Around the League notebook for Tuesday, Dec. 22

TUESDAY RESULTS

Home Team in Caps

St. Louis 2, BOSTON 0

NY RANGERS 3, Anaheim 2 (OT)

New Jersey 4, DETROIT 3

Vancouver 2, TAMPA BAY 1

FLORIDA 2, Ottawa 1 (SO)

MINNESOTA 2, Montreal 1

DALLAS 4, Chicago 0

CALGARY 4, Winnipeg 1

ARIZONA 3, Toronto 2

San Jose 5, LOS ANGELES 3

GAUDREAU'S HAT TRICK HELPS FLAMES MATCH FRANCHISE RECORD

Johnny Gaudreau scored his second hat trick this month (also Dec. 4 vs. BOS: 3-1—4) to lead the Calgary Flames to their 10th consecutive home win, 4-1 against the Winnipeg Jets, matching a franchise record established Nov. 7 – Dec. 12, 2006.

* Gaudreau scored his third career hat trick exactly one year after his first (also Dec. 22, 2014 at LAK: 3-0—3). He became the first Flames player to score multiple hat tricks in one season since 2010-11, when Jarome Iginla had two.

* Gaudreau, who is seventh in the NHL with 15-22—37 (34 GP), has five games with three or more points this season, including three of his past nine (9-6—15).

* Gaudreau also eclipsed 100 points (40-62—102 in 115 GP). Via the Elias Sports Bureau, he is the fastest player in terms of games played to score his first 100 points with the Flames since Oct. 30, 1990, when Sergei Makarov got there in his 93rd game.

SHARKS RALLY TO HALT KINGS’ HOME WINNING STREAK

The San Jose Sharks faced multiple two-goal deficits, but Joe Pavelski (2-1—3) and Brent Burns (2-1—3) combined to score four unanswered goals for a 5-3 win against the Los Angeles Kings, ending the Kings' home winning streak at six games.

* Elias says the Sharks overcame a multigoal deficit to defeat the Kings for the first time since April 7, 2012, when San Jose rallied from a 2-0 hole to win their season finale (3-2 OT) and clinch the seventh seed in the Western Conference.

* Pavelski stretched his point streak to five games (5-5—10), a run that includes two three-point games (also Dec. 17 at TOR: 1-2—3). With 18-18—36 this season (34 GP), Pavelski is fifth in the League in goals and shares eighth in points.

* Pavelski scored multiple power-play goals in a game for the eighth time in his career and the first since March 25, 2014 at EDM. He ranks second in the League with 42 power-play goals since 2013-14 (behind Alex Ovechkin: 56 PPG).

* Burns (14-17—31) pulled into sole possession of the League lead among defensemen with 14 goals this season. Joe Thornton (1-2—3) also had three points to push his point streak to five contests (2-5—7).

HOME SWEET HOME

The Flames own the longest home winning streak this season and are one of three teams with an active home winning streak of at least seven games:

Longest Home Winning Streaks, 2015-16 Season

10 – Calgary Flames (Nov. 5 – Dec. 12)^

9 – New York Rangers (Oct. 19 – Nov. 23)

7 – Edmonton Oilers (Nov. 20 – Dec. 21)^

7 – Washington Capitals (Nov. 21 – Dec. 18)^

^ Active

STARS ENTER HOLIDAY BREAK ALONE ATOP NHL STANDINGS

Guided by former Chicago Blackhawks Antti Niemi (20 SV) and Patrick Sharp (1-1—2), the Dallas Stars shut out the Blackhawks 4-0 for their third consecutive victory. The Stars took over sole possession of first place in the NHL standings at the holiday break.

* At 26-7-2 (54 points), the Stars continued their best start to a season in terms of wins and points to pull two points ahead of the idle Washington Capitals (25-6-2, 52 points) into sole possession of first place overall. Washington holds two games in hand.

* Niemi, who led the Blackhawks to a Stanley Cup in 2010, is 8-8-1 in 17 games against his former club (2.72 GAA, .914 save percentage, three shutouts). Via Elias, only two other former Blackhawks goaltenders have at least three shutouts against them (after departing the team): Harry Lumley (8 SO) and Jim Henry (7 SO).

* Niemi is 15-5-2 in 23 games this season, including a 10-2-0 mark at American Airlines Center (2.14 GAA, .918 save percentage, three shutouts).

* Sharp, who won the Stanley Cup three times during his time with Chicago (2005-15), scored in his first game against the Blackhawks since being traded in the offseason. Sharp has now scored a goal against all 30 NHL teams.

* Johnny Oduya (0-1—1) also had a point in his first game against the Blackhawks since joining the Stars in the offseason. He won two Stanley Cup championships over parts of four seasons with Chicago from 2011-15.

DOWN TO THE WIRE

Of the 10 games Tuesday, six featured a one-goal margin:

* Derick Brassard (2-1—3) factored on all three goals to help the New York Rangers defeat the Anaheim Ducks 3-2 in overtime. The Rangers improved to 5-1-0 in their past six games against the Ducks at Madison Square Garden dating to Jan. 20, 2009 (ANA: 1-3-2). Brassard has 13-4—17 in 21 games against the Ducks, six more goals than he has against any other opponent (7 each vs. ARI, CHI, DET and EDM). Mats Zuccarello (1-1—2) had his second career OT goal and first since Jan. 5, 2011 vs. CAR, his sixth NHL game.

* Brandon Pirri and Aleksander Barkov scored in the shootout to lift the Florida Panthers to a 2-1 win against the Ottawa Senators, their fifth consecutive victory and League-high ninth win in the month of December (9-3-0). At 19-12-4 (42 points), the Panthers pulled within one point of the Montreal Canadiens (20-13-3, 43 points), who lost in regulation, for the top spot in the Atlantic Division.

* Charlie Coyle scored the eventual game-winning goal at 4:55 of the third period to guide the Minnesota Wild to a 2-1 win against the Canadiens, their fourth win in their past six games. Darcy Kuemper made 24 saves to improve to 4-0-4 in nine appearances this season (2.13 GAA, .926 save percentage, one shutout). Via Elias, he is the first Wild goaltender to register at least a point in eight consecutive decisions from the start of a season. Ilya Bryzgalov registered a point in his first 10 decisions in 2013-14 (7-0-3), but joined the club midseason.

* Daniel Sedin scored the go-ahead goal at 11:09 of the third period to lead the Vancouver Canucks to a 2-1 win, their first against the Tampa Bay Lightning since Jan. 10, 2012, snapping a four-game skid (0-4-0). Via Elias, the Canucks (PK: 9-for-10) successfully defended at least nine opponent power plays in a game for the first time since Oct. 21, 2007 at CBJ (also 9-for-10).

* The New Jersey Devils raced to a three-goal lead in the first period and held on for a 4-3 win against the Detroit Red Wings, earning their third win in 16 visits to Joe Louis Arena (3-12-1; DET: 13-3-0) since the teams met in the 1995 Stanley Cup Final, a four-game series victory by New Jersey. Kyle Palmieri (1-1—2) equaled a career high with his 14th goal of the season (35 GP). He also had 14 goals with the Ducks in both 2013-14 (71 GP) and 2014-15 (57 GP).

* Shane Doan (2-1—3) had his 50th career three-point performance, including goals 14 seconds apart, to help the Arizona Coyotes defeat the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-2. The Coyotes improved to 3-1-1 in their past five games and halted the Maple Leafs' point streak at six games (4-0-2). The teams combined for three goals in a span of 21 seconds during the first period. The scoring outburst marked the fastest three combined goals in Maple Leafs history, five seconds quicker than the previous mark set Dec. 20, 2014 vs. PHI (0:26), and was two shy of equaling the Coyotes/Jets franchise mark established Dec. 17, 1986 at CHI (0:19).

MILESTONES & BENCHMARKS

* Doan played in his 1,418th career game to surpass Luke Richardson (1,417 GP) for sole possession of 29th place on the NHL's all-time games played list. He also scored his 375th and 376th career goals (all w/ ARI/WPG) to move within three of tying Dale Hawerchuk (379) for first place in Coyotes/Jets franchise history.

* Panthers forward Jaromir Jagr had an assist to move within five of becoming the sixth player in NHL history to record 1,100 career assists.

* Niklas Kronwall played in his 708th career game (all w/ DET) to tie Reed Larson for fourth place on the Red Wings' all-time list for defensemen.

* Canucks forward Chris Higgins played in his 700th career game.

LOOSE PUCKS

Jake Allen made 32 saves to pick up his 10th career shutout and lead the Blues to their fourth win in their past five games. Allen shares the League lead with five shutouts this season (w/ Corey Crawford) . . . Blues forward Vladimir Tarasenko (GWG) scored for the eighth time in his past 10 games to push his point streak to seven (6-5—11), tying a career-high last achieved from Dec. 4-18, 2014 (6-5—11). Tarasenko shares the League lead with 22 goals this season (w/ Jamie Benn) . . . The Rangers and Stars earned their 14th home wins to tie the Blackhawks for the League lead . . . Stars captain Jamie Benn (22-24—46) had an assist to tie teammate Tyler Seguin (19-27—46) for second in League scoring, four points behind Patrick Kane (21-29—50) . . . Senators defenseman Erik Karlsson (0-1—1) extended his point streak to five games (3-3—6). He shares the League lead with 29 assists (w/ Patrick Kane) and leads all defensemen with 38 points . . . The Coyotes improved to 10-1-1 in their past 12 games with the Maple Leafs dating to Jan. 14, 2006 (TOR: 2-9-1) . . . The Blues improved to 7-1-0 in their past eight visits to TD Garden dating to Jan. 21, 2002 (BOS: 1-2-5) . . . Sharks goaltender Martin Jones (33 SV), who began his career with the Kings, improved to 2-1-0 in three games against his former team . . . Ducks forward Carl Hagelin, who had 58-72—130 in 266 GP with the Rangers from 2011-15, logged 14:09 TOI in his return to New York . . . Lightning forward Jonathan Marchessault (1-0—1) stretched his career-high point streak to five games (3-2—5) . . . Stars forward Jason Spezza (GWG) has 2-11—13 in 13 games against the Blackhawks . . . Forward Corban Knight, a fifth-round selection (No. 135) by the Panthers in the 2009 NHL Draft, scored his first goal with the team (5 GP) . . . Coyotes goaltender Louis Domingue made 37 saves, one shy of his career high set March 9 vs. NSH (38 SV), to earn his second straight win (third of his career) . . . The Kings wore special jerseys during warmup, which will be auctioned off to benefit victims of the San Bernardino shooting . . . Professional golfer Jordan Spieth, who hails from Dallas, dropped the ceremonial puck before the Blackhawks-Stars game.