The Washington Capitals (30-9-6, 66 points) scored seven goals for a second straight game (also Monday at the Pittsburgh Penguins: 8-7 OTL) and extended their point streak to 12 games (10-0-2). Washington also reclaimed sole possession of first place in the NHL standings.
* The Elias Sports Bureau notes that the Capitals scored at least seven goals in consecutive games for the first time since Feb. 11-13, 1993 (10-6 W at St. Louis and 10-3 W at the Los Angeles Kings). Washington has outscored opponents 30-13 during its past five games, scoring at least five goals in each. It's the Capitals' first such run since Feb. 4-11, 2010 (also 5 GP).
* Each of Washington's 12 forwards found the scoresheet, with Nicklas Backstrom (4-10-14) and Alex Ovechkin (3-8-11) extending their point streaks to eight and six games, respectively.
THURSDAY'S RESULTS
Home Team in Caps
NY ISLANDERS 3, Dallas 0
Ottawa 2, COLUMBUS 0
NY Rangers 5, TORONTO 2
Washington 7, ST. LOUIS 3
MINNESOTA 4, Arizona 3
Nashville 4, CALGARY 3
ANAHEIM 2, Colorado 1
SAN JOSE 2, Tampa Bay 1
DID YOU KNOW?
Thursday marked the fourth consecutive day that 10 or more goals were scored in at least one NHL game. Elias notes that this is the longest stretch of days with at least one game featuring 10 or more goals since a five-day run from Feb. 12-16, 2009.
WESTERN POWERS CONTINUE HOT STREAKS
The Minnesota Wild (29-10-5, 63 points) and Anaheim Ducks (26-13-9, 61 points) each earned victories to improve their position in the race for top spot in the Central and Pacific Division standings, respectively:
* Nino Niederreiter (2-1-3) and Jason Pominville (0-3-3) each had three points to help the Wild improve to 6-1-1 in January and reclaim sole possession of first place in the Western Conference. Minnesota has points in 20 of its past 22 games, dating to Dec. 2 (18-2-2).
* Nick Ritchie scored the go-ahead goal with 2:02 remaining in regulation to help Anaheim extend its point streak to six games (5-0-1). John Gibson made 21 saves to and is 8-1-2 in his past 11 appearances, dating to Dec. 29. He leads the NHL in wins (8), goals-against average (1.44) and save percentage (.953) in that span (min. 5 GP).
OTHER CLUBS GAIN GROUND IN PLAYOFF RACE
The New York Rangers (29-16-1, 59 points), San Jose Sharks (28-16-2, 58 points), Ottawa Senators (24-15-4, 52 points) and Nashville Predators (21-17-7, 49 points) each won to gain ground in the playoff race:
* Michael Grabner (2-0-2) reached the 20-goal mark for the third time in his NHL career (also 2010-11 and 2011-12 w/ the New York Islanders) to guide the Rangers to their League-leading 16th road win (16-7-0, 32 points).
* Logan Couture scored the go-ahead goal 22 seconds into the third period to lift the Sharks to their third consecutive win and into second place in the Pacific Division, one point ahead of the Edmonton Oilers (25-15-7, 57 points).
* Mike Condon made a career-high 42 saves in his third shutout of the season (fourth of his career) as the Senators improved to 4-1-0 in their past five game to move into a tie with Boston the Bruins (23-19-6, 52 points) in terms of points for second place in the Atlantic Division. However, Ottawa, has five games in hand.
* The Flames scored three straight goals in the final 3:43 of regulation, but Filip Forsberg 's goal early in the third period stood as the game-winner as the Predators improved to 4-1-0 in their past five game. Forsberg has the winner in each of the past three games. The Predators displaced the Kings (22-19-4, 48 points) for the final wild card spot into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference.
ISLANDERS BLANK STARS FOR SECOND STRAIGHT SHUTOUT
John Tavares (2-0-2) had his third multiple-goal outing in his past four games (7-0-7) and Thomas Greiss (23 saves) had second straight shutout, a first in his NHL career, to help the new York Islanders win their first game with interim coach Doug Weight behind the bench.
LOOSE PUCKS
Maple Leafs forward James van Riemsdyk (0-1-1) extended his career-high point streak to nine games (3-10-13). … Senators forward Kyle Turris (3-4-7), Maple Leafs forward Mitch Marner (0-8-8) and Wild forward Mikael Granlund (0-6-6) extended their point streaks to five games. … The Flames and Predators honored referee Tom Kowal in a pregame ceremony ahead of his 1,000th career NHL game. … The NHL announced the addition of five new stops on the NHL Centennial Fan Arena traveling tour. … The NHL announced the details of the 2017 Coors Light NHL All-Star Skills competition, which will be preceded by the 2017 NHL All-Star Celebrity Shootout on Jan. 28. … The NHL Network announced that nine-year NHL veteran Ryan Whitney has joined as an on-air analyst. … Academy Award and 10-time Grammy winner John Legend, and Grammy-nominated recording artists Robin Thicke and John Ondrasik of Five for Fighting will join host Jon Hamm for The NHL100 presented by GEICO.
SNEAK PEEK AT FRIDAY'S ACTION
All Times Eastern
Chicago @ Boston, 7 p.m., SN1, TVA Sports, NHLN-US, NESN, CSN-CH
Detroit @ Buffalo, 7 p.m., MSG-B, FS-D
Pittsburgh @ Carolina, 7 p.m., FS-CR, ROOT
Montreal @ New Jersey, 7:30 p.m., MSG+, SNE, RDS
Nashville @ Edmonton, 9 p.m., SNW, FS-TN
Florida @ Vancouver, 10 p.m., SNP, FS-F
HENRIK SEDIN EYES 1,000-POINT MILESTONE AGAINST PANTHERS
Vancouver Canucks captain Henrik Sedin (232-767-999) aims to become the first player in franchise history to reach the 1,000-point milestone when the Florida Panthers visit Rogers Arena. Sedin has a chance to reach the milestone against Florida goaltender
Roberto Luongo , his teammate with the Canucks from 2006-14 and Vancouver's all-time wins leader.
- NHL Public Relations.
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