What we learned from the past week of NHL action

Lessons learned from the past week of action in the NHL:

Jeff Carter is the conscience of the Kings

Carter doesn’t often talk to reporters, so when he does, it has an impact. He was angry about the Kings’ performance in a 6-3 loss at Buffalo that launched a seven-game trip, calling it unacceptable and “terrible hockey,” adding that the team was “fragile.” “The next six games are pretty crucial to our year,” he said.

He backed up his words by scoring seven goals on the trip, boosting the Kings to a 3-2-2 record on a grueling stretch in which they played two back-to-back sequences. As the NHL resumes play Tuesday following the Christmas break, he’s one of three players tied for second in the goal-scoring race, with 19.

There are no style points in hockey

Florida Panthers forward Jaromir Jagr hoped the point that lifted him into second place in NHL career scoring would result from a breathtaking, did-you-see-that kind of play.

Instead, he moved past Mark Messier and behind Wayne Gretzky last Thursday when teammate Sasha Barkov converted the rebound of a shot that had deflected off Jagr’s derriere.

“I was dreaming of something else,” he told reporters. “I thought I was going to score a beautiful goal, have a beautiful assist.”

Hey, they all count. Jagr, who will be 45 in February, had five assists in three games last week and has 1,889 regular-season NHL points (which excludes the three seasons he played in Russia’s KHL). Gretzky had 2,857 regular-season points in the NHL, which doesn’t count the 110 points he scored in the World Hockey Assn. It’s risky to call any record unbreakable but Gretkzy’s record surely will stand for a long time.

The Blue Jackets are No. 1

Columbus spent the three-day Christmas break atop the NHL standings, continuing a remarkable turnaround from the team’s 27th-place finish last season. The Blue Jackets’ winning streak reached a franchise-record 12 last week, fueled by one-goal wins over the Kings and the Montreal Canadiens sandwiched around a 7-1 rout of the defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins.

Right wing Cam Atkinson (15 goals, 35 points in 32 games) is the team’s only top-25 scorer, but goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky ranks second in the NHL with a 1.87 goals-against average, ranks first in wins (21) and second in save percentage (.935). The team’s +45 goal differential also ranks No. 1.

Minnesota is Wild about Bruce Boudreau

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Minnesota Wild Coach Bruce Boudreau is the first NHL coach to guide three different teams to winning streaks of 10 games or more, having achieved that with the Wild, the Ducks and the Washington Capitals.

Minnesota’s win streak is a franchise record, as is its 11-game points streak. The Wild kept those streaks alive last week with a 2-0 win over Colorado, a 4-3 victory over the Canadiens and a 7-4 thrashing of the New York Rangers.

Goalie Devan Dubnyk leads the NHL with a .948 save percentage and 1.57 goals-against average. Minnesota has a fast but smallish team, so the question is whether its success can continue against physical teams late in the season and in the playoffs?

helene.elliott@latimes.com