QUICK HITS: COMEBACKS ABOUND YET AGAIN

* Six of 10 games contested Tuesday were comeback wins, including two in which the winning club trailed by multiple goals (CGY and TBL).

* There have been 187 comeback victories in 2018-19 (425 GP), the most at this stage of a season in League history and up 10% over last season (170 in 425 GP). The 60 multi-goal comeback victories match the highest total through 425 games of any season (also 60 in 1985-86).

* Calgary became the eighth team this season to erase a deficit of three or more goals and win - and fourth to do so in as many days. The Flames are the only team in 2018-19 with multiple such wins (also Nov. 1 vs. COL).

POTENT SECOND PERIOD PROPELS FLAMES IN OFFENSIVE SHOWDOWN

In the NHL’s first 15-goal game since Jan. 16, 2017, Calgary scored five second-period tallies to overcome a 4-1 deficit, withstand a hat trick from Columbus’ Cam Atkinson and post their first nine-goal game in nearly eight years. The victory gave the Flames (17-9-2, 36 points) a three-point cushion atop the Pacific Division.

* The Flames netted five goals in a single period for the fourth time this season - a feat last achieved by the club in 1992-93 (also four five-goal periods). In fact, the other 30 NHL teams have combined to register just three five-goal periods in 2018-19 (Philadelphia: second period on Oct. 16; Vancouver: second period on Nov. 8; and Florida: second period on Nov. 11).

* Johnny Gaudreau (2-2—4), Sean Monahan (2-2—4), Matthew Tkachuk (1-3—4) and Mark Giordano (0-3—3) powered the Flamesoffense, which is tied for fourth in the League with 100 goals this season (including shootout-deciding goals). Calgary is the only club with four 30-point players thus far.

* Tuesday marked the 28th time in franchise history that Calgary overcame a deficit of three or more en route to victory and the sixth such occurrence that featured a regulation win on the road. They last accomplished the feat as visitors on Oct. 23, 2008 at Nashville, when Jarome Iginla scored one of his 12 career hat tricks.

HORNQVIST NETS HAT TRICK AS PENGUINS, AVALANCHE SKATE IN DOUBLE DEJA VU

As the Flames were staging their rally in Columbus, the same was happening 190 miles away in Pittsburgh, where the Avalanche erased a 3-0 deficit in the second period before Patric Hornqvist netted the fastest hat trick in Penguins history to lead his club to victory.

* Hornqvist scored three goals in a span of 2:47, an achievement bested by only 20 players in League history - with Tampa Bay’s Brayden Point the last to do so less than three weeks ago against the Penguins. Point scored three goals in 91 seconds on Nov. 15 at PPG Paints Arena, marking the sixth-fastest three goals by a player in NHL history.

* Tuesday also marked the second time in the past week that a Penguins player scored a natural hat trick against Colorado - Sidney Crosby scored three times in 5:35 on Nov. 28. In that contest, it was Pittsburgh that erased a three-goal deficit before eventually falling to a 6-3 defeat.

* This marks the 11th time in the past 45 years that a team has scored multiple natural hat tricks against the same club in one season. The Penguins now have accounted for three of 11 instances in that span (also 1973-74: Lowell MacDonald: 2x vs. MNS; and 2000-01: Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr vs. MTL).

LIGHTNING FEND OFF HAT TRICK, RALLY TO SHOOTOUT VICTORY

The Lightning overcame a trio of deficits with three tying goals, climbing from a 5-3 hole in the final 10:10 of regulation, before Nikita Kucherovnetted the shootout winner to give Tampa Bay its fourth straight win.

* Tampa Bay fended off a hat trick by Detroit’s Frans Nielsen to record their 13th consecutive regular-season victory against the Red Wings dating to Feb. 3, 2016, establishing the longest winning streak against one opponent in franchise history. It also matches the longest active head-to-head regular-season winning streak in the NHL.

* Mathieu Joseph (2-1—3), Steven Stamkos and Cedric Paquette combined for three tying goals, marking the fourth time in the past three seasons that Tampa Bay tied a game at least three times - they have won each of those four contests.

MATTHEWS SCORES LATE IN OVERTIME, WINS LATEST BATTLE WITH EICHEL

In another contest that saw three tying goals, it was Auston Matthews (2-1—3) who netted the overtime goal with 2.7 seconds remaining in the extra frame to lift Toronto to victory in Buffalo. It was the fifth straight win for the Maple Leafs, who improved to 11-3-0 on the road in 2018-19 and to 9-2-0 in their past 11 outings overall.

* Matthews also assisted on Patrick Marleau’s tying goal with 5:13 left in regulation to improve to 4-3-0 in seven career head-to-head meetings against Jack Eichel (BUF: 3-3-1), who scored twice in the third period. Matthews has 7-3—10 in those contests, while Eichel has 7-4—11.

* Matthews (15-8—23 in 14 GP) became the seventh player since 1992-93 to score 15 or more goals through his first 14 games of a season and just the second to do so in the past 22 seasons.

LUONGO CLAIMS NINTH PLACE ON ALL-TIME SHUTOUTS LIST

Making his return from a five-game absence, 39-year-old Roberto Luongo denied all 31 shots he faced to record his 77th career shutout to move into sole possession of ninth place on the NHL’s all-time list. The win was the 476th victory of his career, eight back of tying Ed Belfour(484) for third place in League history.

QUICK CLICKS

* Cam Atkinson nets franchise-best sixth hat trick, extends point streak to 11 games
* Alex Ovechkin extends point streak to nine games with 20th goal

* Coyotes penalty kill strikes again in fourth straight win

* Canadiens wear nickname jerseys during warmup, auction them for charity

* Home Cookin': Tyson Barrie learned to make mom's lava cake for a taste of home

SNEAK PEEK AT WEDNESDAY’S ACTION

SEATTLE AWARDED NHL’S 32ND FRANCHISE

The NHL announced that it has granted an expansion franchise to Seattle. The League’s 32nd franchise was approved in a unanimous vote by the NHL’s Board of Governors during a meeting in Sea Island, Georgia on Tuesday.

* The Seattle franchise will begin play in the Pacific Division of the Western Conference in 2021-22. The Arizona Coyotes will move to the Western Conference’s Central Division that season. There will be no other changes to the NHL’s alignment.

* Seattle will follow the same rules for the 2021 Expansion Draft as Vegas did in 2017.

Seattle Quick Clicks

* More information on Seattle announcement

* Seattle NHL expansion approved by Board of Governors (via Dan Rosen)

* Seattle expansion has roots for NHL success (via Nick Cotsonika)

* Seattle mayor was inspired to win NHL expansion bid by Stanley Cup visit

the above information was provided by the NHL PR department