Facts and Figures: Rangers look to extend record road streak

The New York Rangers can become the eighth team in NHL history to win at least 10 straight road games when they visit the Philadelphia Flyers at Wells Fargo Center on Friday (7 p.m. ET; NHLN, SN, TVAS, NBCSP, MSG, NHL.TV).

The Rangers won their ninth consecutive game away from home, the longest road winning streak in their history and longest in the NHL this season, when they rallied from two goals down for a 5-2 victory against the Montreal Canadiens at Bell Centre on Thursday.
The NHL record for longest road winning streak is 12, set by the Detroit Red Wings (March 1-April 15, 2006) and tied by the Minnesota Wild (Feb. 18-April 9, 2015).

New York won its two games at Bell Centre this season; the last time it won twice in Montreal in the same regular season was 2001-02 (2-1 on Oct. 14, 2001, and 3-1 on Dec. 1, 2001). The Rangers are 68-206-3 with 40 ties all-time in the regular season against the Canadiens in Montreal since entering the NHL in 1926.
Mika Zibanejad scored one of five unanswered goals by New York, giving the center a six-game goal-scoring streak. He's the third Rangers player since 1993-94 to score a goal in six straight games, joining Petr Prucha (Dec. 3-13, 2005) and Jaromir Jagr (Feb. 2-March 2, 2006). Andy Bathgate holds the New York record with a 10-game goal streak from Dec. 15, 1962-Jan. 5, 1963.

The goal was Zibanejad's 30th of the season, matching his total from 2018-19. He's the first Rangers player to score 30 goals in consecutive seasons since Jagr in 2005-06 (54) and 2006-07 (30).

Granlund beats buzzer, scores OT winner for Predators

Mikael Granlund twice played hero for the Nashville Predators on Thursday, tying their game against the Calgary Flames with 0.1 seconds remaining in the third period, then scoring 1:20 into overtime for a 4-3 victory at Bridgestone Arena.
The center became the fourth player in NHL history (regular season and playoffs) to score a game-tying goal in the final 10 seconds of the third period and get the overtime winner. The last player to do so was Marian Gaborik of the Los Angeles Kings in Game 1 of the Western Conference Second Round on May 3, 2014. The last player to accomplish the feat in a regular-season game was Marco Sturm of the San Jose Sharks on Nov. 8, 2000.

Big night for Central Division

The Predators were one of five Central Division teams to win games against non-division opponents on Thursday.
The division-leading St. Louis Blues (38-17-10) rallied to defeat the New York Islanders 3-2 in overtime at Enterprise Center for their sixth straight win. The Blues trailed 2-0 in the third period but forced overtime when defenseman Vince Dunn scored with 1:44 to go in regulation. Defenseman Colton Parayko then scored the winner at 3:23 of overtime. The Blues extended their lead over the second-place Colorado Avalanche to five points.
Goalie Connor Hellebuyck made 34 saves for the Winnipeg Jets in a 3-0 victory against the Washington Capitals at Bell MTS Place. The win kept the Jets (33-27-6) and Predators (32-23-8) tied for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference. It was Hellebuyck's fifth shutout of the season, tying him with Elvis Merzlikins of the Columbus Blue Jackets and Marc-Andre Fleury of the Vegas Golden Knights for the League lead.

The Minnesota Wild (31-25-7) remained within three points of the second wild card in the West by defeating the Detroit Red Wings 7-1 at Little Caesars Arena for their fourth consecutive road victory. Minnesota scored at least seven goals in a game for the fourth time this season; the Pittsburgh Penguins and Tampa Bay Lightning share the NHL lead with six.
The Chicago Blackhawks scored five consecutive goals in the third period to hand the Lightning their fourth straight loss, 5-2 at Amalie Arena. Forward Dominik Kubalik scored three of Chicago's five goals for his first NHL hat trick; he's the third rookie in Blackhawks history to score a hat trick in one period, joining George Hay (Feb. 19, 1927) and Ryan Hartman (Jan. 8, 2017). Kubalik leads all NHL rookies with 29 goals and is one shy of becoming the fifth rookie in Blackhawks history to reach the 30-goal mark.

The only Central Division team that failed to win was the Dallas Stars, who lost 4-3 to the League-leading Boston Bruins at TD Garden. Boston forward David Pastrnak scored his NHL-leading 46th goal, the most by a Bruins player since Cam Neely had 50 in 49 games in 1993-94. The goal kept Pastrnak two ahead of Toronto Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews in the race for the Rocket Richard Trophy; Matthews scored his 44th in Toronto's 5-3 win against the Florida Panthers at BB&T Center.

Ryan has hat trick in return to Senators

Bobby Ryan scored three goals for his first hat trick in more than five years in the Ottawa Senators' 5-2 win against the Vancouver Canucks at Canadian Tire Centre. It was his second game, and first at home, since returning from the NHL/NHLPA player assistance program.
The hat trick was the fifth of Ryan's NHL career and second with the Senators; the first came against the Buffalo Sabres on Dec. 29, 2014. The forward had three hat tricks with the Anaheim Ducks before being traded to Ottawa on July 5, 2013.