CENTRAL DIVISION CONTENDERS KEEP PACE WITH WINS
The top three teams in the Central Division – the Blackhawks, Stars and Blues – all posted wins on Sunday to keep pace in the playoff race:

* Patrick Kane scored 21 seconds after the opening face-off and three players – Artem Anisimov (1-1—2), Artemi Panarin (0-2—2) and Michal Rozsival (0-2—2) – added multi-point performances to lift the Blackhawks to their second victory over the Red Wings in the past week (also March 2: 5-2 W). Kane, who holds a 17-point lead in the Art Ross Trophy race, established a career high with his 89th point of the season (38-51—89 in 67 GP), surpassing his previous best set in 2009-10 (30-58—88 in 82 GP).

* Antoine Roussel potted the tiebreaking goal with 2:14 remaining in regulation to power the Stars to their second straight win overall and a 7-2-1 record in their last 10 road contests. Dallas ranks fourth in the NHL with 44 points as visitors this season (19-10-6). Roussel picked up his ninth career game-winning goal (265 GP), six of which have come in 2015-16 (65 GP) – tied for seventh place in the League.

* The Blues raced to a 3-0 lead midway through the second period and held off a late Wild rally to earn their third consecutive victory on the heels of a three-game skid (0-3-0). Four different players scored, including Jori Lehtera in his return from a three-game absence.Jake Allen (30 SV) posted his 21st win of the season (39 GP), one shy of his career high established in 2014-15 (37 GP).

RUST, MALKIN POWER PENGUINS PAST DEVILS
Bryan Rust (1-2—3) recorded his first career multi-point game (44 GP) and Evgeni Malkin scored twice to lead the Penguins to their fourth victory in their past six outings.

* At 34-23-8 (76 points), the Penguins leapfrogged the Red Wings (32-22-11, 75 points) – who lost in regulation – for the first Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference. They also remained within three points of the Islanders (36-20-7, 79 points) for third place in the Metropolitan Division.

* Elias notes that Rust became the first Penguins rookie to notch a three-point game since Dec. 22, 2008, when Alex Goligoski posted 2-1—3 at BUF (4-3 OT W).

* Malkin has compiled four goals in his last four games (4-2—6); he has 4-3—7 in six outings since returning from injury.

MILESTONES & BENCHMARKS
* Rangers defenseman Dan Boyle (0-1—1) recorded his 600th NHL point, while Blackhawks defenseman Michal Rozsival (0-2—2) posted his 300th NHL point.

* Senators defenseman Marc Methot played in his 500th NHL game.

LOOSE PUCKS
Jets forward Mark Scheifele (1-0—1) scored for the third consecutive game (6-0—6) . . . Stars forward Jason Spezza (1-0—1) also scored for the third straight game (3-0—3), his first career goal versus his former team – the Senators (4 GP). He now has recorded at least one goal against all 30 NHL clubs . . . Wild defenseman Ryan Suter (1-0—1) extended his point streak to six games (1-6—7) . . . Penguins captain Sidney Crosby (3-6—9) and Senators forward Zack Smith (3-2—5) both extended their point streaks to five games . . . Forward Eric Staal (1-1—2) registered his first points with the Rangers (4 GP). He also won 20 of 22 face-offs (90.9%) . . . ICYMI: The Jets wore camouflage jerseys during pregame warm-ups as part of Canadian Armed Forces Appreciation Night at MTS Centre.

SNEAK PEEK AT MONDAY’S ACTION
All Times Eastern
Tampa Bay @ Philadelphia, 7:00 p.m., SNE, SNO, SNP, TVAS, SUN, CSN-PH
Buffalo @ Toronto, 7:30 p.m., MSG-B, BELL TV, TSN4
Boston @ Florida, 7:30 p.m., NESN, FS-F
Arizona @ Colorado, 9:00 p.m., NBCSN
San Jose @ Calgary, 9:00 p.m., CSN-CA, SNW
Washington @ Anaheim, 10:00 p.m., SNE, SNO, CSN-DC, PRIME, FS-SD
Vancouver @ Los Angeles, 10:30 p.m., SNP, KCOP-13
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STREAKING DUCKS FACE LEAGUE-LEADING CAPITALS
The Ducks (37-19-8, 82 points), who have won a franchise-record 11 consecutive games to climb atop the Pacific Division, welcome the League-leading Capitals (48-13-4, 100 points) to Honda Center. This marks the first of two meetings between these clubs in 2015-16; they also will face off on April 10 – the final day of the regular season – at Verizon Center in a makeup of their postponed Jan. 22 game. At 25-4-2 (52 points), the Ducks boast the top record in the NHL since the League’s holiday break; the Capitals rank second in that span at 23-7-2 (48 points). Anaheim has picked up eight straight victories at Honda Center, its longest home winning streak since Dec. 9, 2013 – Jan. 14, 2014 (10-0-0).

the information above was provided by the NHL PR department