Colorado Avalanche winger Valeri Nichushkin had a three-assist game on Wednesday against the San Jose Sharks, helping his team secure a 4-2 victory. Nichushkin helped Artturi Lehkonen score two second-period goals, and Josh Manson potted the game-winning goal in the third after work from Nichushkin and Nathan MacKinnon. With Martin Necas (lower body) out, Nichushkin has skated on the first line with Lehkonen and MacKinnon. The Olympic break comes at the wrong time for him, as the Russian forward has been pointless only once in his last six outings. For the season, Nichushkin has totaled 12 goals and 34 points in 46 games.

Nashville Predators center Ryan O'Reilly finished Wednesday's high-scoring 6-5 overtime loss to the Minnesota Wild with three assists. The veteran forward started off the night with a power-play assist in the first period and served up an even-strength assist in the second and third periods. O'Reilly has been one of the surprise performers in fantasy hockey this season, averaging a point per game for the first time in his 17-year NHL career. He's on track for an 80-point campaign after managing only 53 points a season ago. In 56 outings, O'Reilly has posted 20 goals and 36 assists. He will attempt to post a three-game multi-point streak on Thursday against Washington, something O'Reilly hasn't done in the regular season since 2016-17.

Minnesota Wild winger Matt Boldy rocked the Nashville Predators with an early hat trick and a four-point performance in Wednesday's 6-5 overtime victory. The 24-year-old posted the fastest hat trick in franchise history to start a game, netting his third goal with just 12:58 played in the first period. Zach Parise held the previous record of 16:33, set in 2016. Boldy completed his big performance with an assist on Jared Spurgeon's game-winning goal late in overtime. The prolific winger became the sixth player in the league this season with at least 30 goals and 30 assists. He has managed 62 points (32 goals, 30 assists) in 54 contests. Boldy will now shift his attention to representing Team USA at the Olympics before continuing the season with the Wild on Feb. 25.

Columbus Blue Jackets goaltender Jet Greaves registered a 21-save shutout on Wednesday night in a 4-0 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks. A day after Elvis Merzlikins blanked the New Jersey Devils, Greaves responded with an equally impressive shutout effort. The Blue Jackets kept the opposition from scoring in consecutive days for just the second time in franchise history. Greaves earned his second shutout of the season, improving to 18-12-6. He holds a 2.62 goals-against average and a .910 save percentage. Greaves and Merzlikins have been sharing the workload recently and will likely continue to do so after the Olympic break.