WILLIAMS (HAT TRICK) LEADS CAPITALS TO 12TH STRAIGHT HOME WIN
Justin Williams (3-0—3) recorded the second hat trick of his NHL career (also Oct. 16, 2006 at TBL: 3-1—4 w/ CAR) to power the Capitals to their 12th consecutive victory at Verizon Center, their longest such run since a franchise-record 13-game home winning streak from Jan. 5 – March 6, 2010.

* Per Elias, the Capitals’ 12-game home winning streak is the longest such streak in the NHL this season:

Longest Home Winning Streaks, 2015-16
12 – Washington Capitals (Nov. 21, 2015 – Jan. 17, 2016)
11 – Calgary Flames (Nov. 5 – Dec. 27, 2015)
9 – New York Rangers (Oct. 19 – Nov. 23, 2015)
7 – Edmonton Oilers (Nov. 20 – Dec. 21, 2015)
7 – Florida Panthers (Dec. 10, 2015 – Jan. 3, 2016)

* At 34-8-3 (71 points), the NHL-leading Capitals continued their best start to a season –in terms of wins and points – in the franchise’s 41-year history. They also improved to 18-3-1 in 22 games at Verizon Center and lead the Eastern Conference in home wins (18) and points (37).

* Evgeny Kuznetsov (0-3—3) earned at least three points in a game for the sixth time this season (45 GP), two of which have been in his last three outings (2-1—3 vs. VAN on Jan. 14, 2016).

* Alex Ovechkin (1-0—1) has scored six times in his last six games (6-0—6). Ovechkin ranks second in the NHL with 27 goals, trailing only Patrick Kane (29 w/ CHI). Per Elias, Ovechkin has scored at least one goal in each of his last nine regular-season games against the Rangers, which is the longest goal-scoring streak versus one team in his NHL career.

PENGUINS, FLYERS KEEP PACE IN CROWDED METROPOLITAN DIVISION
The Penguins (21-16-7, 49 points) and Flyers (20-15-8, 48 points) each earned victories on Sunday to make ground in the tightly-packed Metropolitan Division, where teams Nos. 2-7 are separated by just six points:

* Marc-Andre Fleury denied all 22 shots he faced and Sidney Crosby scored twice to lead the Penguins to a 5-0 victory over the Hurricanes. Fleury posted his third blank sheet of the season and the 41st of his career. He ranks third among active goaltenders in shutouts, trailing only FLA’s Roberto Luongo (71) and NYR’s Henrik Lundqvist (57). Crosby registered his third multi-goal game of the season (43 GP) and has scored eight times in his last 11 outings (8-6—14). The Penguins captain also has 10-32—42 in 33 career regular-season games vs. CAR.

* Michal Neuvirth made 29 saves through 65 minutes and stopped two of three shooters in the shootout as the Flyers stretched their point streak to six contests (5-0-1). Neuvirth improved to 10-5-2 this season (2.05 GAA, .936 SV%, 3 SO). Jakub Voracek (0-1—1) – who has registered 1-4—5 in his last three games – notched the shootout-deciding goal.

AROUND THE RINKS
* Nikita Kucherov scored twice and Ben Bishop turned aside 26 of 27 shots to lift the Lightning to their fifth straight win. Bishop picked up his third consecutive victory and improved to 18-13-3 overall (1.97 GAA, .927 SV%, 2 SO). He also boasts a career record of 7-1-1 in nine appearances vs. FLA. Kucherov has matched a career-high with a five-game point streak (4-3—7). Elias adds that Kucherov extended his home point streak to 10 games (7-8—15), the longest current home point streak in the NHL.

* Anze Kopitar (1-1—2) scored the game-winning goal at 17:40 of the second period as the Kings improved to 8-2-1 in their last 11 outings. Kopitar paces the club in assists (25) and points (38) this season. Jonathan Quick (30 saves) improved to 8-1-1 in his last 10 appearances and 25-10-2 overall (2.10 GAA, .923 SV%, 3 SO). The Kings have won five of their last six road games, improving to 14-6-2 as visitors overall. They rank second in the Western Conference in road wins (14) and points (30), trailing only SJS (15-6-2, 32 points).

* Ryan Miller made a season-high 47 saves through 65 minutes and denied all three shooters in the shootout to backstop the Canucks to an 8-3-2 record in their last 13 games. Per Elias, Miller improved to 23-5-3 in 31 career regular-season games where he has made 40 or more saves. Miller’s 55 career shootout wins rank first in NHL history.

MILESTONES & BENCHMARKS
* Panthers goaltender Roberto Luongo became the seventh goaltender in NHL history to appear in 900 career regular-season games.

* Penguins defenseman Trevor Daley (800) and Hurricanes goaltender Eddie Lack (100) also appeared in milestones games.

* Forward David Perron scored in his debut with the Ducks and forward Richard Panikscored his first goal in a Blackhawks uniform (4 GP).

* Canucks defenseman Ben Hutton scored the first goal of his NHL career (39 GP).

LOOSE PUCKS
Despite leaving the game in the second period, Braden Holtby (20 saves) earned the victory and improved to 29-5-2 this season (1.99 GAA, .931 SV%, 2 SO)… Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin (0-2—2) leads the club in assists (24) and points (43) this season (44 GP)... Forward Carl Hagelin (13:15 TOI) made his debut with the Penguins... The Canucks have earned points in seven consecutive road games vs. NYI (5-0-2) dating to Feb. 3, 2004 (NYI: 2-2-3)... The Lightning improved to 8-2-1 in their last 11 games vs. FLA dating to Oct. 10, 2013 (FLA: 3-6-2), a run which includes a record of 5-0-1 at home... Rangers forward Chris Kreider (2-0—2) registered his first multi-goal game of the season (43 GP)... Blackhawks forward Artemi Panarin (0-1—1) leads all rookies in assists (27) and points (43) this season (48 GP)... The Blackhawks have won six consecutive home games vs. MTL dating to Oct. 18, 2006 (MTL: 0-5-1)... Canadiens defenseman P.K. Subban (0-1—1) stretched his point streak to five games (2-3—5)... The Flyers have won five of their last six games vs. DET dating to Dec. 4, 2013 (DET: 1-4-1)... Kings forwardTyler Toffoli (1-0—1) has scored in three straight games (3-1—4) and leads the club with 22 goals this season (44 GP)... Kings defenseman Jake Muzzin (0-1—1) stretched his career-high point streak to seven games (1-6—7). Per Elias, that is the longest point streak by a Kings defenseman since Dec. 10-28, 2005 (Lubomir Visnovsky: 1-11—12 in 9 GP)... Ducks captain Ryan Getzlaf (0-1—1) extended his point streak to five games (0-5—5)... Goaltender Cam Talbotsigned a three-year contract extension with the Oilers.

SNEAK PEEK AT MONDAY’S ACTION
All Times Eastern
Edmonton @ Florida, 7:30 p.m., SNW, FS-F
Pittsburgh @ St. Louis, 8:00 p.m., NBCSN, TVAS, SNE, SNO, SNP, ROOT
Colorado @ Winnipeg, 8:00 p.m., ALT, TSN3
Buffalo @ Arizona, 9:00 p.m., MSG-B, BELL TV, FS-A
Ottawa @ San Jose, 10:30 p.m., RDS, TSN5, CSN-CA

the above information was provided by the NHL PR department