season, the Lightning swept their five head-to-head games with the Canadiens (MTL: 0-4-1). In doing so, they became the first team to sweep a season series of five or more games against Montreal since 1983-84 (BUF: 8-0-0). The Lightning and Canadiens will face off three more times in 2015-16, including the final day of the regular season on April 9 at Bell Centre.

the above information was provided by the NHL PR department