STAMKOS, KUCHEROV LEAD LIGHTNING TO 16-POINT LEAD ATOP CONFERENCE

Steven Stamkos (2-1—3) and Nikita Kucherov (0-2—2) guided the League-leading Lightning to victory as the club improved to 37-10-2 (76 points) this season to enter its “bye week” with a 16-point lead atop the Eastern Conference.

* Since 1999-00, there have been only three instances of a team winning its conference by a margin of 16 or more points: the Red Wings in 2001-02 (17 points ahead of COL) and the Capitals in 2009-10 (18 points ahead of NJD) and 2015-16 (16 points ahead of PIT).

* Tampa Bay posted at least six goals in a game for the 12th time this season - tops in the League - to bring its total to 199 goals in 2018-19 (including three shootout-deciding goals), also the most in the NHL. Since 1996-97, only one other team has scored at least 199 goals through their first 49 games of a season: the 2005-06 Senators (202 GF, including 2 shootout-deciding goals).

* Kucherov recorded his 24th multi-point game of the season to add to his NHL-best point total (22-56—78 in 49 GP). Aiming for his second consecutive 100-point campaign, Kucherov has held the League lead in points for the past 24 days, pulling ahead of Colorado’s Mikko Rantanen on the strength of a 1-3—4 showing against Philadelphia on Dec. 27.

* Stamkos posted his 71st career multi-goal game, trailing only Alex Ovechkin (97) for the most such performances since entering the League in 2008-09. Ovechkin (477) also is the only player with more goals than Stamkos (374) in that span. Furthermore, Vincent Lecavalier (383) is the only player ever to score more goals in a Lightning uniform.

ZIBANEJAD MATCHES FRANCHISE LEGEND AS LUNDQVIST CLIMBS NHL WINS LIST

Mika Zibanejad scored twice, including his third consecutive game-winning goal, and Henrik Lundqvist (27 saves) moved up the NHL’s all-time wins list as the Rangers improved to 4-1-0 in their past five outings. Zibanejad became the second player in the Rangers’ 93-year history to score the winning goal in three straight team games, joining franchise legend Rob Gilbert who had an equal run from Dec. 11-17, 1966.

* Lundqvist earned the 446th regular-season victory of his NHL career to eclipse Terry Sawchuk (445) for sole possession of sixth place all-time.

GOALS GALORE FOR FLAMES, GOLDEN KNIGHTS

Calgary (32-13-5, 69 points) and Vegas (29-17-4, 62 points) each filled the net to keep pace with each other in the Pacific Division, where the top three clubs are separated by seven points.

* Johnny Gaudreau opened the scoring with his 29th goal of the season, extending his point streak to a career-high 11 games (10-12—22), whileMark Giordano tallied 1-2—3 to help the Flames emerge with a win in the latest installment of the Battle of Alberta.

* Gaudreau became the third different Flames player since 1994-95 to post a point streak of 11 or more games, joining Kristian Huselius (15 GP in 2006-07) and Jarome Iginla (15 GP in 2001-02 and 16 GP in 1999-00).

* Giordano (11-41—52 in 48 GP) became the fifth Flames player to hit the 50-point mark this season while taking the League lead in defensive scoring - he holds the tiebreaker over San Jose’s Brent Burns (9-43—52 in 50 GP). The Flames are the first NHL team to have five or more players each with 50 points through 50 team games since the 1995-96 Penguins.

* Jonathan Marchessault scored the third hat trick in Golden Knights history - with William Karlsson notching the other two, both on home ice - as Vegas put up seven goals for the fourth time in the regular season (2x in both campaigns) to defeat Pittsburgh. The Golden Knights improved to 9-2-0 in their past 11 games overall dating to Dec. 27, including a 5-1-0 mark at T-Mobile Arena.

* The Golden Knights became the 26th different team to record a hat trick in 2018-19, with only the Oilers, Rangers, Senators, Stars and Wild yet to have one player score three times in the same game. In 2017-18, 29 of 31 clubs had a hat trick with only the Red Wings and Senators being held without one.

* Overall, there have been 57 hat tricks so far this campaign including one performance of a player scoring more than three goals in a game (Patrik Laine: 5 G on Nov. 24 at STL).

MACKINNON JOINS RANTANEN IN 70-POINT CLUB AS AVALANCHE TIE RECORD
The Avalanche matched a franchise record with six goals in the second period en route to equaling a season high with seven goals in the game, with Mikko Rantanen (2-0—2) and Nathan MacKinnon (0-2—2) among a group of six players with multiple points.

* MacKinnon boosted his season totals to 23-47—70 in 48 games to join Rantanen (23-50—73) as the second Colorado player to reach the 70-point mark this season. This is the first time in more than 20 years that teammates each have recorded at least 70 points prior to the All-Star break, with Pittsburgh’s Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr (1996-97) the last to combine for the feat.

AVALANCHE, STARS, WILD, DUCKS TEAMS KEEP PACE

The Avalanche (22-18-8, 52 points), Stars (24-21-4, 52 points), Wild (24-21-3, 51 points) and Ducks (21-19-9, 51 points) each won to remain separated by only one point in the Western Conference standings:

* Tyson Barrie had three assists and Gabriel Landeskog (1-1—2) collected his League-leading eighth game-winning goal of 2018-19 to lift theAvalanche to victory. Last season, teammate Nathan MacKinnon tallied 12 decisive goals to match Tampa Bay’s Brayden Point for the most in the NHL and tie Joe Sakic (12 GWG in 2000-01) for the highest single-season total since the club relocated to Denver in 1995-96.

* Tyler Seguin (1-1—2) tallied his 18th goal of the season to move within two of reaching the 20-goal mark for the seventh time in his career (5x w/ DAL, 1x w/ BOS). Since joining Dallas in 2013-14, Seguin has 19-17—36 in 25 games against the Jets - the most points by any player versus Winnipeg in that span (just ahead of teammate Jamie Benn: 12-15—27 in 26 GP) - including 3-4—7 in three games this season.

* Zach Parise scored the winning goal for the Wild and hit 20 goals for the ninth time in his career and the fourth time with Minnesota (also 5 w/ NJD). His father, J.P. Parise, also reached the 20-goal mark with a Minnesota-based club, posting three of his five career 20-goal seasons with the North Stars (also 2 w/ NYI).

* Troy Terry (1-1—2) collected his first two NHL points as the Ducks skated to their second win in as many contests on the heels of a 12-game slide. Anaheim became just the fourth team in the last 20 years to win consecutive games after going winless in at least their previous 12 contests.

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SNEAK PEEK AT SUNDAY’S ACTION