Facts and Figures: Kucherov continues historic season with Lightning

Nikita Kucherov became the fastest NHL player to reach 100 points in 22 years when he scored a second-period goal for the Tampa Bay Lightning in a 2-1 shootout win against the Buffalo Sabres at Amalie Arena on Thursday.

The 25-year-old forward reached 100 points (30 goals, 70 assists) in Tampa Bay's 62nd game. That's the fewest needed to reach triple figures since Mario Lemieux got his 100th point (44 goals, 56 assists) in the Pittsburgh Penguins' 61st game during the 1996-97 season; Lemieux's 100th point was an assist on Glen Murray's game-tying goal in a 3-2 overtime win against the Philadelphia Flyers on March 8, 1997.
No player since then had reached 100 points in fewer than 65 games.
Kucherov also became the first player in Lightning history to have more than one 100-point season; he had exactly 100 points (39 goals, 61 assists) in 2017-18. Kucherov is on pace to finish this season with 132 points, which would be the most in a single season since Lemieux (161 points; 69 goals, 92 assists) and Jaromir Jagr (149; 62 goals, 87 assists) of the Penguins in 1995-96.
Two players in NHL history have reached the 100-point mark in 40 or fewer games: Wayne Gretzky did it four times with the Edmonton Oilers (34 games played in 1983-84, 35 in 1984-85, 38 in 1981-82 and 39 in 1985-86) and Lemieux did it three times (36 games played in 1988-89, 38 in 1995-96 and 38 in 1992-93).

Gallagher powers Canadiens with first NHL hat trick

Brendan Gallagher scored three goals for his NHL hat trick to power the Montreal Canadiens to a 5-1 victory against the Philadelphia Flyers at Bell Centre. The Canadiens (33-21-7) have won back-to-back games and moved within three points of the Toronto Maple Leafs (36-20-4) for third place in the Atlantic Division. The longtime rivals play at Scotiabank Arena on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; ESPN+, CBC, SN, CITY, TVAS, NHL.TV)
The seventh-year forward's hat trick was the 69th of 2018-19 (939 games played), the highest total at this stage of a season since 1995-96, when there were 86. The Penguins and Winnipeg Jets lead the NHL with six hat tricks each; four teams -- the Dallas Stars, Oilers, Minnesota Wild and Ottawa Senators -- have none.
Montreal goalie Carey Price made 29 saves and is 7-0-1 with a 1.74 goals-against average and .941 save percentage in his past eight decisions at Bell Centre dating to Jan. 12. In the past 20 years, a goalie has had a point streak of at least eight home games on five occasions; Price had two others, an 11-game streak in 2016-17 and a 10-game streak in 2008-09.
Rookie center Jesperi Kotkaniemi, the No. 3 pick in the 2018 NHL Draft, scored his 11th goal of the season -- all at Bell Centre. He's the third player in NHL history to score the first 11 goals of his career at home. The others are forward Bobby Sheehan (13; eight with Montreal, five with the California Golden Seals) and defenseman Sheldon Souray (11; four with the New Jersey Devils, seven with Montreal).

Sharks win sixth straight road game

Brent Burns, the scoring leader among NHL defensemen, had a goal and two assists to help the San Jose Sharks defeat the Penguins 4-0 at PPG Paints Arena for their sixth consecutive road win. Goalie Martin Jones made 26 saves in his second shutout of the season for the Sharks, who are 8-1-1 in their past 10 games.
Burns, who leads the Sharks with 68 points (12 goals, 56 assists) in 61 games, was credited with his fifth shorthanded point of the season when he assisted on a first-period goal by forward Evander Kane. Three defensemen in the past 20 years have had more shorthanded points in a single season -- Victor Hedman of the Lightning (2013-14), Steve Staios of the Oilers (2002-03) and Chris Phillips of the Senators (2005-06) each had six.
The 33-year-old also led NHL defenseman in scoring with 76 points (29 goals, 47 assists) in 2016-17. Burns had 75 points (27 goals, 48 assists) in 2015-16 and is two points shy of his third 70-point season. The last defenseman to reach 70 points before his team's 65th game was Ray Bourque of the Boston Bruins in 1993-94, when he had 71 points (16 goals, 55 assists) in 61 games.
Jones is 15-3-1 since Christmas, tying him with Tampa Bay's Andrei Vasilevskiy for the most wins since the holiday. Jones is 29-11-5 this season and moved into a tie with Marc-Andre Fleury of the Vegas Golden Knights for the NHL lead in wins. The only Sharks goaltender to lead the NHL in wins was Evgeni Nabokov (46 in 2007-08). Antti Niemi tied for the NHL lead with 24 wins in 2012-13.

Milestones for captains

Three team captains had nights to remember.
Alex Ovechkin opened the scoring for the Washington Capitals with a power-play goal in their 3-2 win against the Maple Leafs in Toronto. It was the 650th goal of Ovechkin's NHL career and his League-leading 43rd this season. The 33-year-old forward is six goals shy of tying Brendan Shanahan (656) for 13th place on the all-time list. The power-play goal was the 243rd of his career, leaving him three behind Phil Esposito (246) for fifth all-time.
Nashville Predators defenseman Roman Josi had a goal and an assist in a 2-1 win against the Los Angeles Kings at Bridgestone Arena to surpass the 50-point mark; he has 51 points (14 goals, 37 assists) in 63 games. Josi is the first defenseman in Predators history to have four seasons with at least 50 points.
Stars forward Jamie Benn scored twice in a 5-2 win against the St. Louis Blues at American Airlines Center to reach the 20-goal mark for the ninth time in his NHL career. The only players who've had more 20-goal seasons in Stars/Minnesota North Stars history are Mike Modano (16) and Brian Bellows (10). Benn also helped the Stars end the Blues' 11-game winning streak, the longest in the NHL this season.