Facts and Figures: Stamkos, Lightning keep rolling

Steven Stamkos and the Tampa Bay Lightning are on a roll.

Stamkos scored three goals and surpassed the 700-point milestone, helping the NHL-leading Lightning win their seventh straight game,
6-3 against the New York Rangers
at Amalie Arena.
Tampa Bay (24-7-1) scored at least five goals in a game for the 13th time this season, most in the NHL. The Lightning lead the NHL with 128 goals, and their seven-game winning streak is the longest active run in the League.
Stamkos' hat trick was his ninth in the NHL and the first since Oct. 13, 2014, when he scored three goals against the Montreal Canadiens. He passed longtime linemate Martin St. Louis for the most regular-season hat tricks in Lightning history. It was the 37th hat trick in 464 games played this season, the second-highest total at this stage of a season in the past 20 years; in 2010-11, there were 38 hat tricks after 464 games.

Stamkos has 701 points (363 goals, 338 assists) in 696 games played. The No. 1 pick in the 2008 NHL Draft is the third player to reach 700 points with the Lightning, joining St. Louis (953 points) and Vincent Lecavalier (874).
He is the first player from his draft class to reach 700 points, despite being fourth in games played, after Los Angeles Kings defenseman Drew Doughty (801), New York Islanders forward Josh Bailey (763), and Anaheim Ducks defenseman Luke Schenn (716). Stamkos has 163 more points than the next-closest player, San Jose Sharks defenseman Erik Karlsson (538). Among active players, he is tied with Chicago Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane for the fourth-fewest games needed to reach 700 points, behind Pittsburgh Penguins center Sidney Crosby (497), Washington Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin (579) and Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin (580).
Defenseman Victor Hedman assisted on two of Stamkos' three goals and has factored on 49 of his 363 regular-season goals (13.4 percent). Only St. Louis (101 of 363; 27.8 percent) has assisted on a higher percentage of Stamkos' goals.

Pavelski joins 20-goal club in Sharks win

Joe Pavelski of the San Jose Sharks became the seventh player this season to reach the 20-goal mark when he scored in a
5-2 win against the New Jersey Devils
at SAP Center.

The veteran forward reached the 20-goal mark for the sixth consecutive season and 10th time in his NHL career, all with San Jose. Only Patrick Marleau (14) had more 20-goal seasons with the Sharks. San Jose's captain is the 12th United States-born player in NHL history with at least 10 20-goal seasons.

Howard carries Red Wings past Kings

Jimmy Howard's season-high 42 saves helped the Detroit Red Wings hold off the Los Angeles Kings
3-1 at Little Caesars Arena
.
Howard improved to 10-7-0 in 17 games against Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick. The two were teammates with the United States at the 2014 Sochi Olympics and rank among the top 10 on the NHL all-time list for regular-season wins by a U.S.-born goalie; Quick is fifth with 295, Howard is eighth with 231.

Year of the comeback continues

Derick Brassard tied the game in the third period and Jake Guentzel scored the deciding goal in the shootout to give the Pittsburgh a 2-1 win against the New York Islanders at Nassau Coliseum. It was the 87th time this season that a team rallied to win after trailing in the third period. That's the most-ever through the first 464 games of an NHL season.