* Sidney Crosby scored in overtime to collect his third point of the night and the 1,400th of his career, joining Joe Thornton and Alex Ovechkin as just the third active player to reach the milestone.
* Alex Ovechkin helped the Capitals keep pace with the Penguins by recording his 100th career goal in the month of April – his seventh month with at least that many. Only one player in NHL history has registered as many months with 100-plus goals: Wayne Gretzky (7).
* Jordan Staal was one of four captains to leave their mark Sunday and did so by netting his first regular-season hat trick in nearly 14 years.
CROSBY, OVECHKIN CONTINUE SUCCESS AS PENGUINS, CAPITALS EARN WINS
Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby (2-1—3) andWashington’s Alex Ovechkin (1-0—1) each found the score sheet in their teams’ respective wins Sunday, with the former climbing multiple NHL all-time lists. The Penguins (42-22-10, 94 points) maintained a four-point edge over the Capitals (40-22-10, 90 points) in the Metropolitan Division, but Washington holds two games in hand.
* Crosby factored on three of four goals, which included scoring in overtime, to record his 1,400th career point in his 1,100th game. He became the 22nd player in NHL history to reach the point milestone and just the third active skater, joining Joe Thornton (1,538) and Ovechkin (1,403).
* Crosby registered his 38th career overtime point and established the record for the most in League history. He also collected his 158th career three-point game, tying Joe Sakic and Guy Lafleur for the 11th most in NHL history – Wayne Gretzky paces the list with 459.
*Ovechkin scored one of his team’s four goals as the Capitals defeated the Bruins (45-22-5, 95 points) to earn their third straight win against a team that ranks higher than them in the Eastern Conference standings. It marked Ovechkin’s 45th goal of 2021-22, moving him past Gordie Howe (44 in 1968-69 w/ DET) for the second most in a season in NHL history at age 36 or older – Teemu Selanne (48 in 2006-07 w/ ANA) is the only player with more.
STAAL NETS FIRST REGULAR-SEASON HAT TRICK SINCE 2008
Hurricanes captain Jordan Staal (3-0—3) led the way offensively by netting his first regular-season hat trick in nearly 14 years and Frederik Andersen (23 saves) earned a win in his 50th game with the club to help Carolina (47-18-8, 102 points) move two points clear of idle NY Rangers (47-20-6, 100 points) atop the Metropolitan Division. The two clubs have two more head-to-head meetings this season: April 12 and April 26.
* Staal, who scored three times during Game 4 of the 2012 Conference Quarterfinals with the Penguins, last registered a regular-season hat trick on Nov. 11, 2008 – marking the largest span between three-goal performances in NHL history.
SKATERS MATCH FRANCHISE MARKS AS WILD COMPLETE THREE-GOAL COMEBACK
Los Angeles built a three-goal lead midway through the first period, but Kirill Kaprizov (1-0—1) and captain Jared Spurgeon (1-1—2) scored two of six unanswered Minnesota goals as the Wild improved to 8-0-1 in their past nine games at Xcel Energy Center and posted their ninth three-goal comeback win in franchise history.
* Kaprizov kickstarted the comeback with his 42nd goal of 2021-22 (42-47—89) and matched the franchise record for goals in a single season, a mark Marian Gaborik first set in 2007-08 and Eric Staal matched in 2017-18.
* Spurgeon assisted on Kaprizov’s record-tying tally to extend his assist and point streaks to seven games dating to March 29. He matched the longest assist streak by a defenseman in franchise history (Ryan Suter: 7 GP in 2013-14) and the longest point streak by a blueliner in franchise history (last: Matt Dumba, 7 GP in 2018-19).
#NHLSTATS: LIVE UPDATES FEATURES ELLIOTT’S FIRST SHUTOUT WITH LIGHTNING
Brian Elliott (28 saves) posted his first shutout in a Lightning uniform to help Tampa Bay (44-20-8, 96 points) bring an end to a four-game winless stretch and overtake Boston (45-22-5, 95 points) for third place in the Atlantic Division.
* Storylines like these and more can be found in the latest edition of #NHLStats: Live Updates.
QUICK CLICKS
* Owen Power to make NHL debut for Sabres against Maple Leafs
* Matty Beniers agrees to contract with Kraken, was No. 2 pick in 2021 NHL Draft
* Oilers change perception to solidify playoff position in Pacific Division
* David Backes talks life in retirement, respect for Getzlaf in Q&A with NHL.com
LONE ALL-CANADIAN MATCHUP SPOTLIGHTS MONDAY
Lengthy streaks will be put on the line when Kyle Connor and the Jets (34-28-11, 79 points) travel to Montreal to clash with Cole Caufield and the Canadiens (20-41-11, 51 points) in a contest broadcast nationally in Canada on Sportsnet.
* Connor (42-42—84 in 70 GP) is amid the second 40-goal season in Jets team history and has accumulated the total thanks in part to 24 goals on the road. Connor can become just the second player in franchise history to score in eight consecutive games as the visitor, joining Patrik Laine who first accomplished the feat in 2017-18 (8 GP from Jan. 25 – March 12, 2018).
* Caufield amassed 1-7—8 in 30 contests prior to Martin St. Louis’ tenure as interim head coach of the Canadiens on Feb. 10 and has accumulated 17-13—30 (27 GP) since, including goals in each of his past four outings (4-1—5 in 5 GP since April 2). He can become the seventh rookie in Canadiens history to post a five-game goal streak and just the second in the NHL’s modern era (since 1943-44): Bernie Geoffrion (5 GP in 1951-52).
