* John Tavares guided the Maple Leafs to a multi-goal comeback win and did so thanks in part to his third career natural hat trick. Toronto has now featured at least one natural hat trick in consecutive seasons for the first time in nearly 50 years.
* The Blackhawks and Blues, closing in on their New Year’s Eve date at the Discover Winter Classic, each skated to a victory in a tightly-contested affair during a five-game Sunday.
* A rematch of the 2024 Stanley Cup Final highlights the latest edition of Prime Monday Night Hockey on Prime Video Canada. The Panthers and Oilers are meeting for the first time since Florida captured its first Stanley Cup, and did so in Game 7 after Edmonton rallied from a 3-0 series hole.
TAVARES SCORES NATURAL HAT TRICK TO SPARK MAPLE LEAFS COMEBACK WIN
The Sabres led 3-1 midway through the contest, but John Tavares (3-0—0) scored three of Toronto’s four consecutive goals to register his third career natural hat trick and first in a Maple Leafs uniform. Tavares, the oldest player in franchise history to notch a natural hat trick, became the fifth active player with at least three such performances in their career (also Filip Forsberg: 4x, Sidney Crosby: 4x, Mika Zibanejad: 3x & Patrik Laine: 3x).
* Tavares, whose second goal of the game moved the forward into a tie for ninth place on the franchise’s all-time game-winning goals list, became the second Maple Leafs player in as many seasons to score a natural hat trick (also Auston Matthews: Feb. 15, 2024). Toronto has featured at least one player score a natural hat trick in consecutive seasons for the third time in the NHL’s expansion era following 1975-76 (4x) and 1976-77 (1x) as well as 1970-71 (1x) and 1971-72 (1x).
* Sunday marked the NHL’s eighth natural hat trick of 2024-25, tied for the fourth most at this stage of a season in NHL history (492 GP). The only other campaigns with as many are 1991-92 (11), 1986-87 (10), 1985-86 (10), 2023-24 (8) and 1971-72 (8).
COUNTDOWN TO DISCOVER NHL WINTER CLASSIC IS ON
The Blues (15-14-3, 33 points) and Blackhawks (10-19-2, 22 points) each earned wins as the countdown to the Discover NHL Winter Classic on New Year’s Eve heightens with exactly 15 days remaining. Each club has six games remaining until facing off at Wrigley Field on Dec. 31 (5 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. CST on MAX, truTV, TNT, SN, TVAS).
* Robert Thomas (1-1—2) and Jordan Kyrou (1-0—1) helped the Blues build a 3-0 lead through 40 minutes and held off a Rangers three-goal comeback attempt in the third period. Thomas – one of five players with nine helpers in December – extended his assist streak to seven games, while Kyrou became the first skater with a home point streak of 11 or more games for the franchise since Craig Janney (13 GP in 1993-94).
* Connor Bedard (1-1—2) scored the game-winning goal with 54 seconds remaining in regulation – the latest by a Blackhawks player since Patrick Kane on Feb. 27, 2019 (59:43) – to help Chicago skate to victory. Bedard, who is expected to skate in his 100th NHL game Tuesday, already owns the fifth-most multi-point games by a teenager through that milestone contest among active players (20). The list includes Sidney Crosby (40 GP), Connor McDavid (28 GP), Patrick Kane (24 GP) and Patrik Laine (23 GP).
REMATCH OF 2024 STANLEY CUP FINAL HITS PRIME MONDAY NIGHT HOCKEY
A rematch of the 2024 Stanley Cup Final will see the Panthers (18-11-2, 38 points) and Oilers (18-10-2, 38 points) clash on Prime Monday Night Hockey for their first meeting since Game 7. The thrilling championship series saw Edmonton become the third team in NHL history to force a Game 7 after facing a 3-0 series deficit during the Final before Florida hoisted the franchise’s first Stanley Cup. Monday will feature the League’s leaders in goals and points this calendar year (regular season & playoffs): Sam Reinhart (63 goals) and Connor McDavid (167 points).
* Stanley Cup champions own an all-time record of 53-34-6 in their first meeting against their Final opponent the following season.
* Oilers captain Connor McDavid (3-8—11) led the 2024 Stanley Cup Final in points – four more than the next-closest skater (Evan Rodrigues: 4-3—7 w/ FLA). Edmonton outscored Florida 16-6 during the three games at Rogers Place during the series, the location of Monday’s contest.
* Leon Draisaitl has collected multiple points in each of his past five games and can move within one of matching Kirill Kaprizov (7 GP) for the longest run by any player this season. Draisaitl has played a pivotal part of Edmonton’s six-game winning streak – the NHL’s longest active run – and can extend his multi-point streak past five contests for the fourth time (7 GP in 2020-21, 6 GP in 2022-23 & 2016-17).
* Kris Knoblauch will be behind the bench for his 100th career game and carries 64 wins into the milestone contest. Only four head coaches in NHL history have recorded 65 wins through 100 contests: Tom Johnson (72 w/ BOS), Bep Guidolin (70 w/ BOS), Mike Keenan (69 w/ PHI) and Todd McLellan (65 w/ SJS).
* Reinhart has scored 30 special-team goals in 2024 (23 PPGs, 7 SHGs) and has seven games remaining before the turn of the calendar, including the tilt on Prime Monday Night Hockey. Only five players in NHL history have more during the regular season in a calendar year: Dave Andreychuk (38 in 1992 & 31 in 1993), Mario Lemieux (37 in 1988), Pat Lafontaine (33 in 1992), Wayne Gretzky (31 in 1983) and Phil Esposito (31 in 1973).
* The Panthers own a nine-game point streak at Rogers Place during the regular season dating to Jan. 11, 2015 (6-0-3) – the longest active road run versus Edmonton by any opponent. The last team to post a longer road point streak against the Oilers was the Maple Leafs (10 GP; 9-0-1 from Nov. 29, 2016 – Dec. 14, 2021).
WEEK AHEAD FEATURES MORE NATIONAL GAMES
Other national broadcasts to look forward to during the week ahead:
Wednesday, Dec. 18 – 4 Nations Face-Off opponents go head-to-head on TNT
* An NHL on TNT doubleheader will begin with Travis Konecny and the Flyers visiting Lucas Raymond and the Red Wings. Konecny and Raymond, who currently lead their team in goals and assists, will play in the 4 Nations Face-Off in February for Canada and Sweden, respectively. Both players are approaching 80 points in 2024; Konecny can become the first Flyers player to hit the mark in a calendar year since Claude Giroux in 2018, while Raymond can become the first Red Wings player to do so since Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk in 2013.
Wednesday, Dec. 18 – Wild, Panthers close out TNT doubleheader
* The Panthers visit the Wild in a contest that could feature Marc-Andre Fleury going head-to-head with Sergei Bobrovsky for the 20th time in the regular season – Bobrovsky owns the edge in those contests (11-6-1), while Fleury has the postseason advantage (9-3 in 12 GP). Minnesota has won three straight games against Florida dating to Oct. 12, 2023, which is the longest active winning streak against the current reigning Stanley Cup Champions.
Wednesday, Dec. 18 – Robertson brothers face off on Sportsnet
* The Stars welcome the Maple Leafs to Dallas in a contest that could feature eight 4 Nations Face-Off representatives (USA: Auston Matthews & Jake Oettinger; FIN: Jani Hakanpää, Miro Heiskanen, Roope Hintz & Esa Lindell; CAN: Mitch Marner; SWE: William Nylander. The game could also feature the fifth all-time matchup between Jason and Nicholas Robertson – the brothers grew up playing hockey in California and helped introduce their Filipino-born mom, Mercedes, to the game.
Saturday, Dec. 21 – Four-pack Hockey Night in Canada highlighted by Maple Leafs, Canucks
* The Hockey Night in Canada slate will include four games, highlighted John Tavares (471-597—1,068 in 1,139 GP) welcoming his former team to Scotiabank Arena when the Maple Leafs play the Islanders, who have collected wins in each of their previous four games against Toronto – New York’s longest active win streak against a single opponent. The Senators and Canucks cap the broadcast, which pits captains Quinn Hughes and Brady Tkachuk against one another for the final time before they become teammates with the United States at the 4 Nations Face-Off. The duo has a history of winning together, earning a gold medal at the 2017 Under-18 World Championship and bronze at the 2018 World Junior Championship.
QUICK CLICKS
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