HURRICANES FEND OFF McDAVID, OILERS’ THREE-GOAL COMEBACK
Connor McDavid (0-3—3) factored on three straight goals to help the Oilers erase a 3-0 deficit (and claim the NHL scoring lead), but Dougie Hamilton (1-1—2) capped a five-goal final frame as Carolina outlasted Edmonton in a back-and-forth affair.

* Carolina’s sixth goal of the contest marked Hamilton’s 30th point of 2019-20 (11-19—30 in 31 GP). Mark Howe (26 GP in 1980-81) is the only defenseman in Hurricanes/Whalers history to require fewer games to hit the 30-point mark in a season with the franchise. Since 2015-16, only Brent Burns (89) has more goals than Hamilton (71) among NHL defensemen.

* Sebastian Aho (2-0—2) opened the scoring en route to his second straight multi-goal game. In the process, Aho (22 years, 137 days) became the youngest player in Hurricanes team history at the time of his 100th career goal.

* Among players to debut with the Hurricanes/Whalers franchise, Aho became the eighth to score his 100th tally prior to his 300th career contest.

NO LEAD IS SAFE (EVEN LATE)

The Wild and Oilers each erased a multi-goal deficit before eventually falling short Tuesday, with Minnesota earning a point and Edmonton losing in regulation.

* To date, 23% of all games in 2019-20 have seen a team erase a multi-goal deficit to at least even the score (109 of 483 GP). The trailing team earned at least a point in 83% of those contests (91 of 109).

* Additionally, 42% of those 109 games saw a team erase a multi-goal deficit in the third period (46). The trailing team earned at least a point in 91% of those third-period rallies (42 of 46).

* Those totals include one game in which both teams tied the score after trailing by multiple goals – the Penguins and Canucks each erased a multi-goal deficit on Nov. 27 before Pittsburgh eventually turned a 6-3 third-period deficit into an 8-6 victory.

EICHEL SCORES 20TH GOAL, EXTENDS POINT STREAK TO 14 GAMES
Blues captain Alex Pietrangelo scored his team’s second tying goal of the contest early in the third period, but Jack Eichel (2-0—2) responded with his 19th and 20th goals of the season to extend the League’s longest active point streak to 14 games (12-13—25) and help the Sabres to their second straight win. Eichel’s point streak is the longest by a Sabres player in 10 years.

* Only four players in Sabres history have had a point streak of 15 or more games: Gilbert Perreault (18 GP in 1971-72), Dave Andreychuk (17 GP in both 1991-92 and 1992-93), Richard Martin (16 GP in 1974-75) and Tim Connolly (16 GP in 2009-10).

* Eichel is on pace to reach both the 50-goal and 100-point benchmarks in 2019-20. Only two players in franchise history have hit both milestones in the same season: Pat LaFontaine (53 G, 148 PTS) and Alexander Mogilny (76 G, 127 PTS) each did so in 1992-93.

* Eichel (North Chelmsford, Mass., USA), who required the fewest games of his career to reach the 20-goal mark (32 GP), joined Boston’s David Pastrnak (Havirov, CZE) and Washington’s Alex Ovechkin (Moscow, RUS) as the third 20-goal scorer this season – with each hailing from a different birth country.

FLAMES IGNITE FOR FIVE GOALS FOR SECOND TIME IN AS MANY DAYS
Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan scored two of five Flames goals – and Cam Talbot made 46 saves – as Calgary extended the League’s longest active win and point streaks to six and eight games (7-0-1), respectively.

* Calgary’s five-goal performance came one day after they netted five in a win over Colorado (19-8-3, 41 points) - the second-place team in the Western Conference. This two-day span marks the third time in the last two seasons that the Flames have scored five or more goals in consecutive days - they accomplished only three times over the previous 24 seasons combined (3x from 1993-94 to 2017-18).

SCHEIFELE, WHEELER PROPEL JETS TO FOURTH STRAIGHT HOME WIN
Mark Scheifele scored in his fourth straight game and Blake Wheeler factored on two goals (1-1—2) as the Jets (19-10-2, 40 points) soared to their fourth straight home win. Winnipeg sits two points back of St. Louis (18-8-6, 42 points) for first place in both the Central Division and Western Conference.

* Winnipeg’s climb in the Western Conference standings has benefited from their play since Nov. 1 (3-2 W at SJS). Its 13 wins (13-3-2, 28 points) are tied with Washington (13-3-2) and Dallas (13-3-2) for the most in the NHL through that span.

* The Jets have allowed two or fewer goals in six of their last seven contests, including one shutout. Their 38 goals against since Nov. 1 are the second fewest among all teams - trailing only the Stars (36).

MATTHEWS TRAILS ONLY OVECHKIN WITH 100TH EVEN-STRENGTH GOAL
While Blues captain Alex Pietrangelo and Hurricanes forward Sebastian Aho each scored their 100th NHL goal, Toronto’s Auston Matthews found the score sheet for his 100th regular-season goal at even strength.

* Matthews ranks behind only Alex Ovechkin for the fewest games among active players to reach 100 career even-strength goals.

* Since goals by strength became official in 1933-34, the fewest games required by a player to score 100 goals at even strength is 170, achieved by Maurice Richard in 1946-47. Wayne Gretzky (194 GP) is the only other player in that span to hit the mark in fewer than 200 career games.

TATAR, WEBER, PRICE PUT END TO PITTSBURGH STREAKS
Tomas Tatar and Shea Weber each scored their 10th goal of the season and Carey Price recorded 33 saves as the Canadiens halted the Penguins’ home point streak at 10 contests (8-0-2). Tatar’s goal at 12:24 of the second period halted Tristan Jarry’s shutout streak at 177:15 – a new Penguins franchise record.

* Jarry surpassed Tomas Vokoun (173:06 from March 22 – April 2, 2013) for the longest shutout streak in Penguins history. Three goaltenders posted runs of at least that length in 2018-19: Ben Bishop (233:04 w/ DAL), Marc-Andre Fleury (200:41 w/ VGK) and Andrei Vasilevskiy (184:04 w/ TBL).

* Weber scored at least 10 goals in a season for the 11th time in his career, the most among active defensemen. Zdeno Chara (10) and Brent Burns (9) are the only other defensemen to play this season with at least nine such campaigns. Weber reached the benchmark while skating in his 31st game.

AROUND THE RINKS
Stars goaltender Ben Bishop posted his 32nd career shutout, while Golden Knights goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury fell just short of one in his return to the lineup:

* Bishop turned aside all 26 shots he faced to record his first shutout of the season and backstop the Stars to their third straight win. Since being acquired by Dallas ahead the 2017-18 season, Bishop leads the NHL (min. 60 GP) in goals-against average (2.21) and save percentage (.927).

* Fleury (28 saves) came 27 seconds shy of posting a shutout in his first game since the passing of his father, earning his 451st career win as the Golden Knights improved to 8-1-0 all-time against the Blackhawks. Fleury moved within three victories of tying Curtis Joseph (454) for sixth on the League’s all-time list.

QUICK CLICKS

* NHL speeding up plan focused on culture, inclusion
* Rick Bowness replaces Jim Montgomery as Stars head coach
* NHL working with NHLPA to bring back World Cup of Hockey

* Alex Ovechkin brings smiles to special-needs players

* MikkoKoivu’s ex-teammates celebrate 1,000th NHL game in pre-game ceremony

PREVIEW OF TODAY’S ACTION