HOME-ICE SHUTOUTS POWER CONFERENCE LEADERS

The Lightning (26-7-2, 54 points) and Golden Knights (23-9-2, 48 points) posted shutouts on home ice to record their 15th home wins of the season, tied for the League lead. Tampa Bay sits atop the NHL standings, while Vegas moved into the top spot in the Western Conference.

* Andrei Vasilevskiy denied all 22 shots he faced and the Lightning scored three times in the final 2:42 of regulation – including Nikita Kucherov’s League-high 24th goal – to improve to 10-2-0 in their past 12 games. Vasilevskiy paces the NHL with 23 wins and four shutouts (tied w/ Sergei Bobrovsky) and ranks second in both save percentage (.932) and goals-against average (2.13) among goalies with at least 12 games played.

* Marc-Andre Fleury stopped all 26 shots he faced to record his 45th career shutout – and first with the Golden Knights – as Vegas extended its win streak to four games, their fourth such run of the season. Only 11 teams in NHL history have recorded more home wins in their inaugural season than Vegas (15) – the 1979-80 Whalers (22) and 1967-68 Kings (20) are the only franchises with at least 20 such victories in their first NHL season.

* The Golden Knights also pushed their point streak to nine games (8-0-1) to match the longest such run in NHL history by a team its inaugural season.

YOUNG STARS POWER CLUBS TO VICTORY

Twenty-year-olds Mathew Barzal (3-0—3), Connor McDavid (1-1—2) and Auston Matthews (1-1—2) each collected multiple points to power their clubs to victory, with Barzal netting his first NHL hat trick.

* Barzal recorded the 36th hat trick in the NHL this season – and fourth by a rookie – to take over the rookie scoring lead with 12-23—35 in 36 games. He became the 11th rookie in franchise history to tally three goals in a game and first since Michael Grabner on Feb. 13, 2011 vs. BUF.

* McDavid and Leon Draisaitl (0-3—3) helped the Oilers improve to 7-3-0 in December and extend their season-high win streak to four games. McDavid, who ranks sixth in the NHL with 14-29—43 (36 GP), is the only player in the NHL this season that has not gone consecutive games without a point. In fact, McDavid has been held off the score sheet in two consecutive games only 11 times in his career (163 GP) – and has never gone three straight games without a point.

* Matthews and William Nylander (1-1—2) powered the Maple Leafs to victory at Madison Square Garden. Matthews (54-43—97 in 109 GP), who returned from a six-game absence, and Nylander (35-64—99 in 140 GP) both inched closer to their 100th career point.

BOESER BECOMES FIRST ROOKIE TO REACH 20-GOAL MARK

Twenty-year-old Brock Boeser scored for a third straight game to become the fifth player – and first rookie – to reach the 20-goal mark this season. Elias notes that Boeser, who is the only rookie to average a point per game this season (20-14—34 in 34 GP; min. 5 GP), became the sixth rookie since 1991-92 to reach the 20-goal mark within his first 34 games of the season.

CLUBS STAY HOT ENTERING HOLIDAY BREAK

The Devils (21-9-5, 47 points), Bruins (19-10-5, 43 points), Stars (20-14-3, 43 points), Sharks (19-11-4, 42 points) and Hurricanes (16-12-7, 39 points) all continued recent strings of success:

* The Devils raced to a 3-0 lead and Cory Schneider made 39 saves to guide New Jersey to its fourth consecutive victory and back into the top spot in the Metropolitan Division. Schneider improved to 13-8-4 in 25 career appearances in which he has faced at least 40 shots against.

* Brad Marchand collected 1-2—3 and Tuukka Rask made 30 saves to help the Bruins extend their win streak to four games. Rask improved to 8-0-1 in his last nine decisions dating to Nov. 29 (1.45 GAA, .946 SV%, 1 SO) after posting a 3-8-2 record in his first 13 appearances of the season (2.91 GAA, .899 SV%).

* The Stars scored three straight goals to overcome an early 2-0 deficit en route to a shootout victory, improving to 4-1-2 in their past seven outings. John Klingberg notched two helpers to maintain his lead for most assists (27) and points (31) by defensemen this season. Elias notes that the Stars-Predators game marked the 46th contest of 2017-18 to see the winning team overcome a multi-goal deficit.

* Martin Jones made 28 saves to register his third shutout of the season and backstop the Sharks to a 5-1-2 record in their last eight games. Jones moved into sole possession of third place on San Jose’s all-time shutouts list.

* Teuvo Teravainen collected three assists and Justin Faulk scored twice (including the game-winning goal) to help the Hurricanes improve to 5-1-0 in their past six games. Faulk (69-133—202) is one of three defensemen in Hurricanes/Whalers history with at least 200 career points, behind Dave Babych (44-196—240) and Glen Wesley (51-176—227).

QUICK CLICKS

· Stars help Klempel family reunite during final game before Christmas

· The NHL's Top 17 Viral Moments of 2017

· Eight of the NHL's most entertaining holiday card videos ever

· Baseball star Bryce Harper drops the puck in Vegas

· Predators coaches wear ugly holiday suits on bench after losing bet

SNEAK PEEK AT WEDNESDAY’S ACTION

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2017 LEADERS TO BE DETERMINED IN FINAL DAYS OF CALENDAR YEAR

A look at current player statistics leaders for 2017, with only 43 NHL games left to be played over the final five days of the calendar year:

* Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov paces all players in goals (51) and points (101) in 2017 (78 GP), and leads both categories for the 2017-18 season (24-27—51 in 35 GP). Bruins forward Brad Marchand (44) and Islandersforward Anders Lee (42) are the only other players with 40+ goals in 2017.

* Oilers captain Connor McDavid leads the NHL with 70 assists thus far in 2017 and ranks second in points with 30-70—100 in 80 GP. Capitals forward Nicklas Backstrom (63), Jets captain BlakeWheeler (62) and Islandersforward Josh Bailey (60) are the only other players with 60+ assists in 2017.

* Kings defenseman Drew Doughty has logged more Time on Ice than any other skater thus far in 2017, compiling 2,221 minutes and 45 seconds of ice time over 82 regular-season games for a League-leading average of 27:05 TOI per game. Wild defenseman Ryan Suter ranks second in both TOI (2,209:01) and TOI/GP (26:56) this year.

* Washington’s Braden Holtby paces all goaltenders with 47 wins, nine more than Edmonton’s Cam Talbot(38).

* Ducks goaltender John Gibson (.930 SV%) has the best save percentage, while Kings netminder Jonathan Quick (2.23 GAA) has the best goals-against average (min. 30 GP).

* Blue Jackets goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky has posted eight shutouts since Jan. 1, two more than the next-closest netminders (Gibson, Holtby and Frederik Andersen: 6 each).

Thanks to the NHL PR department for the information above.