Facts and Figures: Golden Knights to enter new year in first place

The Vegas Golden Knights are assured of entering 2018 in first place in the Western Conference, regardless of the outcome of their final game of 2017, against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Sunday (3:30 p.m. ET; ATTSN-RM, SN, TVA Sports, NHL.TV).
To say the Golden Knights' first season is off to an historic start would be an understatement. They've already set an NHL record for the longest winning streak by a first-year franchise (six games entering Sunday) after matching the previous record twice (five straight, most recently by the 1979-80 Edmonton). Their current 10-0-1 point streak also is an NHL record for first-year teams.

Vegas is a League-best 6-0 in games decided during overtime, and the Golden Knights' 18-4-0 record against the Western Conference includes an 11-1-0 mark against teams in their own division, the Pacific. They've had a harder time against Eastern Conference teams, going 7-5-2; however, that includes a 1-4-1 road trip in late October and early November when the Golden Knights were struggling to keep a healthy goaltender in the net. They are 6-1-1 against Eastern Conference teams at home.
The Golden Knights probably will be sad to see December come to an end; they enter their game against the Maple Leafs with a 10-1-1 record. They'll face a tough start in January; after a home game against the Nashville Predators on Tuesday, six of their next eight are on the road.

Ovechkin the assist man

Alex Ovechkin's shoot-first mentality has carried him into the top-20 among goal-scorers in NHL history. But in the
Washington Capitals' game against the New Jersey Devils
on Saturday, he turned into a setup man, finishing with three assists. It's the third time this season he's assisted on three goals, also doing it
Dec. 6 against the Chicago Blackhawks
and
Oct. 28 against the Oilers
.

How rare is it for Ovechkin to be credited with three assists in a game? Before this season, it hadn't happened since Nov. 2, 2014, when he had a goal and three assists against the Arizona Coyotes.
His NHL career high is four against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Jan. 15, 2010
. He also scored a goal that night for a five-point game.

Tradition returns to Detroit

After a one-year break, the Detroit Red Wings are back home on New Year's Eve. Their game against the Pittsburgh Penguins (7 p.m. ET; FS-D, ATTSN-PT, NHL.TV) will mark the 64th time the Red Wings have played at home Dec. 31, though it's the first at Little Caesars Arena. The Red Wings are 31-23-1 with eight ties in their New Year's Eve games at home. They're also 4-1-0 on the road but haven't played an away game Dec. 31 since 1956, when they defeated the New York Rangers 1-0.
The Red Wings are 9-3-0 on New Year's Eve since 2000, but one of the losses was to the Penguins in 2015, the last time they played at home on Dec. 31.

Memories of Mario

Sunday marks the 29th anniversary of the most unique one-man performance in NHL history:
Mario Lemieux's five-goal night against the New Jersey Devils
, in which the Pittsburgh Penguins star scored every way possible: at even strength, on the power play, shorthanded, on a penalty shot and into an empty net, a feat not accomplished previously or since. He also assisted on three goals in Pittsburgh's 8-6 win.
His historic night was
voted by fans as the Greatest NHL Moment
presented by Coors Light and Pepsi Zero Sugar.
Lemieux did all that even though the Penguins were outshot 35-19. He was credited with eight of Pittsburgh's shots on goal; no one else on the Penguins had more than two.