INSIDE THE NUMBERS: PARISE’S HAT TRICK
Wild forward Zach Parise (3-1—4) scored three times in an 11:12 span of the first period to record his fifth career hat trick. A closer look at Parise’s performance, courtesy of the Elias Sports Bureau:

* Parise, who leads the NHL with three hat tricks in 2015-16 (also Oct. 8 at COL and Jan. 5 at CBJ), became the second player in Wild history to collect three hat tricks in one season. The other: Marian Gaborik in 2002-03 (3x).

* Parise became the first player in Wild history to pick up three goals in one period. He also set a record for the fastest three goals in franchise history, besting Gaborik’s three in 12:05 on Dec. 20, 2007 vs. NYR.

* Parise, who equaled a personal best with his ninth career four-point game (and first since Jan. 30, 2014 at COL: 2-2—4), reached the 20-goal milestone for the eighth time in his career and third consecutive season (22-25—47).

KADRI, MAPLE LEAFS RALLY FOR OVERTIME VICTORY . . .
The Ducks scored four consecutive goals to overcome a 4-1 deficit, but Connor Brown(1-1—2) tied the game with 4:23 remaining in regulation and Nazem Kadri (2-2—4) scored 41 seconds into overtime to lift the Maple Leafs to their third straight victory and fifth win in their past six contests.

* Kadri recorded his second career four-point game (also March 30, 2013 at OTT: 3-1—4) and added his second career overtime goal (also April 3, 2014 vs. BOS).

. . . DUCKS STILL CLINCH PLAYOFF SPOT
Despite suffering the overtime loss, the Ducks clinched their fourth consecutive playoff berth – and ninth in the last 11 seasons – by virtue of earning one point against the Maple Leafs.

* Jamie McGinn (2-0—2) and Andrew Cogliano scored nine seconds apart in the second period, one second shy of matching the fastest two goals in franchise history (Nov. 30, 2005 vs. PHX – 0:08, Teemu Selanne and Chris Kunitz).

AROUND THE RINKS
* Scott Wedgewood stopped all 39 shots he faced, including 15 in the third period, to earn his first career shutout (2 GP) and lead the Devils to their fifth win in their last seven games. Per Elias, Wedgewood became the second goaltender in franchise history to record a shutout within his first two NHL appearances. The other: Samuel St. Laurent – also in his second game – on March 27, 1986 vs. STL (1-0 W).

* Martin Hanzal (2-0—2) scored the tiebreaking and insurance goals to power the Coyotes to their fifth victory in their past seven outings. Hanzal, who notched his second consecutive multi-point game (also Tuesday vs. EDM: 1-1—2), recorded his 100th NHL goal (101-183—284).

* Patrick Maroon posted 1-2—3 in his return from a one-game absence to lift the Oilers to their third win in their last five contests. Maroon, who matched a career high for points in one game (also Feb. 5 vs. ARI: 1-2—3 w/ ANA), has 3-6—9 in 11 games since joining Edmonton.

* The Hurricanes scored three times in a 98-second span of the third period to snap a five-game skid (0-2-3). Eddie Lack made 42 saves, his second consecutive 40-save performance (also March 17 at PIT: 44 SV), to improve to 12-12-5 this season (2.66 GAA, .907 SV%, 2 SO).

* The Jets potted four unanswered goals – including three in the third period – to pick up their second straight victory. Mark Scheifele and Blake Wheeler both collected two assists; Scheifele shares the League lead with 11-9—20 in 16 games since Feb. 23.

MILESTONES & BENCHMARKS
* Sharks forward Joe Thornton (0-2—2) posted his 955th and 956th career assists to tieMark Recchi for 14th place in NHL history.

* Maple Leafs forward Connor Brown (1-1—2) scored his first NHL goal (4 GP).

* Ducks forward Shawn Horcoff (0-2—2) became the 26th active player to appear in 1,000 NHL games.

* Penguins teammates Eric Fehr and Patric Hornqvist both played in their 500th NHL game.

* Devils forward Blake Pietila, a fifth-round selection (129th overall) in the 2011 NHL Draft, made his League debut.

LOOSE PUCKS
Ducks forward Brandon Pirri (1-2—3) and Wild captain Mikko Koivu (0-3—3) collected three points apiece . . . Maple Leafs forward Tyler Bozak (2-0—2) scored twice in his return from a 21-game absence . . . Five other players registered two goals: Edmonton’sTaylor Hall, Anaheim’s Jamie McGinn, New Jersey’s Kyle Palmieri, Detroit’s Riley Sheahan and Minnesota’s Jared Spurgeon . . . Sheahan (196 GP) and Spurgeon (367 GP) posted their first career multi-goal games, while McGinn set a career high with his 21st goal of the season . . . Sharks captain Joe Pavelski moved into sole possession of fourth place in the NHL with his 35th goal of the season . . . Jets forward Drew Staffordreached the 20-goal milestone for the fourth time in his career . . . Wild forward Erik Haula(0-1—1) extended his point streak to a career-high seven games (3-4—7) . . . Oilers forward Connor McDavid (0-1—1) extended his assist/point streak to six games (0-8—8) . . . Devan Dubnyk (31 SV) became the third goaltender in Wild history to reach the 30-win milestone . . . The Department of Player Safety suspended Blue Jackets forwardJared Boll for four games for interference against Flyers forward Pierre-Edouard Bellemare . . . ICYMI: The Bruins, as well as several local and NHL icons, honoredClaude Julien for becoming the winningest head coach in franchise history.

TODAY’S CLINCHING SCENARIO
The Blues will clinch a playoff berth if they defeat the Canucks in any fashion.

SNEAK PEEK AT FRIDAY’S ACTION
All Times Eastern
Washington @ New Jersey, 7:00 p.m., CSN-DC, MSG
NY Islanders @ Tampa Bay, 7:30 p.m., NHLN-US, TVAS, MSG+, SUN
Vancouver @ St. Louis, 8:00 p.m., SN, FS-MW
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LIGHTNING, ISLANDERS CONTINUE BATTLE FOR PLAYOFF POSITIONING
Two teams jockeying for positioning in the Eastern Conference playoff race meet when the Lightning (42-26-5, 89 points) welcome the Islanders (39-24-9, 87 points) to Amalie Arena. Tampa Bay currently sits two points behind Florida (41-24-9, 91 points) for first place in the Atlantic Division. New York, meanwhile, occupies the first Wild Card spot in the conference, but is just one point shy of Pittsburgh (40-25-8, 88 points) for third place in the Metropolitan Division. This marks the second of three meetings between the Lightning and Islanders in 2015-16; New York picked up a 3-2 come-from-behind win in their first matchup on Nov. 28 in Tampa. These clubs will close their season series on April 4 at Barclays Center.

the information above was supplied by the NHL PR department