NHL Morning Skate for December 30

* Aleksander Barkov made a splash with five points in his return to the Panthers' lineup and was one of three players across the NHL to post a hat trick Thursday - Mark Scheifele and Kyle Okposo also did so for their respective clubs.

* The Lightning, Kings, Flyers, Senators and Coyotes each earned third-period comeback wins, raising the NHL's total in 2022 to 252 - tying the League mark for most in a calendar year (regular season & playoffs combined).
* A number of defensemen collected multi-point outings Thursday, including Erik Karlsson who became the first blueliner to reach the 50-point mark in 2022-23 and joined elite company in the process.

BARKOV MAKES HIS RETURN TO LINEUP KNOWN WITH FIVE-POINT PERFORMANCE

Aleksander Barkov (3-2-5) found his name all over the score sheet in his return to Florida's lineup Thursday, posting a five-point performance that included a first-period hat trick as the Panthers netted seven goals against the Canadiens at FLA Live Arena. It marked his second career five-point outing, the second most in Panthers history behind Jonathan Huberdeau (5 GP).
* Barkov recorded his fourth career hat trick and matched Olli Jokinen for the third most in Panthers history, trailing only Pavel Bure (10) and Ray Sheppard (5).
* Barkov became the sixth different player in franchise history to net three goals in a single period and just the second skater with as many in the opening frame, joining Steve Reinprecht (Oct. 30, 2009) - Barkov's hat trick was also the fastest to start a game in club history (15:22), 27 seconds faster than Reinprecht (15:49).

THE "YEAR OF THE COMEBACK" ISN'T OVER JUST YET

The "Year of the Comeback" added more victories to the tally as the number of third-period comeback wins in 2022 rose to 252 - tied for the most ever in a calendar year (also 252 in 2013; regular season & playoffs) - with five such decisions Thursday:
* Brayden Point (1-0-1) potted his 20th goal of the season to erase Tampa Bay's third-period deficit before going on to score in the shootout en route to a Lightning win. Point scored a goal in his seventh straight game at AMALIE Arena and tied Nikita Kucherov (7 GP in 2021-22) for the longest home goal streak in Lightning history.
* Alex Iafallo (1-1-2) and Sean Walker (1-0-1) each scored in the final frame to send the game beyond 60 minutes where Los Angeles prevailed in a shootout, marking its third multi-goal, third-period comeback win of the season. The Kings recorded their seventh victory past regulation in 2022-23 to equal the Jets (7-1), Avalanche (7-3), Golden Knights (7-2), Canadiens (7-3) and Ducks (7-4) for the most among all teams.
* Tony DeAngelo (1-2-3) factored on three Flyers goals, including an assist on the game-tying tally as well as scoring the winner in overtime, as Philadelphia earned its first multi-goal, third-period comeback win of the season. DeAngelo became the fourth defenseman in franchise history with multiple points in three consecutive road games following Shayne Gostisbehere (3 GP in 2017-18), Joni Pitkanen (3 GP in 2005-06) and Mark Howe (2x: 3 GP in 1987-88).
* After tying the game with 5:34 remaining in regulation, Alex DeBrincat (2-0-2) netted the overtime winner as the Senators erased two multi-goal deficits en route to victory. The winner marked the 10th overtime tally of DeBrincat's career - since his NHL debut in 2017-18, only Connor McDavid (12) has more.
* Trailing by one heading into the final frame, Toronto-native Jack McBain (2-0-2) netted two of Arizona's four third-period goals - including his first NHL game winner - against his hometown team to help the Coyotes complete the comeback at Mullett Arena. The four markers in the final frame are the most Arizona has scored in any period this season.

HIGH-SCORING SABRES PICK UP WHERE THEY LEFT OFF BEFORE BREAK

After having two games postponed due to severe weather in Buffalo, the Sabres returned to the rink for the first time in 10 days and proceeded to grab a 5-0 lead en route to their fifth consecutive victory. Players young and old contributed to the win as rookies Owen Power and JJ Peterka each tallied two assists to go along with a hat trick by 34-year-old captain Kyle Okposo.
* Power and Peterka became the first set of Sabres rookies to each post multiple assists in the same game since Nov. 12, 1991 (Kevin Haller, Ken Sutton & Brad May), while Okposo became the second-oldest player to net a hat trick for the club.
* Buffalo has scored at least four goals in four of five contests during its five-game winning streak and paces the NHL with 4.00 goals-per-game this season (excluding shootout-deciding goals). Thursday was the sixth consecutive home victory in which the Sabres scored six or more goals (dating to Halloween).

TRIO OF DEFENSEMEN SPOTLIGHTED IN #NHLSTATS: LIVE UPDATES

The Thursday edition of #NHLStats: Live Updates featured a number of notable performances, including multi-point outings by Colorado's Cale Makar (1-2-3), Winnipeg's Josh Morrissey (0-2-2) and San Jose's Erik Karlsson (0-2-2).
* Makar, who recorded his 30th career multi-assist game and surpassed Rob Blake for the third most in Avalanche/Nordiques history among defensemen, collected his 15th career three-point outing - two shy of tying Tyson Barrie (17 GP) for the most by a defenseman in franchise history.
* Morrissey posted the 23rd multi-assist game of his career and surpassed Jacob Trouba (22 GP) for the third most by a defenseman in Jets/Thrashers history, behind only Dustin Byfuglien (52 GP) and Toby Enstrom (39 GP).
* Karlsson extended his point streak to 11 games, moving within one of Jonathan Cheechoo (12 GP in 2005-06) and Rob Gaudreau (12 GP in 1992-93) for the longest in Sharks history, while becoming the first defenseman to reach the 50-point mark this season (13-37-50 in 37 GP). The 2022-23 campaign marks the fifth season in which Karlsson has been the first blueliner to hit 50 points, following 2011-12, 2013-14, 2014-15 and 2015-16 (outright or tied) - the third most by any defenseman in NHL history behind Bobby Orr (7x) and Paul Coffey (7x).

QUICK CLICKS

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Matt Grzelcyk, Charlie Coyle, Brian Dumoulin share Winter Classic connection to Fenway Park
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Vince Vaughn, Michael Phelps cheer on Coyotes at Mullett Arena
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Sam Gagner honored by Jets, teammates for 1,000th NHL game
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Linus Ullmark of Bruins selected Unmasked Goalie of the Year
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McDAVID EYES ANOTHER CALENDAR YEAR WITH 140 POINTS

Oilers captain Connor McDavid (56-82-138 in 85 GP) travels to Seattle three points shy of 70 this season (31-26-67 in 36 GP) and two shy of his second consecutive calendar year with at least 140 regular-season points (52-105-157 in 2021). Only two players in NHL history have recorded consecutive calendar years with as many points: Wayne Gretzky (10 from 1980-89) and Mario Lemieux (2 from 1988-89).
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