* Sam Reinhart and Zach Hyman both scored hat tricks to help the Panthers and Oilers each extend their respective win streaks to seven games – the NHL’s longest active stretches. With every hat trick this season, AstraZeneca will donate $5,000 to the Hockey Fights Cancer Fund of the V Foundation up to $500,000. Click here for more information.
* Six days after appearing in his 1,000th career game, Marc-Andre Fleury achieved another milestone moment by earning his 551st career win – tying Patrick Roy for the second most in NHL history.
* A handful of 2024 All-Stars rose to the occasion during a 12-game Saturday, including the NHL’s leading scoring among defensemen, Quinn Hughes (10-39—49 in 39 GP), who established a Canucks record for most career multi-point games by a blueliner.
PANTHERS STARS LEAD THEM TO SEVENTH STRAIGHT WIN. . .
On the night Matthew Tkachuk (1-3—4) and Aleksander Barkov (0-4—4) each recorded four-point outings while hitting the 200-goal and 700-game milestones, respectively, Sam Reinhart netted his seventh career hat trick as the Panthers outlasted the Avalanche to win their seventh straight game.
* Reinhart, who on Thursday was named among the 32 players selected for 2024 NHL All-Star Weekend in Toronto for the first time in his career, has scored 10 goals across his last seven games and sits tied for second in the League with 28 goals this season.
* The back-and-forth contest between two of the League’s top teams saw Florida jump out to a 3-0 lead in the first period, Colorado come all the way back to tie it 3-3 in the second frame and again 4-4 early in the third period, before Florida pulled away for the victory. It marked the seventh time the Panthers have had a win streak of seven or more games and first since doing so twice in 2021-22 (13 GP & 8 GP).
* As part of the Avalanche comeback attempt, Valeri Nichushkin became the third member of the team to reach 20 goals this season. Colorado became the first team since the 1995-96 Penguins (Mario Lemieux, Jaromir Jagr, Tomas Sandstrom & Ron Francis) and Flyers (Eric Lindros, John LeClair & Mikael Renberg) to have at least three 20-goal scorers through 40 team games.
. . . WHILE HYMAN’S HAT TRICK ALSO HELPS OILERS EXTEND WIN STREAK
Zach Hyman recorded his third hat trick of the season by scoring all three of his team’s goals as the Oilers (20-15-1, 41 points) won their seventh straight game. Edmonton, which sat in 30th place in the NHL standings through the first month of the season, has since gone 18-10-0 to climb into the second Wild Card spot in the Western Conference.
* The Oilers, who also went 8-0-0 from Nov. 24 to Dec. 12, 2023, have posted multiple win streaks of seven-plus games in the same season for the third time in franchise history following 1983-84 (4x) and 1984-85 (2x). The club now sits two games shy of matching the longest stretch of consecutive victories in franchise history.
* Hyman tied Auston Matthews (3) for the League-lead in hat tricks in 2023-24 and became just the second Oilers player in the past 30 years with at least three in a single campaign, joining Connor McDavid (3 in 2020-21 & 2017-18). The last Edmonton skater with more in a single season was Wayne Gretzky in 1986-87 (4).
FLEURY EARNS WIN NO. 551 IN MINNESOTA’S OT VICTORY
Facing a one-goal deficit with less than two minutes to go in regulation, Marcus Johansson leveled the game for Minnesota and sent the contest to overtime where it was Marc-Andre Fleury saving the day yet again with another one of his patented sprawling saves before Marco Rossi potted the winner. The victory marked the 551st of Fleury’s career which tied him with Patrick Roy for the second most in NHL history.
* Six days after reaching the 1,000 games played milestone, Fleury earned another memorable feat by climbing the all-time wins list. He now trails only Martin Brodeur (691) for the most in NHL history.
2024 NHL ALL-STARS CONTINUED TO SHINE SATURDAY
Many more of the first 32 players named to the roster for 2024 NHL All-Star Weekend had meaningful contributions on Saturday. Click here to vote in the 2024 NHL All-Star Fan Vote presented by MassMutual, which allows fans to complete the All-Star rosters by selecting 12 additional players. Voting is now open through Jan. 11.
* Two of the NHL’s top-four scorers went head-to-head in Boston as David Pastrnak (24-31—55 in 38 GP) collected 1-1—2 to help his Bruins (24-8-6, 54 points) outlast a 1-2—3 performance from Nikita Kucherov (28-39—67 in 40 GP) and the Lightning. Kucherov, with more three-point games (9) than scoreless performances (8) so far this season, collected his 491st and 492nd career assists to leapfrog franchise icon Vincent Lecavalier (491) for fourth place on the club’s all-time list.
* The Stars scored two second-period goals to erase a 2-0 deficit, but Filip Forsberg (21-24—45 in 40 GP) netted a pair of tallies in a span of 4:48 in the third period to help the Predators (22-17-1, 45 points) bolster their cushion as the first Wild Card seed in the Western Conference. Forsberg, already with a franchise-leading eight 20-goal seasons, became the 11th Swedish-born player in NHL history to achieve the feat on at least eight occasions.
* Quinn Hughes (0-3—3) factored on half of Vancouver’s goals, including two of its four in a span of 4:37 to begin the second period, to propel the Canucks (25-11-3, 53 points) past his brother Luke. Hughes, who collected his 18th career three-assist outing, recorded the 69th multi-point game of his career and took over sole possession for the most by a defenseman in Canucks history – breaking a tie with Alexander Edler (68)
* Jack Eichel (2-0—2) tallied two of Vegas’ five goals to help the Golden Knights (23-12-5, 51 points) keep pace with the Canucks atop the Pacific Division. Eichel boosted his 2023-24 totals to 18-24—42 (40 GP) – the second most by a Golden Knights player through 40 games of a season behind Mark Stone (13-31—44 in 2020-21). The others with at least 40 points: Jonathan Marchessault (16-25—41 in 2017-18) and Max Pacioretty (21-19—40 in 2020-21).
* Travis Konecny scored his League-leading (tied) fifth shorthanded goal and extended his point streak to seven games (5-5—10 in 7 GP), tied for the second-longest run of his career. He also had seven-game point streaks in 2021-22 and 2022-23, along with a personal-best 10-game run last season from Dec. 20, 2022 to Jan. 11, 2023.
QUICK CLICKS
* Must See: Sam Montembeault robs Mika Zibanejad in shootout
* Stars spend day with young fan from Make-A-Wish Foundation
* Oliver Bjorkstrand cancels San Diego Airbnb reservation after All-Star game selection
* Connor Bedard placed on injured reserve by Blackhawks with fractured jaw
* Pheonix Copley out for season for Kings following ACL surgery
SPORTSNET, NHL NETWORK ON AIR SUNDAY AS JETS PUT POINT STREAK ON THE LINE
The first week of 2024 will conclude with Sportsnet picking up matchups between the Flames and Blackhawks, followed by the Red Wings and Ducks. The other contests on Sunday’s slate include the Kings and their 13-2-1 road record starting a season-long six-game road trip on NHL Network and the Jets putting their franchise-record point streak (9-0-2 in 11 GP) on the line in Arizona. Winnipeg can match Vegas (11-0-1 from Oct. 10-Nov. 4) for the longest point streak in the NHL this season.
