MATTHEWS SHINES IN RETURN TO MAPLE LEAFS LINEUP

In his first game since Oct. 27, Auston Matthews (2-1—3) led the offense alongside John Tavares (2-0—2) and Mitch Marner (0-3—3) as theMaple Leafs (18-8-0, 36 points) skated to their sixth straight win at Scotiabank Arena and moved into a tie in terms of points with the Sabres (17-6-2, 36 points) atop the NHL standings. Last season, Toronto established a franchise record with 13 consecutive home wins from Jan. 31 to March 24, 2018.

* Matthews recorded his eighth multi-point game in just 12 appearances this season. He is the sixth player since 2005-06 to record at least eight multi-point games in his first 12 appearances of a season and first since Nicklas Backstrom in 2011-12 (8). Only one player in NHL history has recorded 12 multi-point efforts in each of his first 12 games to begin a season: Mario Lemieux in 1992-93.

* Marner recorded his second straight game with three assists to join Mikko Rantanen (10-32—42) as the only players with 30 helpers in 2018-19. Only one other player in Maple Leafs franchise history has recorded 30 assists through the team’s first 26 games of a season: Doug Gilmour in 1992-93 (9-30—39 in 26 GP).

* Tavares scored twice to improve to 17-13—30 in 26 GP this season. Since 1980-81, only three players have required fewer than 26 games to record their first 30 points with the franchise: Dan Daoust in 1982-83 (9-22—31 in 22 GP), Doug Gilmour in 1991-92 (8-23—31 in 20 GP) and Dave Andreychuk in 1992-93 (21-10—31 in 20 GP).

* Additionally, only three players outside of the NHL’s inaugural season have required fewer games to record 17 goals with the Toronto franchise:Cully Wilson in 1919-20 (20 G in 23 GP), Gaye Stewart in 1942-43 (18 G in 20 GP) and Andreychuk in 1992-93 (17 G in 17 GP).

MacKINNON, RANTANEN COLLECT ANOTHER MULTI-POINT GAME

Despite surrendering a three-goal lead, the Avalanche benefited from multi-point outings from Nathan MacKinnon (1-3—4), Mikko Rantanen (0-2—2) and Gabriel Landeskog (1-1—2) to earn their sixth straight win and extend their point streak to nine contests (8-0-1 dating to Nov. 11).

* MacKinnon and Rantanen, who have combined for 9-19—28 in their last six games, extended their simultaneous multi-point game streaks to six contests. The duo are just the fifth set of teammates in the last 30 years to have simultaneously posted multiple points in six or more games and first since Alexander Mogilny and Pat LaFontaine (6 GP from Dec. 31 - Jan. 10, 1993 w/ BUF).

* MacKinnon, who posted his first four-point game of 2018-19, boosted his statistical totals to 18-23—41 to join Rantanen (10-32—42) as the only players with at least 40 points this season. The Avalanche duo are the sixth set of teammates in the last 20 years to be the first players to reach 40 points in any season.

CROSBY NETS HAT TRICK IN JUST OVER 5:00

Sidney Crosby notched his 11th career hat trick with all three goals coming in a span of 5:35. Only three players in Penguins history have scored three goals in less than 5:00 of play: Nisse Ekman (4:10 on Nov. 8, 2006), Lowell MacDonald (4:17 on Nov. 13, 1973) and Rick Kehoe (4:55 on March 10, 1976). Mario Lemieux (40) and Evgeni Malkin (12) are the only players in franchise history with more hat tricks than Crosby’s 11.

DUCKS OPEN THE SCORING EARLY, WIN THE GAME LATE
Josh Manson opened the scoring 15 seconds into the contest and Nick Ritchie netted his second goal of the game with 1:28 remaining in regulation to lift the Ducks to their fourth win in five contests.

* Manson’s game-opening tally marked the second-fastest goal from the start of a game in Ducks franchise history, trailing only Paul Kariya’s mark set on March 9, 1997 (0:08). Additionally, he is the eighth player to score in the first 20 seconds of a contest this season and fourth in the month of November.

* Ritchie, who recorded his fourth goal in his last four games (4-1—5), netted the game-winning tally with 1:28 remaining in regulation. It marked the NHL's 13th go-ahead goal in the final two minutes of regulation this season and first by the Ducks.

ACTIVE IRONMAN LEADERS CONTINUE CONSECUTIVE GAMES STREAK
Panthers defenseman Keith Yandle, Maple Leafs forward Patrick Marleau and Penguins forward Phil Kessel, who own the top three active consecutive games played streaks, respectively, all continued their Ironman runs on Wednesday.

* Yandle recorded an assist while skating in his 738th consecutive game to surpass Jay Bouwmeester (737 GP) for the sixth longest stretch in NHL history.

* Marleau, who ranks eighth on the all-time list with 732 consecutive games, notched a goal against his former team to become the 25th player to score on each of the NHL’s 31 clubs.

* Kessel, who skated in his 716th consecutive game on Wednesday, is the only other active streak that ranks within the top ten all-time (9th). A complete list of all-time consecutive games played leaders can be found on Records.NHL.com.

QUICK CLICKS

* Golden Knights finding rhythm after slow start (via Tracey Myers)

* Ken Hitchcock's culture change paying early dividends for Oilers (via Tim Campbell)

* Islanders, alumni excited for return to Nassau Coliseum

* Red Wings relinquish three-goal lead, recover to win vs. STL

SNEAK PEEK AT THURSDAY’S ACTION

EAST’S ELITE FACE OFF WHEN SABRES VISIT LIGHTNING

Two of the League’s top goal scorers take to the ice at Amalie Arena on Thursday when Brayden Point (18-14—32) and the Lightning host Jeff Skinner (19-8—27) and the League-leading Sabres. Buffalo, who has won 10 straight games dating to Nov. 8, enters the contest looking to extend its win streak to a franchise record 11 games.

* The last two teams to post a winning streak longer than 10 games both did so during the 2016-17 campaign: Columbus (16-0-0 from Nov. 29 - Jan. 3, 2017) and Minnesota (12-0-0 from Dec. 4-29, 2016).

* Only three players in Buffalo’s franchise history have reached the 20-goal mark in 26 or fewer games: Richard Martin (24 GP in 1972-73), Dave Andreychuk (26 GP in 1992-93) and Danny Gare (26 GP in 1975-76). In fact, Thomas Vanek (2008-09) and Danny Gare (1975-76) are the only two Sabres players to be the first skater to reach the 20-goal mark in a season.

* Point has recorded 11 goals in 14 games during the month of November, trailing just Skinner (13 in 13 GP) and Patrik Laine (16 in 11 GP) for most goals in the calendar month. He looks to extend his goal streak to at least four games for the third time in his career (also: 5 GP from Dec. 5-14, 2017 and 4 GP from Feb. 17-24, 2018).

GOLDEN KNIGHTS LOOK TO CONTINUE HIGH-SCORING SUCCESS

The Golden Knights aim to extend their winning streak to a season-high five games when they visit the Canucks at Rogers Arena. Vegas has outscored its opponents by a 19-5 margin over the four-game stretch while notching six or more goals in consecutive contests and shutting out the opposition on two occasions.

* The Golden Knights are one of five teams to score six or more goals in consecutive contests this season, joining the Capitals (Oct. 3 and 4), Maple Leafs (Oct. 7 and 9), Penguins (Oct. 23 and 25) and Flames (Nov. 19 and 21). Since 1999-2000, there have been only 10 instances of a team scoring six or more goals in three or more consecutive games, with the Blues the last to accomplish the feat in 2014-15 (3 GP from Jan. 3-8, 2015).

* After collecting just two points in his first 14 contests with Vegas this season, Max Pacioretty has notched 5-6—11 in his last eight, highlighted by a six-game point streak dating to Nov. 18. He sits two contests shy of matching the longest such run in Golden Knights franchise history, set by David Perron and Eric Haula, who posted simultaneous eight-game streaks from Jan. 18 - Feb. 2, 2018.