* Nathan MacKinnon and the Avalanche continued their dominance of a historic rival, while Dylan Strome kept pace in the tightly-contested Art Ross Trophy race as the Capitals extended their franchise-record road winning streak.
* Lane Hutson, Maxim Tsyplakov and Matvei Michkov all found the score sheet to join rare rookie company with their respective franchise.
* Shane Wright and the Kraken help open a Sportsnet and TVA Sports tripleheader Sunday, with Wright looking to score another goal on Seattle’s New York metropolitan area road trip.
NOVA SCOTIANS CROSBY, MacKINNON EARN VICTORIES BEFORE MEETING ON TUESDAY
Sidney Crosby (0-1—1) and Nathan MacKinnon (0-1—1) found the score sheet in wins before the Penguins and Avalanche tangle Tuesday (7 p.m. ET SNP, SNE, TVAS, SN-PIT, ALT).
* Crosby collected his 1,023rd career assist to tie Gordie Howe for the fifth most in NHL history with one franchise and help Pittsburgh pick up its fourth consecutive home victory. Crosby needs just 10 helpers to match Mario Lemieux (1,033) for first place on the franchise’s all-time list.
* MacKinnon extended his point streak against Detroit to 13 games dating to March 18, 2017, which marks the longest by a player on either team in the history of the Avalanche-Red Wings rivalry. MacKinnon (9-32—41 in 28 GP) leads the League with 32 assists this season.
CAPITALS, JETS EARN COMEBACK WINS TO TIE WILD FOR MOST POINTS IN NHL
The Capitals (19-6-2, 40 points) and Jets (20-8-0, 40 points) collected come-from-behind victories to move into a tie for the most points in the NHL with the Wild (18-5-4, 40 points), who fell to the Kings as Anze Kopitar skated in his 1,400th career game. Washington passed Minnesota for first place by virtue of the regulation wins tiebreaker (WSH: 17; MIN: 15).
* Dylan Strome scored his team’s fourth and final goal as the Capitals clipped the Canadiens and extended their franchise-record road winning streak to nine games while earning each victory *in regulation*. Strome (9-26—35 in 27 GP) kept pace with the League scoring leaders this season, while Washington extended its overall point streak to seven contests dating to Nov. 25 (6-0-1 in 7 GP).
* Mark Scheifele scored the go-ahead goal with 9:42 remaining in regulation as Winnipeg rallied past Chicago in Anders Sorensen’s debut behind the Blackhawks’ bench and became the first team to reach the 20-win mark this season. Sorensen became the first Swedish-born head coach in NHL history.
2024 STANLEY CUP FINAL TEAMS TALLY TRIUMPHS ON SATURDAY
* Matthew Tkachuk tallied twice to record his fourth consecutive multi-point game and help Florida extend its point streak to six contests dating to Nov. 27 (5-0-1 in 6 GP). Sergei Bobrovsky (28 saves) earned his 408th career win to overtake "Mr. Goalie" Glenn Hall (407) for 11th place on the NHL’s all-time list, while Paul Maurice posted his 111th victory with the Panthers to pass Jacques Martin (110) as the winningest head coach in franchise history.
* Connor McDavid (1-1—2) factored on two goals as Edmonton earned the fifth win over its last six games. McDavid recorded his 123rd assist during the 2024 calendar year (regular season & playoffs), which includes eight against the Panthers during the Stanley Cup Final.
ROOKIES ON THE RISE FEATURED IN #NHLSTATS: LIVE UPDATES
Saturday’s edition of #NHLStats: Live Updates featured more notes from the 11-game slate, including a number of notable performances by rookies:
* Lane Hutson (0-7—7 in 6 GP) extended his point streak to six games and tied the franchise record for longest by a rookie defenseman, a mark set by Glen Harmon (6 GP from Jan. 9-19, 1943) and matched by Chris Chelios (6 GP from March 1-14, 1985 & Dec. 16-27, 1984). Hutson (0-18—18 in 27 GP) leads rookie blueliners in scoring this season and has 13 more points than the next-closest player.
* Maxim Tsyplakov (1-1—2) became the sixth rookie in franchise history with four multi-point games at age 26 or older following Anders Kallur (13 in 1979-80), Germain Gagnon (7 in 1972-73), Hubie McDonough (4 in 1989-90), Bob Cook (4 in 1972-73) and Jim Mair (4 in 1972-73). Kallur, Gagnon, McDonough, Cook and Mair all achieved the feat before the current Calder Memorial Trophy criteria was introduced in 1990-91.
* Matvei Michkov (11-13—24 in 25 GP) tallied twice and became the first rookie with a double-digit goal total this season as well as the third teenager in franchise history with three consecutive multi-point games. He joined Peter Zezel (3 GP from March 10-16 & Jan. 17-23, 1985) and Eric Lindros (3 GP from Feb. 22-25, 1993).
* Tyson Kozak opened the scoring with his first career goal, but Mikhail Sergachev accounted for one of his team’s five goals as Utah Hockey Club rallied past the Sabres. Kozak hails from Souris, Man., which has produced several past-and-present NHL players including Archie and Harvey Fraser, Jayson More and Art Townsend.
QUICK CLICKS
* Igor Shesterkin signs 8-year, $92 million contract with Rangers
* Linus Ullmark makes 37 saves, Senators defeat Predators
* ‘We all love playing for him’: Paul Maurice becomes winningest Panthers head coach
* 4 Nations Face-Off top stories debated by NHL.com writers
* CHL notebook: Hurricanes prospect Justin Poirier on pace for 60 goals
SUNDAY’S SLATE HIGHLIGHTED BY SPORTSNET, TVA SPORTS TRIPLEHEADERS
Sunday’s seven-game schedule features a Sportsnet tripleheader with Shane Wright and the Kraken matched up against Mika Zibanejad and the Rangers followed by Brayden Point and the Lightning visiting Quinn Hughes and the Canucks as well as Mason Marchment and the Stars hosting MacKenzie Weegar and the Flames. TVA Sports and NHL Network will also carry the Kraken-Rangers opener, while TVA Sports has the Lightning-Canucks game before both networks broadcast the Avalanche-Devils contest.
* Wright, who tallied against the Devils on Friday and Islanders on Thursday, can extend his goal streak to a career-high three games. He has five goals in seven contests dating to Nov. 25, which rank among the League leaders over that span
