FIRST-PERIOD SUCCESS SPARKS FLAMES ON HOCKEY FIGHTS CANCER NIGHT
Johnny Gaudreau (1-3—4) matched a franchise record for points in a period as the Flames scored five goals in the opening frame for the 14th time in franchise history, en route to victory. Gaudreau posted the 10th four-point period since the club relocated to Calgary in the 1980-81 season (and first since Olli Jokinen on Feb. 14, 2011 at COL).

* Matthew Tkachuk (11-14—25) tallied 2-2—4 to move into the team lead in scoring, ahead of Sean Monahan (12-12—24), Gaudreau (7-17—24), Elias Lindholm (11-11—22) and Mark Giordano (2-18—20). Calgary is the only team with at least five players who each have 20 or more points apiece this season.

* The 2018-19 campaign marks the 10th in Flames franchise history - and first since 1993-94 - in which the club has had at least four players averaging a point per game through 21 team games.

HOFFMAN SCORES AGAINST FORMER CLUB AS PANTHERS NET SEASON HIGH

Making his return to Ottawa, Mike Hoffman scored one of seven Panthers goals to become the sixth different player in NHL history to record a point streak of at least 16 games in his first season with a franchise. Florida became the 18th different team to score at least seven goals in a game in 2018-19, bringing the total to 25 such performances overall.

* Juho Lammikko (0-4—4), a third-round pick (65th overall) in the 2014 NHL Draft, became the first rookie in team history to post four assists in a game and the just the fourth to record a four-point outing. Additionally, Lammikko became just the sixth different rookie in the past 10 seasons to record four or more assists in a game, following Mathew Barzal (2x in 2017-18), Ryan Pulock (2017-18), Anders Lee (2014-15), Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (2011-12) and TJ Galiardi (2009-10).

OVECHKIN CONTINUES DOMINANCE VS. MONTREAL, CAPITALS OUTLAST CANADIENS

Alex Ovechkin scored his 30th and 31st career regular-season goals against the Canadiens (31-22—53 in 47 GP), including the tying marker 62 seconds into the third period, to help the Capitals leave Montreal with a victory.

* Since he entered the League in 2005-06, Ovechkin is the only NHL player to score at least 30 goals against Montreal; Jason Spezza (32-37--69 in 63 GP) is the only active player with more career goals against the Canadiens.

* Dating back to the League’s inaugural season of 1917-18, only five players have a better career goals per game average against the Canadiensthan Ovechkin (min. 30 GP).

* Monday’s outing marked the 125th career multi-goal game for Ovechkin, placing him ahead of Steve Yzerman (124) and into a tie with Dino Ciccarelli (125) for the 11th-most in NHL history. Ovechkin (1,022 GP) became the sixth player to record their 125th multi-goal performance before their 1,100th career game, joining Wayne Gretzky (591 GP), Mario Lemieux (649 GP), Mike Bossy (725 GP), Brett Hull (773 GP) and Phil Esposito (983 GP).

* Ovechkin netted his 236th power-play goal to also tie Mario Lemieux (236) for seventh place on the NHL's all-time list, one back of Brendan Shanahan (237). Lemieux scored his 236th power-play goal while skating in his 899th career game, while Shanahan notched his final such tally in his 1,495th contest.

LAINE BURIES SIXTH HAT TRICK, TRAILS ONLY GRETZKY BEFORE AGE 21

Twenty-year-old Patrik Laine netted his sixth career hat trick (second this season) to propel the Jets to victory in their first of a four-game road trip. Laine (174 GP) now trails only Wayne Gretzky for the most hat tricks by a player before his 21st birthday - he had 12 in 210 games before that age.

* Laine trails only Ilya Kovalchuk (11) for the most hat tricks in Jets/Thrashers franchise history. His 91 career goals rank second in the NHL since he entered the League in 2016-17, behind Alex Ovechkin (97) - who tallied just two of his 20 career hat tricks within his first 174 NHL games.

SABRES, MAPLE LEAFS STAGE MULTI-GOAL RALLIES, GAIN GROUND ON LIGHTNING

Two of the top three teams in the Atlantic Division overcame multi-goal deficits to extend winning streaks. Toronto now sits atop the division and Eastern Conference, while Buffalo ranks third in both behind the Maple Leafs and Lightning.

* After recording his 200th NHL point in regulation, Sabres captain Jack Eichel (1-1—2) scored 45 seconds into overtime to cap a three-goal rally by Buffalo and lift the club to its sixth straight win. This marks their longest winning streak since an equal run from Dec. 27, 2009 – Jan. 8, 2010.

* Buffalo’s last winning streak of seven or more games came in 2006-07 when they matched the NHL record for consecutive wins to begin a season, starting 10-0-0. That also matched a franchise record for longest winning streak at any point in a season, tying a mark set in 1983-84.

* The Sabres became the fourth team to win a game in which they trailed by at least three goals this season, joining the Stars (Oct. 13 vs. ANA), Oilers (Oct. 16 at WPG), Flames (Nov. 1 vs. COL).

* John Tavares (1-1—2) netted the tying goal - his 13th with the team - and Mitchell Marner notched two assists as the Maple Leafs overcame a 2-0 deficit with four unanswered goals. Marner (6-22—28) moved into a tie with Connor McDavid (12-16—28) for the third-most points in the NHL.

* Toronto’s win marked the 48th multi-goal comeback in the NHL this season (including the four three-goal rallies noted above), 18 more than at the same point in 2017-18. Overall, 143 of the 316 games (45.2%) contested so far have seen the winning team trail by at least one goal.

DOMI EXTENDS POINT STREAK AS MONTREAL REWRITES ANOTHER RECORD
Max Domi collected an assist to extend his point streak to 10 contests (5-9—14), the 82nd such instance in Canadiens franchise history and first since Vincent Damphousse from Feb. 7-28, 1996 (5-12—17 in 10 GP). Domi, who sits third in League scoring since Nov. 1 (5-9—14), is the first player to record a point streak of at least 10 games in his first season with Montreal since Pierre Turgeon from April 5-29, 1995 (11-9—20 in 13 GP). In fact, Turgeon’s 13-game stretch also marks the Canadiens’ longest such run in the NHL’s modern era (1943-44).

* Did You Know? Montreal scored three goals in the opening 95 seconds of the second period, tied for the second-fastest three goals to start any period in franchise history (and tied for the 14th-fastest in League history). The only instance of the team scoring three goals in less time to open a period came during the second frame on Nov. 5, 1955 vs. BOS (1:26). In their last meeting with Washington - another high-scoring affair that saw 10 total goals - the Canadiens established an NHL record for the fastest two goals by one team.

BEST OF THE REST
* Brayden Point (0-2—2) picked up two more points, but Pekka Rinne (8-2-1) made 29 saves as the Predators (15-5-1, 31 points) defeated the Lightning (14-6-1, 29 points) for the second time this season to take sole control of first place in the NHL. Nashville improved to 9-0-2 in their last 11 meetings with Tampa Bay dating to Feb. 27, 2014 and 7-0-2 in their past nine home meetings dating to Feb. 7, 2008. Rinne recorded his 319th career win to tie Miikka Kiprusoff for the most by a Finnish-born goaltender in NHL history.

* Filip Chytil scored the game-winning goal as the Rangers extended their home winning streak to six games. Chytil, who has a goal in each of his last four outings, became the 44th different teenager in NHL history to record a goal streak of at least four team games (60 such streaks overall). In 2017-18, Patrik Laine (4x), Nico Hischier and Nolan Patrick combined for six such runs, with Laine posting two five-game goal streaks and one six-game goal streak.

* Drake Batherson (2-3—5 in 3 GP) became the third player in Senators franchise history to record five or more points in his first three career NHL games, joining Alexandre Daigle (3-4—7 in 1993-94) and current teammate Brady Tkachuk (2-3—5 in 2018-19).

* Calvin Petersen (29 saves) recorded his first career shutout while making his third career start, becoming the fifth goaltender in Kings history to record a shutout within his first three career starts. The others: Mario Lessard (Oct. 26, 1978), Cristobal Huet (Mar. 15, 2003), Erik Ersberg (Mar. 6, 2008) and Martin Jones (Dec. 7, 2013).

QUICK CLICKS

* Cam Atkinson, Corey Crawford and Joe Pavelski named NHL ‘Three Stars’ of the Week

* Thanksgiving Showdown, homecomings highlight week ahead

* Five Questions with Eddie Olczyk (via Tracey Myers)
* Craig Berube named Blues’ interim head coach

SNEAK PEEK AT TUESDAY’S ACTION