THURSDAY’S RESULTS

Home Team in Caps

DETROIT 3, Montreal 2

TAMPA BAY 4, Ottawa 1

FLORIDA 4, Washington 1

Philadelphia 4, ST. LOUIS 2

NASHVILLE 5, Chicago 1

WINNIPEG 6, Columbus 4

CALGARY 4, Buffalo 3

FLAMES EARN EIGHTH STRAIGHT WIN ON HOME ICE...

After seeing their 2-0 and 3-2 leads erased in the third period, Johnny Gaudreau scored the game-winner with 4:50 left in the third period to lead the Calgary Flames to their fourth consecutive win during their current five-game homestand.

* Calgary also earned its eight straight victory at Scotiabank Saddledome dating to Nov. 5. It's the Flames' longest such run since Feb. 23 to March 27, 2013 (8-0-0), and comes following a 1-5-0 start to the season at home.

* Gaudreau, who also had an assist, has six multipoint games at Scotiabank Saddledome this season. He leads the Flames in assists (18) and points (28) in 28 games.

* Sean Monahan had two goals and an assist to match an NHL career-high with three points, and has three goals and four assists in his past four games. In 28 games this season Monahan has 10 goals and 12 assists and shares the Flames lead in goals with Gaudreau.

* The Flames improved to 7-2-2 in their past 11 games against the Buffalo Sabres dating to Jan. 21, 2006 (BUF: 4-6-1), which includes six consecutive home victories.

... DESPITE HAT TRICK FROM RISTOLAINEN

Sabres defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen had the first hat trick of his NHL career with three third-period goals.

Courtesy of the Elias Sports Bureau:

* Ristolainen was the first defenseman in Sabres history to score three goals in a single period.

* Ristolainen was the first Sabres defenseman with a hat trick since Phil Housley on Jan. 22, 1988 against the New Jersey Devils.

* Ristolainen was the first Sabres skater to score three goals in a single period since Thomas Vanek on March 19, 2008 in the third period against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

* Ristolainen was the first NHL defenseman to score three goals in a single period since the St. Louis Blues' Al MacInnis on Oct. 12, 1998 in the first period at the New York Rangers.

RED WINGS MAKE GROUND ON CANADIENS

Down 2-1, the Detroit Red Wings scored back-to-back third-period goals in a span of 1:11 to rally past the Montreal Canadiens and extend their point streak to 12 games (8-0-4), their longest run since going 10-0-2 from March 11 to April 3, 2010.

* The Red Wings (16-8-5, 37 points) moved within four points of the Canadiens (19-8-3, 41 points) for first place in both the Atlantic Division and the Eastern Conference.

* The Red Wings have earned points in nine consecutive games at Joe Louis Arena (6-0-3).

* Petr Mrazek made 23 saves to win his third straight game and extend his personal point streak to seven games (4-0-3). In 17 games this season Mrazek is 9-4-3 with a 2.38 goals-against average, .924 save percentage and one shutout.

* Darren Helm scored two goals for his first multigoal game of the season, which included the game-winner at 13:59 of the third period.

PERREAULT, JETS REMAIN HOT VS. BLUE JACKETS

Mathieu Perreault scored the game-winning goal at 7:36 of the third period and had three assists as the Winnipeg Jets won their fourth consecutive game against the Columbus Blue Jackets dating to Nov. 25, 2014 (CBJ: 0-4-0).

* Perreault's four-point game equaled his NHL career high, when he had four goals against the Florida Panthers on Jan. 13.

* Drew Stafford and Dustin Byfuglien each had a goal and two assists for their second and first three-point games of the season, respectively.

* Connor Hellebuyck made 25 saves and improved to 4-0-0 with a 1.71 GAA, and .939 save percentage in four career NHL games.

* Mark Scheifele opened the scoring 27 seconds into the first period and Adam Lowry scored at 2:22 of the first. Per Elias, Winnipeg's goals 2:22 into the first period were the second-fastest two goals to begin a game in Jets/Atlanta Thrashers history; the fastest were March 12, 2002 when Atlanta scored twice in the opening 1:22 against the Lightning (Lubos Bartecko at 0:22, Pascal Rheaume at 1:22).

AROUND THE RINKS

* Claude Giroux had a goal and two assists for his second consecutive multipoint game. He also scored the game-winning goal late in the second period, and Michal Neuvirth made 35 saves to help the Philadelphia Flyers improve to 5-1-1 in their past seven games. Per Elias, Giroux has at least one goal against all 29 NHL teams he has faced in his career. Neuvirth stretched his personal point streak to five games (4-0-1) and in 14 games this season he's 7-3-2 with a 1.99 GAA, .938 save percentage and three shutouts. The Flyers earned their first win at the St. Louis Blues since a 5-2 win there Dec. 17, 2005; it snapped a four-game road losing streak against the Blues (0-1-3).

* Ben Bishop made 30 saves as the Lightning improved to 6-0-2 in their past eight home games against the Ottawa Senators dating to Jan. 25, 2013 (OTT: 2-5-1). In 23 games this season Bishop is 12-8-2 with a 1.95 GAA, .931 save percentage and one shutout, and 7-0-3 in 11 career games against the Senators, for whom he played parts of two seasons (2011-13). Nikita Kucherov scored two goals and J.T. Brown had a goal and an assist to lead the Lightning's offense.

* Al Montoya made 20 saves as the Florida Panthers had their first regulation victory against the Washington Capitals since a 4-2 victory Feb. 1, 2012, snapping the Capitals' 14-game point streak against the Panthers (12-0-2). The Panthers, who have won six of their past eight games (6-2-0) also ended the Capitals' overall point streak at eight games (7-0-1). Montoya improved to 4-1-1 with a 1.91 GAA and .929 save percentage in seven games this season.

* James Neal scored two goals and Pekka Rinne made 35 saves as the Nashville Predators split their home-and-home series with the Chicago Blackhawks and improved to 9-3-2 at home this season. Neal has 14 goals and 19 points in 20 career regular-season games against the Blackhawks. Rinne improved to 12-7-5 with a 2.40 GAA, .908 save percentage and two shutouts in 24 games this season.

KANE EXTENDS POINT STREAK TO 24 GAMES

Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane scored a third-period goal to extend his franchise-record point streak to 24 games; he has 15 goals and 23 assists during the streak.

* Kane, who had continued his point streak with an empty-net goal with 1:36 remaining in the third period Tuesday against the Predators leads the League with 26 assists and 44 points. He has at least one point in 27 of 29 games.

* Kane became the second player since the 1992-93 season with a point streak of 24 or more games. The other: Sidney Crosby, who had a 25-game point streak from Nov. 5 to Dec. 28, 2010; he had 26 goals and 24 assists during his streak.

JAGR TIES DIONNE FOR FOURTH ON NHL ALL-TIME GOALS LIST

Panthers forward Jaromir Jagr opened the scoring 51 seconds into the first period with his 731st career NHL goal, tying Marcel Dionne for fourth on the all-time goals list.

Goal # 731, finally :) me and ,,The best trainers" pic.twitter.com/8eqPVY9mJC — Jaromir Jagr (@68Jagr) December 11, 2015

... MORE MILESTONES & BENCHMARKS

* Canadiens forward Charles Hudon had an assist and 8:14 of ice time in his NHL debut. Teammate Daniel Carr also had his first NHL assist, in his third game.

* Wayne Simmonds had an assist for the 300th point of his NHL career. In 553 games he has 146 goals and 154 assists.

* Flames coach Bob Hartley coached his 890th NHL game and passed Punch Imlach for sole possession of 31st on the all-time list of games coached.

* Capitals defenseman Matt Niskanen skated in the 600th NHL game.

LOOSE PUCKS

The Red Wings snapped a seven-game losing streak against the Canadiens dating to March 27, 2014 (0-5-2). ... Red Wings forward Justin Abdelkader scored his fifth goal in his past five games. ... Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin scored a goal against the Panthers, giving him 33 goals and 70 points in 54 career games against them. ... Capitals forward Nicklas Backstrom had an assist to extend his point streak to seven games; he has two goals and six assists during the streak. ... Predators forward Eric Nystrom scored his first shorthanded goal of the season. ... Predators defenseman Roman Josi had an assist to extend his point streak to a career-high six games; he has three goals and five assists during the streak. ... Blue Jackets forward Alexander Wennberg had three assists, setting NHL career highs for assists and points in one game. ... Blue Jackets forward Cam Atkinson scored two goals for his first multigoal game of the season. ... Blue Jackets forward Scott Hartnell scored a goal for the third consecutive game. ... Flames defenseman T.J. Brodie had an assist to extend his point streak to five games; he has six assists during the streak. ... Flames defenseman Dougie Hamilton had an assist and has one goal and three assists in his past four games; he had two goals and three assists in his first 24 games of the season. ... Montreal Canadiens defenseman P.K. Subban will wear personalized skates against the Boston Bruins at the 2016 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic on Jan. 1, 2016 at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass., and then raffle them for charity. ... Country music star Dierks Bentley leads an all-star line-up of performers for the indoor and outdoor concert series as part of the 2016 Honda NHL All-Star festivities in Nashville, Jan. 28-31. Click here to view a tentative daily schedule of the initial talent line-up.