LAINE BREAKS RECORDS WITH FIRST FIVE-GOAL GAME IN NEARLY EIGHT YEARS

Patrik Laine became the first NHL player in nearly eight years to score five goals in a game, setting franchise records for most in a game and calendar month to take sole possession of the League lead this season (19). He has scored 16 times since returning to his native Finland for the2018 NHL Global Series on Nov. 1 - where he scored his first of three hat tricks this month.

* Laine tallied the 57th performance of five or more goals in a NHL regular-season game – the 17th by a visiting player - and first since Detroit’sJohan Franzen on Feb. 2, 2011 at OTT. The only other player to score five goals in a game since 1997-98 is Marian Gaborik, on Dec. 20, 2007 vs. NYR.

* Laine (20 years, 219 days) is the third different player in League history to score five goals in a game before his 21st birthday, joining Don Murdoch (Oct. 12, 1976: 19 years, 353 days) and Wayne Gretzky, who accomplished the feat twice (Feb. 18, 1981: 20 years, 23 days; and Dec. 30, 1981: 20 years, 338 days).

* Laine finished the contest with a perfect shooting percentage, becoming the fifth player to score five goals in a game on only five shots (since 1959-60 when shots were officially tracked).

* The Jets forward scored his second hat trick of the week, third of the season and seventh of his career. Only one player has more three-goal games for the Jets/Thrashers franchise (Ilya Kovalchuk: 11 in 594 GP w/ ATL) and only one player in NHL history has more before age 21: Gretzky (12 in 210 GP).

* Laine became the 14th different player in NHL history - and sixth in the League’s modern era (since 1943-44) - to record three or more hat tricks within his team’s first 22 games of a season.

* Laine’s 16 goals in November are the most in a calendar month in franchise history and the most by an NHL player in any calendar month since 1996-97. In November 1996, Jaromir Jagr scored 16 goals in 13 games, only to be outdone in December by teammate Mario Lemieux, who scored 17 times in 15 games. Winnipeg has two games remaining this month: Tuesday vs. PIT and Thursday vs. CHI.

* Laine, who will celebrate his 21st birthday on April 19, 2019, now sits one goal shy of 100 in his NHL career (177 GP). Only six players in League history have hit the mark before age 21.

GOAL SCORERS PUT THEIR CRAFT ON DISPLAY IN SATURDAY’S SLATE
Several of the League’s top goal scorers found the back of the net as the list of players with 10 or more goals in 2018-19 grew to 48:

* Jeff Skinner scored the opening goal in Detroit to briefly take the League lead. With 18-8—26, Skinner became the sixth different player in franchise history to record as many goals in the team’s opening 24 games of a season. The others: Richard Martin (20 in 1972-73 and 18 in 1971-72), Dave Andreychuk (19 in 1992-93), Pat LaFontaine (18 in 1992-93), Danny Gare (18 in 1975-76) and Thomas Vanek (18 in 2008-09).

* Alex Ovechkin netted his 17th goal of the season, scoring at least once in four of his past five games. It was the 624th regular-season goal of his career, one back of tying Joe Sakic and Jarome Iginla for 15th place on the NHL’s all-time list. He was the first NHL player to reach 20 goals last season (28 GP), the second time he did so (also 2013-14).

* Cam Atkinson extended his goal streak to seven games to match the franchise record set by Geoff Sanderson in 2002-03. On Monday in Detroit, he can become the first NHL player to net a goal in eight consecutive team games since Mike Green in 2008-09. Green’s run stands as the longest goal streak ever by an NHL defenseman. The 1998-99 campaign was the last to feature an NHL forward with a goal streak of eight games or more (Teemu Selanne and Miroslav Satan).

* Elias Pettersson scored his rookie-leading 13th goal of 2018-19 to become the eighth player since 1984-85 to score as many goals through 20 career NHL games. Only two active skaters have done so: Alex Ovechkin (15) and Evgeni Malkin (13).

JOHNSSON, GUENTZEL NET FIRST REGULAR-SEASON CAREER HAT TRICKS
Toronto’s Andreas Johnsson and Pittsburgh’s Jake Guentzel each notched their first career regular-season hat trick as the 2018-19 total increased to 27.

* Johnsson scored all three of his goals in a span of 7:35 to power the Maple Leafs to their eighth win in 11 contests. Johnsson became the eighth player in Maple Leafs franchise history to tally a first-period hat trick and first to do so since Wendel Clark in 1986-87.

* Guentzel, who has two postseason hat tricks to his name, is one of 33 players to record a playoff hat trick prior to doing so in the regular season. Flyers captain Claude Giroux last accomplished the feat on April 7, 2018 after first doing so during the 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs (April 13 at PIT).

RANTANEN, MACKINNON, LANDESKOG POWER AVALANCHE YET AGAIN
Mikko Rantanen and Nathan MacKinnon each tallied 1-1—2 as the Avalanche rallied with two goals in the final three minutes of regulation - scored 46 seconds apart - to earn their fourth straight win and extend their point streak to seven contests (6-0-1). Both Rantanen (10-28—38) and MacKinnon (15-20—35) have four straight multi-point showings, six in their past seven games and 12 on the season.

* Only once in Avalanche/Nordiques franchise history has a player been the first to 40 points in a season. In 1997-98, Peter Forsberg (9-31—40) recorded his 40th point on Dec. 12 to end the day tied with Philadelphia’s John LeClair (24-16—40) for the most in the NHL.

* Gabriel Landeskog also collected an assist Saturday to boost his season stats to 14-12—26, bringing the line’s total to 39-60—99 in 2018-19 (23 GP, 4.3 P/GP).

SABRES SIT ATOP NHL STANDINGS FOR THE FIRST TIME IN SINCE 2006-07

At 16-6-2 (34 points), Buffalo ranks atop the NHL for the first time since Oct. 8, 2011, when they were 2-0-0. The Sabres last held top spot in the League outside the month of October in 2006-07, when they finished with a 53-22-7 record (113 points) to clinch the first Presidents’ Trophy in franchise history.

* Buffalo’s current winning streak is one shy of matching the franchise record - last achieved at the start of the 2006-07 campaign - and one back of the longest by any team in 2017-18 (COL, NSH and CBJ all went 10-0-0). All team winning streaks of 10 or more games are available atRecords.NHL.com.

* During their run, the Sabres have defeated five teams who reached the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs and won eight one-goal games (including three in overtime and three in a shootout).

VEGAS STRIKES EARLY AND OFTEN, FLEURY JOINS SHORT LIST WITH 5TH SHUTOUT
The Golden Knights (12-12-1) scored four first-period goals, including one from William Karlsson just 14 seconds into the contest and Marc-Andre Fleury (33 saves) posted his second straight shutout as Vegas moved into a tie - in terms of points - for third place in the Pacific Division.

* Fleury leads the League with five shutouts (21 GP). He is one of 10 goaltenders in the NHL’s expansion era (since 1967-68) to record five shutouts in his team’s opening 25 games of a season - a feat he also achieved in 2014-15 with Pittsburgh. Ed Belfour is the only other netminder to do so multiple times in the expansion era (1997-98: 5 and 2000-01: 6 w/ DAL).

CAPITALS, BLACKHAWKS POST THRILLING COMEBACKS

Chicago and Washington each trailed by two goals in victories Saturday, bringing the total to 51 multi-goal comeback wins so far in 2018-19 (357 GP) - 18 more than at the same point last season.

* The Blackhawks overcame a pair of two-goal deficits, climbing from a 4-2 hole in the third period with a tying goal from Alex DeBrincat with 1.8 seconds on the clock to set the stage for Erik Gustafsson’s overtime winner. It marked the second tying goal in the final two seconds of regulation this season (also San Jose’s Tomas Hertl on Oct. 30 vs. NYR) and fourth in franchise history. It was the 12th tying goal in the final minute of regulation this season (tying team: 7-0-5) and third in the past two days.

* John Carlson recorded three assists to become the first defenseman in Capitals history to record 25 points through his first 22 games of a season. The Capitals earned their fifth straight win and ended the Rangers’ home winning streak at seven contests.

QUICK CLICKS

● Vancouver’s Antoine Roussel fined for biting San Jose’s Marc-Édouard Vlasic

● Former NHL referee, Mick McGeough passes away at 62

● Maple Leafs welcome back James van Riemsdyk with a tribute video

SNEAK PEEK AT SUNDAY’S ACTION