Sidney Crosby, Brent Burns pursuing milestones

MILESTONES IN SIGHT, STREAKS AT STAKE ON 11-GAME NIGHT

* The League-leading Washington Capitals (37-11-6, 80 points) aim for their 11th consecutive home win when they face the Detroit Red Wings (22-21-10, 54 points) at Verizon Center. The Capitals have earned shutouts in each of their past two home games and a five during their home winning streak, outscoring opponents 50-12. Washington has won more than 10 consecutive home games twice before: from Jan. 5 - March 6, 2010 (13-0-0) and Nov. 21, 2015 - Jan. 17, 2016 (12-0-0).
* Brent Burns, who leads all defensemen and ranks third in NHL scoring with 57 points (22 goals, 35 assists), looks to extend his road point streak to 15 games (10-13-23 in 14 GP) when the San Jose Sharks (33-17-4, 70 points) visit the Boston Bruins (26-23-6, 58 points), who will play their first game under coach Bruce Cassidy. Elias notes that only two defensemen in NHL history have longer such runs: Ray Bourque (Nov. 7, 1993 - Jan. 25, 1994: 7-18-25 in 16 GP) and Paul Coffey (March 6 - April 27, 1995: 8-13-21 in 15 GP).

WEDNESDAY'S RESULT

Home Team in Caps
Chicago 4, MINNESOTA 3 (OT)

TOEWS SETS FRANCHISE RECORD IN OVERTIME WIN

The Minnesota Wild tied the game with 3:03 remaining in the third period, but Jonathan Toews (1-2-3) scored at 3:09 of overtime and the Chicago Blackhawks (33-17-5, 71 points) won their third straight game to move within five points of the Wild (35-12-6, 76 points) for the top spot in the Western Conference.
* Toews scored his ninth NHL overtime goal and first of the season. Per Elias, he passed Marian Hossa and Patrick Sharp for the most regular-season overtime goals by a Blackhawks player since the League instituted the five-minute tiebreaker in 1983-84.
* Duncan Keith (0-2-2) earned his ninth multi-point game of the season to move into sole possession of fourth place in scoring among NHL defensemen (4-34-38).
* Ryan Hartman scored for the third consecutive game and ranks sixth among rookies with 13 goals this season (13-10-23).

LOOSE PUCKS

Forward Charlie Coyle (0-1-1) played in his 284th consecutive regular-season game to surpass Antti Laaksonen for the longest such streak in Wild history . . . The Capitals
welcomed Fatima Al Ali
of the United Arab Emirates women's national team to practice, while the
Avalanche
and

each held community initiatives as part of Hockey Is For Everyone month.

SNEAK PEEK AT THURSDAY'S ACTION

All Times Eastern
San Jose @ Boston, 7 p.m., SN360, SNW, TVA Sports, NESN, CSN-CA
Anaheim @ Buffalo, 7 p.m., MSG-B, PRIME
Nashville @ NY Rangers, 7 p.m., MSG, FS-TN
NY Islanders @ Philadelphia, 7 p.m., NBCSN, TCN-PH
Detroit @ Washington, 7 p.m., CSN-DC, FS-D
Vancouver @ Columbus, 7 p.m., FS-O, SNP
St. Louis @ Toronto, 7:30 p.m., SNO, FS-MW
Dallas @ Ottawa, 7:30 p.m., RDS2, TSN5, FS-SW+
Los Angeles @ Florida, 7:30 p.m., FS-F, FS-W
Pittsburgh @ Colorado, 9 p.m., ALT, ROOT
Montreal @ Arizona, 9 p.m., FS-A, SNE, RDS
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