NHL Short Notes

THREE HARD LAPS

* Patrik Laine scored three power-play goals to register his eighth career hat trick and get the 20th Hockey Day in Canada off to a flying start.

* Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid became the first set of teammates with 30 goals and 80 points through their team’s first 55 games since Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr in 1996-97.

* Nikita Kucherov and Steven Stamkos each extended the League’s longest active point streak to 10 games. Kucherov became the fifth different player in the last 30 years to post at least five point streaks of 10-plus games over a three-season span.

LAINE, JETS SOAR ON HOCKEY DAY IN CANADA . . .

Patrik Laine (3-0—3) initiated the Hockey Day in Canada festivities with his eighth career hat trick and Kyle Connor (1-3—4) registered his fourth career four-point game as the Jets (28-23-5, 61 points) moved past the Coyotes (27-23-7, 61 points) and Predators (26-21-7, 59 points) for the second Wild Card spot in the Western Conference.

* Laine, who became the fourth different player in franchise history to score three power-play goals in a regular-season game, has found the back of the net eight times in his last eight contests dating to Jan. 19 (8-0—8).

* The 21-year-old's current scoring stretch boosted his career totals to 133-102—235 in 291 contests. In the process, the second-overall pick in the 2016 NHL Draft surpassed Sidney Crosby (132) and tied Brian Bellows (133) for the seventh-most goals in NHL history by a player prior to their 22nd birthday.

* Connor (26-30—56) sits one point behind Mark Scheifele (23-34—57) in team scoring this season and previously posted four-point performances on Nov. 19, 2018 (at VAN), Nov. 24, 2018 (at STL) and March 23, 2019 (vs. NSH) – the second-most by any player in Jets/Thrashers history prior to his 24th birthday. Ilya Kovalchuk paces the list with 12 (all w/ ATL).

. . . WHILE OILERS, FLAMES, CANADIENS ALSO COLLECT TWO CRUCIAL POINTS
Leon Draisaitl (2-0—2), Matthew Tkachuk (1-0—1) and Ilya Kovalchuk (1-0—1) each found the back of the net to help the Oilers (29-20-6, 64 points), Flames (28-22-6, 62 points) and Canadiens (27-23-7, 61 points) continue their respective playoff pushes.

* NHL points leader Draisaitl (31-54—85) scored twice to help the Oilers erase a one-goal, third-period deficit and join teammate Connor McDavid (30-51—81) with 30 goals and 80 points. The last time teammates on any club each had 30 goals and 80 points through the team’s first 55 games was 1996-97 (Pittsburgh’s Mario Lemieux: 39-50—89 and Jaromir Jagr: 44-42—86).

* Tkachuk was one of six different Calgary goal scorers as the Flames, who snapped the Canucks’ nine-game home win streak, joined the Oilers as the second Pacific Division club to collect two crucial standings points Saturday – where seeds 1-5 are separated by four points.

* With points in five of his last six games, including a team-leading 18-26—44 (tied) and 61 penalty minutes, Tkachuk is on pace to join Theo Fleury in 1997-98 (27-51—78; 197 PIM) as the second player in franchise history to lead the team in points and penalty minutes at season’s end.

* Kovalchuk scored 1:43 into the extra frame to register his 17th career regular-season overtime goal and second this season (also Jan. 11 at OTT). The 13-season NHL veteran sits third on the League’s all-time list, behind Alex Ovechkin (23) and Jaromir Jagr (19).

* Saturday marked the 51st contest of 747 all-time regular-season matchups between the Canadiens and Maple Leafs to be decided in overtime and 285th to result in a one-goal margin (including ties). Their 285 such contests are the second-most between two teams in NHL history, behind Montreal and Boston (300).

KUCHEROV NOTCHES FIFTH 10-GAME POINT STREAK IN THREE SEASONS

Nikita Kucherov (0-2—2) posted his eighth multi-point game in nine contests to extend his point streak to 10 games, while Andrei Vasilevskiy (17 saves) improved to 16-0-2 in his last 18 appearances to lift the Lightning (35-15-5, 75 points) to their ninth straight win at AMALIE Arena.

* Kucherov (8-10—18 in 10 GP since Jan. 14), who holds a share of the League’s longest active point streak with teammate Steven Stamkos (10 GP dating to Jan. 14), has collected five such stretches of 10-plus games since 2017-18. Wayne Gretzky is the only player in the last 30 years to collect more in a three-season span.

* Vasilevskiy boosted his personal point streak to 18 games (16-0-2) dating to Dec. 17, 2019 – including wins in each of his last five contests. He became just the second active netminder to collect at least one point in as many contests (also Tuukka Rask: 19 GP in 2017-18 w/ BOS).

* The 2019-20 campaign marks the second time in as many seasons that Tampa Bay has registered a home win streak of nine-plus games (also 9-0-0 from Nov. 29, 2018 – Jan. 10, 2019). The Lightning have posted a run of that length in consecutive seasons for the second time in franchise history after initially doing so in 2014-15 (10 GP from Dec. 11, 2014 – Jan. 31, 2015) and 2015-16 (9 GP from Jan. 2 – Feb. 12, 2016).

METROPOLITAN DIVISION TEAMS WIN HIGH-SCORING AFFAIRS
Sebastian Aho (1-1—2) reached the 30-goal mark in an 11-goal, back-and-forth affair while Claude Giroux (1-2—3) capped Philadelphia’s seven-goal outburst with his 800th career point as the Hurricanes (32-20-3, 67 points) and Flyers (30-18-7, 67 points) kept pace with one another in the Eastern Conference Wild Card picture.

* Carolina, which captured its second multi-goal, third-period comeback win of the season (also Oct. 5, 2019 at WSH), holds the second Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference due to regulation wins (CAR: 22; PHI: 21).

* Aho’s 30th goal of 2019-20 was one of six third-period goals as the Hurricanes became the NHL’s 10th team to register multiple multi-goal, third-period comeback wins this season. The Capitals and Panthers lead all teams with four.

* Only one player in Hurricanes team history has required fewer games to score their 30th goal of a season than Aho (55 GP) – Eric Staal (46 GP in 2005-06).

* Giroux, selected 22nd overall by Philadelphia in the 2006 NHL Draft, became the fourth player in franchise history to record 800 career regular-season points and just the third in his draft class to reach the 800-point mark. The others: Nicklas Backstrom (241-674—915) and Phil Kessel (369-486—855).