McDAVID LEADS OILERS TO WIN WITH FOUR-POINT OUTING
Connor McDavid (1-3—4) led the Oilers to a season-high seven-goal surge on his way to becoming the fifth player to reach the 40-point markthis season (15-25—40 in 28 GP).

* In 28 appearances this season, McDavid has been held off the scoresheet on only four occasions. Only one other player who has appeared in a minimum of 20 games in 2018-19 has been held pointless on only four occasions: Capitals forward Evgeny Kuznetsov (7-19—26 in 22 GP).

* Additionally, McDavid has recorded a point in 24 of Edmonton’s 29 team games this season. He became the fifth different player in Oilersfranchise history to record at least one point in 24 of their first 29 team games to begin a season, joining Wayne Gretzky (x7), Mark Messier(x2), Jari Kurri and Glenn Anderson.

* Friday marked the 33rd time in McDavid’s career that he recorded three or more points in a game. Only five players have recorded more such performances before their 22nd birthday:

ALLEN PASSES HALL ON BLUES SHUTOUT LIST
Jake Allen made 26 saves to record his first shutout of the season and the 17th of his career. In doing so, the career Blue passed Glenn Hall(16) to move into third place on the all-time franchise shutout list, behind only Brian Elliott (25) and Jaroslav Halak (20). The win was the 125th of his career – only two goaltenders in Blues history have more: Mike Liut (151) and Curtis Joseph (137).

STARS, HURRICANES RIDE QUICK THIRD PERIOD STRIKES TO VICTORY

The Stars (16-10-3, 35 points) and Hurricanes (13-11-4, 30 points) both scored third period goals less than 2:00 apart to secure wins on Friday:

* Miro Heiskanen and Brett Ritchie scored 1:48 apart in the third period to propel the Stars to their fourth straight victory. Ritchie’s second goal of the season stood as the game-winner, his second such tally in as many games. He became the fourth Stars player since 2015-16 to score the game-winning goal in back-to-back contests, joining Alexander Radulov (Oct. 27-30, 2017), Jamie Benn (Feb. 18-24, 2017) and Jason Spezza (Nov. 17-19, 2015). In total, five of Ritchie’s 31 career goals have been game winners.

* Brett Pesce and Justin Williams scored 1:01 apart in the third period to lead the Hurricanes to victory and stop the Ducks winning streak at five contests. Hurricanes rookie Clark Bishop (1-1—2) recorded his first two career NHL points (11 GP). He teamed up with another rookie,Andrei Svechnikov (0-1—1), to assist on Williams’ marker. The assist moved Svechnikov (6-7—13) into a tie for sixth in the rookie scoring race.

QUICK CLICKS

* Friday Four: Coyotes picking up steam

* Flames' Mark Giordano suspended two games for kneeing

* Flames' Ryan Lomberg suspended for actions in game vs. MIN

* 2019 Draft Diary: Raphael Lavoie

SNEAK PEEK AT SATURDAY’S ACTION

DYNAMIC DUOS TAKE CENTER STAGE IN TAMPA

The NHL’s top producing duos will go head to head at Amalie Arena when the Lightning host the Avalanche. Colorado boasts the top two point producers of 2018-19 in Mikko Rantanen (12-35—47) and Nathan MacKinnon (19-25—44), who have combined for 31-60—91 in 29 games. Next on the list are the Tampa Bay duo of Nikita Kucherov (12-31—43) and Brayden Point (21-17—38), who have combined for 33-48—81 in 30 games.

* Rantanen and MacKinnon are the first pair of teammates to combine for 90 points in a team’s first 30 games of a season since Pittsburgh’sEvgeni Malkin (12-37—49) and Sidney Crosby (13-31—44) in 2008-09.

* Kucherov and Point are the fourth pair of Lightning teammates in the last 11 years to combine for 80 points in the team’s first 30 games of a season, joining Steven Stamkos (12-30—42) and Kucherov (21-21—42) last season, Martin St. Louis (11-26—37) and Stamkos (24-20—44) in 2010-11 and St. Louis (11-26—37) and Vincent Lecavalier (19-26—45) in 2007-08.

STREAKING PLAYERS COLLIDE AS BLUE JACKETS HOST CAPITALS

Columbus forward Cam Atkinson (13-7—20 in 12 GP) and Washington captain Alex Ovechkin (9-5—14 in 10 GP) put their point streaks on the line when the Blue Jackets host the Capitals at Nationwide Arena. Washington (16-9-3, 35 points) and Columbus (16-10-2, 34 points) hold the top two spots in the Metropolitan Division.

* Atkinson, who leads Columbus in goals and is tied for first in points (19-12—31 in 27 GP), can match the franchise record for longest point streak by a Blue Jackets player set by Ryan Johansen from Dec. 18, 2014 – Jan. 17, 2015 (8-8—16 in 13 GP).

* Ovechkin, meanwhile, is three games shy of equaling the longest point streak of his NHL career set from Jan. 1 – Feb. 1, 2007 (8-12—20 in 13 GP).

PASTRNAK, KESSEL AIM TO CONTINUE SUCCESS AGAINST TORONTO, OTTAWA

Bruins forward David Pastrnak and Penguins forward Phil Kessel aim to continue their success against the Maple Leafs and Senators, respectively.

* Pastrnak has 15-14—29 in 20 career games against Toronto (1.45 P/GP, regular season and playoffs combined), including multiple goals in both appearances this season (3-1—4 on Nov. 10 and 2-0—2 on Nov. 26). His career points per game average of 1.45 trails only two Bruinsplayers for the highest such total against the Maple Leafs franchise (min. 10 GP): Phil Esposito (1.52 P/GP) and Jean Ratelle (1.46 P/GP).

* Kessel has 27-32—59 in 61 regular-season games against the Senators, his highest career goal and point totals against one opponent. Only three players in League history have recorded more career regular-season points against the Senators, including two who played for thePenguins at some point during their NHL career: Jaromir Jagr (44-46—90 in 79 GP), Mats Sundin (24-40—64 in 70 GP) and Ron Francis(18-45—63 in 55 GP).

NHL NETWORK ICE TIME TO FEATURE TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING

NHL Network Ice Time, the new weekly show geared toward kids, will feature the Tampa Bay Lightning today at 9:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m. ET. The episode, which highlights Ryan Callahan, Yanni Gourde and Steven Stamkos, will re-air Sunday at 10:00 a.m. ET.

* The show features one-on-one hockey demos and conversations with some of the top players in the game. Other segments include animated features, a rapid fire Q&A that gathers questions from fans via social media, and montages that highlight players’ style and personalities on and off the ice.