TEAMS ENJOY HOME COOKING, HIGH SCORING AHEAD OF U.S. THANKSGIVING

* Wednesday marked the second day in NHL history to feature 12 wins by the home team. The other instance came on Oct. 15, 2016 when home teams won 12 of 13 games (the Sharks defeated the Blue Jackets in Columbus).

* There were a combined 99 goals Wednesday, tied for the second-highest cumulative goals total on a single day in NHL history (including shootout-deciding goals - of which there were none on Wednesday). The other days with at least 99 combined goals: Oct. 25, 2008 (99 G in 15 GP, incl. three shootout-deciding goals) and Jan. 23, 1993 (103 G in 12 GP).

SABRES EXTEND WIN STREAK TO SEVEN GAMES
Jeff Skinner opened the scoring with his 15th goal of 2018-19 as the Sabres extended their winning streak to seven games, the longest in the NHL this season and the longest by the franchise since 2006-07 (10-0-0). At 14-6-2 (30 points), Buffalo moved within one point of the Lightning (15-6-1, 31 points) for first place in the Atlantic Division and Eastern Conference.

* Skinner (15-9—26) is tied with Alex Ovechkin (15-9—24) for second in the League in goals behind David Pastrnak (17-8—25). The 2011 Calder Trophy winner notched his 15th goal in his 22nd game of the season, seven contests faster than his previous best mark (29 GP in 2013-14).

* Carter Hutton (23 saves) improved to 6-0-0 in his last appearances en route to earning his 10th win of the season. Hutton, who boasts a 4-0-0 record in four career appearances against the Flyers (1.96 GAA and .921 SV%), has posted the longest personal winning streak by a Sabresnetminder since 2009-10 (Ryan Miller: 8-0-0 from Oct. 8-30).

YOUTH POWERS RANGERS TO SEVENTH STRAIGHT HOME WIN

Nineteen-year-old Filip Chytil extended his goal streak just 29 seconds into the contest and 22-year-old Alexandar Georgiev stopped all 28 shots he faced as the Rangers earned their seventh consecutive win at Madison Square Garden. They own the longest home win streak in the NHL this season, one shy of their best home stretch in 2017-18 (8-0-0 from Oct. 26-Nov. 26, 2017).

* The victory propelled the Rangers (12-8-2, 26 points) into a tie with the idle Blue Jackets (12-7-2, 26 points) for the most points in the Metropolitan Division. It also halted the Islanders’ winning streak in their head-to-head series at eight games - tied for the third-longest for either side in their storied rivalry. It also marked the Islanders’ first loss of the season against a Metropolitan Division opponent (7-1-0).

* Chytil’s run, which began with his first goal of the season on Nov. 12, makes him the 20th different teenager in NHL history - and second in as many campaigns - to record a goal in five or more consecutive team games. Overall, those teenagers have accounted for 28 goal streaks of five or more games.

* Georgiev became the 16th different rookie goaltender to record a shutout for the Rangers, and just the second to do so for the club against the Islanders (joining Doug Soetaert on Feb. 6, 1977).

* Additionally, Georgiev, 22, became the eighth different Rangers goaltender to record a shutout before his 23rd birthday. Only two of the previous seven recorded multipleshutouts before that age: John Vanbiesbrouck (4) and John Davidson (2).

FLAMES ACCOMPLISH RARE FEAT WITH ANOTHER EXPLOSIVE FIRST PERIOD
After posting a five-goal first period in their previous outing (Nov. 19 vs. VGK), the Flames again netted five goals in the opening 20 minutes of Wednesday’s contest. They became just the fourth team in NHL history to score five or more goals in the opening frame in consecutive games.

* Matthew Tkachuk (1-1—2), one of six different goal scorers for the Flames Wednesday, boosted his totals to 12-15—27. Only five players have more points than him in 2018-19.

* The Flames have scored at least six goals on home ice a League-best four times in 2018-19 - one shy of their total from 41 contests at Scotiabank Saddledome last season (with one of those also coming against the Jets: Oct. 7, 2017 6-3 W).

HIGH-SCORING DUOS BOOST CLUBS IN SEVEN-GOAL OUTPUTS

Two of the highest-scoring tandems from the past year struck again Wednesday, with Mikko Rantanen (0-2—2), Nathan MacKinnon (1-1—2),Steven Stamkos (1-3—4) and Nikita Kucherov (1-2—3) each recording multiple points as Colorado and Tampa Bay scored seven goals apiece.

* Rantanen (8-26—34) and MacKinnon (14-17—31) each recorded multiple points for the fourth time in five outings. They are just the third set of teammates since 1985-86 to rank first and second in League scoring through 331 games of a season. Stamkos and Kucherov also did so in 2017-18, while the Penguins trio of Mario Lemieux, Jaromir Jagr and Ron Francis held the top three slots in 1995-96.

* This marks the second consecutive season that two players from the same team hit 30 points within the club’s first 21 games of a season - Stamkos and Kucherov did it by Tampa Bay’s 18th game in 2017-18. It has happened only five other times in Avalanche/Nordiques franchise history.

* Stamkos recorded his franchise-leading 12th career four-point outing as the Eastern Conference-leading Lightning (15-6-1, 31 points) scored at least seven goals for the third time this season (tops in the NHL). The only other players in franchise history with at least 10 career four-point outings are Vincent Lecavalier (10) and Martin St.Louis (10).

* Kucherov, one of four Lightning players with at least three points Wednesday, recorded his 28th career showing with three or more points. Since 2014-15, only six other skaters have produced more such performances: Patrick Kane (36), Sidney Crosby (35), Evgeni Malkin (34), Connor McDavid (32), Jamie Benn (31) and Nicklas Backstrom (30).

GOAL-GETTERS CONTINUE TO IMPACT SCORE SHEETS

* Kyle Palmieri opened the scoring to boost his goal total to 12 on the season as the Devils improved to 7-1-2 in home games in 2018-19. Palmieri became the eighth different player in Devils franchise history to record 12 or more goals in the first 20 games played of a campaign, and first since since Zach Parise tallied 13 goals in 20 team games in both 2008-09 and 2009-10.

* John Tavares recorded his eleventh goal on the road this season to boost his overall totals to 14-12—26 in 2018-19. Tavares became the fifth different player in Maple Leafs history - and first in the modern era (1943-44) - to score 11 or more road goals through the team’s first 11 such games.

* Mike Hoffman scored with 3:35 remaining in regulation to extend his franchise-record point streak to 17 games, the fifth-longest such run by a player in his first season with a franchise. Hoffman is the fifth player over the past nine seasons to record a point in 17 or more consecutive team games, joining Taylor Hall (19 GP in 2017-18), Patrick Kane (26 GP in 2015-16), Pascal Dupuis (17 GP in 2011-12) and Sidney Crosby (25 GP in 2010-11).

* Max Domi scored to extend his point streak to 11 games (6-9—15) and boost his totals to 11-15—26 in his first 22 games in a Canadiens uniform. He needs only four points in his next three games to become the sixth player in franchise history to record 30 or more points within their first 25 or fewer NHL games with Montreal. The only players to do so: Joe Malone (20 GP) in 1917-18, Newsy Lalonde (14 GP) in 1917-18, Odie Cleghorn(20 GP) in 1919-20, Didier Pitre (24 GP) in 1918-19 and Pierre Turgeon (24 GP) in 1995-96.

DUMBA SCORES TWICE, DEFENSEMEN BOOST SCORING

After Matt Dumba (2-0—2) helped the Wild build a 4-1 lead, two Senators defensemen sparked a three-goal comeback in the third period only to witness Eric Staal (2-0—2) net the go-ahead goal 1:07 later. Minnesota emerged with a win to improve to 7-2-2 at Xcel Energy Center.

* Minnesota and Ottawa share the League lead with 20 goals apiece from defensemen thus far in 2018-19, including four of the 10 scored in Wednesday’s contest.

* Dumba (10-5—15) became the first NHL defenseman to reach 10 goals this season - a first in Wild franchise history. He also became just the sixth defenseman since 1989-90 to score 10 goals through his team’s first 22 games of a season, joining Shea Weber (2008-09 w/ NSH), Al MacInnis(1997-98 w/ STL), Ray Bourque (1995-96 w/ BOS) Gary Suter (1995-96 w/ CHI) and Jeff Brown (1992-93 w/ STL).

CROSBY MAKES IMPACT (YET AGAIN) IN RETURN TO PENGUINS LINEUP
Sidney Crosby tallied 1-2—3 in his return to the lineup to lead the Penguins to victory. This marked the 16th time in his career that he returned after missing at least one game, recording 8-12—20 collectively, scoring in 12 of those 16 games. Pittsburgh improved its record to 12-3-1 in his returns.

* Pittsburgh improved to 13-0-2 in their past 15 matchups against Western Conference clubs dating to Jan. 25, 2018, outscoring them 68-31 over that span. It matches the longest interconference point streak in franchise history (10-0-5 from Feb. 10-Nov. 23, 2011).

* In fact, this marks the 17th time in NHL history that a team has recorded at least a point in 15 or more consecutive games against an opponent from the other conference (spanning seasons or otherwise). The last such run ended in 2013-14 when the Blackhawks had their 19-game streak against the Eastern Conference halted by the Maple Leafs (16-0-3).

QUICK CLICKS

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SNEAK PEEK AT FRIDAY’S ACTION

the above information was provided by the NHL PR department