Hat trick performances by the Rangers’ Artemi Panarin and the Bruins’ Brad Marchand, the Kings crown a new all-time assists leader, and much more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.

NHL.COM: New York Rangers winger Artemi Panarin tallied a hat trick as his club held off the San Jose Sharks 6-5. Panarin extended his points streak to seven games and sits fourth among the league’s leading scorers with 35 points. Vincent Trocheck, Jacob Trouba and Jonny Brodzinski each collected two assists for the 18-4-1 Rangers as they sit in first place in the overall standings with 37 points. Anthony Duclair had a goal and an assist for the Sharks (6-17-2) as they sit last overall with 14 points.

New York Rangers winger Artemi Panarin (NHL Images).

SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Sharks activated forward Alexander Barabanov and defenseman Jan Rutta off injured reserve for this game. However, forward Nico Sturm and blueliner Ty Emberson missed this contest with lower-body injuries.

Boston Bruins captain Brad Marchand netted a natural hat trick to rally his club to a 3-1 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets. Charlie McAvoy picked up two assists while Jeremy Swayman made 24 saves as the Bruins (17-4-3) kept pace with the Rangers with 37 points. Boone Jenner replied for the Blue Jackets as they fell to 8-14-4.

The Los Angeles Kings have a new all-time assists leader as captain Anze Kopitar picked up his 758th career assist to surpass Hall-of-Famer Marcel Dionne during their 4-1 win over the Colorado Avalanche. Quinton Byfield scored two goals and Adrian Kempe collected two assists as the Kings (14-4-3) picked up their seventh win in their last 10 games. Josh Manson netted the only goal for the 15-7-2 Avalanche.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Avalanche superstar Cale Makar missed this game with an undisclosed injury. Meanwhile, Avs forward Ross Colton received his second fine of this season as the department of player safety levied him a $5,000.00 fine for a dangerous trip on Anaheim Ducks rookie Leo Carlsson.

Minnesota Wild winger Mats Zuccarello had a goal and two assists to lead his club over the Chicago Blackhawks 4-1. Zuccarello extended his points streak to nine games, rookie Marco Rossi tallied twice and Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 28 shots as the Wild (8-10-4) picked up their third straight win under new head coach John Hynes. Connor Bedard collected an assist on Taylor Raddysh’s goal to extend his road points streak to nine games but his Blackhawks slipped to 7-16-0.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Blackhawks forward Lukas Reichel was a healthy scratch from this game. Meanwhile, Wild defenseman Zach Bogosian missed this game as he’s day-to-day with an upper-body injury.

The Nashville Predators nipped the Buffalo Sabres by a score of 2-1. Juuse Saros kicked out 34 shots while Filip Forsberg and Yakov Trenin scored for the 12-12-0 Predators. Victor Olofsson replied for the Sabres (10-13-2) as they’ve dropped three straight games.