CAPITALS, PENGUINS KEEP PACE IN PRESIDENTS’ TROPHY RACE
The Capitals (53-18-8, 114 points) and Penguins (49-19-11, 109 points) each earned victories to keep pace in the race for the Presidents’ Trophy and the No. 1 overall seed in the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs:

* Kevin Shattenkirk (GWG) scored his first goal in a Washington uniform to power the League-leading Capitals to a 9-1-1 record in their last 11 games. Alex Ovechkin (558-475—1,033) collected an assist to pass Alexander Mogilny (473-559—1,032) for the second-most points by a Russian-born player in NHL history, trailing only Sergei Fedorov (483-696—1,179).

* Matt Murray made 38 saves to backstop the Penguins past the Blue Jackets. Pittsburgh earned its third consecutive win and increased its lead to three points over Columbus (49-22-8, 106 points) for second place in the Metropolitan Division, keeping pace with Washington.

TOP PACIFIC DIVISION CLUBS REGISTER WINS
The playoff-bound Ducks (44-23-13, 101 points) and Sharks (45-28-7, 97 points) registered wins to gain ground in the tightly-contested race for the No. 1 seed in the Pacific Division:

* Down 1-0, the Pacific Division-leading Ducks scored three unanswered goals to extend their point streak to 12 games (9-0-3) and eclipse the 100-point mark for the fourth straight season. Anaheim has won 25 consecutive regular-season home games versus Calgary dating to April 4, 2004 (CGY: 0-20-5), the longest such run against one opponent in NHL history.

* The Sharks scored twice in the opening 30 seconds of the game en route to a 3-1 win over the Canucks. San Jose established a franchise record for the fastest two goals to start a game, eclipsing the mark set on Oct. 22, 1998 versus Chicago (0:47). The Sharks moved into a tie with the Oilers (44-26-9, 97 points) – in terms of points – for second place in the Pacific Division.

OTHER EASTERN CONFERENCE TEAMS SECURE VALUABLE WINS
Two Eastern Conference clubs in the hunt for postseason berths secured wins:

* Craig Anderson turned aside all 24 shots he faced to help the Senators (42-27-10, 94 points) snap a five-game slide (0-3-2) and move into second place in the Atlantic Division. Anderson, who was honored in a pre-game ceremony for recently appearing in his 500th NHL game, picked up his fifth shutout of the season and improved to 23-11-4 overall (2.35 GAA, .925 SV%, 5 SO).

* Thomas Hickey scored at 1:25 of overtime to lead the Islanders (38-29-12, 88 points) to their third consecutive win. The Islanders moved within five points of the Maple Leafs (39-25-15, 93 points) for the final Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference.

MCDAVID, DRAISAITL EXTEND POINT STREAKS TO 11 GAMES
Oilers forwards Connor McDavid (6-14—20) and Leon Draisaitl (5-14—19) each collected assists to extend their respective point streaks to 11 games. Elias notes that McDavid and Draisaitl equaled the longest point streak by an Oilers player since Andrei Kovalenko from Dec. 12, 1996 – Jan. 7, 1997 (8-7—15).

LOOSE PUCKS
Nino Niederreiter (2-1—3) and Zach Parise (1-2—3) each collected three points as the Wild (47-25-8, 102 points) clinched second place in the Central Division . . . Blackhawks forward Artemi Panarin scored for the fifth consecutive game (6-1—7) and has reached the 30-goal mark in each of his first two NHL seasons . . . Jets forward Mark Scheifele(1-1—2) reached the 80-point mark for the first time in his NHL career (31-49—80) . . . Kings forward Nick Shore (1-3—4) collected a career-high four points . . . Stars defenseman Julius Honka scored the first goal of his NHL career (14 GP) . . . Hurricanes forward Bryan Bickell skated in his first NHL game since being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in November . . . Dion Phaneuf (900) and Jimmy Howard (400) appeared in milestone games . . . Andrew Poturalski (CAR), Ben Thomson (NJD), Samuel Morin (PHI) and Mike Vecchione (PHI) made their NHL debuts . . . The Wild honored forward Eric Staal (0-2—2) in a pre-game ceremony for recently skating in his 1,000th NHL game . . . The Devils honored Patrik Elias in a pre-game ceremony, who recently announced his retirement from the NHL after 20 seasons (all w/ NJD) . . . The Wild donned vintage 1967-68 Minnesota North Stars jerseys in pre-game warmup and forward Zach Parise honored his late father J.P. Parise by wearing his helmet and gloves for the occasion.

SNEAK PEEK AT WEDNESDAY’S ACTION
All Times Eastern
Montreal @ Buffalo, 7:30 p.m., SN, MSG-B, RDS
NY Rangers @ Washington, 8 p.m., TVAS, NBCSN
NBC Sports Channel Finder
Sportsnet Channel Finder
NHL Network Channel Finder

LEAGUE-LEADING CAPITALS LOOK TO CLINCH PRESDENTS’ TROPHY
The League-leading Capitals (53-18-8, 114 points) look to clinch the Presidents’ Trophy and the No. 1 overall seed in the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs when they host the Rangers (47-26-6, 100 points) on NBCSN’S Wednesday Night Rivalry. The Rangers enter the contest leading the League with 27 road wins in 2016-17 and aim to match their single-season franchise record of 28 set in 2014-15.

the information above was provided by the NHL PR department