Facts and Figures: Rangers continue NHL's season of comebacks

The New York Rangers became the latest NHL to author a comeback on Wednesday when they shook off being down two goals in the third period to defeat the Boston Bruins
4-3 in a shootout
at Madison Square Garden.

New York trailed 3-1 after two periods, but center Kevin Hayes and forward Filip Chytil each scored in the third period and defenseman Tony DeAngelo got the deciding goal in the seventh round of the shootout for the Rangers (23-22-8), who won for the first time this season in a game they trailed by multiple goals.
It was the 27th time this season a team has rallied from being down multiple goals in the third period to win in any manner. That's the eighth-highest total through 822 games of a season in NHL history and the most since 2014-15, when there were 29.
This was also the 102nd game this season when a team won after trailing by at least two goals at any stage. The only seasons with as many multigoal comebacks through 822 games were 1985-86 (117) and 1987-88 (102).

Maple Leafs shake pesky Senators

The Toronto Maple Leafs added to their NHL-leading total of even-strength goals when defenseman Morgan Rielly scored at 9:12 of the third period for
a 5-4 win
against the Ottawa Senators at Scotiabank Arena.
Toronto led 4-2 after two periods, but the Senators tied the game with two goals in the first 3:59 of the third period. However, Rielly put Toronto (33-17-3) ahead to stay with his fourth game-winner of the season and its fifth even-strength goal of the game.
The Maple Leafs lead the NHL with 160 even-strength goals, 13 more than the next-closest team, the San Jose Sharks. Center John Tavares leads Toronto with 26 even-strength goals, one shy of Washington Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin (27) for the League lead.
Toronto has led the NHL in even-strength goals once in the NHL's expansion era (since 1967-68). That came in 1998-99, when the Maple Leafs scored 208. Forwards Mats Sundin and Sergei Berezin shared the team lead with 27 even-strength goals each that season; Toronto went on to reach the Eastern Conference Final before losing to the Buffalo Sabres.
Rielly set an NHL career high with 53 points (14 goals, 39 assists) in 53 games, one more than he had in 76 games last season. He is the first Maple Leafs defenseman to score 14 goals in a season since Pavel Kubina in 2008-09 (14 in 82 games), and the first to have four game-winning goals in a season since Kubina had four, also in 2008-09.

Toronto forward Mitchell Marner had two assists, giving him 45 for the season. He is the first Maple Leafs player to have at least 45 assists in consecutive seasons since Sundin and defenseman Tomas Kaberle each accomplished the feat in three straight seasons from 2005-06 to 2007-08.

Flyers, Hart look to extend winning streaks

The Philadelphia Flyers will try for their ninth consecutive win when they host the Los Angeles Kings at Wells Fargo Center (7 p.m. ET; NBCSP, FS-W, NHL.TV), one of 14 games on the NHL schedule Thursday.
Carter Hart, Philadelphia's 20-year-old rookie goalie, is 7-0-0 during the streak. He can become the second goalie in NHL history to win eight straight starts prior to his 21st birthday; Jocelyn Thibault of the Quebec Nordiques did it from March 6-26, 1995.
The Flyers (24-23-6) are the 12th team in NHL history to have a winless stretch of at least eight games (0-6-2 from Dec. 27-Jan. 8) and a winning streak of at least eight games in the same season. Nine of the previous 11 teams to do so reached the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Blackhawks try to continue push toward playoffs

The Chicago Blackhawks try for their sixth straight win when they host the Vancouver Canucks at United Center (8:30 p.m. ET; NBCSCH, SNP, NHL.TV).
The Blackhawks (21-24-9) are one of three teams within seven points of a playoff position to have occupied last place in the NHL during the 2019 calendar year. Chicago was in last place overall from Jan. 17-19; the St. Louis Blues (Jan. 2) and the Flyers (Jan. 9 and Jan. 12-13) also spent time at No. 31 before their recent hot streaks.
Six teams in the expansion era have made the playoffs after occupying last place in the League at any time after their 20th game of the season: the 1976-77 Minnesota North Stars, 1979-80 Edmonton Oilers, 1982-83 Maple Leafs, 1987-88 Los Angeles Kings, 1987-88 Maple Leafs and 1996-97 Senators.
Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane owns the NHL's longest active point streak at 12 games (28 points; 10 goals, 18 assists). He can become the sixth player to have a point streak of 13 games or more this season; the longest is a 17-game run by Florida Panthers forward Mike Hoffman (17 games from Oct. 13-Nov. 21).