Facts and Figures: Hats continue to rain down in NHL

Viktor Arvidsson of the Nashville Predators and Tomas Hertl of the San Jose Sharks had the 54th and 55th hat tricks of the 2018-19 season Tuesday, the most in a season through games played Jan. 15 since 1992-93, when there were 65. There has been at least one hat trick in each of the past five days beginning Jan. 11, equaling the longest such streak set last season (March 12-16, 2018). The last time there was at least one hat trick on six consecutive days was March 3-8, 1999.

Arvidsson's second NHL hat trick came in
Nashville's 7-2 win against the Washington Capitals
at Bridgestone Arena. The seven goals were a season high for the Predators (28-16-4), who are second in the Central Division, two points behind the Winnipeg Jets (30-14-2). Backup goalie Juuse Saros made 26 saves and is 4-0-1 in his past six games (0.95 goals-against average, .966 save percentage).
Hertl's hat trick helped the Sharks to their seventh consecutive victory,
5-2 against the Pittsburgh Penguins at SAP Center
. It was Hertl's second NHL hat trick and first since the third game of his rookie season, when he scored four goals against the New York Rangers on Oct. 8, 2013.
San Jose (28-13-7) moved within one point of the first-place Calgary Flames in the Pacific Division.

Blue Jackets win fourth straight

The Columbus Blue Jackets (28-15-3) stretched their winning streak to four games by
defeating the New Jersey Devils 4-1
at Nationwide Arena. Artemi Panarin, Cam Atkinson and Pierre-Luc Dubois each had a goal and an assist for Columbus (28-15-3). Panarin has scored five times during a four-game goal streak, (seven points; five goals, two assists), one shy of his NHL career high set from March 27-April 4, 2017 with the Chicago Blackhawks (seven points; six goals, one assist). Atkinson has scored in three straight games.
Goalie Joonas Korpisalo made 29 saves and is 9-2-2, including 4-0-0 since Dec. 27.

The first four teams in the Metropolitan Division are separated by three points. The Blue Jackets and Capitals (27-14-5) each have 59 points in 46 games. The New York Islanders (26-15-4) and Penguins (25-15-6) each have 56.

Jets reach 30-win mark

Blake Wheeler assisted on two third-period goals in the
Jets' 4-1 win
against the Vegas Golden Knights at Bell MTS Place to help Winnipeg (30-14-2) become the third team to reach the 30-win mark this season, joining the Tampa Bay Lightning (36-9-2) and Flames (30-13-4). It's the 13th season in NHL history when at least two of the first three teams to reach 30 wins were based in Canada and the first since 1988-89 (Montreal Canadiens, Flames, Penguins).
Wheeler (60 points; nine goals, 51 assists), who shared the NHL lead with 68 assists last season, joined Marian Hossa (57 in 2006-07, 53 in 2005-06) as the only players in Jets/Atlanta Thrashers history to have at least 50 assists in consecutive seasons.
Backup goalie Laurent Brossoit made 43 saves, including 26 in the second period, and is 7-0-0 in his past seven games.

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Rangers extend home winning streak vs. Hurricanes to 16

Mika Zibanejad had four points (two goals, two assists) to help the Rangers
extend their winning streak against the Carolina Hurricanes
at Madison Square Garden to 16 games with a 6-2 victory. It's their longest home winning streak against any opponent since entering the NHL in 1926. Carolina is 0-13-3 at the Garden since a 4-3 win Oct. 29, 2010.

The longest active regular-season home winning streak against one opponent is 18 games, owned by the Penguins against the Jets/Thrashers dating to March 24, 2007. Win No. 18 came when the Penguins defeated the Jets 4-0 at PPG Paints Arena on Jan. 4.
Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist made 34 saves for his 444th regular-season win in the NHL, moving him within one of tying Terry Sawchuk for sixth place on the all-time list. It was Lundqvist's 838th regular-season appearance, moving him past Jacques Plante (837) for 12th in NHL history.

Niemi stars in Canadiens win

Backup goalie Antti Niemi made an
NHL career high 52 saves for the Montreal Canadiens in a 5-1 win
against the Florida Panthers at Bell Centre. His previous high was 48 against the Boston Bruins on March 3, 2018. The only Canadiens goalies with more saves in a regular-season game since 1955-56, when shots on goal became an official NHL statistic, are Wayne Thomas (53 at Pittsburgh on March 10, 1974) and Carey Price (53 at Nashville on Nov. 14, 2009).