Around the League notebook: Thursday, Dec. 3

THURSDAY'S RESULTS

Home Team in Caps

Colorado 2, NY RANGERS 1

New Jersey 5, CAROLINA 1

Washington 3, MONTREAL 2

OTTAWA 4, Chicago 3 (OT)

DETROIT 5, Arizona 1

Florida 2, NASHVILLE 1

MINNESOTA 1, Toronto 0

Dallas 4, VANCOUVER 2

HOLTBY, CAPITALS CONTINUE STREAKS TO CLIMB STANDINGS . . .

Braden Holtby made 33 saves, including 16 stops in the second period, to extend his personal winning streak to a career-high eight games and lead the Washington Capitals to their sixth consecutive victory overall.

* At 18-5-1 (37 points), the Capitals pulled ahead of the New York Rangers (17-7-3, 37 points) – who lost in regulation vs. COL – for first place in the Metropolitan Division, by virtue of having more wins.

* Holtby’s winning streak is the longest by an NHL goaltender this season. The Elias Sports Bureau adds that Holtby is the first Capitals goalie to win eight or more consecutive decisions in one season since Jose Theodore in 2009-10 (10-0-0).

* Holtby also improved to 7-0-2 in nine career regular-season appearances vs. MTL (1.40 GAA, .949 SV%, 2 SO). Overall in 2015-16, he leads all goaltenders in wins (16) and ranks second in goals-against average (1.96) among goaltenders with at least eight appearances.

* The Capitals improved 10-0-2 in their last 12 regular-season visits to Bell Centre dating to Nov. 28, 2009, including five straight wins (MTL: 2-8-2). Overall, Washington picked up its fourth consecutive road victory and improved to 8-2-0 away from Verizon Center in 2015-16.

. . . LEHTONEN AND LEAGUE-LEADING STARS DO THE SAME

Kari Lehtonen made 14 saves and Patrick Sharp scored the game-winning goal at 14:01 of the third period to help the Dallas Stars earn their 10th consecutive victory against the Vancouver Canucks dating to April 18, 2013 (VAN: 0-7-3), including a 3-0-0 sweep of their season series.

* Via Elias, Dallas’ 10-game winning streak against Vancouver is the longest active winning streak by a team against one opponent.

* The Stars (20-5-1, 41 points) became the first team to reach 20 victories this season and leapfrogged the Montreal Canadiens (19-5-3, 41 points) – who lost in regulation vs. WSH – for the top spot in the NHL standings.

* Elias says the Stars have reached the 20-win and 40-point milestones in the fewest games in their history, besting previous marks set in 2005-06 (29 GP) and 1998-99 (28 GP), respectively.

* Lehtonen pushed his winning streak against the Canucks to eight games, after posting a 2-7-0 mark in his first nine games against them. He also improved to 10-1-0 in 12 appearances this season (2.37 GAA, .918 SV%), including wins in each of his last seven decisions.

* The Stars, who stretched their road point streak to nine games (8-0-1), also lead the League in road wins (11) and road points (23) this season.

RED WINGS, PANTHERS ALSO KEEP STREAKING

The Detroit Red Wings and Florida Panthers also won to continue their recent strings of success:

* The Red Wings scored three times in the opening period – including goals 18 seconds apart in the final minute – and added two insurance goals to improve to 6-0-3 in their past nine games overall and extend their point streak at Joe Louis Arena to seven games (4-0-3). Via Elias, the Red Wings have earned at least one point in nine or more consecutive games for the first time since Dec. 27, 2008-Jan. 15, 2009 (8-0-2).

* Roberto Luongo made 32 saves, including 27 over the final two periods, to lead the Panthers to their season-high fourth consecutive victory and their first victory in Nashville since Dec. 11, 1999. Florida improved to 3-5-4 in 12 all-time visits to Bridgestone Arena (NSH: 7-3-2). The Panthers also pushed their road winning streak to four games – including 3-0-0 on their five-game road trip – after beginning the season with a 2-4-2 record away from BB&T Center. Via Elias, the Panthers have won four consecutive road games for the first time since Feb. 11-28, 2012 (also 4-0-0).

SENATORS EMERGE WITH OT WIN

Mike Hoffman (2-1—3), Bobby Ryan (1-2—3) and Erik Karlsson (0-3—3) each had three points to help the Ottawa Senators overcome two Blackhawks rallies and end a two-game skid.

* Hoffman, who led rookies with 27 goals in 2014-15, scored his second career overtime goal (also Nov. 13 at EDM: 2-0—2). He also matched a personal best for points in a game and pushed his point streak to a career-high six games (8-3—11).

* Karlsson leads the Senators – and NHL defensemen – with 5-24—29 this season, four points ahead of Hoffman (13-12—25) and Ryan (9-16—25).

* Craig Anderson, a Park Ridge, Ill., native, made 35 saves to improve to 6-2-3 in 11 career appearances against the Blackhawks (3.25 GAA, .911 SV%).

KANE PUSHES POINT STREAK TO 21, EQUALS FRANCHISE MARK

Patrick Kane (1-2—3) factored on all three Blackhawks goals to stretch his point streak to a career-high 21 games (13-22—35), equaling the longest such run in franchise history and extending his record for the longest point streak by a U.S.-born player in NHL history.

* Per Elias, Kane equaled the Blackhawks record originally set by Bobby Hull from Dec. 5, 1971-Jan. 23, 1972 (23-12—35 in 21 GP). Elias adds that Kane is the fourth player to have at least one point in 21 or more consecutive team games in one season since 1992-93:

Single-Season Point Streaks of 21+ Games, Since 1992-93

25 – Sidney Crosby, PIT: Nov. 5 – Dec. 28, 2010 (26-24—50)

22 – Dany Heatley, OTT: Oct. 5 – Nov. 29, 2005 (17-21—38)

21 – Patrick Kane, CHI: Oct. 17 – Dec. 3, 2015 (13-22—35)^

21 – Adam Oates, BOS: March 4 – April 14, 1993 (9-30—39)

^ Active

* Kane, who leads all players with 16-25—41 in 2015-16, had at least three points in a game for the fourth time this season. It also was his League-leading 12th multipoint game. He also pulled within two points of 600 in his career (221-377—598 in 602 GP).

AROUND THE RINKS

* Devan Dubnyk earned his League-leading fourth shutout of the season (18th of his career) to help the Minnesota Wild improve to 9-3-1 at home this season. Dubnyk moved to 40-16-4 with nine shutouts in 61 appearances with the Wild (1.99 GAA, .929 SV%), including 13-7-2 this season (2.36 GAA, .916 SV%, 4 SO). Dubnyk’s nine shutouts since joining the Wild in January (61 GP) equal his total from his first 192 NHL appearances.

* Mike Cammalleri (2-1—3) had his League-leading fifth three-point game of the season to power the New Jersey Devils to their third consecutive road victory. Adam Henrique converted on a nifty backhand for what stood as his team-leading third game-winning goal of the season; he has scored the GWG in four of New Jersey’s past six wins against the Carolina Hurricanes.

* Chris Wagner and Matt Duchene scored 4:16 apart in the second period to help the Colorado Avalanche earn their second straight win overall and improve to 10-3-0 in their last 13 visits to Madison Square Garden dating to Dec. 9, 1998 (NYR: 3-7-3). Duchene, who led all players with 11 goals in November (14 GP), has scored in each of his first two games this month; he leads the Avalanche and is tied for third in the NHL with 14 goals.

MILESTONES & BENCHMARKS

* Avalanche forward Jarome Iginla played in his 1,418th career game to pass Luke Richardson (1,417) for sole possession of 28th place on the NHL’s all-time games played list; Pat Verbeek (1,424) holds the 27th position.

* Luongo played in his 885th career game to move within one game of tying Tony Esposito (886 GP) for seventh place on the NHL’s all-time games played list among goaltenders.

* Tyler Kennedy (0-2—2), who signed a one-year contract with the Devils on Nov. 27, got his first points for New Jersey with two assists Thursday (4 GP) to reach 200 points in his NHL career (86-115—201).

* Capitals coach Barry Trotz earned his 620th career victory to tie Bryan Murray for 10th place on the NHL’s all-time coaching wins list.

* Blackhawks defenseman Michal Rozsival (900), Red Wings defenseman Niklas Kronwall (700) and Maple Leafs forward Tyler Bozak (400) each played in a milestone game.

LOOSE PUCKS

Stars forward Tyler Seguin (14-21—35) scored his 14th goal of the season to pull into a tie for second place (w/ Jamie Benn: 18-17—35) among the League’s top point-producers, behind Kane (16-25—41) . . . Blackhawks forward Artemi Panarin (1-2—3) had his fourth three-point performance to increase his rookie scoring lead (8-18—26) . . . Capitals forward T.J. Oshie (2-0—2) had his first multigoal game since Jan. 3 at SJS w/ STL, when he had his second career hat trick (3-1—4) . . . Panthers forward Jonathan Huberdeau scored his third career game-winning goal and first since Dec. 7, 2013 at DET . . . Kronwall scored his second game-winning goal in the past four games, after he had one such goal over the past two seasons combined (159 GP) . . . Wild defenseman Matt Dumba scored his second game-winning goal of the season (24 GP), equaling his total from his first 71 career NHL games . . . Red Wings forward Darren Helm (22 GP) and Devils teammates Stephen Gionta (34 GP) and Jacob Josefson (27 GP) each ended a lengthy goal drought . . . Kayleigh Petersen led the Rangers onto the ice for warmup after signing a one-day contract as part of their Garden of Dreams Night at Madison Square Garden . . . Red Wings goalie Jimmy Howard debuted a new holiday mask and made 26 saves to earn his fourth straight victory.