Facts and Figures: Ovechkin continues push toward No. 700

Alex Ovechkin continues pursuit of his 700th NHL goal when the Washington Capitals play the Los Angeles Kings at Capital One Center on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; NBCSWA, FS-W, NHL.TV).

Ovechkin enters the game with 695 goals, including 11 in his past six games. His 37 goals this season are tied for second in the NHL with Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs; they are one behind the League leader, David Pastrnak of the Boston Bruins.

The task of trying to shut down Ovechkin is expected to fall to Kings goalie Jonathan Quick. Ovechkin has five goals and 10 points in 13 regular-season games against Quick; one of the goals came Feb. 5, 2009 and was the 200th of his NHL career. At the time, Ovechkin became the fourth NHL player to reach the 200-goal mark within his first four seasons, joining Wayne Gretzky, Mike Bossy and Mario Lemieux.

Panthers stun Maple Leafs with third-period rally

The Florida Panthers scored four unanswered goals in the third period to defeat the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-3 at Scotiabank Arena on Monday and move into third place in the Atlantic Division.
It's a Florida-record fourth multigoal, third-period win this season for the Panthers (29-17-5), tying them with the Capitals for the League lead.

Mark Pysyk scored three goals, two in the third period, for his first NHL hat trick and the League-leading fifth for Florida. The five hat tricks matched the Panthers' single-season record, set in 1999-2000.

The Panthers are second in the NHL with an average of 3.63 goals per game, trailing only the Colorado Avalanche (3.64). Florida never has finished higher than a tie for sixth in average goals per game, when it averaged 2.98 goals per game in 1999-2000.

Flyers continue climb, shut out Red Wings

The Philadelphia Flyers (29-17-7) surged into the first wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference with a 3-0 win against the Detroit Red Wings 3-0 at Little Caesars Arena.
Brian Elliott made 16 saves for his second shutout in three games. He's the first Flyers goalie to have two shutouts in a three-game span since Michal Neuvirth had them in back-to-back games Oct. 12-14, 2015.

Kevin Hayes scored a shorthanded goal for the second time in as many games, becoming the fifth Flyers player since 1989-90 to score shorthanded in consecutive games. The others: Matt Read (two games in 2013-14), Mike Richards (three games and two games in 2008-09), Jeff Carter (two games in 2008-09) and Ilkka Sinisalo (two games in 1989-90).

Pavelski helps Stars defeat Rangers

Joe Pavelski scored twice in 16 seconds during the first period and helped the Dallas Stars to their second comeback win in as many games, a 5-3 victory against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden.
It was the 15th come-from-behind victory for the Stars this season, tying them with the Calgary Flames and Columbus Blue Jackets for the third in the NHL. The Capitals are first with 17.
The 35-year-old had the 56th multigoal game of his NHL career and his second with the Stars, who signed him as a free agent July 1. The last time a Stars player age 35 or older had more multigoal games in a season was 2008-09, when Mike Modano had three.

Rangers rookie Kaapo Kakko had an assist, giving him 17 points (seven goals, 10 assists) in 47 games. The No. 2 pick in the 2019 NHL Draft, who will play four more games before turning 19 on Feb. 13, surpassed Manny Malhotra for the most points by an 18-year-old in Rangers history. Malhotra had 16 points (eight goals, eight assists) in 1998-99.