Boston Bruins winger Brad Marchand says they could not "care less about any regular-season records" as hype swirls about breaking the long-standing NHL points record.

The NHL-leading Bruins possess a 43-8-5 record through 56 games, putting them on track for 133 points which would eclipse the record during an 80-game season of 132 points set by the Montreal Canadiens in 1976-77.

Boston are also on pace for 63 wins which would surpass the single-season record of 62 victories held by both the 1995-96 Detroit Red Wings and the 2018-19 Tampa Bay Lightning.

But Marchand downplayed the significance of those milestones within the playing group who were focused on bigger targets.

"People have talked a lot about some of these records, that we could potentially hit or we have hit," Marchand told ESPN.

"Nobody cares about those in this room. We couldn't care less about any of these regular-season records because they really don't mean anything.

"Before we were going through this season, if you asked any of the guys on this team who owned any of those records, nobody would know, because nobody cares, because it's not about the regular season.

"As soon as somebody brings it up, it's in one ear and out the other."

Marchand added that lifting the Stanley Cup was the goal, rather than records or finishing atop the standings after the regular season.

"If you win the Presidents' Trophy but you don't win the Cup, nobody cares," he said. "That's what we know on this team."

David Pastrnak became the fifth Bruins player to score 40 goals in consecutive seasons as the Bruins remained on pace for a history-making season with Monday's 3-1 win over the Ottawa Senators.

Pastrnak scored twice, breaking the second-period tie to move beyond the 40-goal mark for the third time in his career.

The win improved the NHL-best Bruins' record to 43-8-5, extending their current win streak to four games.

Boston are currently on pace for 62 wins, which would match the record held by the 1995-96 Detroit Red Wings and the 2018-19 Tampa Bay Lightning.

The Bruins are also on pace for 133 points, which would exceed the record held by the 1976-77 Montreal Canadiens.

Boston also tied the 1979-80 Philadelphia Flyers for the fewest games to reach 90 points in NHL history.

Bruins center David Krejci, who brought up his 1000th game, said the challenge for the team was to not mentally let standards slip.

"We're at that point in the season where it's mental," Krejci told reporters. "We all know what we can do in this room, and we've got to be mentally prepared for each game.

"We hit a little tough patch maybe a couple of weeks ago, but we're a good team. We've got good guys on the team, and we talk about it.

"Like I said, it's mental. We've just got to get ready for those games. We've got to stay sharp because it is not easy.

"This is the time of the year that if you let up, it can get away from you pretty easily, so we've got to stick together, grind it out and be mentally sharp."

Jonathan Marchessault was relieved to snap his 13-game goal drought as the Vegas Golden Knights continued on their winning ways since the break with a 5-4 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday.

Marchessault scored two first-period goals as the Golden Knights raced to a 4-2 lead in an entertaining start to the contest.

The center is the latest VGK player to end a goal drought, but he was keen to move on, with the side improving to 34-18-4 amid a five-game win streak.

"Yeah, that's probably the longest I have went but you just have to move on," Marchessault told reporters.

"You know, it's on to the next game. We're gonna enjoy this one until midnight tonight and try to get better tomorrow."

The Golden Knights have found form since the All-Star break, holding the lead in the Pacific Division.

"I think we got a bit more resilient," Marchessault said. "I think we've played a full 60 minutes instead of a sloppy area of our games, sometimes half a period.

"Our effort and support has been better as a unit of five out there. We just have to keep it going."

The Lightning suffered their second straight loss, falling to 35-16-4. It marked Tampa Bay's first regulation loss of their four-game trip.

Marchessault's two-goal performance brought him within five points of 400 career points.

VGK head coach Bruce Cassidy added: "I loved our third period. We didn't give up anything and tried to extend our lead.

"First period, getting around the front of the net, scored a couple of goals. I like that part of our game."

Jonathan Marchessault was relieved to snap his 13-game goal drought as the Vegas Golden Knights continued on their winning ways since the break with a 5-4 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday.

Marchessault scored two first-period goals as the Golden Knights raced to a 4-2 lead in an entertaining start to the contest.

The center is the latest VGK player to end a goal drought, but he was keen to move on, with the side improving to 34-18-4 amid a five-game win streak.

"Yeah, that's probably the longest I have went but you just have to move on," Marchessault told reporters.

"You know, it's on to the next game. We're gonna enjoy this one until midnight tonight and try to get better tomorrow."

The Golden Knights have found form since the All-Star break, holding the lead in the Pacific Division.

"I think we got a bit more resilient," Marchessault said. "I think we've played a full 60 minutes instead of a sloppy area of our games, sometimes half a period.

"Our effort and support has been better as a unit of five out there. We just have to keep it going."

The Lightning suffered their second straight loss, falling to 35-16-4. It marked Tampa Bay's first regulation loss of their four-game trip.

Marchessault's two-goal performance brought him within five points of 400 career points.

GVK head coach Bruce Cassidy added: "I loved our third period. We didn't give up anything and tried to extend our lead.

"First period, getting around the front of the net, scored a couple of goals. I like that part of our game."

Boston Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery hailed his side's ability to overcome adversity after rallying for a 3-2 overtime win against the Dallas Stars on Tuesday.

The NHL-leading Bruins improved to a 40-8-5 record with the victory where Pavel Zacha tied the game at 2-2 at 10:12 of the third period, before David Pastrnak fired a one-time finish home from Charlie McEvoy's cross-ice pass with 1:16 remaining in overtime.

Pastrnak's goal came after the Bruins had killed off a Dallas OT power play, thanks to five Linus Ullmark saves, to get the better of the Stars, who lead the Western Conference.

Dallas had fought back from an early deficit from Taylor Hall's strike to lead 2-1 after goals from Roope Hintz and Jason Robertson, before the Bruins rallied. The Stars also failed to capitalise on a five-on-three power play in the second period.

"It was nice to win a game where we had to overcome so many struggles within the game," Montgomery told reporters.

"The penalty kills, then playing really well and not having the lead, trailing. Keep pushing, keep believing.

"There's a lot of belief in that locker room if we play the right way. We have a lot of depth that can overcome a lot of adversity."

The win was Montgomery's 100th in the NHL, including 60 in charge of the Stars before being fired in December 2019. This game marked his first in Dallas as a head coach since that dismissal.

Zacha, who finished the game with a goal and an assist, praised his side's identity.

"That's what our team is about, our identity," he said. "With having the leaders like we do I don't think we get frustrated. We just get to working hard, sticking to the process.

"I think that's one of the game's best third-period teams, so we know our strength."

Alex Killorn admitted "emotions were high" as the Tampa Bay Lightning thrashed the Colorado Avalanche 5-0 to get back to winning ways.

The Avalanche beat the Lightning in last year's Stanley Cup, taking the series 4-2 to deny Tampa Bay a hat-trick of trophy triumphs.

That made Thursday's game one that Killorn and team-mates had been looking forward to for a long time, and they made it a night to remember.

Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy achieved his first shutout of the season, while Brandon Hagel managed two goals and an assist, with Corey Perry, Brayden Point and Mikhail Sergachev also netting.

Tampa Bay had lost to the Florida Panthers and Los Angeles Kings since the All-Star Game, so there was an imperative to get back to winning ways, and they did so in grand style.

Forward Killorn said: "Tonight we played very well. It's obviously a matchup we circled at the beginning of the year with what happened last year."

The teams play again next Tuesday in Denver, the second of four road games coming up for the Lightning, who must also face the Dallas Stars, Arizona Coyotes and Vegas Golden Knights before getting back to home ice.

"For us now going on the road that was a huge game to kind of start and get momentum going the right way," Killorn said.

"We've been on the other side of that for the past couple of years. And we realised teams kind of circle us. This has been the first time where we get a chance to play the team who beat us [in the Stanley Cup], so emotions were high for sure in this game.

"They're a great team. Tonight we just had a complete game, we were very aggressive, so we look forward to seeing them later in the playoffs."

Killorn was pleased for Vasilevskiy to avoid conceding, saying: "It's a little bit of a weight off his shoulders. He's obviously one of the best goalies in the league. For him, it's going to be huge momentum going forward, and I know he's happy about it."

Head coach Jon Cooper offered a different slant, suggesting that to his mind the game was not about last year's disappointment, but about building for the rest of this campaign.

"To be honest it had nothing really to do with Colorado," Cooper said. "What it had to do with was our previous two games.

"We're going on a tough four-game trip against some of the best teams in the west, and we couldn't go out losing three in a row after the break.

"It was entirely about us and not who we were playing. We needed an effort and they gave it tonight."

Dallas Stars coach Peter DeBoer hailed his side's willingness to be unbowed physically by the Minnesota Wild after taking a 4-1 win on Wednesday.

A superb performance between the posts from Jake Oettinger, in which the goaltender made 38 saves, helped the hosts to a first regulation win since January 21.

Roope Hintz scored a goal and proided an assist, while there were also scores from Jamie Benn, Radek Faksa and Jani Hakanpaa as the Stars extended their point streak to seven games.

Having furthered their lead atop the Western Conference, DeBoer was delighted to see his side square up to the physical challenge offered by the Wild.

"[It was a] a good win," he said at American Airlines Center. "They made it difficult. They're a big, physical team that came in here and tried to impose that game on us.

"I loved our response. I thought we didn't back down. Physically, [we] didn't take a step back. I thought we played exactly how you have to play against a team like that."

After a goalless first period, the Stars took charge in the second with three scores and never looked likely to relinquish their lead.

Wild coach Dean Evason felt his side lack a cutting edge, with Joel Eriksson Ek the only man to find the back of the net.

"We just didn't find a way to score a goal," he said. "We''e doing a lot of real good things.

"[There are] a lot of positives in this hockey game. We have to obviously stay as positive as we can. We play tomorrow night."

The Wild next face the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday, while the Stars are not back in action until they face the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday.

Buffalo Bills co-owner Kim Pegula is recovering from suffering a cardiac arrest last June, but "where she ends up is still unknown".

American tennis star Jessica Pegula, the world number four, provided an update on her mother's condition in a long Players' Tribune article on Tuesday.

The five-time grand slam singles quarter-finalist revealed her sister, Kelly, saved their 53-year-old's mother live by giving her CPR after their father woke up to her going into cardiac arrest nine months ago.

Kim, co-owner and president of both NFL franchise the Bills and NHL team the Buffalo Sabres, is back at home and doctors are "blown away" by her "miracle" recovery.

She is, however, suffering from significant expressive aphasia and significant memory issues and the family have come to the realisation that she is unlikely to resume her roles with the Bills and Sabres.

Jessica revealed that three months before her mother fell ill, her sister had decided to learn CPR.

She wrote: "Kelly called me one day and said she was going to get her CPR certification as a requirement for a job she wanted. I said: 'No way, I have been meaning to do that but haven't gotten around to it.”

"She relayed to me how nervous she was about it and hoped she passed the class. I remember her telling us what she was doing in our family group chat, and my mom even responded: 'Nice Kells! Now if we have a heart attack, you can revive us.'"

She added: "Today, my mom is still in recovery, and although it is the same answer every time someone asks me, it is true, she is improving every day. She is dealing with significant expressive aphasia and significant memory issues.

"She can read, write, and understand pretty well, but she has trouble finding the words to respond. It is hard to deal with and it takes a lot of patience to communicate with her, but I thank God every day that we can still communicate with her at all. The doctors continue to be blown away by her recovery, considering where she started, and her determination is the driving force of that."

Jessica was a quarter-finalist at the Australian Open last month, having been considering whether she should call time on her career.

She stated: "Suddenly, I went from 'Let's celebrate top 10 in the world' to 'Do I need to start thinking about my career after tennis a lot sooner than I thought?' 'Does my dad and family need help?' 'Maybe I should just go back to school and work for the family.'

"I am 28 and I take pride in being able to handle every situation thrown at me, but this was A LOT."

She was also hit hard by seeing Damar Hamlin collapse on the field while playing for the Bills last month.

"Then in January we came to some bizarre, messed-up, full circle moment." she wrote. "Buffalo Bills player Damar Hamlin suffered a cardiac arrest on the field during the Monday night game against the Cincinnati Bengals. My stomach sunk because it felt like the exact same thing all over again."

Last year's French Open women's doubles runner-up continued: "It has been a tough year, but at the same time I feel lucky and blessed. I am thankful she is still with us when other families may not have been so lucky.

"That she even had a chance at recovery when the first week in the hospital seemed so dim. Thankful for the doctors that aided in her recovery. Thankful that she is now home, that she gets to watch the Bills, Sabres and my tennis matches. She never watched my matches before, because she got too nervous. Now she watches all of them.

"Thank you to the Buffalo community for your patience. I know you have wanted answers and it took us a while to get there, but it finally felt like it was time. Thank you to everyone who has respected privacy and shown me and my family tremendous support throughout this ongoing journey."

Matthew Tkachuk enjoyed home comforts in the NHL All-Star Game, named MVP as the Atlantic Division beat the Central Division 7-5 on Saturday.

The Florida Panthers winger had seven points on the day, including five in the semi-final win over the Metropolitan Division, as he starred in front of the Panthers fans in Florida.

It was Tkachuk's second All-Star victory, having helped the Pacific Division win the 2020 All-Star title in his hometown of St. Louis.

Victory in Florida was a special occasion for Tkachuk, who hopes his teammates on the day enjoyed similar feelings.

"It's been an honour to play in front of them this whole year, and it's great that the other players in the league can see what a great place this is to play," he said, "I'm as happy as can be here."

Detroit Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin was another who shone, hitting a hat trick in the final, and he certainly had the same enjoyable experience.

"It was so much fun. I'm proud of how we won it. What a great group of guys. It was just a great weekend."

Victory for the Atlantic was their first after six previous ties in the divisional format, having fallen in the final in 2020.

The Chicago Blackhawks' all-time leading goalscorer Bobby Hull has died at the age of 84.

Hull played for the Blackhawks for 15 seasons between 1957 and 1972, scoring 604 goals in 1,036 games.

Commonly known as the Golden Jet, Hull was a part of the team that won the 1961 Stanley Cup.

He also won consecutive Hart Memorial Trophies as the NHL's most valuable player in 1964-65 and 1965-66.

The league's commissioner Gary Bettman paid tribute to Hull in a statement, calling him a "true superstar".

"When Bobby Hull wound up to take a slapshot, fans throughout the NHL rose to their feet in anticipation and opposing goaltenders braced themselves. During his prime, there was no more prolific goalscorer in all of hockey," Bettman wrote.

"As gregarious a personality as he was explosive as a player, Hull was a true superstar and the face of the Chicago Blackhawks throughout the 1960s and early ’70s.

"The National Hockey League mourns the passing of one of its most iconic and distinctive players.

"We send our deepest condolences to his son, fellow Hockey Hall of Famer Brett, the entire Hull family, and the countless fans around the hockey world who were fortunate enough to see him play or have since marvelled at his exploits."

Hull also spent seven years playing in the WHA with the Winnipeg Jets, signing the sport's first $1million contract, before retiring in the early 1980s after a brief period with the Hartford Whalers. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1983.

Blackhawks chairman Rocky Wirtz also spoke warmly of Hull on Monday, saying in a statement: "Bobby Hull will always be remembered as one of the greatest Blackhawks players of all time. He was a beloved member of the Blackhawks family.

"When I assumed leadership of the organisation upon my father's passing in 2007, one of my first priorities was to meet with Bobby to convince him to come back as an ambassador of the team. His connection to our fans was special and irreplaceable.

"On behalf of the entire Wirtz family, I offer our deepest condolences on the loss of Bobby Hull, the Golden Jet. He will be missed." 

Sebastian Aho has taken his game to a new level after inspiring the Carolina Hurricanes to a 4-1 victory over the NHL-best Boston Bruins on Sunday.

That is the assessment of team-mate Brent Burns, who is enjoying a first-hand view of the flying Finn's excellent form.

Aho scored for a fourth game running, while Paul Stastny, Seth Jarvis and Jordan Staal each finished with goals as the Canes made it five straight wins to sit top of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference.

"It's been fun. It's fun to see a guy like that off the ice, what he does and how competitive he is on the ice," Burns said of Aho.

"He doesn't like to lose in anything. It's fun to see it up close and take it to the next level.

"He's just explosive when he gets the puck. Anybody can see his confidence growing and he's just a special player. It's special to see every day."

Aho has racked up seven goals during his streak, and has 21 overall for the season.

"He seems to have picked that step up again," Canes head coach Rod Brind'Amour said. "He's playing at a high level, that's for sure."

Pavel Zacha managed the solitary goal for a Bruins side who have 81 points, the most in the NHL, but are now on a three-match losing streak.

Nonetheless, Aho recognised the quality at Boston's disposal.

"Through the lineup, every line did their job. That's a great team we played tonight," Aho said.

"There's a reason why they're at the top of the standings. They play a good game. We needed to bring our best tonight."

Brind'Amour added: "It was a great game. Listen, we know that that team is the cream of the crop and they're lapping everybody right now. It was a good test. 

"We played good. Regardless of the opponent, we played solid the whole game."

Dougie Hamilton scored an overtime winner for the second time in as many games before describing his mindset as just "trying to let it rip".

Hamilton scored a power-play goal with 1:06 left in overtime to clinch a 3-2 win for the New Jersey Devils over the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday, achieving the same feat in Sunday's 2-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins.

The Devils' defenseman had squared the game up after his side trailed entering the third period.

"It was pretty similar I think," Hamilton told reporters when comparing both OT goals. "I was just hoping to try and get another shot today. Same as last game. I just tried to let it rip and see what happens."

Center Jack Hughes set up the goal, with a pass from the boards as he fell to his knees to find a wide-open Hamilton.

"Obviously a great play by Jack, just laid it on a platter for me," Hamilton said.

Vegas Golden Knights rookie goaltender All-Star Logan Thompson accepted blame for Hamilton's goals, both deflected off defensemen. The result means the Golden Knights are 1-4-1 in their past six games.

"I just lost it," Thompson said. "It’s an unacceptable goal for me. They score in the first four minutes and the last minute. That's on me, I have to be better."

The Golden Knights have also scored two goals or fewer in four of their past five games, but remain top of the Pacific Division with a 29-17-3 record.

The Devils are second in the Metropolitan Division with a 31-12-4 record, including a red-hot 8-1-1 record from their past 10 games.

Boston Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery heaped praise on Patrice Bergeron but says he will undergo X-rays after copping a puck to the face in Wednesday's 4-1 win over the New York Islanders.

Bergeron headed down the tunnel early in the third period after a deflected slap shot from David Pastrnak missed his visor and hit him in the face.

The Bruins captain was in apparent pain, having medical attention, but would emerge back on the bench later in the period, helping his side round out a third straight win.

Despite returning to the ice, Montgomery revealed Bergeron had not been cleared by medical staff yet.

"How much respect I have for him coming back after, I know the puck got deflected, but it hits him up high and in the face," Montgomery told NESN.

"The admiration I have and everybody has for him coming back to try to help the team win after that is immense.

"We're hoping that all the X-rays come back good."

The Islanders had taken a first-period lead from Zach Parise but Bruins defensemen Charlie McAvoy and Derek Forbort responded with goals 4:12 apart in the second period to claim the advantage.

Brad Marchand and Trent Frederic added third-period goals for Boston with Charlie Coyle having two assists, while goal-tender Linus Ullmark made 25 saves in his 100th career win.

"I couldn't be more happy, it's been overwhelming," Ullmark said. "I have a lot of gratitude playing with the boys who work so hard every night."

The Bruins are the NHL's only 30-win team, improving their record to 35-5-4.

Juraj Slafkovsky's rookie season appears to be over after the Montreal Canadiens announced the number one overall pick in the 2022 draft will miss three months due to a lower-body injury sustained in Sunday's game at the New York Rangers.

The 18-year-old Slovakian forward has four goals and six assists in 39 games this season for the Canadiens, who are in 15th place in the 16-team Eastern Conference and are unlikely to make the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Prior to getting injured, Slafkovsky was mired in a 15-game point drought and had not scored a goal in 21 straight contests.

"We believe his development will happen in stages," Montreal general manager Kent Hughes said on Wednesday. "It's not, 'hey, we've got 10 things [for you to do]; go figure them out'.

"Because I think when you do that, [the player] is on the ice thinking and not reacting. And I think sometimes this year we've seen him think on the ice and other times we've seen him react.

"But we're not worried about the production side of it. We're really worried about seeing the areas that we want him to improve on.

"Do we see progress in those areas? Because we know, or we certainly believe, that long term, if he makes [certain] changes to his game, it's going to allow him to adapt to the North American style and be the most successful player he can be.

"He's going to be a different style hockey player than another guy."

Kevin Fiala was hailed as a "rare" talent by head coach Todd McLellan after helping the Los Angeles Kings to a 6-3 triumph over the Edmonton Oilers on Monday.

Just two days on from scoring a hat-trick in a 5-1 win over the Vegas Golden Knights, Fiala finished with two power-play goals and two assists to improve the Kings to a 2-0-0 head-to-head record against the Oilers this season.

It was the sixth game this campaign in which Fiala finished with at least three points, and McLellan was effusive in his praise of the left winger.

"His engine is really good, he can play lots of minutes, he's dangerous and he can play up and down the lineup," McLellan said after the Kings' victory on their home rink at the Crypto.com Arena.

"His game transfers with him wherever he goes. He can play with big players, small players, quick, crafty players, straight-line players. It's rare to find a player like that."

Adrian Kempe had two power-play goals, making it the first instance the Kings had two players doing so in one game, while Alex Iafallo and Viktor Arvidsson registered goals for in-form LA, who have gone 9-2-1 since the middle of December.

Kailer Yamamoto, Ryan McLeod and Connor McDavid were the goalscorers for an Oilers side that failed to capitalise on any of their six power-play opportunities.

McLellan acknowledged his side were fortunate not to be punished more.

"It's not a recipe for success against that team," he said. "Rarely are they going to be shut out in that type of situation. 

"So we were fortunate to come through in that situation. I thought our penalty killers did a really good job."

The Kings, who had seven penalties in total to the Oilers' six, ultimately triumphed because of their proficiency with the power plays, Edmonton coach Jay Woodcroft felt.

The Oilers have given up 42 power-play goals this season, tied most with the Anaheim Ducks.

"I think the refs got involved. There was a lot of calls both ways and we went 0-for-6 on our power play and they scored four on their power play, four on seven," Woodcroft said.

"So obviously some of those penalties are within our control and our penalty kill. They moved the puck around well and give them a little bit of credit, but our penalty kill can be a lot sharper and we ended up on the wrong side of the special teams battle.

"I thought that was the difference in the game."

The Kings sit second in the Pacific Division of the Western Conference, with the Oilers down in fifth.