WILD SHOW SUPPORT FOR FLYERS FORWARD OSKAR LINDBLOM
Philadelphia visited Minnesota at Xcel Energy Center in its first game since learning that forward Oskar Lindblom was diagnosed with Ewing's sarcoma, a rare bone cancer. The Wild gave the 23-year-old their best wishes during a video tribute at a first-period stoppage, with the classy gesture followed by a loud applause from fans.

* The Flyers, meanwhile, had Lindblom’s stall set up in the visitors dressing room to honor their teammate.



BLUES OVERCOME 3-0 THIRD-PERIOD DEFICIT TO STUN BLACKHAWKS
The Blues scored four unanswered goals to overcome a 3-0 third-period and defeat the Blackhawks. St. Louis rallied from a third-period deficit of three-plus goals to win a regular-season game for the second time in franchise history; the first instance occurred on Nov. 29, 2000, when they erased a 5-0 deficit in the final frame to defeat Toronto (6-5 OT W).

* The Blues have overcome a third-period deficit of three goals to win a contest in the Stanley Cup Playoffs on three occasions, doing so in Game 4 of the 1968 Semifinals (4-3 OT W vs. MNS), Game 6 of the 1986 Division Finals (6-5 OT W vs. CGY) and Game 3 of the 1998 Conference Quarterfinals (4-3 W at LAK).

* St. Louis improved to 20-8-6 (44 points) this season and leapfrogged its idle intradivision rival Colorado (21-8-3, 45 points) to reclaim first place in the Western Conference standings.



GOALTENDERS BACKSTOP TEAMS TO ROAD WINS IN WESTERN CANADA
Goaltenders backstopped the Hurricanes and Maple Leafs to wins in Western Canada:

* James Reimer turned aside all 32 shots he faced as the Hurricanes snapped the Flames’ win and point streak at the seven and nine games (8-0-1), respectively. Carolina (20-11-2, 42 points) reached the 20-win mark in 33 or fewer contests for the second time in franchise history, following 2005-06 (31 GP; 20-9-2, 42 points) en route to capturing the Stanley Cup.



* The Hurricanes earned their 50th regular-season win since Jan. 1 (50-23-4, 104 points) and established a franchise record for most in a calendar year, eclipsing the previous mark of 49 set in 2006 (49-27-8, 106 points). Their 50 regular-season wins in 2019 are tied with the Blues (50-18-11, 111 points) for the most among all teams.

* Frederik Andersen made 36 saves to earn the 200th regular-season win of his NHL career (200-87-41) and guide the Maple Leafs past the Oilers. Andersen became the fifth goaltender in League history to reach 200 career regular-season wins in 344 appearances or less.

* Toronto improved to 7-0-0 in its last seven games versus Edmonton dating to Nov. 1, 2016 (EDM: 0-6-1), with Andersen manning the crease for six of those contests (6-0-0; 2.17 GAA, .943 SV%). Overall, the native of Herning, Denmark improved to 12-0-1 in 13 career appearances against the Oilers (2.07 GAA, .932 SV%) – with his lone defeat occurring as a member of the Ducks on Nov. 11, 2015 (4-3 OT L).

OTHER SURGING PLAYERS, TEAMS CONTINUE TO ROLL
* The League-leading Capitals (15-2-1, 31 points) matched the NHL record for fewest games to 15 road wins in a season (18 GP), a mark set by the Sabres in 2006-07 (15-3-0, 30 points). Rookie Ilya Samsonov (8-1-1 in 10 GS) became the fourth goaltender in franchise history to earn eight wins through his first 10 career starts, joining Bob Mason (8-1-1; 1983-84 – 1984-85), Jim Carey (8-1-1; 1994-95) and Semyon Varlamov (8-0-1; 2008-09 – 2009-10).

* Senators forward Anthony Duclair (3-0—3), who has registered three multi-goal outings since Dec. 7 (7-1—8 in 4 GP), joined Bob Kudelski on Nov. 5, 1993 (3-0—3 at WIN) and Jean-Gabriel Pageau in Game 2 of the 2017 Second Round (4-0—4 vs. NYR) as the only players in franchise history to score a hat trick which included an overtime goal.

* Anthony Beauvillier (1-2—3) scored the overtime winner as the Islanders extended their home point streak to 13 games (12-0-1), tied for the sixth-longest in franchise history. The Wild, meanwhile, extended their home point streak to 12 contests (9-0-3) – the second-longest in franchise history behind a 13-game run from Dec. 27, 2017 – Feb. 13, 2018 (10-0-3).

* Rangers forward Artemi Panarin (1-0—1) extended his goal streak to four games (6-2—8). Panarin and Mika Zibanejad (2-0—2), who opened the scoring 10 seconds into the game Saturday, have accounted for 11 of the Rangers’ 15 goals since Dec. 8 (11-2—13 in 4 GP).

* Sabres captain Jack Eichel (1-1—2) extended his career-high point streak to 16 contests (15-14—29), the lengthiest by any player this season and tied for the fourth-longest in franchise history.

STARS DEFEAT PREDATORS IN FINAL MEETING BEFORE WINTER CLASSIC
The Stars scored all four of their goals in the second period to defeat the Predators in their final head-to-head meeting before facing off outdoors at the 2020 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic, which is set to take place New Year’s Day at Cotton Bowl Stadium in Dallas.



QUICK CLICKS

* Sharks defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic reaches 1,000-game milestone
* Devils top Coyotes for Alain Nasreddine's first victory as coach

* Cole Caufield among players to watch for U.S. at World Juniors selection camp
* U.S. Navy Lt. Victorio Fazzino surprises his wife and daughter at BB&T Center
* Hurricanes forward Warren Foegele scores two shorthanded goals

PREVIEW OF TODAY’S ACTION

STAAL CLOSING IN ON 1,000-POINT MILESTONE
Eric Staal (428-571—999 in 1,207 GP), who scored two goals Saturday, is one regular-season point shy of 1,000 in his NHL career and can reach the milestone when the Wild visit the Blackhawks at United Center. The 35-year-old would become the sixth active NHL player to record 1,000 career regular-season points (also Joe Thornton, Alex Ovechkin, Sidney Crosby, Patrick Marleau and Evgeni Malkin).

thanks to the NHL PR department for the information above