3 things we learned in NHL: Flames forwards stay hot

Calgary Flames left wing Johnny Gaudreau, second from left, celebrates with teammates after scoring a goal past Chicago Blackhawks goaltender Collin Delia during the first period of an NHL hockey game on Monday Jan. 7, 2019. (Matt Marton/AP)

Calgary Flames forwards continued to produce, the Nashville Predators finally overcame the Toronto Maple Leafs, and the Minnesota Wild matched a franchise record.

Here are three things we learned in the NHL on Monday night.

Flames forwards stay hot

Prior to Monday night’s action, only one team had ever boasted four players with at least 50 points through the opening 45 games of a season. That was the 1995-96 Pittsburgh Penguins that featured Ron Francis, Mario Lemieux, Jaromir Jagr and Tomas Sandstrom.

The 2018 Flames became the first NHL outfit since that Penguins side to match that feat.

All four of Johnny Gaudreau, Sean Monahan, Matthew Tkachuk and Elias Lindholm have now eclipsed the 50-point mark following the Flames’ 4-3 win over the Chicago Blackhawks.

In fact, Gaudreau is the NHL’s second-leading scorer since Nov. 19. Only Nikita Kucherov of the Tampa Bay Lightning has outdone the Flames sensation in that span.

Predators shut out Maple Leafs after decade-long wait

The Predators and Maple Leafs are two of the favourites to win the Stanley Cup this year, yet based on their recent head-to-head matchups, that wouldn’t appear to be the case.

The Predators had lost four straight times to the Maple Leafs since the beginning of the 2016-17 season, but the drought finally ended on Monday night, and emphatically at that.

Nashville cruised to a 4-0 victory at Scotiabank Arena, and it’s also the first time the Predators have shut out the Maple Leafs in 14 previous meetings.

How long ago was that, exactly? Well, Vesa Toskala was the starting goaltender for the Leafs and Radek Bonk potted the game winner for Nashville.

Wild have Canadiens’ number

There comes a time when a team has a psychological edge over a particular opponent. By now, the Wild have to feel this way when facing the Montreal Canadiens.

By edging the Canadiens 1-0, Minnesota posted its ninth consecutive victory over Montreal since Dec. 3, 2014, which matched a franchise record for longest winning streak against a single opponent.

This was actually an improvement from the first meeting for the Canadiens as the Wild cruised to a 7-1 win back on Dec. 11.

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