Peter Forsberg played 100 games with the Philadelphia Flyers but certainly left an impression, remembered as much for on-ice success as persistent injuries.

"It started really good," Forsberg said Tuesday as the Flyers honored him for his induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame last month. "Me and [Simon] Gagne and that line started really well and we played so well. And it just got worse and worse."

The Flyers selected Forsberg with the sixth pick of the 1991 NHL Draft and attempted to bring him to North America for the 1992-93 season. But when Forsberg said he didn't feel NHL-ready, Philadelphia used him as the sweetener to complete a trade with the Quebec Nordiques in June 1992 for Eric Lindros.

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- In a season of injury, illness and inconsistency, Minnesota Wild forward Zach Parise has been the one veteran constant.

Statistically, Parise is off to his best start since signing with Minnesota in the summer of 2012. He has 23 points in 24 games entering Minnesota's Wednesday Night Rivalry game against the Chicago Blackhawks (8 p.m. ET, NBCSN). If he keeps up that pace for the remainder of the season, he would be on track for his best offensive numbers since he scored 82 points in 81 games with the New Jersey Devils in 2009-10.

But while Parise has held up his end of the bargain as a veteran leader on a team with plenty of youth, it's been hard for the Wild to find a consistent groove this season.

Carey Price

Goalie - MTL

RECORD: 16-8-1
GAA: 2.38 | SVP: .922

MONTREAL -- The Los Angeles Kings left Bell Centre on Friday like many other teams before them.

The Kings put 46 shots on goal, attempted 46 more against the Montreal Canadiens, and wound up with two goals and zero points in the standings.

"I think we came out with a good push early and didn't capitalize on chances," Kings defenseman Jake Muzzin said after a 6-2 loss they thoroughly controlled. "They got their opportunities and took advantage of it, and we were left kind of wondering, 'What's going on?'"

Carey Price was going on.

As dominant as the Kings were, the Canadiens goaltender was a bit more so. Price stopped all 28 shots through two periods, with 16 of them coming on five Kings power plays.

"We had a lot of really good chances; we totally dominated the first period," Kings coach Darryl Sutter said. "I think Carey Price was really, really good, wasn't he?"

HAZELWOOD, Mo. -- The numbers may not have reflected it earlier in the season, but for St. Louis Blues center Paul Stastny, popping up on the score sheet more often recently is the reason why the Blues invested so heavily in him.

And the offensive numbers have accumulated just in time for Stastny to make his first appearance against the team he spent the first eight seasons of his NHL career with, the Colorado Avalanche.

The Blues play the Avalanche at Pepsi Center on Saturday. Stastny missed the Blues' first game against the Avalanche on Nov. 1 after sustaining a shoulder injury, so this will be his first game against the only teammates he knew for eight years.

"You just want to get that first one out of the way, but I'm excited," said Stastny, who has seven goals and 12 points in 21 games with the Blues this season. "I think I have a lot of friends [in Denver], not just hockey-wise.

"Once the puck drops, it'll just feel like a normal game. Sometimes the anticipation takes longer than normal, but it's part of the business."

There's an expectation of perfection that hovers around Boston Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask unlike most others who play a team sport.

The wish that he should make every save, regardless of difficulty, and win every game comes mostly from outside the Bruins dressing room, from media and fans.

The pressure might not be as great on Rask as it can be for a goaltender in Montreal or Toronto, but among New England athletes probably Patriots quarterback Tom Brady has more of a spotlight on him. And when things go wrong, Rask, fair or not, garners the majority of the blame.

Rask is judged by more than wins, losses and save percentage. He's compared to other goaltenders around the NHL. And he's compared to a goaltender who three years ago ended the Bruins' 39-year Stanley Cup drought with a Conn Smythe-winning performance. Rask's three runs in the Stanley Cup Playoffs as the Bruins' No. 1 goaltender have ended in the second round twice and in Game 6 of the 2013 Stanley Cup Final against the Chicago Blackhawks.

Rask and the Bruins play the Blackhawks at TD Garden on Thursday (7 p.m. ET; NHLN-US, SN360).

As difficult as Steven Stamkos has been to defend, the Tampa Bay Lightning captain used to be easy to find on the ice.

"He used to post up at that left-wing dot and every goalie in the League knew it was coming and they couldn't stop it," NHL Network and TSN analyst Craig Button said. "It was like a fastball. The fastball is coming and you can't hit it."

It worked well for him. Stamkos scored 51 goals in his second season, including 24 off one-timers, of which 16 came from the left side, 14 from inside the circle.

"His one-timer from that side of the ice made him very famous very quick," former Lightning teammate Martin St. Louis told NHL.com.

It also made him somewhat predictable; so much so that defenses started to adjust to him by swinging coverage toward that side of the ice to ensure he wouldn't get the puck with time and space to bury a shot. It was the only way they could help their goaltender.

So Stamkos did the only thing he could do, the only thing smart players like him would do. He started to adjust to the defenses he was seeing. It has turned him into a complete player.

DETROIT -- If you ask Detroit Red Wings goaltender Jimmy Howard what he is doing differently this season than in 2013-14, his response is "Nothing."

But, he adds, there is one difference.

Jimmy Howard

Goalie - DET

RECORD: 13-5-4
GAA: 2.21 | SVP: .917

Howard is 13-5-4 with a 2.21 goals-against average and .917 save percentage for Detroit, which has won seven of its past eight games. The Red Wings are 17-6-5 and on top of the Atlantic Division with 39 points heading into the Wednesday Night Rivalry game against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Joe Louis Arena (8 p.m. ET; NBCSN, SN, TVA SPORTS).

Last season, Howard, 30, slumped with a 2.66 GAA after 2.12 and 2.13 the previous two seasons. He was hampered throughout 2013-14 with groin and shoulder injuries.

Alex Ovechkin and Barry Trotz think Tom Wilson can be to the Washington Capitals what Milan Lucic already is to the Boston Bruins.

Ovechkin said he envisions a time in the near future when he, center Nicklas Backstrom and Wilson, who is 20 years old, resemble Boston's former top line with Lucic, center David Krejci and either Nathan Horton or Jarome Iginla.

"He's young and people don't know him well, but he's going to score two or three goals and people are going to put more attention on him and it's going to take attention away from me and [Backstrom]," Ovechkin told NHL.com. "Everybody is going to know that this line can produce no matter who is with the puck. He's still learning. We're helping him a lot. We talk and say what we have to do and what he has to do."

The Detroit Red Wings haven't missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs in more than two decades, the longest active streak in the NHL. With the way things are looking, it appears as though the Red Wings will still be playing when the regular season concludes in April.

Coach Mike Babcock and the Red Wings have won eight of their past 10 games and are atop the Atlantic Division heading into this week's Wednesday Night Rivalry game against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Joe Louis Arena (8 p.m. ET, NBCSN, SN, TVA SPORTS).

The Maple Leafs will be playing their second game in as many nights after a 4-1 win against the Calgary Flames at Air Canada Centre on Tuesday. This is the first of two games between these Original Six rivals this week; Toronto will host Detroit on Saturday.

"It's always a great atmosphere, it's always a lot of fun with the 'Let's Go Red Wings' and the 'Go Leafs Go' chants," Detroit goalie Jimmy Howard told the Red Wings website Tuesday. "It always makes for like a playoff atmosphere. It'll be no different [Wednesday]."

Here are five things to watch in the game between the Maple Leafs and Red Wings:

MONTREAL -- The Montreal Canadiens have sold out Bell Centre for 422 consecutive games.

All 383 regular-season games and 39 games in the Stanley Cup Playoffs dating to Jan. 8, 2004 were officially listed as a sellout, a streak that is one month short of 11 years.

The streak was snapped Tuesday.

The official attendance for the Canadiens' 3-1 win against the Vancouver Canucks was listed as 21,286, one short of capacity, to account for the empty aisle seat in Row EE in Section 102, three rows behind the Montreal bench.