NHL NEWS FEB 1 – HAT TRICKS POWER CANADIENS, HURRICANES

Canadiens captain Max Pacioretty (3-0—3) and Hurricanes forward Sebastian Aho (3-1—4) registered hat tricks to lead their clubs to victory.
Pacioretty registered his sixth career hat trick (and second this season) to help the Atlantic Division-leading Canadiens pick up their 30th win of the season (30-14-7, 67 points). Pacioretty shares second in the NHL with 24 goals this season, four back of Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby (28) for the League lead.

Aho scored his first career hat trick (49 GP) to help the Hurricanes snap a five-game slide (0-5-0). At 19 years, 189 days, Aho became the youngest player in Hurricanes/Whalers history to record a hat trick and the first rookie to do so with the club since Erik Cole on Dec. 21, 2001 vs. ATL (3-0—3). Aho ranks third among NHL rookies with 15 goals this season, behind Auston Matthews and Patrik Laine who have 23 apiece.

NHL NEWS AND MUSINGS

• Corey Perry notched an assist on the game-winning goal to become the third player in Ducks history to reach 700 career points (339-361—700)
• Joe Pavelski (1-2—3) factored on all three San Jose goals to help the Pacific Division-leading Sharks pick up their seventh win in the past eight games
• The Islanders extended their point streak to a season-high seven games (6-0-1)
• Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin (889 GP) scored his 549th career goal to surpass Michel Goulet (548 in 1,089 GP) and tie Ron Francis (549 in 1,731 GP) for 27th place on the League’s all-time goals list
• Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl scored to reach 20 goals for the first time and extend his point streak to seven games (4-5—9)
• Jets forward Bryan Little (6-4—10) and Sharks forward Logan Couture (3-4—7) extended point streaks to six games, while Maple Leafs forward Nazem Kadri (2-5—7) and Kings defenseman Drew Doughty (1-5—6) pushed their point streaks to five games
• Red Wings defenseman Nick Jensen (17 GP) scored his first career NHL goal
• The Rangers signed head coach Alain Vigneault to a contract extension
• The Bruins defeated the Lightning in the first NHL game to stream live on Twitter.
• The NHL unveiled original portraits of Milt Schmidt and Henri Richard, two of the 100 Greatest NHL Players presented by Molson Canadian.

TUESDAY’S NHL RESULTS
Home Team in Caps
NY ISLANDERS 3, Washington 2
Columbus 6, NY RANGERS 4
PITTSBURGH 4, Nashville 2
CAROLINA 5, Philadelphia 1
MONTREAL 5, Buffalo 2
New Jersey 4, DETROIT 3 – GAME PHOTOS HERE
Boston 4, TAMPA BAY 3
FLORIDA 6, Ottawa 5
Winnipeg 5, ST. LOUIS 3
DALLAS 6, Toronto 3
Minnesota 5, EDMONTON 2
Los Angeles 3, ARIZONA 2
ANAHEIM 5, Colorado 1
SAN JOSE 3, Chicago 1

WEDNESDAY’S NHL ACTION
All Times Eastern
Boston @ Washington, 8 p.m.
Minnesota @ Calgary, 10 p.m.
Colorado @ Los Angeles, 10:30 p.m.