Facts and Figures: Marleau set to play in 1,700th NHL game

Patrick Marleau is expected to become the fifth player in NHL history to appear in 1,700 regular-season games when the San Jose Sharks host the Dallas Stars at SAP Center on Saturday (10:30 p.m.; ESPN+, NBCSCA, FS-SW+, NHL.TV). The forward has not missed a regular-season game while under contract since April 9, 2009 -- an active streak of 830 games that's the sixth-longest all-time and second-longest among active players behind Florida Panthers defenseman Keith Yandle (841).

At 40 years and 118 days old, Marleau will become the youngest player to skate in his 1,700th NHL game. The others: Gordie Howe (51 years, 223 days), Jagr (45 years, 32 days), Mark Messier (42 years, 309 days) and Ron Francis (40 years, 328 days).
Forward Joe Pavelski, a longtime teammate of Marleau, will face his former team for the first time since signing with the Stars as a free agent on July 1. Pavelski is second to Marleau (515) on the Sharks' all-time goal list with 355.

McDavid ready for last game as 22-year-old with Oilers

Connor McDavid will play his final game as a 22-year-old when the Edmonton Oilers visit the Calgary Flames at Scotiabank Arena (10 p.m. ET; CBC, SN, SN360, SN1, CITY, NHL.TV). The center is second in Oilers history in goals (152), assists (290) and points (442) among players before turning 23; Wayne Gretzky (861 points; 329 goals, 532 assists) leads in all three categories.
McDavid will finish fifth in NHL history in regular-season points by players before turning 23, trailing Gretzky, Dale Hawerchuk (529), Mario Lemieux (516) and Sidney Crosby (506). He will also end up fifth in assists, trailing Gretzky, Crosby (323), Hawerchuk (309) and Lemieux (301).

Malkin excelling for Crosby-less Penguins

Evgeni Malkin continues to sparkle for the Pittsburgh Penguins in the absence of Crosby, who has missed 27 games with a core muscle injury that required surgery. Malkin had a goal and an assist on Friday, when the Penguins defeated the Colorado Avalanche 4-3 in overtime at Pepsi Center, giving Pittsburgh its seventh win in its past eight road games.
Malkin has points in 12 of his past 14 last games and has 36 points (11 goals, 25 assists) in 25 games without Crosby
since Nov. 12
.
Overall, the center has 196 points (77 goals, 119 assists) in 145 games without Pittsburgh's captain in the lineup.
The 14-year veteran's assist on forward Bryan Rust's third-period goal was the 640th of his NHL career, all with the Penguins. He tied Jaromir Jagr for third place on Pittsburgh's all-time assists list, behind Lemieux (1,033) and Crosby (782).

Malkin's goal at 15:43 of the third period looked like it would be the game-winner until Colorado forward Matt Calvert scored with 31 seconds remaining to force overtime. It was the 19th game-tying goal in the final minute of regulation this season and first by the Avalanche. The Washington Capitals lead the League with three such goals.

Mrazek, Hurricanes shut down Coyotes

Petr Mrazek made 32 saves to tie for the NHL lead with his third shutout and help the Carolina Hurricanes defeat the Arizona Coyotes 3-0 at PNC Arena.
It was Mrazek's seventh shutout in 69 games since joining the Hurricanes. He's the third goalie in Carolina/Hartford Whalers history to have at least that many shutouts before playing in his 70th game with the team, joining Kevin Weekes (eight) and Arturs Irbe (seven).

The goalie is no stranger to a fast start with a team. Mrazek also had seven shutouts prior to his 70th game with the Detroit Red Wings in 2015-16. Jaroslav Halak is the only other active goalie to accomplish the feat with multiple teams, doing so with the St. Louis Blues (eight in 69 games), New York Islanders (eight in 69 games) and Boston Bruins (eight in 59 games).