CROSBY POWERS PENGUINS, CONTINUES DOMINANCE OF ISLANDERS
Sidney Crosby scored twice to power the Penguins to a 4-1-1 record in their last six games.

* Crosby has 9-11—20 in his past 19 games, including points in six of his last seven outings (5-5—10), after totaling 2-7—9 in his first 18 contests of the season.

* Crosby raised his totals to 29-62—91 in 51 career regular-season games vs. NYI, his most points against any club. Elias notes that only one other active player has 90 or more points versus one opponent: Jaromir Jagr, who has achieved that feat against seven teams (BOS, BUF, CAR/HFD, NJD, NYI, PHI and WSH).

* Three other Penguins players registered multiple points: Kris Letang (0-3—3), Evgeni Malkin (0-3—3) and Matt Cullen (1-1—2). Malkin paces the team and shares 10th in the NHL with 18-19—37 this season (38 GP).

* Marc-Andre Fleury made 38 saves to earn the win in his first appearance since Dec. 14. He improved to 21-9-5 in 37 career regular-season appearances vs. NYI (2.58 GAA, .915 SV%, 4 SO).

60 IS NOT ENOUGH
Five of Saturday’s 12 games required overtime:

* Anton Forsberg, who entered the game in relief of Curtis McElhinney just 55 seconds into overtime, made six saves and denied a pair of shootout attempts to post his first NHL win (6 GP) and guide the Blue Jackets to their second straight victory. Per Elias, Forsberg became the first goaltender in League history to earn his first career win after entering the game in overtime. He also became the first goaltender in Blue Jackets history to pick up his first NHL victory in a relief appearance.

* John Moore scored at 1:47 of overtime to lift the Devils to their third consecutive victory as well as a 4-1-1 record in their last six games. Elias says that Moore, who also recorded an overtime goal on Nov. 28 at MTL, became the fourth defenseman in franchise history to post multiple overtime goals in one season. The others: Scott Niedermayer (4x in 2001-02 and 2x in 2002-03), Johnny Oduya (2x in 2008-09) and Andy Greene (2x in 2013-14).

* Mattias Ekholm collected the primary assist on the tying goal and then scored at 3:09 of overtime to lift the Predators to a 4-2-1 record in their past seven contests. Ekholm notched his second career game-winning goal (184 GP), both of which have come in overtime. The other: Dec. 20, 2014 at MIN.

* Andrei Vasilevskiy made 30 saves through overtime and denied all three shootout attempts he faced to help the Lightning close their six-game homestand with a 3-2-1 record. Vasilevskiy, who recently became a first-time father, improved to 11-9-0 in 25 career outings (2.51 GAA, .916 SV%, 1 SO).

* Ryan Nugent-Hopkins registered the primary assist on the tying goal with 5:52 remaining in regulation and then potted the decisive marker in the shootout to help the Oilers snap a three-game skid overall and improve to 8-2-0 in their last 10 games at Rexall Place.

BRICK WALLS
Several goaltenders guided their respective clubs to victories on Saturday:

* Jonathan Quick made 29 saves, including 15 in the final frame, to backstop the Kings to their fifth straight win. Quick, who ranks second in the NHL with 22 victories this season (32 GP), has been the goaltender of record for all five games during the current five-game winning streak (1.40 GAA, .956 SV%, 1 SO).

* Karri Ramo turned aside all 26 shots he faced, including 25 over the first two periods, to post his fifth career shutout (first this season) and lead the Flames to their 10th victory in their past 14 games.

* Jonathan Bernier posted his second consecutive 39-save performance to lift the Maple Leafs to a 7-2-2 record in their last 11 contests. Bernier, who began the season at a 0-8-3 clip, has won five of his past seven games.

* Connor Hellebuyck made 27 saves, including 11 in the third period, to propel the Jets to their third victory in their past four outings. Hellebuyck improved to 8-4-0 in first 12 NHL appearances (2.01 GAA, .929 SV%, 1 SO).

HOT HANDS
Various players extended their point streaks on Saturday:

* Nikita Kucherov, TBL (1-0—1): 3-9—12 in 8 GP
* Patrick Sharp, DAL (1-0—1): 5-6—11 in 8 GP
* Joe Thornton, SJS (0-1—1): 3-8—11 in 8 GP

* Brandon Saad, CBJ (2-0—2): 6-5—11 in 7 GP

* James van Riemsdyk, TOR (1-0—1): 4-4—8 in 6 GP

* Anze Kopitar, LAK (0-1—1): 1-8—9 in 5 GP

MILESTONES & BENCHMARKS
* Avalanche forward Jarome Iginla played in his 1,431st career game to move into a tie with Scott Mellanby and Luc Robitaille for 25th place on the NHL’s all-time games played list.

* Predators captain Shea Weber played in his 724th career game (all w/ NSH) to move past Martin Erat (723) and into sole possession of second place on the franchise’s all-time games played list, behind David Legwand (956).

* Oilers forward Jordan Eberle (2-0—2), the 22nd overall selection in the 2008 NHL Draft, became the third member of his draft class to reach the 300-point milestone (130-170—300 in 383 GP). The others: Steven Stamkos (292-235—527 in 531 GP) and Erik Karlsson (93-251—344 in 435 GP).

* Jets forward Blake Wheeler (0-2—2) registered his 400th NHL point, while Kings defenseman Jake Muzzin (0-1—1) collected his 100th NHL point.

* Jets forward Joel Armia, the 16th overall selection (by BUF) in the 2011 NHL Draft, scored his first career goal (8 GP).

* Islanders goaltender Christopher Gibson, a second-round selection (49th overall by LAK) in the 2011 NHL Draft, made his League debut (16 SV).

LOOSE PUCKS
The Capitals suffered consecutive losses – of any kind – for the first time this season (38 GP), leaving the Stars as the only team without such a streak in 2015-16 (40 GP) . . . Despite suffering the shootout loss, the Coyotes extended their point streak against the Oilers to 20 games dating to March 17, 2011 (16-0-4) – the longest active point streak against one opponent in the NHL . . . Blues forward Vladimir Tarasenko moved into a share of second place in the NHL with his 23rd goal of the season (39 GP), one off the League lead held by Stars captain Jamie Benn (24 G in 40 GP) . . . Brent Burns (SJS) scored his 16th goal of the season (37 GP), tops among defensemen. He also ranks third among blueliners with 34 points . . . Sabres forward Jack Eichel (2-0—2) registered his second career multi-goal game, both in the past week (also Dec. 26 at BOS: 2-2—4). In doing so, he tied Red Wings forward Dylan Larkin for the rookie lead in goals (13) . . . Blue Jackets defenseman Jack Johnson (2-1—3) posted his first career multi-goal game and first three-point performance since March 1, 2014 vs. FLA (0-3—3) . . . Capitals goaltender Braden Holtby (25 SV) extended his personal point streak to 18 consecutive decisions dating to Nov. 12 (16-0-2) . . . ICYMI: The Panthers signed head coach Gerard Gallant to a multi-year contract extension . . . The Lightning and Wild honored refereeRob Martell before he officiated his 1,000th and final NHL regular-season game.

SNEAK PEEK AT SUNDAY’S ACTION
All Times Eastern
Dallas @ NY Islanders, 5:00 p.m., FS-SW, MSG+
Minnesota @ Florida, 6:00 p.m., FS-N, FS-WI, FS-F
Ottawa @ Chicago, 7:00 p.m., NHLN-US, SN, TVAS, CSN-CH
Winnipeg @ Anaheim, 9:00 p.m., TSN3, PRIME, FS-SD
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HOMETOWN HOCKEY TOUR STOPS IN THUNDER BAY
The Blackhawks (22-13-4, 48 points) face the Senators (18-14-6, 42 points) at United Center as Rogers Hometown Hockey visits Thunder Bay, Ont. – the hometown of brothers Eric, Jared, Jordan and Marc Staal. Throughout 2015-16, Sunday games will be broadcast from a different community rink in various towns across Canada. Included in each telecast will be local NHL player profiles, grassroots stories and local entertainment features.

Click here for more details about the festivities in Thunder Bay.

Thanks to the NHL PR department for the above information.