Facts and Figures: Crosby reaches another milestone in Penguins win

Sidney Crosby achieved another NHL milestone Tuesday, reaching 800 assists in his 980th game while helping the Pittsburgh Penguins end a six-game losing streak with a 7-3 win against the Ottawa Senators at PPG Paints Arena.

Crosby's second assist of the game, on Jason Zucker's goal 36 seconds into the third period, made him the sixth player in NHL history to have 800 in fewer than 1,000 regular-season games. Three of the five to reach the milestone ahead of Crosby played for the Penguins during their careers (Mario Lemieux, Paul Coffey and Bryan Trottier).

Crosby joined Lemieux (1,033 assists in 915 games) as the only players to have at least 800 assists with the Penguins. He's also the second active player to reach 800, joining San Jose Sharks center Joe Thornton (1,088 in 1,632 games).
The Penguins (38-21-6) scored at least seven goals in a game for the seventh time this season, passing the Tampa Bay Lightning for most in the NHL. They're one point of the second-place Philadelphia Flyers (38-20-7) in the Metropolitan Division.

Fiala sets Wild record in win against Predators

Kevin Fiala had his Minnesota Wild-record fifth straight multipoint game, scoring one goal and assisting on another in a 3-1 win against the Nashville Predators at Xcel Energy Center.
Fiala is the first player since the Wild entered the NHL in 2000 to have multiple points in five consecutive team games, passing the previous mark of four shared by Brian Rolston from Jan. 22-27, 2006 and Marian Gaborik from Feb. 10-18, 2007, and again from Jan. 10-16, 2008.

He's the third player to have multiple points in five straight team games this season, joining Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov (Jan. 16-31) and Edmonton Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl (Jan. 14-Feb. 1). Washington Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin had multiple points in five consecutive appearances from Jan. 13-31 but not did dress for Washington's game Jan. 27.
Fiala surpassed the 50-point mark for the first time in his NHL career (51 points; 21 goals, 30 assists in 61 games). His 23 points (12 goals, 11 assists) since Feb. 1 are third in the NHL
during that span
.
The Wild are 6-3-0 since Dean Evason replaced Bruce Boudreau as coach Feb. 14. Minnesota (33-26-7) has won six of its past eight games and is one point behind the Vancouver Canucks and Winnipeg Jets for the first wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference.

Bruins top Lightning, close in on 100 points

The NHL-leading Boston Bruins (42-13-12) moved within four points of becoming the first 100-point team in the NHL this season with a 2-1 win against the Lightning at Amalie Arena. Boston, which played its 67th game, has reached the 100-point mark in fewer than 70 games on four occasions, the last in 1977-78.
Brad Marchand scored the opening goal to extend his point streak to 10 games (15 points; five goals, 10 assists). It's his second double-digit point streak this season after he had an NHL career-high 13 game run (28 points; 10 goals, 18 assists) Oct. 5-Nov. 4. His longest streak before this season was nine games (14 points; six goals, eight assists from Nov. 29-Dec. 28, 2017).

Young players help Blackhawks top Ducks

Nineteen-year-old Chicago Blackhawks teammates Adam Boqvist and Kirby Dach each assisted on the first goal of the game in a 6-2 win against the Anaheim Ducks at United Center.
It marked the first time in NHL history that multiple players born in the 2000s factored on a goal.

The Blackhawks (30-28-8) have won three in a row and trail the Canucks and Jets by six points in the Western Conference wild-card race.

Avalanche aim for historic streak

The Colorado Avalanche can make history when they play the Anaheim Ducks at Pepsi Center on Wednesday (9:30 p.m. ET; NBCSN). Colorado has won seven in a row with the past six victories each by one goal. Another such win would make the Avalanche the first team in NHL history with seven consecutive one-goal victories.
Colorado is the fifth NHL team with six consecutive one-goal wins during the regular season. It's been done twice in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, by the Montreal Canadiens from April 6-21, 1989 and the Ducks from April 10-26, 2003.
The Avalanche (40-18-7) are second in the Central Division, three points behind the St. Louis Blues (40-17-10).