Blues tie for division lead with OT win

BLUES HOLD OFF STARS TO PULL EVEN IN DIVISION, CONFERENCE RACES
Defenseman Alex Pietrangelo (1-1-2) scored at 2:11 of overtime to lift the St. Louis Blues to a 5-4 win against the Dallas Stars for their sixth consecutive victory, their longest winning streak since Jan. 17 - Feb. 5, 2015 (7-0-0). The Stars had tied the game three times, including Jamie Benn's goal with 1:12 remaining in regulation that forced the extra period.
* At 41-20-9 (91 points), the Blues moved into a tie with the Stars (41-20-9, 91 points) in terms of points for first place in the Central Division and Western Conference. Dallas, however, sits in top spot by virtue of the ROW tiebreaker (DAL: 39, STL: 36). St. Louis won the season series 4-1-0 (DAL: 1-1-3).

* Pietrangelo scored his second career overtime goal (also Nov. 23, 2011 at PIT), and Kevin Shattenkirk (2-0-2) had his first career multigoal game (398 GP) to establish a career high with 12 goals in 2015-16.
* Vladimir Tarasenko (1-1-2) scored his 33rd goal of the season (68 GP), tied for fifth in the NHL and four back of his total from 2014-15 (77 GP).
SHARKS SPOIL CAPITALS' CHANCE TO CLINCH, GAIN GROUND IN PACIFIC
The San Jose Sharks scored three unanswered goals in the third period to defeat the Washington Capitals 5-2, earning their sixth win in their past eight games and preventing the Capitals from clinching the first berth in the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
* At 38-24-6 (82 points), the Sharks moved within three points of the Los Angeles Kings (40-22-5, 85 points), who lost in overtime, for first place in the Pacific Division. The teams play for the fifth and final time this season on March 28 at SAP Center (SJS: 2-1-1, LAK: 2-2-0)
* Joe Pavelski scored 49 seconds into the third period for what stood as his 45th career game-winning goal. He leads the NHL with 10 game-winning goals this season, one shy of tying the single-season franchise record (Jonathan Cheechoo: 11 GWG in 2005-06).
* Sharks forward Joe Thornton (1-1-2) had his 16th multipoint game of the season. Thornton, who has at least one point in 34 of his past 39 games dating to Dec. 15 (12-38-50), ranks third in the NHL with 50 assists in 2015-16 (68 GP).
WILD MOVE BACK INTO PLAYOFF POSITION
The Minnesota Wild scored three unanswered goals, including two by Mikael Granlund (2-0-2), to defeat the Montreal Canadiens 4-1, halting their home point streak at eight games (7-0-1) and moving back into a playoff spot.
* At 32-27-10 (74 points), the Wild passed the Colorado Avalanche (35-31-4, 74 points), who lost in regulation, for the second wild card into the playoffs from the Western Conference. Though the teams are tied in terms of points, Minnesota has one game in hand. Colorado, however, owns the ROW tiebreaker (COL: 32, MIN: 31). The teams play for the fifth and final time this season on March 26 at Pepsi Center (MIN: 3-0-1, COL: 1-3-0).
* Granlund had his first career multigoal game (69 GP) to reach double-digits in goals for the first time (10-26-36).
* The Wild are 6-2-0 in their past eight road games, including three straight wins.
MULTIGOAL EFFORTS POWER ATLANTIC CLUBS TO VICTORY
The Boston Bruins, Florida Panthers and Detroit Red Wings all earned wins to keep pace in the Atlantic Division, where the top four teams are separated by seven points.
* David Pastrnak (2-0-2) scored the eventual game-winning goal with nine seconds remaining in the second period to help the Bruins defeat the New York Islanders 3-1 and extend their overall point streak to seven games (5-0-2) and home point streak to five (3-0-2). Loui Eriksson (1-2-3) factored on all three Boston goals for his 18th career three-point game and second this season (Nov. 19 vs. MIN: 3-0-3).
* Reilly Smith (2-0-2) scored twice in regulation and Aleksander Barkov notched the clinching goal in the shootout to help the Panthers defeat the Philadelphia Flyers 5-4 and extend their home point streak to seven games (5-0-2). Smith had his fourth multigoal game this season (68 GP) to match his total from his first 203 career appearances and move into a share of the Panthers lead with 23 goals in 2015-16 (tied w/ Jaromir Jagr).
* Darren Helm (2-0-2) scored his second career overtime goal (Jan. 20, 2011 at STL) to help the Red Wings rally for a 3-2 win against the New York Rangers, their second straight win on the heels of an 0-3-0 skid. Brad Richards tied the game with 31.8 seconds remaining in regulation to force the extra period. Via the Elias Sports Bureau, it marked the first time the Red Wings scored a game-tying goal in the final minute of regulation since Nov. 5, 2014, when Tomas Tatar scored at 19:52 to force overtime, also against the Rangers (4-3 OT L).
LATE GOALS: DID YOU KNOW?
* Per Elias, there have been 29 tying goals scored in the final minute of regulation this season. The team that recorded the tying goal has gone on to win 21 of those games.
* Jack Eichel (2-0-2) scored his first career overtime goal with one second remaining in overtime -- after Evander Kane (0-2-2) sprung him on a breakaway -- to lead the Buffalo Sabres past the Hurricanes, 3-2. Via Elias, Eichel's goal at 4:59 of overtime is the latest ever by Sabres player in overtime, besting the previous mark set on Oct. 15, 2007 vs. TOR (Paul Gaustad: 4:56).
PLAYOFF DRIVES CONTINUE
Four other clubs earned wins to aid in their quests for a playoff spot:
* John Moore scored with 15.2 seconds remaining in overtime to help the New Jersey Devils defeat the Kings 2-1 and improve to 2-0-0 on their three-game California road trip. Moore, who has four total goals in 2015-16 (61 GP), scored his third overtime goal of the season (also Nov. 28 at MTL and Jan. 2 vs. DAL) after not scoring an overtime goal in his first 230 games. Via Elias, Moore is the second defenseman in franchise history to record at least three overtime goals in a season (Scott Niedermayer: 4 OTG in 2001-02).
* Craig Anderson (29 SV) registered his 33rd career shutout (fourth this season) to backstop the Ottawa Senators to a 4-0 win and sweep of their season series with the Toronto Maple Leafs (OTT: 4-0-0, TOR: 0-3-1). Via Elias, Ottawa swept a season series of at least three games in the Battle of Ontario for the second time in their history (2000-01: 5-0-0).
* Mike Smith made 44 saves in his first start since Dec. 8 to record his 29th career shutout (second this season) and backstop the Arizona Coyotes to a 4-0 win against the Edmonton Oilers, their second straight road win on the heels of a 10-game skid in such games (0-9-1). Arizona extended its point streak against Edmonton to 22 games dating to March 17, 2011 (18-0-4), the longest active point streak against one opponent in the NHL.
* Bo Horvat (1-1-2) scored the eventual game-winning goal midway through the second period to help the Vancouver Canucks to a 4-2 win that ended the Nashville Predators' overall point streak at 15 games (9-0-5) and road point streak at 13 games (10-0-3), each a franchise record.
STILL STREAKING
* Panthers forward Jussi Jokinen had an assist to extend his point streak to 10 games (2-10-12), matching a career high established from Jan. 28 - March 2, 2010 (9-4-13 w/ CAR). Via Elias, he also equaled the longest such run by a Panthers player since Dec. 13, 2005 - Jan. 1, 2006 (Olli Jokinen: 6-10-16).
* Stars forward Jason Spezza scored twice to extend his goal streak to six games (7-1-8), matching a career high set from Jan. 23 - Feb. 4, 2010 (7-1-8 in 6 GP w/ OTT). The longest goal streak in the NHL this season is seven games, a feat achieved by Chicago's Patrick Kane (Nov. 2-15: 7 G), Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby (Jan. 21 - Feb. 8: 10 G) and Boston's Brad Marchand (Feb. 2-14: 8 G).
* Senators forward Zack Smith extended his career-high point streak to eight games (6-3-9). That includes a goal in five straight games, the longest goal streak by a Senators player since Spezza's run in 2009-10.
* Jets forward Mark Scheifele (1-1-2) extended his point streak to seven games (7-4-11), establishing a career high.
* Senators forward Mark Stone (1-2-3) matched a career high with three points to push his point streak to five games (2-5-7). Kings forward Milan Lucic (0-1-1) also extended his point streak to five games (2-5-7).
MILESTONES & BENCHMARKS
* Islanders captain John Tavares, the first pick in the 2009 NHL Draft, scored his 200th goal to become the first player from his draft class to reach the milestone.
* Panthers forward Jaromir Jagr (0-2-2) played in his 1,615th game to tie Larry Murphy for eighth place in NHL history.
* Avalanche forward Jarome Iginla (0-1-1) had his 1,267th point (608-659-1,267) to tie Jean Ratelle (491-776-1,267) for 36th place on the NHL's all-time list.
* Rangers forward Viktor Stalberg played in his 400th game.
* Maple Leafs defenseman Rinat Valiev, a third-round pick (No. 68) in 2014, made his NHL debut.
LOOSE PUCKS
Ondrej Pavelec made 35 saves and the Winnipeg Jets scored three unanswered goals to defeat the Avalanche 3-2 and halt a three-game skid (0-3-0) . . . Stars captain Jamie Benn scored his 34th goal of the season (70 GP), tied for third in the NHL (w/ Brad Marchand) and one shy of matching his career high set in 2014-15 . . . Capitals forward T.J. Oshie matched a career high with his 21st goal of the season, and teammate Justin Williams reached the 20-goal milestone for the fifth time and first since 2011-12 (22 G in 82 GP w/ LAK) . . . Sharks forward Patrick Marleau reached the 20-goal mark for the 13th time in 18 NHL seasons . . . Sharks defenseman Brent Burns scored his 25th goal of the season, tops among defensemen and one shy of tying the single-season franchise record by a defenseman set in 1993-94 by Sandis Ozolinsh (81 GP) . . . Forward Alex Tanguay (1-0-1) has 3-3-6 since joining the Coyotes at the NHL Trade Deadline (5 GP). Linemate Antoine Vermette (2-1-3) has 4-5-9 in that span . . . Senators forward Jean-Gabriel Pageau (0-3-3) established and matched career highs for points and assists in a game, respectively . . . Avalanche forward Matt Duchene (1-1-2) scored his 29th goal of the season, tied for eighth in the NHL . . . Philadelphia's Shayne Gostisbehere scored his 15th goal of the season, tied for sixth among NHL defensemen . . . Scott Mellanby, Brian Skrudland and John Vanbiesbrouck dropped the ceremonial puck before the Panthers-Flyers game as Florida honored members of its 1996 Stanley Cup Final team.