The Tampa Bay Lightning retired Martin St. Louis' No. 26 in a pregame ceremony at Amalie Arena, the first Lightning player to receive such an honor.
* St. Louis played 972 regular-season games with the Lightning and was a key member of their Stanley Cup-winning team in 2004. Throughout his 13 seasons with the Lightning, St. Louis won the Art Ross Trophy twice (2003-04 and 2012-13) and the Hart Memorial Trophy once (2003-04).
* He is the Lightning leader in assists (588), points (953), game-winning goals (64) and shorthanded goals (28). He also holds Lightning Stanley Cup Playoff records for goals (33), assists (35), points (68) and game-winning goals (8).
FRIDAY'S RESULTS
Home Team in Caps
Toronto 4, NY RANGERS 2
WASHINGTON 6, Chicago 0
NY Islanders 5, FLORIDA 2
CAROLINA 5, Buffalo 2
Columbus 3, TAMPA BAY 1
New Jersey 2, CALGARY 1
ARIZONA 4, Winnipeg 3
HOLTBY BACKSTOPS CAPITALS TO EIGHTH STRAIGHT WIN
Braden Holtby made 24 saves for his NHL-leading sixth shutout of the season and six players collected multiple points, highlighted by an NHL career-high three points (one goal, two assists) from Tom Wilson, as the Washington Capitals won their eighth consecutive game. The eight-game stretch marks their longest winning streak since Dec. 12-30, 2015 (9-0-0).
* At 28-9-5 (61 points), the Capitals are one point behind the NHL-leading Columbus Blue Jackets (29-8-4, 62 points), who also won Friday.
* Holtby has victories in his last five decisions and improved to 21-8-4 with a 1.85 goals-against average, .933 save percentage and six shutouts this season. Since 2012-13 he leads NHL goaltenders with 156 wins.
* The Capitals are 15-2-2 in their past 19 games dating to Dec. 5, 2016, outscoring their opponents 67-31 during that span.
TAVARES (HAT TRICK) ECLIPSES 500-POINT MILESTONE
John Tavares had his sixth NHL hat trick, and first since doing it against the Dallas Stars on Jan. 6, 2014, to help the Islanders end a three-game losing streak.
* Tavares, who recently was named to the Metropolitan Division roster for the 2017 Honda NHL All-Star Weekend, became the first player from the 2009 NHL Draft class to reach the 500-point milestone (221-280-501 in 550 GP).
MAPLE LEAFS EXTEND ROAD POINT STREAK TO NINE CONTESTS
Four skaters scored to help the Toronto Maple Leafs extend their road point streak to nine games (7-0-2). The nine-game road point streak is their longest such run since Feb. 25 - March 22, 2008 (8-0-1), according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
* Connor Brown (1-0-1) became the third Maple Leafs rookie to reach the 10-goal mark this season, joining Auston Matthews (21) and Mitchell Marner (10). Elias notes that three Maple Leafs rookies each hit the 10-goal mark in a season for the first time since 2008-09, when it was done by Mikhail Grabovski, Nikolay Kulemin and John Mitchell.
DID YOU KNOW?
Brendan Perlini scored twice to lead the Arizona Coyotes to a win against the Winnipeg Jets.
* Elias notes that Perlini, who was born in Guildford, United Kingdom, became the first U.K.-born rookie to score multiple goals in a game since Steve Thomas (Stockport, U.K.) exactly 31 years ago, with the Maple Leafs on Jan. 13, 1986.
* Perlini, the 12th pick of the 2014 NHL Draft, first played organized hockey at a rink near London while his father, Fred Perlini, who played eight games with the Maple Leafs from 1981-82 to 1983-84, played professional hockey in England.
LOOSE PUCKS
Joonas Korpisalo made 31 saves in his first game of the season to backstop the NHL-leading Blue Jackets to their 18th win in their last 21 games. … Jeff Skinner (2-1-3) and Brock McGinn (2-0-2) combined for four goals as the Carolina Hurricanes improved to 13-1-1 in their past 15 home games. … Keith Kinkaid made 31 saves to help the New Jersey Devils end a four-game losing streak (0-2-2). … Jets forward Nikolaj Ehlers (5-4-9 in 7 GP), Maple Leafs forward James van Riemsdyk (2-8-10 in 6 GP), New York Rangers forward J.T. Miller (4-5-9 in 6 GP), Capitals forward Nicklas Backstrom (3-7-10 in 5 GP) and Hurricanes forward Elias Lindholm (2-4-6 in 5 GP) each extended point streaks. … Hurricanes goaltender Cam Ward (600) and Buffalo Sabres defenseman Zach Bogosian (500) each skated in milestone games. … Capitals defenseman Karl Alzner skated in his 500th consecutive game. … The Rangers honored former New York Police Department detective Steven McDonald, who died Tuesday, in a pregame ceremony at Madison Square Garden. The team has awarded players with the Steven McDonald Extra Effort Award in his honor since 1987-88.
SNEAK PEEK AT SATURDAY'S ACTION
All Times Eastern
Philadelphia @ Boston, 1 p.m., NHLN, SN, NESN, CSN-PH, NHL.TV
Nashville @ Colorado, 3 p.m., ALT, FS-TN, NHL.TV
NY Rangers @ Montreal, 7 p.m., TVA Sports, SN, MSG, NHL.TV
Toronto @ Ottawa, 7 p.m., CBC, CITY, TVA Sports 2, NHL.TV
Pittsburgh @ Detroit, 7 p.m., NHLN, FS-D, ROOT, NHL.TV
Columbus @ Florida, 7 p.m., FS-F, FS-O, NHL.TV
NY Islanders @ Carolina, 7 p.m., FS-CR, MSG+, NHL.TV
Anaheim @ Arizona, 8 p.m., FS-A PLUS, PRIME, NHL.TV
Minnesota @ Dallas, 8 p.m., FS-SW, FS-N, FS-WI, NHL.TV
Winnipeg @ Los Angeles, 10 p.m., SN, FS-W, NHL.TV
Calgary @ Edmonton, 10 p.m., CBC, NHL.TV
St. Louis @ San Jose, 10:30 p.m., CSN-CA, FS-MW, NHL.TV
FOUR-GAME DOCKET SET FOR 'HOCKEY NIGHT IN CANADA'
"Hockey Night in Canada" features a four-game slate Saturday. At 7 p.m. ET, two of the top teams in the Eastern Conference play at Bell Centre when the Montreal Canadiens (26-11-6, 58 points) host the Rangers (28-14-1, 57 points), while the Maple Leafs visit the Ottawa Senators for the first time since Maple Leafs rookie Auston Matthews scored four goals in his historic NHL debut on opening night. At 10 p.m. ET, Nikolaj Ehlers looks to extend his point streak to eight games (5-4-9 in 7 GP) when the Jets face the Los Angeles Kings, while Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid (30-68-98) aims to reach 100 NHL points when the Calgary Flames visit Rogers Place.
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