Facts and Figures: McDavid sparks Oilers to win in return

Connor McDavid showed no signs of rust Sunday after missing the Edmonton Oilers' previous six games with a left quad injury.

The two-time NHL scoring champion scored a goal and assisted on two others
to help the Oilers defeat the Los Angeles Kings 4-2
at Staples Center. The victory moved the Oilers (33-22-7) past the Vancouver Canucks (33-22-6) into second place in the Pacific Division, three points behind the first-place Vegas Golden Knights.
The three-point night gave McDavid 84 points (31 goals, 53 assists), tied with Nathan MacKinnon of the Colorado Avalanche for third in the NHL. They are four points behind David Pastrnak of the Boston Bruins for second place; Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl also scored in the win at Los Angeles leads the NHL with 98 points (36 goals, 62 assists).

Golden Knights outlast Ducks in OT

The Vegas Golden Knights made it six straight wins when Shea Theodore scored at 3:50 of overtime
for a 6-5 victory
against the Anaheim Ducks at Honda Center. The winning streak has moved the Golden Knights (34-22-8) into first place in the Pacific Division; they lead the second-place Oilers by three points.
The Golden Knights led 5-3 after William Karlsson completed his third NHL hat trick with 8:55 remaining in the third period. But Anaheim's Adam Henrique scored at 17:03 and 18:45 to send the game into overtime before Theodore scored the third OT goal of his NHL career his second with Vegas. He's the only defenseman in Golden Knights history to score an overtime goal in the regular season.

Karlsson's three hat tricks have come with the Golden Knights; the other two were in 2017-18, their first season in the NHL. Karlsson and Jonathan Marchessault (two) are the only players to have multiple hat tricks with the Golden Knights.

Mark Stone had two of his four assists on goals by Karlsson and one on Theodore's game-winner. It's his third game this season with at least four points and his second four-assist game. Stone and Draisaitl (three times) are the only players to have at least four assists in more than one game this season.

Capitals overtake Penguins for 20th comeback win of season

The Washington Capitals earned their 20th comeback victory this season by scoring four goals in the third period
to defeat the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-3
at Capital One Arena.
Washington has 20 comeback wins in a single season for the eighth time since entering the NHL in 1974-75. The Capitals are one of five teams in NHL history to reach the benchmark at least eight times, joining the Boston Bruins (14), Penguins (12), Calgary Flames (11) and Philadelphia Flyers (nine).
The win moved Washington (38-18-6) ahead of the Penguins (37-18-6) for first place in the Metropolitan Division.
Washington's John Carlson had an assist to give him 475 points (105 goals, 370 assists) in 750 NHL games, all with the Capitals, moving him past Calle Johansson, who had 474 points (113 goals, 361 assists) in 983 games for the most by a Capitals defenseman.

Carlson leads NHL defensemen with 72 points (15 goals, 57 assists) and is one of three defensemen who leads his team in points this season, along with Roman Josi of the Nashville Predators with 57 points (14 goals, 43 assists) and Brent Burns of the San Jose Sharks with 42 points (12 goals, 30 assists). Should all three maintain that status, this would be the third season in NHL history with at least three defensemen leading (or tied for the lead) their teams in points. The others: 2013-14 (Niklas Kronwall, Detroit Red Wings; Shea Weber, Predators; Erik Karlsson, Ottawa Senators; Keith Yandle, Phoenix Coyotes) and 1990-91 (Ray Bourque, Boston Bruins; Brian Leetch, New York Rangers; Phil Housley, Winnipeg Jets; Kevin Hatcher, Capitals).

Blues shut down Wild, win fourth straight

The St. Louis Blues have allowed two goals during a four-game winning streak
after defeating the Minnesota Wild 4-1
at Xcel Energy Center. Jordan Binnington made 32 saves for the Blues (36-17-10), who lead the Colorado Avalanche (36-18-7) by three points in the race for first place in the Central Division.
It's the eighth time in their history that the Blues have allowed two goals in a span of four games. They also did it last season, from Feb. 14-19, 2019.