NHL Notebook: Nabokov Retires, Fleury Streak Over

Goaltender Evgeni Nabokov, who began this season with the Tampa Bay Lightning before he was traded to the San Jose Sharks on Monday for future considerations, announced his retirement Wednesday during a press conference at SAP Center in San Jose. The Kamenogorsk, Kazakhstan native retired with the club he began his NHL career with and played a total of 10 seasons for from 1999-00 to 2009-10. The Sharks' all-time leader in games played (563) and wins (293) among goaltenders participated in a ceremonial puck drop prior to San Jose’s game against the Washington Capitals on Wednesday.

PITTSBURGH’S FLEURY SETS CAREER-HIGH SHUTOUT STREAK IN WIN AGAINST DETROIT

Marc-Andre Fleury stopped all but one of 24 shots he faced to backstop the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 4-1 victory against the Detroit Red Wings. The Penguins are 31-15-8 (70 points) this season and moved within one point of the idle New York Islanders, who lead the Metropolitan Division with a record of 35-18-1 (71 points).

* Coming off back-to-back games without allowing a goal, Fleury's shutout streak ended at a career-high 165:06 when he allowed a goal at 13:26 of the second period. This streak eclipsed Fleury's previous career-best of 164:22, which he recorded earlier this season from Oct. 28-Nov. 6, 2014. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Fleury's shutout streak is the second-longest in Penguins history; Tomas Vokoun’s shutout streak of 173:06 set from March 22-April 2, 2013 is the record.

* Fleury has allowed six goals in his past five starts and improved to 4-1 over that span. Fleury improved to 11-1-2 versus Atlantic Division opponents and is to 26-11-5 overall this season with a 2.22 goals-against average and a .922 save percentage.

* Patric Hornqvist (1-1-2) opened the scoring early in the first period with his 15th goal and added his 18th assist to record his ninth multi-point game of the season. Twenty of Hornqvist’s 33 points this season (15-18-33) have come in his nine multi-point performances.

* Blake Comeau (1-1-2) netted his 12th goal and added his ninth assist to post his fourth multi-point performance of the season. The marker was also the fourth game-winning goal of the season for Comeau.

* The Penguins have earned points in five consecutive games against the Red Wings (3-0-2) and have won four of their past five games against Detroit on home ice.

DID YOU KNOW?

Pittsburgh forward Sidney Crosby skated in the 600th game of his NHL career and became the eighth player in Penguins history to skate in 600 games, joining Mario Lemieux, Jaromir Jagr, Jean Pronovost, Rick Kehoe, Brooks Orpik, Ron Stackhouse and Ron Schock.

* According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Crosby's 825 points through 600 games (291-534-825) are the ninth-highest point total through a player’s first 600 games in NHL history after Wayne Gretzky (1,451), Mario Lemieux (1,215), Mike Bossy (921), Peter Stastny (901), Bobby Orr (864), Jari Kurri (848), Bryan Trottier (830) and Denis Savard (827).

* San Jose defenseman Brent Burns (2-0-2) posted his second multi-goal performance of the season. The first marker was scored 21 seconds into the second period; his second tally was scored 22 seconds later.

* According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Burns’ goals 22 seconds apart were the second-fastest consecutive goals scored by a defenseman in Sharks history; Brad Stuart scored two goals 17 seconds apart in the third period of a game against the Los Angeles Kings on April 4, 2004. Elias also says that Burns’ tallies were the fastest consecutive goals scored in his career and the first marker was also Burns' fastest goal to begin a period in his career.

LOOSE PUCKS

Chicago forward Patrick Kane (1-2-3) posted his ninth three-point game of the season. Kane took sole possession of the League-lead in points (27-35-62) by becoming the first player to reach 60 points this season. ... Chicago forward Marian Hossa (2-0-2) has recorded three consecutive two-goal games (6-0-6) for the first time in his career. ... Chicago forward Brandon Saad (1-1-2) recorded his eighth multi-point game of the season. ... Washington defenseman Karl Alzner skated in the 400th game of his NHL career... San Jose forward Logan Couture (1-1-2) recorded his 15th multi-point game of the season and extended his point streak to a season-high four games (2-4-6). ... San Jose forward Joe Thornton (1-1-2) posted his 10th multi-point performance of the season. The goal and the assist brought Thornton's career point total to 1,241 (354-887-1,241) and allowed him to pass Peter Stastny for sole possession of 36th on the NHL's all-time points list. ... San Jose forward Patrick Marleau (0-2-2) posted his seventh multi-assist performance of the season. ... The Buffalo Sabres and Winnipeg Jets completed a blockbuster trade that sent forward Evander Kane and defenseman Zach Bogosian to the Buffalo Sabres for a package that includes defenseman Tyler Myers, forward Drew Stafford, two prospects and a first-round pick. ... The Dallas Stars acquired goaltender Jhonas Enroth from the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for goaltender Anders Lindback and a conditional third-round pick in the 2016 NHL Draft.

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