NHL NOTEBOOK: Ovechkin Top Russian & Lightning Striking

OVECHKIN PASSES FEDOROV FOR MOST GOALS BY A RUSSIAN-BORN PLAYER
Washington Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin scored his 484th career goal in a 3-2 loss to the Dallas Stars and passed Sergei Fedorov, who was recently inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, for the most goals by a Russian-born player in NHL history. Ovechkin reached the milestone in his 777th career game, 471 fewer than Fedorov played in his NHL career (1,248 GP).
* Earlier this season, Ovechkin (484-428—912) became the fourth Russian-born player to reach 900 NHL points, following Fedorov (483-696—1,179), Alexander Mogilny (473-559—1,032) and Alex Kovalev (430-599—1,029).
* Fedorov was wearing a Capitals uniform when he overtook Mogilny for the most goals by a Russian-born player, scoring goals No. 474 and 475 in Washington's 6-5 overtime win at Dallas on Oct. 25, 2008, the same opponent Ovechkin faced Thursday.

STARS CONTINUE RECORD-SETTING START
After seeing their 1-0 and 2-1 leads disappear, Jason Spezza scored the go-ahead goal at 11:10 of the third period as the Stars edged the Capitals to pick up their fourth consecutive win as well as their fifth straight win on the road.
* At 16-4-0 (32 points), the Stars are off to their best 20-game start to a season (in terms of wins and points) in the franchise's 48-year history. Their 16 victories and 32 points lead the League.
* The Stars also improved to 9-2-0 (18 points) in their first 11 road games. They pace the NHL in road wins and road points.
* Tyler Seguin (1-0—1) trails Patrick Kane (13-17—30) of the Chicago Blackhawks by two points for the League lead with 11-17—28 in his first 20 games. Per the Elias Sports Bureau, he is the first member of the Stars/North Stars franchise to have 28 or more points in the first 20 games of a season since Dino Ciccarelli (24-15—39) in 1986-87.
* John Klingberg (0-2—2) leads all defensemen in assists and points with 4-18—22 in his first 20 games. Per Elias, he the first defenseman in franchise history to have 22 points in the first 20 games of a season.
* Kari Lehtonen (33 saves) earned his sixth straight win and is 9-1-0 this season (2.34 goals-against average, .923 save percentage). Lehtonen is 16-6-2 in 24 games against Washington (2.56 GAA, .924 save percentage, two shutouts), including seven straight wins.
* The Stars are 20-1-4 in their past 25 games vs. Washington dating to Oct. 8, 1996 (WSH: 4-18-3), including eight straight wins.

TAMPA BAY SNAPS NEW YORK'S NINE-GAME WINNING STREAK
Valtteri Filppula (1-1—2) scored the game-winning goal while shorthanded with 1:05 left in regulation as the Tampa Bay Lightning won 2-1 and snapped the New York Rangers' nine-game winning streak in the first game between the teams since the 2015 Eastern Conference Final (4-3 TBL series win).
* Ben Bishop made 20 saves, including a stop on Chris Kreider on a third-period penalty-shot attempt, and is 9-0-0 in nine regular-season appearances vs. NYR (1.43 GAA, .947 save percentage, two shutouts).
* The Lightning are 5-0-0 in their past five regular-season games vs. the Rangers dating to Jan. 14, 2014 (NYR: 0-5-0).

SHARKS, SENATORS POST SHUTOUT WINS
The San Jose Sharks and Ottawa Senators each earned shutout victories against the Philadelphia Flyers and Columbus Blue Jackets, respectively:
* After a scoreless 60 minutes, Melker Karlsson scored his first career overtime goal at 3:45 of OT to lead the Sharks to a 1-0 win, their fourth straight win on their six-game road trip. The Sharks have also won five straight road games.
* Per Elias, the Sharks earned a 1-0 regular-season overtime win for the third time in franchise history (Others: Nov. 4, 2005 at the Anaheim Ducks and Jan. 15, 2002 at the Colorado Avalanche).
* Martin Jones (34 saves) won his fourth straight decision and shares the League lead with Jake Allen (STL) and Michal Neuvirth (PHI) with three shutouts.
* The Sharks are 15-1-2 in their past 18 games vs. the Flyers dating to Jan. 2, 2002 (PHI: 1-10-7). That includes wins in their past eight visits to Philadelphia.
* Craig Anderson made 25 saves and Erik Karlsson (2-1—3) scored consecutive second-period goals in a span of 1:51 as the Senators won 3-0 to improve to 5-1-0 in their past six games vs. Columbus dating to Jan. 28, 2014 (CBJ: 1-5-0).
* Anderson's shutout was the 30th of his career; he is the seventh American-born goaltender in NHL history to reach the milestone. The only other active American-born goalies with more shutouts: Los Angeles' Jonathan Quick (38) and Vancouver’s Ryan Miller (36).
* Karlsson added an assist and stretched his point streak to five games (5-4—9). Karlsson trails Klingberg (4-18—22) by one point for the League-lead among defensemen with 5-16—21 (19 GP). Kyle Turris (1-1—2) also had multiple points.
BLUES CONTINUE DOMINANCE OF SABRES
Alexander Steen (0-2—2) assisted on each of the St. Louis Blues' goals in regulation and added the decisive goal in the shootout as St. Louis defeated the Buffalo Sabres 3-2 and improved to 17-2-0 in its past 19 games vs. Buffalo dating to Jan. 13, 1999 (BUF: 2-14-3), which includes seven straight wins.
* Steen has 0-6—6 in his past three games vs. Buffalo dating to Nov. 11, 2014.
* Vladimir Tarasenko (1-1—2) leads the Blues in goals and points with 12-8—20 in his first 19 games.
* Jake Allen made 32 saves through 65 minutes and denied all three shooters in the shootout to improve to 9-4-0 (1.91 GAA, .935 save percentage, three shutouts).

AROUND THE RINKS
* Loui Eriksson (3-0—3) recorded his third career hat trick in the Boston Bruins' 4-2 win against the Minnesota Wild. It was Eriksson's first hat trick since Dec. 31, 2009 vs. Anaheim (w/ Dallas). The Bruins won at home vs. the Wild for the second time in franchise history (2-7-0 all-time). Eriksson has 9-8—17 in his first 18 games of the season, including three multigoal games. Jonas Gustavsson (24 saves) improved to 4-1-0 in his first five appearances with the Bruins (2.20 GAA, .914 save percentage).
* The Pittsburgh Penguins scored three second-period goals in a span of 2:08 and Sidney Crosby scored the decisive goal at 11:56 of the third period as the Penguins defeated the Colorado Avalanche 4-3 to improve to 5-1-0 in their past six home games vs. Colorado dating to Dec. 10, 2005 (COL: 1-4-1). Per Elias, the Penguins scored three times in a span of 2:08 or faster for the first time since Jan. 3, 2008 vs. the Toronto Maple Leafs (0:48).
* The Arizona Coyotes opened the scoring with three consecutive goals and held off a late rally to edge the Montreal Canadiens 3-2. Oliver Ekman-Larsson scored his second game-winning goal of the season at 3:51 of the second period to extend his career-high point streak to seven games (3-4—7). Ekman-Larsson paces all defensemen with 18 game-winning goals since he began his career in 2010-11.
* Frederik Andersen made 24 saves and Andrew Cogliano's first shorthanded goal of the season stood as the game-winner in Anaheim's 3-1 victory at the Florida Panthers. The Ducks improved to 6-2-2 in their past 10 games following a 1-7-2 start.

MILESTONES & BENCHMARKS
* Avalanche forward Jarome Iginla had two assists to pass Peter Stastny (450-789—1,239 in 977 GP) for sole possession of 37th on the NHL's all-time points list (596-645—1,241 in 1,411 GP). Iginla also skated in his 1,411th career game, passing Norm Ullman (1,410 GP) and moving into a tie with Harry Howell for 31st on the all-time games played list.
* Florida goaltender Roberto Luongo made his 879th appearance to move within three of tying John Vanbiesbrouck (882 GP) for eighth place in NHL history among goaltenders.
* Dallas defenseman Alex Goligoski skated in his 500th career game; Washington forward Brooks Laich skated in his 700th career game in a Capitals uniform.
LOOSE PUCKS
Forward David Krejci (0-2—2) leads the Bruins in assists and points with 8-14—22 in his first 18 games of the season. … Bruins forward Patrice Bergeron (0-1—1) extended his point streak to six games (3-4—7). … Wild forward Mikko Koivu (0-1—1) extended his point streak to five games (1-4—5). … Avalanche forward Matt Duchene (2-0—2) extended his point streak to five games (6-5—11). … Avalanche defenseman Tyson Barrie (1-1—2) also had multiple points. … Penguins goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury (28 saves) improved to 10-6-0 (2.14 GAA, .927 save percentage, two shutouts). … Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin (1-0—1) has 3-2—5 in his past two games, including two power-play goals. … Stars forward Jamie Benn (0-1—1) ranks third in points among with 12-15—27 in his first 20 games of the season. … Capitals forward Nicklas Backstrom (1-1—2) had a goal and an assist. … Coyotes goaltender Mike Smith (31 saves) improved to 8-5-1 (3.02 GAA, .904 save percentage, one shutout). … Canadiens forwards Max Pacioretty (1-1—2) and Brendan Gallagher (0-1—1) each extended his point streak to six games (3-5—8 each). … Senators forward Bobby Ryan (0-1—1) extended his point streak to seven games (3-5—8). … Luongo made 38 saves, including a glove save to deny Jakob Silfverberg (1-0—1) on a breakaway in the second period. … ICYMI: Coyotes forward and Pointe-Claire, Quebec, native Anthony Duclair (0-1—1) spotted a group of former teammates and took a selfie with them at Bell Centre. … The Blues suited up in military-themed jerseys during the pregame warmup as part of their Salute to Military Week.