Around the League notebook for Thursday, Dec. 17

THURSDAY RESULTS

Home Team in Caps

BUFFALO 3, Anaheim 0

Florida 5, NEW JERSEY 1

PHILADELPHIA 2, Vancouver 0

San Jose 5, TORONTO 4 (OT)

Los Angeles 3, MONTREAL 0

ST. LOUIS 2, Nashville 1

MINNESOTA 5, NY Rangers 2

CHICAGO 4, Edmonton 0

Calgary 3, DALLAS 1

COLORADO 2, NY Islanders 1

Columbus 7, ARIZONA 5

CRAWFORD BACKS BLACKHAWKS TO ANOTHER SHUTOUT WIN

Corey Crawford made 33 saves, including 15 in the third period, to register his 17th career shutout and third in the last four games as the Chicago Blackhawks won 4-0 against the Edmonton Oilers.

* Via the Elias Sports Bureau, Crawford is the first Blackhawks goaltender to have at least three shutouts in a span of four team games since Tony Esposito accomplished the feat from Feb. 13-20, 1974 (also three SO in 4 GP).

* Crawford, who had four shutouts in the past two seasons combined, leads the League with a career-high five shutouts this season.

* Crawford (16-8-2) ranks third in the NHL in wins, including five in his past six games. He is 7-0-0 in his past seven games against the Oilers (1.69 goals-against average, .947 save percentage, one shutout).

* Teuvo Teravainen (2-1—3) established career highs for goals and points in a game, and linemates Jonathan Toews (1-2—3) and Marian Hossa (0-3—3) had three points apiece.

* The Blackhawks are 10-2-0 in their past 12 games against the Oilers dating to Feb. 25, 2013 (EDM: 2-7-3), including a three-game sweep of their 2015-16 season series.

FLAMES EXTEND WIN STREAK AGAINST LEAGUE-LEADING STARS

The Calgary Flames scored three unanswered goals, from Sean Monahan, Dougie Hamilton and Mason Raymond, to defeat the League-leading Dallas Stars 3-1 and extend their winning streak to seven games, their longest such run since Nov. 1-16, 2005 (8-0-0).

* Via Elias, the seven-game winning streak is tied for the third-longest in Flames history, three games shy of the franchise record established from Oct. 14 – Nov. 3, 1978 when the club was in Atlanta (10-0-0).

* At 15-14-2 (32 points), the Flames pulled into sole possession of third place in the Pacific Division. They are the fourth team to post a winning streak of at least seven games this season:

Longest Winning Streaks, 2015-16 Season

9 – New York Rangers, Oct. 25 – Nov. 15, 2015

9 – Montreal Canadiens, Oct. 7-24, 2015

7 – Los Angeles Kings, Oct. 16-31, 2015

7 – Calgary Flames, Dec. 1-18, 2015^

^ Active

* Johnny Gaudreau (0-1—1), who had the primary assist on Calgary's first goal, has 7-5—12 and a plus-9 rating during the winning streak. He leads the Flames and shares seventh in the NHL with 12-21—33 overall.

* Karri Ramo made 35 saves, including 17 in the third period, to extend his personal winning streak to five games, one shy of his career high established from Nov. 15 – Dec. 4, 2014.

WILD, AVALANCHE ALSO MAINTAIN MOMENTUM

The Minnesota Wild and Colorado Avalanche also earned wins to keep their respective streaks alive:

* Wild captain Mikko Koivu (2-1—3) had his second straight three-point game (also Tuesday vs. VAN: 1-3—4) to lead Minnesota past the New York Rangers 5-2, its third straight win and ninth consecutive game with at least a point (6-0-3), its longest such run since Jan. 20 – Feb. 14 of last season (8-0-2). The Wild, who picked up their fourth straight victory at Xcel Energy Center, are tied for second in the League with 12 home wins this season.

* Francois Beauchemin (2-0—2) had his fifth career multigoal game and first since March 18, 2013 vs. SJ (w/ ANA), including the tiebreaking marker at 16:12 of the third period, to lead the Avalanche to their fourth consecutive victory, 2-1 against the New York Islanders. Semyon Varlamov made 33 saves to extend his personal winning streak to five, allowing five goals against in that span.

PERFECT BETWEEN THE POSTS

In addition to Corey Crawford, three other goaltenders had shutouts Thursday:

* Jonathan Quick made 45 saves for his second shutout of the season as the Los Angeles Kings defeated the Montreal Canadiens 3-0 to move to 8-1-2 in their past 11 games. The 45 saves are the second-highest total by a Kings goaltender in a shutout; Quick established the franchise record with a 51-save performance on Dec. 13, 2010 at DET. With his 39th career shutout, Quick (Milford, Conn.) surpassed Tom Barrasso into sole possession of third place in NHL history among U.S.-born goaltenders, one behind John Vanbiesbrouck and Frank Brimsek.

* Chad Johnson made a career-high 44 saves, including 14 in the first period, to defeat the Anaheim Ducks 3-0 for his fourth career shutout and first since March 21, 2014 at COL (w/ BOS). Johnson helped the Sabres earn their first win against the Ducks since Feb. 29, 2012, snapping a four-game skid (0-4-0). Via Elias, Johnson is the first goaltender in franchise history to make 44 or more saves in a regular-season shutout. Ryan Miller established the previous mark of 43 saves in a 2-0 win on Feb. 29, 2012 at ANA.

* Steve Mason made 35 saves, highlighted by a sprawling glove stop, to post his 28th career shutout (second this season) in a 2-0 win against the Vancouver Canucks. Mason lifted the Flyers to a 4-1-1 record in their past six games at Wells Fargo Center on the heels of six-game losing streak on home ice (0-3-3). The Flyers are tied for second in the League with five shutouts this season (w/ the Blackhawks), one back of the Wild (6).

AROUND THE RINKS

* The St. Louis Blues scored twice in the third period, including the game-winning goal by Vladimir Tarasenko at 14:40, to win 2-1 and hand the Nashville Predators their first regulation loss when leading after two periods this season (9-1-2). Tarasenko, who has a goal in four straight games (4-2—6), pulled into a share of the League lead with 20 goals this season (w/ Jamie Benn). The Blues improved to 7-2-0 in their past nine games against the Predators at Scottrade Center dating to March 27, 2012 (NSH: 2-5-2).

* Cam Atkinson, Brandon Saad and Alexander Wennberg each had 1-2—3 to help the Columbus Blue Jackets defeat the Arizona Coyotes 7-5, snapping their five-game skid (0-3-2) and halting Arizona's home point streak at six games (5-0-1). Columbus' seven goals equaled the highest output by any team this season, while the 12 combined goals also matched the highest-single game total of 2015-16 (also Nov. 10: NSH 7, OTT 5 and Dec. 11: EDM 7, NYR 5).

* The San Jose Sharks had an early lead erased by four straight Toronto Maple Leafs goals, but bounced back with three unanswered goals of their own, including the overtime winner by Brent Burns (1-2—3), for a 5-4 victory to improve to 10-1-0 in their past 11 games against Toronto. At 12-5-1 (25 points), the Sharks lead the NHL in road wins and road points this season. Burns, who hails from Barrie, Ontario, posted his eighth career overtime goal (3 w/ SJ and 5 w/ MIN) and first three-point game since Dec. 23, 2013 vs. COL (1-2—3).

* Al Montoya made 15 saves and the Florida Panthers defeated the New Jersey Devils 5-1, their first regular-season win in New Jersey since Feb. 11, 2012 (0-5-1 since). The Panthers (16-12-4, 36 points) also won for the eighth time in their past 11 games to pull even with the Devils (16-12-4, 36 points) in points for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs in the Eastern Conference. Brandon Pirri had 1-2—3 to establish a career high for points in a game and stretch his point streak to five games (2-5—7).

MILESTONES & BENCHMARKS

* Avalanche forward Jarome Iginla (1,425 GP) and Coyotes captain Shane Doan (1,416 GP) both continued their climb up the NHL's all-time games played list. Iginla surpassed Pat Verbeek (1,424 GP) for sole possession of 27th place, while Doan tied Al MacInnis (1,416 GP) for 30th overall.

* Stars forward Jason Spezza played in his 800th NHL game to become the fourth player from the 2001 draft class to reach the mark.

* Alex Edler played in his 600th career game (all w/ VAN) to become the sixth defenseman in Canucks history to reach the milestone.

* Panthers forward Jaromir Jagr (0-1—1) moved within seven assists of becoming the sixth player in NHL history to record 1,100 career assists.

* Darryl Sutter (LAK) coached his 1,152nd career game to surpass Marc Crawford for sole possession of 15th place on the NHL's all-time list.

LOOSE PUCKS

Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane (0-1—1), who has registered at least one point in 30 of 33 games this season, had his 28th assist to pull back into a share of the League lead (w/ Erik Karlsson). He continues to lead all players with 19-28—47 . . . Wild goaltender Devan Dubnyk (21 SV) denied Keith Yandle on a first-period penalty shot. Goaltenders improved to 23-for-30 (76.7%) on penalty shots this season . . . Sharks captain Joe Pavelski (1-2—3) has 6-6—12 in nine games vs. TOR . . . Forward Jarret Stoll won 11 of 15 faceoffs (73.3%) in his debut with the Wild after being claimed off waivers Dec. 15 from the Rangers -- his opponent Thursday . . . Predators defenseman Barret Jackman, the 17th pick by the Blues in the 1999 NHL Draft, was honored with a video tribute in his return to St. Louis, where he spent his first 13 seasons . . . Blues teammates David Backes (4-3—7) and Kevin Shattenkirk (1-7—8) stretched their point streaks to six games . . . Wild teammates Zach Parise (3-6—9) and Jason Pominville (2-4—6) extended their point streaks to six games . . . Coyotes forward Viktor Tikhonov (1-0—1) scored his first NHL goal since March 21, 2009 vs. VAN . . . Panthers defenseman Dmitry Kulikov (1-1—2; GWG) snapped a 40-game drought with his first goal since March 5 vs. DAL . . . Sabres forward Cal O'Reilly (0-1—1) registered his first NHL point since Feb. 5, 2012 at NJ (w/ PIT) . . . Senators forward Zack Smith was fined $2,000 as supplementary discipline under NHL Rule 64 (Diving/Embellishment) . . . The U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame inducted four new members -- Ron DeGregorio, Chris Drury, Angela Ruggiero and Mathieu Schneider -- as part of its class of 2015. Also honored at the ceremony were Lester Patrick Trophy recipients Bob Crocker and Jeremy Jacobs and Emile Francis, who was presented with the Wayne Gretzky International Award . . . The Bruins, Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh and the NHL, alongside League partners Constellation, Bridgestone, Ecore, Exelon, Franklin Sports, and Musco, unveiled a renovated street hockey rink in Charlestown, Mass., as part of the 2016 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic Legacy Initiative powered by Constellation.