Around the League notebook for Thursday, Nov. 13

THURSDAY'S RESULTS

Home Team in Caps

Colorado 4, NY RANGERS 3 (SO)

Winnipeg 3, CAROLINA 1

MONTREAL 5, Boston 1

San Jose 2, TAMPA BAY 1

ST. LOUIS 4, Nashville 3

MINNESOTA 6, Buffalo 3

CALGARY 5, Arizona 3

Ottawa 4, EDMONTON 3 (OT)

Dallas 2, LOS ANGELES 0

'STL LINE' (AGAIN) LEADS BLUES PAST PREDS

The trio of Jaden Schwartz (0-1—1), Vladimir Tarasenko (1-1—2) and Jori Lehtera (0-2—2) combined for five points and Paul Stastny potted the game-winner with just under six minutes left in regulation to lift the St. Louis Blues to a 4-3 win against the Nashville Predators, their ninth win in their past 10 games (9-1-0). Recently dubbed the 'STL Line', Schwartz, Tarasenko and Lehtera have combined for 16 goals, 38 points and a plus-31 rating during the Blues' past 10 games.

* Tarasenko stretched his point streak to a career-long seven games (6-6—12); he now has seven multipoint games this season and 23 in his career (118 GP). Tarasenko is tied with Phil Kessel for fourth in League scoring (10-11—21).

* Lehtera pushed his point streak to six games (4-6—10) and now has 6-10—16 through his first 15 NHL games, including five multipoint performances.

* Schwartz now has points in five straight games (1-7—8), his longest stretch since an eight-game streak from Dec. 19, 2013 to Jan. 4, 2014 (7-3—10).

* Stastny scored his first goal since the season opener to pick up his first game-winner since April 5 against St. Louis while with Colorado.

* The Blues hosted the Predators for the second time in six days (2-1 loss on Saturday) and leapfrogged Nashville into first place in the Central Division. The clubs will meet three more times in 2014-15: Dec. 4 and 30 at NSH and Jan. 29 at STL.

NIEDERREITER'S HAT TRICK POWERS WILD

Nino Niederreiter recorded his first NHL hat trick to power the Minnesota Wild to a 6-3 win against the Buffalo Sabres. The teams combined for three goals in a span of 17 seconds in the first period. Ryan Carter got the Wild on the board, Niederreiter tallied his first goal seven seconds later and Buffalo's Zemgus Girgensons scored 10 seconds after that.

* According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the trio of goals were the fastest three combined goals in each franchise's history, besting the previous marks of 35 seconds for the Wild (Dec. 28, 2002 at Buffalo) and 18 seconds for the Sabres (Feb. 1, 1976 at California).

* Carter and Niederreiter's goals seven seconds apart fell four seconds short of the franchise mark established on Jan. 21, 2004 when Jim Dowd and Richard Park scored three seconds apart in the final minute of the team's 4-2 win over CHI.

* Niederreiter posted his first career multigoal game and marked the first Wild hat trick since Jan. 9 at ARI (Justin Fontaine). Elias says Niederreiter (22 years, 66 days) is the second-youngest Wild player to record a hat trick; Marian Gaborik scored his first hat trick at age 19 and tallied seven three-goal games before his 23rd birthday.

* Niederreiter matched a career-high with three points (Nov. 3, 2013 vs. NJ, 0-3—3) with his first multipoint game of 2014-15.

* The Wild fired a franchise record 20 shots on net in the first period, marking the second time this season they have accumulated at least 20 shots in one period (21 in second period vs. COL on Oct. 9). The club also matched a franchise high with four goals in the first period, marking the second time this season (Oct. 25 vs. TB) and eighth time overall.

* Jared Spurgeon scored his third goal of the season (10 GP) to move within two goals of his career-high set in 2012-13 (39 GP) and 2013-14 (67 GP).

* The Wild improved to 6-1-0 at home this season, outscoring opponents 28-13 in those games.

* Eleven of 18 Wild skaters reached the scoresheet, including multi-point performances by Carter (1-1—2), Kyle Brodziak (1-1—2), Charlie Coyle (0-2—2), Fontaine (0-2—2).

PACIORETTY, ELLER POWER CANADIENS TO FOURTH STRAIGHT WIN

Trailing 1-0 after 20 minutes, the Montreal Canadiens scored five unanswered goals -- including two scores from Max Pacioretty -- en route to their fourth consecutive victory, 5-1 against the Boston Bruins.

* Pacioretty paces the club with eight goals, 13 points and a plus-10 rating this season, including 3-1—4 (+3) on his three-game point streak.

* Lars Eller (1-1—2) potted his fifth goal and fourth game-winner of the season. He has scored the decisive goal in each of the club's past three victories (also Nov. 11 vs. WPG, Nov. 8 vs. MIN).

* The Canadiens scored five goals against Boston for the second time in as many meetings this season (6-4 win on Oct. 16). Elias says the last time Montreal scored as many goals in consecutive games against Boston was Jan. 10 and 22, 2008 when they posted 5-2 and 8-2 victories. Montreal has won eight of the past nine head-to-head meetings (8-1-0) dating to March 3, 2013.

* Carey Price made 21 saves to improve to 10-3-1 this season. The appearance was the 383rd of his career, tying Bill Durnan for fourth on the franchise's all-time games played list among goaltenders. He is now 16 appearances behind Ken Dryden (397) for third.

* Dale Weise (1-1—2) scored on a penalty shot to tie the game at 1-1 in the second period. It marked the first penalty-shot attempt/goal of his career and the first successful penalty shot by a Canadiens player since Apr. 12 when Brian Gionta beat Rangers goaltender Cam Talbot in overtime to give Montreal a 1-0 win in their 2013-14 regular season finale.

* The victory pushed the Canadiens to 12-4-1 (25 points) and moved them into top spot in the Eastern Conference.

GIORDANO IGNITES FLAMES (AGAIN)

Mark Giordano scored his sixth goal of the season to break a 3-3 tie in the second period and lift the Flames to their fifth win in their past eight outings (5-2-1), 5-3 against the Arizona Coyotes. The Flames have now won six straight games against the Coyotes at Scotiabank Saddledome dating to March 15, 2012.

* Giordano stretched his point streak eight games (5-8—13) to move into a share of sixth in League scoring with 20 points (tied with Filip Forsberg); he leads all defenseman in goals (6, tied), assists (14) and points in 18 games.

* Elias says Giordano is the fastest Flames defenseman to reach 20 points since Al MacInnis in 1993-94 (also 18 games).

* Jonas Hiller stopped 20 shots to improve to 21-6-3 with two shutouts in 31 career games against the Coyotes. He has more wins against Arizona than any other club.

* David Jones pushed his point streak to three games with a goal and an assist while Curtis Glencross recorded an assist in his third straight game. Paul Byron (2-0—2) and Sven Baertschi (0-2—2) also posted multiple points.

* The Flames improved to 7-0-1 this season following a loss en route to picking up the 1,500th regular season win in franchise history (885th at home).

HOFFMAN LIFTS SENS TO WIN IN OIL COUNTRY

Mike Hoffman opened the scoring and later tallied his first career overtime winner as the Ottawa Senators earned a 4-3 victory against the Edmonton Oilers. The Senators held a 3-0 lead before the game's 16-minute mark but surrendered three straight Oilers goals, including Jeff Petry's tying goal at 13:45 of the third period.

* Hoffman's two goals match a career high establish on Nov. 6 vs. MIN. He shares the team lead with seven goals this season (career-high); his eight points through 13 games this season are more than he had in his previous 29 career GP.

* Curtis Lazar assisted on the overtime winner in his first NHL game in the city where he played four seasons for the Edmonton Oil Kings in the Western Hockey League. In 2013-14, the Salmon Arm, British Columbia, native led the Oil Kings to a Memorial Cup championship.

* The Senators won for the sixth time in their past seven visits to Edmonton dating to a 5-3 win on Jan. 14, 2006 (6-1-0). Overall they improved to 3-1-2 in their past six games.

WHEELER HELPS JETS GET BACK ON TRACK

Blake Wheeler scored twice, including the tie-breaking goal in the second period, to lift the Winnipeg Jets to their seventh win in their past 10 outings (7-1-2), a 3-1 win against the Carolina Hurricanes.

* Wheeler recorded his 18th career multigoal game and 19th game-winner (second this season in both categories). He leads the Jets in goals (7) and points (12).

* Michael Hutchinson made 22 saves to improve to 2-1-0 with a 1.50 goals-against average, a .949 save percentage and one shutout in four games this season. The Barrie, Ontario native has allowed only 10 goals against in seven career NHL games (1.57 GAA, .946 save percentage).

* The Jets also earned a 3-1 win against the Hurricanes on Oct. 21 and have won 10 of 14 head-to-head games since 2011-12 when they relocated to Winnipeg (10-4-0).

OTHER HIGHLIGHTS FROM THURSDAY'S ACTION

* Trailing 3-2 to start the third period, Nathan MacKinnon tied the game and scored in the shootout to lift the Colorado Avalanche to a 4-3 win against the New York Rangers. Alex Tanguay scored his team-leading seventh goal and potted the game-deciding goal in the shootout. He improved to 21-for-54 (38.9 percent) with 10 game-deciding goals in his shootout career. The Avalanche improved to 12-3-0 in its last 15 games vs. the Rangers.

* Joe Thornton scored to stretch his point streak to four games (3-2—5) and Tyler Kennedy potted his first goal since Jan. 14 (snapping a 29-game drought) to lead the San Jose Sharks to a 2-1 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Antti Niemi turned aside 32 shots and recorded his sixth career assist on Kennedy's game-winner to pick up his seventh win of the season. Thornton now has 16-23—39 in 35 career games against the Lightning. The victory halted Tampa Bay's point streak at seven games (6-0-1).

* Ryan Garbutt potted his second straight game-winning goal and Kari Lehtonen turned aside 27 shots for his 28th career shutout as the Dallas Stars shut out the Los Angeles Kings 2-0. In two games, Garbutt has matched his game-winning goal total from his first 145 NHL games. Jason Spezza scored the second Stars goal with assists to Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin; the trio has combined for 20 goals and 50 points through 16 games this season. Seguin (12-10—22) is tied for second in League scoring with Jakub Voracek, two points behind Sidney Crosby.

LOOSE PUCK

Filip Forsberg (1-2—3) factored on all three Nashville goals to extend his point streak to seven games (7-6—13). He leads all rookies in goals, assists and points, and shares sixth in the League in scoring (8-12—20). His plus-19 rating is five better than any other player . . . Sergei Gonchar made his Canadiens debut after being acquired from the Stars on Tuesday. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Gonchar (40 years, 214 days) is just the third player -- and first skater -- age 40-plus to suit up for the Canadiens; goaltenders George Hainsworth (41 years, 177 days) and Lorne "Gump" Worsley (40 years, 206 days) are the only others . . . Rangers forward Kevin Hayes scored to stretch his point streak to three games (1-2—3). Teammate Dan Boyle played 22:14 in his return to the lineup after suffering a hand injury in the season opener . . . Buffalo's Chris Stewart (400), Winnipeg's TJ Galiardi (300), NY Rangers' Carl Hagelin (200) and Colorado's Nathan MacKinnon (100) all played in milestone games . . . Carolina's Elias Lindholm scored his team-leading sixth goal of the season (tied) while Riley Nash stretched his point streak to three games (1-3—4) . . . Lightning captain Steven Stamkos scored his 11th goal of the season to push his point streak to four games (3-2—5) . . . T.J. Oshie scored a power-play goal in his return to the Blues lineup following a seven-game absence. Teammate Carl Gunnarsson (1-1—2) posted his first multipoint game since Dec. 14, 2013 . . . Oilers forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins tallied two assists and now has 1-4—5 in his past three games. . . Lakeville, Minn. native Jordan Schroeder made his Wild debut . . . Colorado defenseman Tyson Barrie had two assists and now leads the team with 11 (1-11—12) this season . . . The Wild and Oilers hosted a military appreciation nights . . . The Lightning debuted their new third jersey.