PENGUINS, RED WINGS RALLY FOR CRUCIAL WINS IN EASTERN PLAYOFF RACE
* Down 1-0 to their cross-state rivals, the Penguins scored four unanswered goals en route to their fifth straight win. Sidney Crosby (0-2—2) extended his point streak to 11 games (6-12—18) and ranks third in the NHL with 31-43—74 this season. Marc-Andre Fleury (16 saves) picked up his fourth straight win. At 39-24-8 (86 points), the Penguins leapfrogged the Islanders (38-23-9, 85 points) for third place in the Metropolitan Division.

* Trailing the Panthers 3-1, the Red Wings scored four unanswered goals to pick up their fourth victory in their last six contests (4-2-0). Pavel Datsyuk (2-0—2) registered his third multi-goal game of the season (also Feb. 14 vs. BOS: 2-1—3 and Feb. 8 vs. FLA: 2-0—2). Dylan Larkin (1-1—2) recorded his seventh multi-point game of the campaign and ranks fourth among all rookies with 21-22—43 this season. At 36-25-11 (83 points), the Red Wings increased their lead to three points over the Flyers (34-24-12, 80 points) for the final Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference.

PANTHERS WELCOME SPECIAL GUEST
Actor Kevin Spacey, whose face adorns the "Spacey in Space" blue sweatshirt the Panthers have awarded to their player of the game, was in attendance at BB&T Center. "Thank you @flapanthers and all the fans for such a wonderful welcome tonight," Spacey wrote on his Twitter and Instagram accounts following the game.

With Spacey in attendance, the game against the Red Wings drew 20,817, the largest crowd ever to watch a Panthers regular-season game.

SPECIAL TEAMS LIFT SENATORS PAST CANADIENS
Jean-Gabriel Pageau, Curtis Lazar and Alex Chiasson each scored shorthanded goals and Andrew Hammond denied all 30 shots he faced as the Senators earned their third straight win at Canadian Tire Centre.

* Pageau scored his NHL-leading sixth shorthanded goal of the season. Pageau is one shy of the franchise record for most in a season, set by Daniel Alfredsson (7) in 2007-08.

* According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the Senators scored three shorthanded goals in a game for the fourth time in franchise history and first since April 3, 2008 at TOR (Cody Bass, Dean McAmmond, Antoine Vermette). The Senators lead the NHL with 15 shorthanded goals this season, five more than the next-closest team (Winnipeg Jets: 10).

* Hammond picked up his first shutout of the season and the fourth of his NHL career, improving to 25-9-6 in 44 career appearances (2.16 GAA, .929 SV%, 4 SO).

STARS, BLUES CONTINUE WINNING WAYS ATOP CENTRAL
* Kari Lehtonen turned aside all 27 shots he faced to help the Stars collect points for the seventh time in their last eight outings (5-1-2). Lehtonen earned his 34th career shutout (second of 2015-16) and improved to 21-9-2 this season (2.85 GAA, .904 SV%, 2 SO). At 43-21-9 (95 points), the Western Conference-leading Stars maintained a two-point edge over the Blues (42-22-9, 93 points) for first place in the Central Division.

* In his first start since suffering an injury on Feb. 22, Brian Elliott made 19 saves to backstop the Blues to their seventh win in their last nine contests (7-2-0). Elliot earned his 32nd career shutout (second of 2015-16) and improved to 18-7-6 this season (2.07 GAA, .931 SV%, 2 SO). At 42-22-9 (93 points), the Blues increased their lead to three points over the idle Blackhawks (42-24-6, 90 points) for second place in the Central Division.

AROUND THE RINKS
* Tied 1-1 with the Rangers through 40 minutes, the Sharks scored three times in a span of 3:20 en route to their third straight win at SAP Center. Sharks forward Joe Thorntonscored the game-winning goal to record his 1,328th career point (375-953—1,328) and pass Pierre Turgeon (515-812—1,327) for sole possession of 31st place in NHL history. Thornton has notched at least one point in 37 of his past 42 games dating to Dec. 15 (13-40—53).

* Ben Bishop denied all 32 shots he faced to help the Lightning improve to 7-1-1 in their last nine games vs. ARI/PHX dating to Oct. 30, 2010, including four straight wins. Bishop (30-19-4) picked up his fifth shutout of the campaign, matching his single-season career high from 2013-14, and reached the 30-win mark for the third consecutive season (all w/ TBL). Bishop’s blank sheet was the 17th of his NHL career and 15th with the Lightning, passing Nikolai Khabibulin (14) for the most in franchise history. At 41-26-5 (87 points), the Lightning leapfrogged the Bruins (39-26-8, 86 points) for second place in the Atlantic Division.

* Devan Dubnyk (31 saves) made a game-saving stop on Elias Lindholm (0-1—1) in the dying seconds of overtime and denied two of three shooters in the shootout as the Wild improved to 6-3-1 in their last 10 contests. Dubnyk improved to 6-1-1 in his last eight decisions. Zach Parise potted the game-deciding goal in the shootout and ranks tied for third in NHL history with 40 career shootout goals. At 33-28-11 (77 points), the Wild climbed within a point of the idle Avalanche (37-31-4, 78 points) for the final Wild Card spot in the Western Conference.

* William Nylander (1-1—2), Milan Michalek (1-1—2) and PA Parenteau (0-2—2) helped the Maple Leafs improve to 7-0-1 in their last eight home games against Buffalo dating to Feb. 21, 2013. Nylander registered the first multi-point game of his NHL career andConnor Carrick scored his first career game-winning goal.

* After seeing their 3-0 lead erased, the Blue Jackets responded with three unanswered goals, including two in a span of 11 seconds, en route to their sixth consecutive win against New Jersey dating to March 6, 2015. Oliver Bjorkstrand (2-0—2) scored the first two goals of his NHL career (2 GP), including the game-winner at 1:23 of the third period.

MILESTONES & BENCHMARKS
* Sharks forward Patrick Marleau (0-1—1) skated in the 1,400th game of his NHL career (all w/ SJS) and became the fourth active player to reach the milestone, joining Jaromir Jagr, Jarome Iginla and Shane Doan. Marleau also became the ninth player in NHL history to play in as many games with one franchise.

* Stars head coach Lindy Ruff coached his 1,402nd career regular-season game, passing Ron Wilson (1,401) for sole possession of fifth place on the NHL’s all-time list.

* Blue Jackets head coach John Tortorella coached his 1,000th career regular-season game, becoming the 26th head coach in NHL history to reach the milestone.

* Blues forward Vladimir Tarasenko scored the 100th goal of his NHL career, becoming the fourth player from the 2010 NHL Draft class to reach the milestone (Tyler Seguin, Jeff Skinner, Taylor Hall). Tarasenko leads the Blues with 34 goals and 63 points.

* Blue Jackets defenseman Fedor Tyutin (800) and Bruins forward Matt Beleskey (400) each skated in milestone games.

* Maple Leafs forward Frederik Gauthier, a first-round selection (21st overall) in the 2013 NHL Draft, made his NHL debut (10:56 TOI).

LOOSE PUCKS
The Wild have won six consecutive games vs. CAR dating to Oct. 24, 2013... Wild forward Jason Zuckerscored 16 seconds into the third period, his third goal in the first 20 seconds of a period this season (also 0:10 of the first period on Oct. 25 at WPG and 0:18 of the first period on Oct. 30 vs. CHI)... The Sharks recorded a season-high 52 shots on goal... Sharks forward Tomas Hertl (0-3—3) registered a career-high three assists... Rangers defenseman Dan Boyle scored against his former club and has now recorded at least one goal versus all 30 NHL teams... Devils forward Adam Henrique scored his 26th goal of the season (70 GP), eclipsing his single-season career high of 25 from 2013-14 (77 GP)... Panthers forward Nick Bjugstad (3-3—6), Blues forward Jaden Schwartz (2-6—8) and Kings forward Anze Kopitar (4-3—7) each extended their point streaks to five games... Panthers forward Jaromir Jagr was honored in pre-game ceremony at BB&T Center for moving into sole possession of third place on the NHL’s all-time points list.

SNEAK PEEK AT SUNDAY'S ACTION
All Times Eastern
Anaheim @ Winnipeg, 3:00 p.m., FS-W, TSN3
Columbus @ New Jersey, 5:00 p.m., FS-O, MSG+
Washington @ Pittsburgh, 6:00 p.m., NBCSN, TVAS
Calgary @ Montreal, 7:00 p.m., RDS, SN
Minnesota @ Chicago, 8:30 p.m., NBCSN
Colorado @ Edmonton, 9:30 p.m., ALT, SN1
Arizona @ San Jose, 10:00 p.m., FS-A, CSN-CA

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STREAKING PENGUINS HOST TOP-RANKED CAPITALS
The Capitals (51-14-5) visit the Penguins (39-24-8) in a key Metropolitan Division showdown that opens doubleheader coverage on NBCSN. The visitors have an opportunity to clinch the Metropolitan Division regular-season title and the top seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs. Pittsburgh, meanwhile, will look to tie its season-high winning streak of six games. The Penguins are 6-1-0 in a stretch of nine consecutive games against Metropolitan Division opponents.

ROGERS HOMETOWN HOCKEY HEADS TO CALGARY
NHL alumni Lanny McDonald, Sheldon Kennedy and Jim Peplinski join host RonMacLean as Rogers Hometown Hockey stops in Calgary. Coverage on Sportsnet begins at 6:30 p.m., ET, in advance of the Calgary at Montreal broadcast. Throughout 2015-16, Sunday games will be broadcast from a different community rink in communities 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 Calgary.

TODAY'S CLINCHING SCENARIOS
* The Capitals will clinch the Metropolitan Division title and the No. 1 playoff seed in the Eastern Conference if they defeat the Penguins in any fashion.

* The Stars (idle) will clinch a playoff berth if the Wild lose to the Blackhawks in regulation.

the above information was supplied by the NHL PR department