The Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the Anaheim Ducks 2-1 to extend their point streak to 15 games (14-0-1) and go the entire calendar month of December without a regulation loss (13-0-1).
It’s the second time in history they’ve done that (Oct. 2003: 6-0-1); and they became the seventh team in the past 10 years (minimum eight games played) to accomplish that feat. The last was the Columbus Blue Jackets who went 14-0-0 in December 2016.
Lightning forwards Steven Stamkos (27 points) and Nikita Kucherov (24 points) combined for 51 points in December, the first set of teammates to have 50 points in a calendar month since four pairs of teammates did so in March 2001. The Penguins had three such combinations; Jaromir Jagr, Mario Lemieux, 59 points; Jagr, Martin Straka, 55 points; Lemieux, Straka, 52 points. Patrik Elias and Petr Sykora of the New Jersey Devils had 51 points in March 2001.
Goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy, who made 35 saves, won his 100th NHL game. He set the Lightning record with fewest games needed (175) to reach 100 wins. Only three active goalies reached the milestone in fewer games played; Jimmy Howard (171), Frederik Andersen (171) and Antti Niemi (174).
Blackwood shuts the door for Devils…again
Mackenzie Blackwood made 25 saves for the New Jersey Devils in a 4-0 win against the Vancouver Canucks on Monday for his second straight shutout. Blackwood, who was named the NHL’s Third Star of the week ending Dec. 30, improved to 3-1-0 with a 1.25 goals-against average and .963 save percentage since being recalled from Binghamton of the American Hockey League.
Video: VAN@NJD: Blackwood denies Granlund up front
Blackwood, who shut out the Carolina Hurricanes 2-0 on Saturday, became the youngest Devils goalie in history (22 years, 22 days) to have shutouts in consecutive regular-season appearances eclipsing the previous mark set by Martin Brodeur (22 years, 338 days) on April 5 and 9, 1995.
He also became the first rookie goalie with consecutive shutouts since John Gibson did it with the Anaheim Ducks on Dec. 29 and 31, 2015, and the first Devils rookie goalie to ever post shutouts in consecutive games.
Monahan, Gaudreau spark Flames
Sean Monahan (five assists) and Johnny Gaudreau (two goals, two assists) combined for nine points in the Calgary Flames’ 8-5 win against the San Jose Sharks. Monahan became the ninth different Flames player to have five assists in a game and the first since Dion Phaneuf did it Dec. 13, 2007 at the Lightning; Gaudreau, who has 55 points (21 goals, 34 assists) in 40 games this season, is the first Flames player since Gary Roberts (55 points; 26 goals, 29 assists) in 1992-93 to have at least 50 points in the first 40 games.
It was the fifth time this season Calgary scored at least seven goals and the ninth time in history the Flames did it at least five times prior to Jan. 1; the last was 1990-91 when they did it six times.
Crosby continues surge with Penguins
Sidney Crosby had a goal and an assist in a 3-2 win by the Pittsburgh Penguins against the Minnesota Wild to extend the Penguins winning streak to six games.
Crosby, who has 1,164 points (429 goals, 735 assists) in his NHL career, became the second player in Penguins history to play in 900 games with the team. His points rank 12th and his assists rank eighth all-time among players at the time of their 900th NHL game.
from A Viral Update http://bit.ly/2F0UqdG
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