Facts and Figures: Panarin sparks Rangers to eighth straight road win
Forward on second point streak of at least 10 games this season
NHL.com @NHLdotcom
Artemi Panarin scored to extend his point streak to 10 games (five goals, nine assists) and assisted on Mika Zibanejad's goal 28 seconds into overtime to give the New York Rangers a 4-3 win against the New York Islanders at Nassau Coliseum on Tuesday.
The forward, in his first season with the Rangers, has a run of at least 10 games for the second time this season (12 from Oct. 24-Nov. 20). New York (34-24-4) has won four in a row, is 8-1-0 in its past nine games and its road winning streak of eight games broke the team record of seven set twice (Jan. 12-Feb. 12, 1935, and Oct. 28-Nov. 29, 1978).
The Rangers lead the NHL with 10 wins in February and trail the Columbus Blue Jackets (31-20-14) by four points for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference.
Zibanejad extended his goal streak to five games and point streak to eight (seven goals, seven assists). Three players have goals in six straight this season: Chicago Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane (Nov. 7-17), Carolina Hurricanes forward Sebastian Aho (Jan. 31-Feb. 11) and Montreal Canadiens forward Max Domi (Dec. 19-31). Zibanejad is one goal from his second 30-goal season in the NHL (2018-19) and has 19 points (10 goals, nine assists) in February, one back of Edmonton Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl who has 20 (eight goals, 12 assists) for most this month.
Canucks' Hughes first rookie to 50 points
Quinn Hughes had an assist for the Vancouver Canucks in a 4-3 overtime win against the Canadiens at Bell Centre and is the first NHL rookie with 50 points (in 61 games). He is the second defenseman to become the first rookie to 50 points in a season, after Nicklas Lidstrom of the Detroit Red Wings, who did it in his 59th game as a rookie in 1991-92. Hughes is the 16th rookie defenseman with 50 points in a season and third to do it for the Canucks, joining Dale Tallon (56 points, 1970-71) and Jocelyn Guevremont (51 points, 1971-72).
Hughes' 42 assists ties Tallon for the most by a Canucks rookie in one season. He's five points ahead of Colorado Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar, who has 45 points (12 goals, 33 assists) in the rookie scoring race. If Makar gets to 50, it would be the second time in NHL history that multiple rookie defensemen have hit the plateau in the same season. Barry Beck, Reed Larson and Stefan Persson did it in 1977-78.
The Canucks (34-22-6) have won two in a row, are 4-1-1 in their past six and tied with the Oilers (33-22-8) for second in the Pacific Division, two points behind the Vegas Golden Knights (34-22-8).
Stars take over second in Pacific Division
The line of Roope Hintz (one goal, two assists), Denis Gurianov (one goal, one assist) and Jason Dickinson (one goal, one assist) combined for seven points for the Dallas Stars in a 4-1 victory against the Hurricanes at PNC Arena.
Dallas (37-20-6) is 7-1-1 in its past nine games and moved one point ahead of Colorado (36-18-7) for second in the Central Division. The Stars are four points behind the first-place St. Louis Blues (37-17-10).
Hintz had his first three-point NHL game and Gurianov scored his 18th goal to help the Stars extend their road point streak to eight games (6-0-2), tied with the Rangers (8-0-0) for the longest active run this season. Gurianov's 18 goals are the third-most by a Stars rookie behind James Neal (24 in 2008-09) and Jamie Benn (22 in 2009-10) since the franchise relocated to Dallas in 1993-94. The forward is tied with Benn and Hintz for the Stars lead in goals this season and could join Bobby Smith, who led the Minnesota North Stars with 30 goals in 1978-79, as the only rookie to lead the Stars/North Stars franchise in goals in a season.