* Marian Hossa posted 1-1—2, including the game-winning goal, to extend his point streak to five games (3-4—7). He has recorded at least one point in 11 of his last 13 games, totaling 9-6—15 over that span.

* The Blackhawks improved to 27-1-6 (.794 winning percentage) when scoring first this season. They are one of four teams with only one such regulation loss in 2013-14 (also, the Avalanche, Blues and Hurricanes).

* The Blackhawks’ and Ducks’ rosters feature a combined 17 Olympians: Chicago’s Michal Handzus (Slovakia), Niklas Hjalmarsson (Sweden), Marian Hossa (Slovakia), Patrick Kane (USA), Duncan Keith (Canada), Marcus Kruger (Sweden), Johnny Oduya (Sweden), Michal Rozsival (Czech Republic), Patrick Sharp (Canada) and Jonathan Toews (Canada), and Anaheim’s Cam Fowler (USA), Ryan Getzlaf (Canada), Jonas Hiller (Switzerland), Corey Perry (Canada), Teemu Selanne (Finland), Jakob Silfverberg (Sweden) and Sami Vatanen (Finland).

CROSBY POWERS PENGUINS
Sidney Crosby recorded 1-1—2, including a highlight-reel goal that proved to be the game-winner, to lead the Penguins to their 11th victory in their past 15 games. With the win, they moved within three points of the Ducks for the top spot in the NHL standings, with two games in hand (40-15-2, 82 points).

* The Penguins set a franchise record by earning their 40th victory in their 57th game of the season, besting the previous mark by eight games:

FASTEST TEAMS TO 40 WINS, PENGUINS HISTORY
2013-14: 57 games (40-15-2)
1995-96: 65 games (40-21-4)
2011-12: 66 games (40-21-5)
2009-10: 66 games (40-22-4)
1992-93: 67 games (40-21-6)

* Crosby extended his point streak versus the Sabres to 17 games dating to Dec. 29, 2007. He has 10-18—28 in that span, including 2-3—5 in three meetings this season.

* According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Crosby has recorded at least one point in all 13 regular-season games he has played in Buffalo, totaling 9-12—21. His average of 1.62 points per game at First Niagara Center is his third-highest at any visiting arena (minimum: 10 games), behind Nassau Coliseum (1.67) and Verizon Center (1.64).

* The Penguins picked up their 12th victory this season when allowing the first goal (12-13-1), tied for the second-most such wins in the League (with the Islanders: 12-20-2).

* The Penguins also improved to 12-4-0 in their last 16 games versus the Sabres, including a 7-2-0 mark in their past nine trips to Buffalo.

WINGELS LEADS SHARK ATTACK
Tommy Wingels scored 1:52 into overtime to lead the Sharks to their second victory in their last three outings. Wingels has four game-winning goals in 53 games this season; he had zero such goals in 80 career contests entering 2013-14.

* Wingels also has established career highs in goals (11), assists (18) and points (29) this season. He had 5-8—13 in 42 games last year.

* Alex Stalock made 19 saves to improve to 8-4-0 with a 1.67 goals-against average, .938 save percentage and two shutouts in 16 games this season. He has allowed two or fewer goals in 14 of his 16 appearances, including nine of his last 10.

* Martin Havlat posted 1-1—2, including the primary assist on Wingels’ overtime winner, for his first goal and multi-point game since Dec. 17 (1-1—2).

* Scott Hannan collected 0-2—2 for his first multi-point game since Nov. 19, 2010 (0-2—2).

LOOSE PUCKS
The Ducks fell to 2-5-0 in their last seven games at Honda Center following a 20-0-2 start at home . . . Stars forward Valeri Nichushkin scored his 12th goal of the season, tied for sixth among rookies . . . Sabres forward Drew Stafford recorded the team’s lone goal and now has 5-2—7 in his past six games. He also extended his home point streak to six games (6-2—8) . . . Stars forward Tyler Seguin collected an assist to stretch his assist/point streak to seven games (3-8—11) . . . Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin posted 1-1—2 to push his point streak to four games (3-3—6) . . . Sharks forward James Sheppard played in his 300th NHL game . . . ICYMI: Sabres goaltender Ryan Miller received a Team USA jersey from a young fan during a pregame ceremony for the 2014 Olympic Winter Games.

SNEAK PEEK AT THURSDAY’S ACTION
All Times Eastern
Calgary @ NY Islanders, 7:00 p.m., SNET-CGY, MSG PLUS
Edmonton @ NY Rangers, 7:00 p.m., SNET-W, MSG
Colorado @ Philadelphia, 7:00 p.m., ALT, CSN-PH
Winnipeg @ Washington, 7:00 p.m., TSN-JETS, CSN-DC
Vancouver @ Montreal, 7:30 p.m., RDS, SNET-P, TSN-HABS
Buffalo @ Ottawa, 7:30 p.m., MSG-B, BELL TV, SNET-E
Toronto @ Tampa Bay, 7:30 p.m., LEAFS TV, SUN
Detroit @ Florida, 7:30 p.m., FS-D, FS-F
Boston @ St. Louis, 8:00 p.m., NESN, FS-MW
Nashville @ Minnesota, 8:00 p.m., FS-TN, FS-N
Columbus @ Los Angeles, 10:30 p.m., NHLN-CA, FS-O, FS-W

KERRY TO PARTICIPATE IN OLYMPIC SEND-OFF
Secretary of State John Kerry will participate in an Olympic send-off at tonight’s game between the Capitals and Jets at Verizon Center. As part of his visit, Kerry will drop the ceremonial opening puck with Olympians from both teams. He also will address the Capitals in their locker room prior to pregame warm-ups. The Capitals’ and Jets’ rosters feature a combined eight Olympians: Washington’s Nicklas Backstrom (Sweden), John Carlson (USA), Martin Erat (Czech Republic) and Alex Ovechkin (Russia), and Winnipeg’s Michael Frolik (Czech Republic), Olli Jokinen (Finland), Ondrej Pavelec (Czech Republic) and Blake Wheeler (USA).