GAUDREAU, GIORDANO IGNITE FLAMES’ COMEBACK
Down 3-0 late in the second period, Johnny Gaudreau recorded a natural hat trick – including the last two goals in the final 2:12 of regulation – and Mark Giordano scored at 4:07 of overtime to help the Flames snap an eight-game skid (0-7-1).

* Per Elias, the Flames overcame a three-goal deficit to win for the first time since March 26, 2011, when they trailed 4-1 in the third period but ultimately won 5-4 in a shootout at EDM. In that contest, Jarome Iginla posted 2-1—3, Giordano contributed 0-3—3, Steve Staios scored the tying goal with 1:55 remaining in regulation and Alex Tanguay potted the lone marker in the tiebreaker.

* Gaudreau registered his first career hat trick. At 21 years, 131 days, he became the youngest Flames player to post a three-goal game since Dec. 28, 1987, when Joe Nieuwendyk notched 3-1—4 in a 9-3 victory vs. MTL.

* Fellow rookie Josh Jooris also recorded a hat trick for the Flames this month, tallying 3-0—3 in a 5-2 win on Dec. 2 vs. ARI. Elias says the Flames are the first team to have two rookies post hat tricks in the same calendar month since January 1993, when both Joe Juneau (Jan. 12 vs. BUF: 3-0—3) and Steve Heinze (Jan. 14 vs. PIT: 3-1—4) did so for the Bruins.

* Gaudreau ranks second among rookies with 17 assists and 27 points in 35 games this season. The Salem, N.J., native also shares third with 10 goals.

* Giordano (1-1—2) recorded his ninth career game-winning goal and third in overtime (also Jan. 4, 2007 vs. FLA and April 12, 2013 vs. PHX). He leads all defensemen with 10 goals (tied), 24 assists and 34 points in 36 games this season.

* Jonas Hiller made 31 saves to improve to 10-8-3 with a 2.33 goals-against average, .927 save percentage and three shutouts in 22 career regular-season appearances against the Kings.

* Jiri Hudler and Dennis Wideman both collected two assists. With his performance, Hudler passed 200 assists in his NHL career (127-201—328 in 561 GP).

* The Flames improved to 7-3-1 this season against Pacific Division opponents. They also won their third straight visit to Los Angeles dating to Oct. 21, 2013.

KESLER PROPELS DUCKS IN OVERTIME
Trailing 2-1 late in the third period, Cam Fowler potted the tying goal with 4:16 remaining in regulation and Ryan Kesler scored at 0:58 of overtime to lift the Ducks to their ninth win in their last 11 outings.

* With the victory, the Ducks (23-8-5, 51 points) became the first team to reach 50 points this season. They also tied the Blackhawks (23-9-2, 48 points) and Islanders (23-10-0, 46 points) for the most wins in the NHL.

* Kesler recorded his fourth career overtime goal and first since Oct. 25, 2013 at STL (2-0—2 w/ VAN).

* Kesler ranks second on the Ducks with 12-15—27 in 36 games this season, including 6-3—9 in his last nine contests.

* Ryan Getzlaf collected two assists to extend his point streak to six games (4-6—10). He shares fourth in the NHL with 12-27—39 in 35 games this season, including 6-14—20 in his past 12 outings.

* Frederik Andersen made 30 saves, including 26 through the opening two periods, to improve to 19-5-4 with a 2.39 goals-against average, .914 save percentage and one shutout in 29 appearances this season. His 19 wins are tied for second in the NHL (with Pittsburgh’s Marc-Andre Fleury).

* Rickard Rakell scored his first career regular-season goal. He also found the back of the net for the Ducks in Game 5 of their opening-round playoff series against the Stars in 2014.

* Fowler and Matt Beleskey (0-1—1) both registered points while playing in their 300th NHL games.

* The Ducks improved to 6-2-0 in their last eight home games against the Sharks dating to March 28, 2012.

BARKOV LIFTS PANTHERS IN SHOOTOUT (AGAIN)
The Panthers surrendered a two-goal lead in the final 4:52 of regulation, but Aleksander Barkov scored a one-handed goal in the seventh round of the shootout to power the club to a 6-2-2 mark in its last 10 games.

* At 15-9-8 (38 points), the Panthers are off to their best 32-game start since 2011-12, when they also collected 38 points through 32 contests (17-9-6). The team went on to win its first division title that season.

* The Panthers played their League-leading ninth shootout and 14th overtime game this season, including their fifth such contest in their last six outings. Their five shootout victories are tied for second in the NHL (with the Sabres: 5-1), one behind the Islanders (6-0).

* Roberto Luongo made 24 saves to pick up his 386th career win, moving past Mike Vernon and into sole possession of 12th place in NHL history. He also denied all seven attempts he faced in the shootout, including a sprawling glove save on Chris Kunitz to keep the tiebreaker deadlocked.

* Jimmy Hayes (2-0—2) registered his third career multi-goal game and first since March 16, 2014 vs. VAN (2-0—2).

* The Panthers earned a split of their home-and-home series with the Penguins following a 3-1 loss on Saturday in Pittsburgh. The clubs have split their last eight meetings dating to Feb. 22, 2013 (FLA: 4-4-0, PIT: 4-3-1).

HOLTBY SHINES AS CAPITALS EXTEND STREAK
Braden Holtby matched a season high with 38 saves, including 15 in the third period, to help the Capitals extend their winning streak to three games and point streak to nine contests (7-0-2).

* The Capitals have collected points in nine consecutive games for the first time since March 30 – April 16, 2013, when they went 9-0-1 over a 10-game stretch.

* Holtby has started all nine games during the team’s current run, compiling a 1.75 goals-against average, .940 save percentage and one shutout in that span. Via Elias, Holtby has posted one other nine-game point streak during his NHL career: Jan. 20 – March 26, 2011 (8-0-1).

* Nicklas Backstrom scored the tiebreaking goal (on the power play) in the final minute of the second period. He leads the Capitals and shares eighth in the NHL with 11-25—36 in 33 games this season, including 6-3—9 in his past five outings.

* Jay Beagle opened the scoring with his fifth goal of the season (28 GP), surpassing his previous career best of four set in 2011-12 (41 GP) and equaled in 2013-14 (62 GP).

* Mike Green added two assists for his fifth multi-point performance of the season.

* The Capitals snapped a seven-game losing streak to the Senators dating to Feb. 22, 2012 (0-6-1).

SMITH, RINNE LEAD PREDATORS PAST BLUE JACKETS
Eleven different players found the scoresheet, including multi-point performances from Craig Smith (2-0—2), Colin Wilson (1-1—2) and Victor Bartley (1-1—2), to lead the Predators to their third consecutive victory and fifth win in their last six outings.

* Pekka Rinne made 30 saves, including 14 in the middle frame, to pick up his League-leading 22nd win of the season. He also ranks third in the NHL in goals-against average (1.84), save percentage (.934) and shutouts (3-tied) in 29 appearances.

* Smith posted his second straight multi-point performance, following 1-1—2 on Saturday at MIN. He also registered his eighth career multi-goal game; Elias says seven of those have come on the road, including his lone other in 2014-15 (Oct. 29 at EDM: 2-0—2).

* Wilson added his third multi-point performance of the season and first since Nov. 25 vs. LAK (0-2—2).

* Bartley collected two assists for the second straight game and extended his point streak to three contests (0-5—5). That equals his output from his prior 31 outings dating to Dec. 7, 2013 (1-4—5).

* The Predators improved to 53-18-7 in 78 all-time meetings with the Blue Jackets, including a 22-13-3 mark in Columbus and sweep of their two-game series in 2014-15.

SEVEN GOALS POWER CANUCKS
The Canucks scored seven goals, their highest single-game output since March 14, 2013 vs. NSH (7-4), to earn their second straight win overall and fourth victory in their past five meetings with the Coyotes at Rogers Arena.

* Fourteen different players found the scoresheet for Vancouver, highlighted by multi-point games from Alexandre Burrows (2-0—2), Brad Richardson (1-1—2), Daniel Sedin (1-1—2) and Henrik Sedin (0-2—2).

* D. Sedin paces the club with 8-22—30 in 33 games this season, while his brother H. Sedin ranks second with 6-23—29.

* Burrows recorded his first multi-goal performance since March 17, 2014, when he posted 2-1—3 at TBL.

* Ryan Miller made a season-high 38 saves to improve to 18-7-0 with a 2.59 goals-against average, .906 save percentage and three shutouts in 25 appearances.

LOOSE PUCKS
Kings forward Marian Gaborik found the back of the net for the fifth consecutive game (7-2—9), his longest goal-scoring streak since Dec. 17-26, 2011 (7-1—8 w/ NYR) and the longest by a Kings player since Justin Williams had a five-game run March 28 – April 4, 2013 (6-0—6) . . . Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin registered the game-tying goal with 3:10 remaining in the third period. He shares fourth in the NHL with 16-23—39 in 33 contests . . . Sharks forward Joe Pavelski tallied his League-leading ninth power-play goal. It marked the 207th overall goal in Pavelski’s career, moving him past Owen Nolan and into second place in franchise history, behind only Patrick Marleau (444) . . . Coyotes defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson posted his eighth goal of the season, tied for fifth among blueliners . . . Kings forward Trevor Lewis recorded his sixth goal of the season (26 GP), matching a career high established in 2013-14 (73 GP) . . . Sharks forward Melker Karlsson and Blue Jackets forward Alexander Wennberg both scored their first NHL goals . . . Kings forward Anze Kopitar, Flyers forward Jakub Voracek and Penguins goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury were named the NHL’s “Three Stars” for the week ending Dec. 21 . . . NHL Network-U.S. announced its broadcast schedule for the 2015 IIHF World Junior Championship.

SNEAK PEEK AT TUESDAY’S ACTION
All Times Eastern
Nashville @ Boston, 7:00 p.m., FS-TN, NESN
Carolina @ New Jersey, 7:00 p.m., FS-CR, MSG+
Montreal @ NY Islanders, 7:00 p.m., SNE, RDS, MSG+ 2
Washington @ NY Rangers, 7:00 p.m., CSN-DC, MSG
Philadelphia @ Minnesota, 7:00 p.m., TCN-PH, FS-N+
Toronto @ Dallas, 7:00 p.m., SNO, FS-SW
Buffalo @ Detroit, 7:30 p.m., MSG-B, BELL TV, FS-D
Pittsburgh @ Tampa Bay, 7:30 p.m., TVA, ROOT, SUN
Arizona @ Edmonton, 8:00 p.m., SNW
St. Louis @ Colorado, 8:00 p.m., NBCSN
Winnipeg @ Chicago, 8:30 p.m., TSN3, CSN-CH+
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EASTERN CONFERENCE SHOWDOWNS
A pair of Eastern Conference showdowns highlight Tuesday’s schedule:

* The Canadiens (21-11-2, 44 points), the top team in the Atlantic Division and No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference, visit the Islanders (23-10-0, 46 points), the No. 2 seed in the Metropolitan Division and Eastern Conference, at Nassau Coliseum. This marks the first of three meetings between these clubs in 2014-15; New York is 7-4-1 in their last 12 matchups dating to Dec. 26, 2010, including a 3-2-1 mark at home. Montreal, however, has won each of its last two visits to Long Island. Overall, the Islanders have won four straight as well as 10 of their last 11 at Nassau Coliseum. The Canadiens have won four of their past five outings, but have lost three straight and five of their last six as visitors.

* The Penguins (22-6-5, 49 points), the top team in the Metropolitan Division and Eastern Conference, complete the second half of back-to-back games when they face the Lightning (20-11-4, 44 points), the No. 2 seed in the Atlantic Division and No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference, at Amalie Arena. This marks the second of three meetings between these clubs in 2014-15; Pittsburgh earned a 4-2 victory in their first matchup on Dec. 15 at CONSOL Energy Center and has won 10 straight head-to-head games dating to Jan. 15, 2012. Overall, the Lightning return home following a 1-3-1 road trip, but have won six of their last eight at Amalie Arena. The Penguins, meanwhile, have collected points in eight straight outings dating to Dec. 6 (5-0-3).

Thanks to the NHL PR department for supplying the above information.