Facts and Figures: Wheeler scores four goals, Jets maintain division lead

Blake Wheeler had the first four-goal game of his NHL career to reach 80 points (17 goals, 63 assists) and help the Winnipeg Jets defeat the Columbus Blue Jackets
5-2 at Nationwide Arena on Sunday
.

The victory kept the Jets (39-22-4) one point ahead of the Nashville Predators (38-25-5), who won 3-2 in a shootout at the Minnesota Wild, for first place in the Central Division.
Wheeler gave the Jets an NHL high seven hat tricks this season (Patrik Laine, three; Nikolaj Ehlers, two; Jack Roslovic, one). He's the third player in the League to score four goals in one game (Laine, Brad Richardson) this season and fifth in Jets/Atlanta Thrashers history (Laine, Mathieu Perreault, Ilya Kovalchuk, Pascal Rheaume). The Jets captain's hat trick was the 76th in the NHL since opening night,
five behind the total of last season
.

Fleury earns second straight shutout for Golden Knights

Marc-Andre Fleury made 19 saves for his second consecutive shutout that helped the
Vegas Golden Knights to their fourth straight win
, 3-0 against the Vancouver Canucks at T-Mobile Arena. The Golden Knights (36-26-5) are third in the Pacific Division and have ranked among the top three in their division for more than three-quarters of their time in the NHL. Five teams have spent more time in the top three of its division since the start of last season (Toronto Maple Leafs, Tampa Bay Lightning, Predators, Jets, San Jose Sharks).
Fleury earned back-to-back shutouts for the second time (Nov. 23-24) and has an NHL high eight this season, two shy of his NHL career high set with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2014-15. His 56 shutouts are one from
the top 20 in NHL history
and third among active goalies (Roberto Luongo, 77; Henrik Lundqvist, 63).

Capitals climb into first, Flyers continue surge in Metropolitan Division

The Washington Capitals took over first place in the Metropolitan Division for the first time since Jan. 14 with a 3-2 shootout win against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden. Washington (38-21-7) holds a two-point lead over the New York Islanders (37-21-7), who lost 4-1 to the Philadelphia Flyers at Nassau Coliseum.
The Flyers (32-26-8) are 16-3-2 since Jan. 14 and five points behind the Montreal Canadiens (35-24-7) for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference. Claude Giroux had two assists against the Islanders to reach 70 points for the sixth time in his NHL career. Four players in Flyers history have more seasons with at least 70 points: Bobby Clarke (nine), Brian Propp (eight), Bill Barber (seven) and Eric Lindros (seven).
Brian Elliott made 29 saves for Philadelphia, who played without forward Jakub Voracek (lower body) and lost center Nolan Patrick to an upper-body injury 4:01 into the game.