. . . BLACKHAWKS DEFEAT RED WINGS, MOVE AHEAD IN CENTRAL
Four players – Patrick Kane (1-2—3), Brent Seabrook (1-2—3), Artemi Panarin (2-0—2) and Duncan Keith (0-2—2) – registered multiple points to power the Blackhawks to their second straight win overall as well as their fifth victory in their past six road games (5-1-0).

* At 40-20-5 (85 points), the Blackhawks moved two points ahead of the idle Stars (38-20-7, 83 points) and Blues (37-20-9, 83 points) atop the Central Division and Western Conference.

* Kane, who holds a 17-point lead in the Art Ross Trophy race (37-51—88 in 65 GP), matched his career high for points in one season, established in 2009-10 (30-58—88 in 82 GP). His 88 points are one more than the Art Ross Trophy winner from 2014-15 (Jamie Benn: 35-52—87 in 82 GP).

* Seabrook chipped in his third three-point game of the season (65 GP), also Oct. 22 vs. FLA (1-2—3) and Nov. 27 at ANA (0-3—3). He had one such performance in his last four seasons combined (289 GP; Dec. 16, 2014 vs. MIN: 1-2—3).

DID YOU KNOW?
Blackhawks forward Artemi Panarin, who leads all rookies in goals (24), assists (35) and points (59), recorded his fifth multi-goal game of the season – tied for first among rookies with Arizona’s Max Domi.

Via Elias, Panarin became the third rookie in Blackhawks history to post five or more multi-goal games in one season. The others: Steve Larmer (9 in 1982-83) and Darryl Sutter (6 in 1980-81).

OSHIE, NISKANEN LIFT CAPITALS OVER MAPLE LEAFS
T.J. Oshie dished out three assists and Matt Niskanen scored the tiebreaking goal midway through the third period to lift the Capitals to a 20-2-1 record in their last 23 games at Verizon Center dating to Nov. 21.

* At 47-12-4 (98 points), the League-leading Capitals equaled the most wins through a team’s first 63 games of a season in NHL history (also 1995-96 Red Wings). They have earned at least one point in 38 of their past 45 outings (35-7-3).

* Oshie collected his fifth career three-assist game and first since March 1, 2015 at VAN (0-3—3 w/ STL). He has posted three or more points three times this season, also Dec. 14 at PIT (2-1—3) and Dec. 18 vs. TBL (2-2—4).

* Niskanen picked up his second game-winning goal of the campaign (also Feb. 7 vs. PHI). He has 4-23—27 this season (63 GP), four points shy of his 82-game total from 2014-15 (4-27—31).

MILESTONES & BENCHMARKS
* Maple Leafs forward Nikita Soshnikov scored his first NHL goal (2 GP).

* Red Wings captain Henrik Zetterberg (900) and Capitals forward Marcus Johansson(400) both played in milestone games.

* Canadiens defenseman Morgan Ellis, a fourth-round selection (117th overall) in the 2010 NHL Draft, made his League debut.

* Barry Trotz (WSH) earned his 649th career win to move past Ron Wilson (648) and into sole possession of ninth place in NHL history among head coaches.

LOOSE PUCKS
Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin scored his League-leading 41st goal of the season (61 GP) and 20th in his past 23 games (20-5—25) . . . Blackhawks goaltender Corey Crawford (31 SV) posted his 34th victory of the season (53 GP) to eclipse his career high of 33 established in 2010-11 (57 GP) . . . Canadiens forward Alex Galchenyuk (2-0—2) registered his fourth multi-goal game of the season and third in his past nine outings (also Feb. 12 at BUF: 2-0—2 and Feb. 24 at WSH: 2-0—2) . . . Ducks captain Ryan Getzlafsaw his point streak end at 11 games (5-12—17) . . . Blackhawks forward Andrew Ladd(2 GP) and Ducks forward Jamie McGinn (1 GP) scored their first goals with their new clubs . . . The Kings signed goaltender Peter Budaj to a one-year contract extension . . . The Senators signed forward Scott Gomez to a one-year contract . . . ICYMI: GoPro released the latest video in its NHL After Dark series, featuring Red Wings forwardTomas Tatar . . . The Capitals honored Maple Leafs forward Brooks Laich, who was traded on Sunday, in his return to Verizon Center . . . Defenseman Lubomir Visnovsky, who played 14 NHL seasons with four teams, announced his retirement from hockey.

SNEAK PEEK AT THURSDAY’S ACTION
All Times Eastern
NY Rangers @ Pittsburgh, 7:00 p.m., NHLN-US, MSG, ROOT
Chicago @ Boston, 7:00 p.m., SN1, SNE, SNO, SNP, TVAS, CSN-CH, NESN
Calgary @ Buffalo, 7:00 p.m., SN360, MSG-B
Edmonton @ Philadelphia, 7:00 p.m., SNW, CSN-PH
Tampa Bay @ Ottawa, 7:30 p.m., SUN, TSN5, RDS
Minnesota @ Toronto, 7:30 p.m., FS-N, FS-WI, SNO
New Jersey @ Nashville, 8:00 p.m., MSG+ 2, FS-TN
NY Islanders @ Winnipeg, 8:00 p.m., MSG+, TSN3
Florida @ Colorado, 9:00 p.m., FS-F, ALT
Anaheim @ Arizona, 9:00 p.m., PRIME, FS-SD, FS-A+
San Jose @ Vancouver, 10:00 p.m., CSN-CA, SNP
Montreal @ Los Angeles, 10:30 p.m., SNE, RDS, FS-W
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STREAKING TEAMS LOOK TO STAY HOT
A trio of streaking teams try to equal or set franchise records on Thursday:

* The Ducks (35-19-8, 78 points), who have won nine straight, attempt to match the franchise record – established Dec. 6-28, 2013 (10-0-0) – when they visit the Coyotes (27-30-6, 60 points) at Gila River Arena.

* The Lightning (37-22-4, 78 points), who have won seven in a row, try to equal the franchise record – set Feb. 23 – March 6, 2004 (8-0-0) – when they face the Senators (30-27-7, 67 points) at Canadian Tire Centre.

* The Predators (32-21-11, 75 points), who have picked up points in 10 straight (7-0-3), look to establish a franchise record when they play the Devils 30-27-7 (67 points) at Bridgestone Arena.

TEAMS ANNOUNCE INITIAL WORLD CUP OF HOCKEY ROSTERS . . .
All eight teams competing in the World Cup of Hockey 2016 announced their initial rosters of at least 16 players:

Group A
Team Canada
Team Czech Republic
Team Europe
Team USA

Group B
Team Finland
Team North America
Team Russia
Team Sweden

Of the 128 players named, 126 are under contract by NHL teams. The Lightning and Blackhawks lead all NHL clubs with 10 and nine selections, respectively. The Bruins, Red Wings and Capitals follow with seven apiece.

* REMINDER: All eight World Cup of Hockey 2016 teams must announce the balance of their rosters – 20 skaters and three goaltenders – by June 1.

. . . REVEAL WORLD CUP OF HOCKEY UNIFORMS
The NHL, NHLPA and adidas also revealed the uniforms that each team will wear for theWorld Cup of Hockey 2016.

Click here for complete details.

* ICYMI: World Cup of Hockey 2016 imagery, including logos and uniforms, is available for editorial use at mediaassets.wch2016.com.

the above information was provided by the NHL PR department