Around the League notebook for Tuesday, Dec. 9

TUESDAY'S RESULTS

Home Team in Caps

Chicago 3, NEW JERSEY 2 (SO)

COLUMBUS 3, Philadelphia 2 (OT)

BUFFALO 1, Los Angeles 0

TORONTO 4, Calgary 1

MONTREAL 3, Vancouver 1

Washington 5, TAMPA BAY 3

MINNESOTA 5, NY Islanders 4

Winnipeg 5, DALLAS 2

Nashville 3, COLORADO 0

SAN JOSE 5, Edmonton 2

CANADIENS PAY TRIBUTE TO BELIVEAU

Tomas Plekanec and Max Pacioretty (1-1—2) scored in the final 4:16 of the third period to lift the Montreal Canadiens to a 3-1 victory in their first home game since the passing of NHL legend Jean Beliveau.

* With the Beliveau family in attendance, players and fans at Bell Centre watched a video tribute to Beliveau's career before observing a moment of silence.

* Players and fans also paid respect to the 17-time Stanley Cup champion and his family with a standing ovation before joining together to sing the Canadian national anthem. Click here to watch the entire pregame ceremony.

* Canadiens players wore a patch on their jerseys with Beliveau's No. 4; his number was also embedded in the ice behind each net. In addition, Beliveau's usual seat behind the Canadiens bench was left vacant for the game.

* The Canadiens announced details regarding the state funeral for Beliveau, which will be held in Montreal at 2 p.m. EST on Wednesday:

Former teammates and friends Yvan Cournoyer, Phil Goyette, Guy Lafleur, Bobby Rousseau, Serge Savard and Jean-Guy Talbot will serve as pallbearers.

Former teammates Dickie Moore, Yvan Cournoyer, Ken Dryden and Serge Savard as well as Canadiens owner, CEO and president Geoff Molson will pronounce a eulogy.

NIEDERREITER CAPS WILD NIGHT IN MINNY

Down 3-0 after the first period and 4-1 after 40 minutes, the Minnesota Wild scored four unanswered goals in the final frame, including Nino Niederreiter's game-winning goal with 4:33 left in regulation, to pick up a 5-4 win against the New York Islanders. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the Wild rallied from a three-goal deficit for a regulation victory for the first time in franchise history.

* Minnesota is the seventh team to rally from a three-goal deficit to win this season and the third to do so in the past four days, following the St. Louis Blues on Dec. 6 (6-4 at NYI) and Ottawa Senators on Dec. 7 (4-3 OT vs. VAN). The other four teams to accomplish the feat in 2014-15: Montreal on Oct. 11 (4-3 SO at PHI), the New York Rangers on Oct. 27 (5-4 vs. MIN), the Colorado Avalanche on Nov. 25 (4-3 OT at ARI) and the Detroit Red Wings on Nov. 28 (5-4 SO at NJ).

* Elias says the Wild are the first team to rally from multiple three-goal deficits to win in regulation since Feb. 16, 2013, when Taylor Hall had three assists to rally the Edmonton Oilers from 3-0 and 4-1 deficits in a 6-4 win against Colorado.

* Niederreiter played his first 64 career NHL games (2-1—3) with the Islanders after being selected by New York with the No. 5 pick in the 2010 NHL Draft. Since joining the Wild at the start of the 2013-14 season, Niederreiter has 51 points (26 goals, 25 assists) in 107 games, including 12 goals and 15 points this season. He is tied with Marco Scandella for the Wild lead with three game-winning goals this season, one back of Filip Forsberg, Tyler Seguin, Alex Ovechkin and Lars Eller for the League lead.

* Thomas Vanek (1-1—2) scored the game-tying goal with 8:12 left in regulation and assisted on Niederreiter's game-winner in just his second game against the Islanders since playing for New York in 47 games last season.

* Zach Parise had the primary assist on Vanek's goal to push his point streak to five games (2-6—8). Parise has 41 points (17-24—41) in 44 career games against the Islanders, his highest total against one team.

* Ryan Suter (0-3—3) matched a career-high for assists/points in a game, marking his first three-point game since Jan. 4 when he had his first NHL hat trick against the Washington Capitals.

* Mikko Koivu (1-1—2) triggered the third-period comeback with his fifth goal of the season and has six points (three goals, three assists) on his five-game point streak. Jason Pominville scored the Wild's opening goal to push his point streak to five games (2-3—5).

* Niklas Backstrom played in his 400th NHL game (193-137-48) to become the first goaltender in Wild history to reach the milestone.

OVECHKIN LEADS CAPITALS IN BATTLE OF TOP SCORERS

Tampa Bay Lightning captain Steven Stamkos scored his 250th career goal to tie the game at 2-2 47 seconds into the second period but the Capitals scored three of the next four goals, including Alex Ovechkin's (2-0—2) empty-net goal with less than one second left in regulation.

* Stamkos (17 goals) and Ovechkin (14) are tied for third and sixth, respectively, in League scoring this season. Elias says that since the start of 2009-10, Stamkos (227) and Ovechkin (216) are the only players with more than 200 goals.

* Ovechkin has 74 points (37 goals, 37 assists) in 56 career games against the Lightning, his second-highest goal and point total against one opponent (41 goals and 82 points against the Winnipeg Jets/Atlanta Thrashers).

* Stamkos is the third player to score at least 250 goals in a Lightning uniform, following Martin St. Louis (365 goals) and Vincent Lecavalier (383). Per Elias, at 24 years, 305 days, Stamkos is the 10th-youngest player in NHL history to reach the 250-goal milestone.

* Washington has won three straight games, with Braden Holtby earning the decision in all three. He made 33 saves against the Lightning, including 15 in the final period, to earn his 11th win of the season (11-7-3) and move into sole possession of fourth on the franchise's all-time wins list with 71.

* Nicklas Backstrom and Marcus Johansson each had two assists. Backstrom has 40 points (six goals, 34 assists) in 37 career games against the Lightning.

BLACKHAWKS EXTEND STREAK WITH SHOOTOUT WIN ...

Jonathan Toews assisted on Duncan Keith's tying-goal at 16:47 of the third period and then had the game-deciding goal in the shootout to lead the Chicago Blackhawks to their sixth consecutive road win and seventh straight win overall. Chicago remains atop the Central Division (19-8-1, 39 points) standings and moved within two points of the Anaheim Ducks (18-6-5, 41 points) for the top spot in the Western Conference and entire NHL. The Blackhawks have one game in hand.

* Toews improved to in 35-for-72 (48.6 %) in career shootout attempts, including 11 game-deciding goals. Patrick Kane scored the clinching goal to improve to 3-for-4 in shootouts this season and 33-for-81 (40.7%) in his career.

* Making back-to-back starts for the first time in his career, Blackhawks rookie goaltender Scott Darling made 22 saves, and each shootout attempts, to win his third straight start. He is 4-1-0 with a 1.76 goals-against average and .939 save percentage in five games.

* Patrick Sharp had an assist in his return following a 14-game absence. He has 10 points (three goals, seven assists) in 14 games this season.

* The Blackhawks improved to 3-0-1 in their past four road games against the New Jersey Devils after going 0-6-2 in New Jersey from 1998-99 to 2008-09.

... LOWRY HELPS JETS KEEP PACE

Tied 2-2 in the second period, Adam Lowry scored twice in a span of 2:19 – his first career multi-point game – to power the Jets to their third win in their past four games. Winnipeg is 5-0-2 in its past seven games to move within one game of its longest point stretch of the season (6-0-2 from Oct. 26 to Nov. 8).

* At 15-9-5 (35 points), the Jets are four points behind the Blackhawks (19-8-1, 39 points) for top spot in the Central Division.

* The Jets have won two of three visits to American Airlines Center since relocating to Winnipeg for the 2011-12 season. The franchise is 3-7-0 record in Dallas, with only one other regulation victory (a 5-2 Thrashers win on Jan. 18, 2006).

* Michael Hutchinson made 26 saves to improve to 6-1-2 with a League-best 1.67 goals-against average and .941 save percentage this season. He has allowed two goals or fewer in 11 of his 13 career games, including one shutout.

* Dustin Byfuglien had his career-best four-game goal streak halted but had two assists to extend his point streak to five games (4-3—7).

* Michael Frolik (1-1—2) scored his second shorthanded goal of the season and Blake Wheeler (1-1—2) pushed his point streak to three games (1-5—6). Andrew Ladd (0-1—1) also found the score sheet for the third straight game (2-4—6); Wheeler and Ladd share the team-lead with 22 points.

PERFECT BETWEEN THE PIPES

The Nashville Predators' Pekka Rinne and Buffalo Sabres' Jhonas Enroth stopped every shot they faced to lead their teams to victory:

* Rinne made 26 saves for his third shutout of the season (35th of his career) and Filip Forsberg (1-1—2) scored his League-leading fourth game-winner (tied) less than three minutes after the opening face-off in Nashville's 3-0 win in Colorado. Rinne leads all goaltenders with 18 wins this season and ranks second and fourth, respectively, in save percentage (.934) and goals-against average (1.81). Forsberg continues to pace all rookies with 12 goals and 27 points in 27 games. Gabriel Bourque (1-1—2) and Mike Ribeiro (0-2—2) also had two-point performances for the Predators (18-7-2, 38 points) who kept pace with the Blackhawks (19-8-1, 39 points) in the Central Division. Nashville has one game in hand.

* Enroth denied all 34 shots he faced for his fourth career shutout and Tyler Ennis scored the decisive goal when the Sabres blanked the Kings 1-0. Buffalo's last shutout was on April 13, 2013 when Enroth made 29 saves and Christian Ehrhoff scored the game-winning goal in a 1-0 win against the Philadelphia Flyers. The Sabres improved to 12-1-1 in their past 14 home games against the Kings, including six straight wins, dating to a 2-0 win on Dec. 17, 1993.

AROUND THE RINKS

Highlights from the rest of Tuesday's action:

* After yielding the tying goal with 56 seconds left on the clock, Kevin Connauton scored his second career NHL goal at 1:58 of overtime to lift the Columbus Blue Jackets to a 3-2 win against the Philadelphia Flyers. The Blue Jackets have won four consecutive games for the first time since they won eight straight contests from Jan. 6 to 23 last season. Goalie Sergei Bobrovsky has started each of Columbus' past four wins. He has a 1.75 goals-against average and a .948 save percentage in that span.

* Connauton, who was claimed on waivers from the Dallas Stars on Nov. 18, scored his only other NHL goal on Dec. 16, 2013 against the Avalanche. The 24-year-old defenseman was selected by the Vancouver Canucks in the third round (No. 83) of the 2009 NHL Draft and had eight points (goal, seven assists) last season as a rookie with Dallas.

* Making his career-high ninth straight start, goalie Jonathan Bernier stopped 32 shots to lead the Toronto Maple Leafs to a 4-1 win against the Flames. Toronto has won six of its past seven contests at Air Canada Centre and shares the League-lead with 11 home wins (11-7-0). James van Riemsdyk (1-1—2) scored his team-leading third game-winning goal (tied with Tyler Bozak) and has six points (two goals, four assists) in his past five games, including two multi-point outings. The Maple Leafs improved to 12-0-0 when scoring first; the Canadiens are the only other team yet to lose when scoring first this season (10-0-0).

* Goalie Alex Stalock made 25 stops in his second straight start, Joe Pavelski scored twice and Logan Couture (1-1—2) scored the game-winning goal to power the San Jose Sharks to a 5-2 win in the back-end of a home-and-home set against the Edmonton Oilers. Pavelski's second goal was his eighth power-play goal of the season, equaling Evgeni Malkin and Brock Nelson for the League lead. Patrick Marleau had two assists to stretch his point streak to six games (1-8—9). He leads the Sharks with 20 assists and 27 points this season.

* Joe Thornton (349-869—1,218) had two assists – his first multi-point game since Nov. 9 – to move into sole possession of 40th and within one point of Jean Beliveau (507-712—1,219) for 39th on the all-time NHL points list. Thornton has 53 points (11 goals, 42 assists)in 46 career games against Edmonton

GIRGENSONS EXPANDS HIS LEAD AS TOP VOTE-GETTER IN ALL-STAR FAN VOTING

Sabres center Zemgus Girgensons remains the top vote-getter after three weeks of voting in the 2015 NHL All-Star Fan Vote presented by SiriusXM with 803,805 total votes. The Latvian-born forward added more than 400,000 votes in one week with nearly 82 percent of his total votes tallied from his native country and 80 percent from Sabres fans. Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane moved into the second spot in the overall leaderboard with 375,758 votes and his teammate Jonathan Toews occupied the third sport overall with 367,962 votes. More than 14 million votes from 182 countries have been cast to date, up 65 percent from last week.

If voting ended today, Girgensons, Kane, Toews; defensemen Duncan Keith (361,830) of the Blackhawks and P.K. Subban (351,726) of the Canadiens; and goaltender Corey Crawford (311,166) of the Blackhawks would earn spots in the 2015 Honda NHL All-Star Game on Sunday, Jan. 25 in Columbus (5 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, TVA Sports).

Click here for the complete results through two weeks of balloting. The real-time leaderboard of the top vote-getters is available at NHL.com/vote.

LOOSE PUCKS

Stars forward Tyler Seguin scored his League-leading 22nd goal and 36th point of the season. He has five points (four goals, assist) in his past three games ... Flyers forward Jakub Voracek (0-1—1) earned his 25th assist to move within one of Sidney Crosby for the League lead ... Flames defenseman Mark Giordano (0-1—1) continues to lead all defensemen in assists (22) and points (29) ... After joining the Ducks on a professional tryout last week, Ilya Bryzgalov agreed to terms on a one-year contract. The 34-year-old goaltender was selected by Anaheim in the second round (No. 44) of the 2000 NHL Draft and was the backup to Jean-Sebastien Giguere during the Ducks' 2006-07 Stanley Cup run The Department of Player Safety fined Islanders forward Anders Lee $2,286.29, the maximum allowable under the Collective Bargaining Agreement, for elbowing Blues defenseman Carl Gunnarsson ... Playing in his 700th NHL game, Flyers forward R.J. Umberger returned to Columbus for the first time since being traded on June 23 ... Flyers defenseman Mark Streit (600) and Islanders forward Brock Nelson (100) also played in milestone games ... Devils goaltender Keith Kinkaid made 37 saves in his first NHL start ... Sharks rookie Barclay Goodrow scored his first NHL goal and linemate Melker Karlsson picked up his first career assist/point on the play ... Islanders defenseman Griffin Reinhart had his first NHL assist/point ... Zagreb, Croatia native Borna Rendulic made his NHL debut with the Avalanche ... Capitals defenseman John Carlson played in his 323rd consecutive game, passing Kelly Miller for the second-longest consecutive games played streak in franchise history ... Oilers forward David Perron scored to extend his point streak to five games (3-2—5) ... Blue Jackets forward Brandon Dubinsky picked up an assist on Boone Jenner's opening goal in his season debut following abdominal surgery on Oct. 8. Jenner stretched his career-best goal streak to four games.