* Sidney Crosby (Canada), Aleksander Barkov (Finland), Victor Hedman (Sweden) and Auston Matthews (USA) were announced as captains for the 4 Nations Face-Off that is set to get underway in less than two weeks.
* Marc-Andre Fleury secured an emotional shutout win at Bell Centre in what could be the Sorel-Tracy, Que., natives last visit to Montreal and climbed an NHL all-time list in the process.
* Despite Alex Ovechkin (1-2—3) scoring to continue The Gr8 Chase, Josh Norris (1-2—3) and Thomas Chabot (1-1—2) each posted a multi-point performance to help the Senators secure an overtime victory.
* A showdown between soon-to-be 4 Nations Face-Off opponents takes over a four-game Friday when Elias Pettersson (Sweden) and Roope Hintz (Finland) clash in a meeting between the Canucks and Stars on Sportsnet.
4 NATIONS FACE-OFF CAPTAINS UNVEILED IN LEAD-UP TO TOURNAMENT
Sidney Crosby (Canada; PIT), Aleksander Barkov (Finland; FLA), Victor Hedman (Sweden; TBL) and Auston Matthews (USA; TOR) were announced as captains for the 4 Nations Face-Off, a best-on-best international tournament that will include seven games over nine days from Feb. 12-20 in Montreal and Boston. All four players wear the “C” for their NHL team and will be joined by a cast of assistant captains.
* The four captains have a combined 17 medals in international play (including eight gold medals/championships). Crosby, the only one from the quartet to wear the “C” for his nation to date, last captained Canada at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey. He led the team to the championship and secured tournament MVP at that event, one in which Barkov, Hedman and Matthews also participated.
FLEURY SECURES MEMORABLE SHUTOUT WIN IN LIKELY LAST VISIT TO MONTREAL
Marc-Andre Fleury turned aside all 19 shots he faced to climb the NHL’s all-time shutout list and received a standing ovation from the crowd at Bell Centre as well as handshakes from Canadiens players in what could be the Sorel-Tracy, Que., natives final contest against the team he grew up cheering for.
* Fleury recorded his 76th career shutout and tied Ed Belfour as well as Tony Esposito for the 10th most in NHL history. Three of his 76 shutouts have occurred as a visitor at Bell Centre, tied with Roberto Luongo for the third most in League history behind Martin Brodeur (5) and Cam Talbot (4).
* Fleury has now recorded at least one shutout in 21 different seasons, passing Terry Sawchuk (20) and tying Brodeur for the highest total in NHL history. In the process, Fleury also became the first goaltender in League history to record a shutout as a teenager and at 40 years or older.
SENATORS OUTLAST OVECHKIN AND CAPITALS' THIRD-PERIOD RALLY
Josh Norris (1-2—3) helped the Senators (27-20-4, 58 points) build a multi-goal cushion entering the third period, but Alex Ovechkin (1-2—3) continued The Gr8 Chase and factored on all three of his team’s goals in the final 20 minutes to force overtime – only to have Thomas Chabot (1-1—2) cap his 28th birthday with the winner in the extra frame.
* Norris scored the first of two Ottawa shorthanded goals in a span of 38 seconds – the third-fastest span in franchise history – and did so via a penalty shot. He became the fourth player in Senators history to score a shorthanded penalty-shot goal following Zach Smith (Jan. 18, 2016), Mike Fisher (Dec. 5, 2001) and Daniel Alfredsson (Dec. 29, 2007 & March 4, 2000).
* Claude Giroux (0-1—1) also found the score sheet in the contest to register his 1,100th career point (360-740—1,100 in 1,233 GP) and required the sixth-fewest games among active players to hit the mark.
* Ovechkin (23-14—37 in 35 GP) owns a goals-per-game rate of 0.66 this season, which puts him on pace to pass Wayne Gretzky against Columbus at Capital One Arena on April 13. Ovechkin (876-711—1,587 in 1,461 GP) owns a career average of 0.60 and that rate has him tracking to break the record in Washington’s first game during the 2025-26 season.
* Ovechkin scored his 876th career goal and 10th career power-play goal against the Senators. Ottawa is the 16th franchise Ovechkin has scored at least 10 power-play goals against – already the most by one player in NHL history and three more than the next closest (Dino Ciccarelli, Marcel Dionne, Phil Esposito, Brendan Shanahan & Teemu Selanne: all w/ 13).
STARS SET TO SKATE IN 4 NATIONS FACE-OFF FIND SCORE SHEET IN WINS
Several stars set to skate in the 4 Nations Face-Off in just under two weeks found the score sheet to help their respective teams to wins Thursday:
* Kyle Connor (USA) scored the final of six Winnipeg goals during their win to reach the 30-goal mark for the seventh time in his career, tied with Ilya Kovalchuk for the most in franchise history. Connor became the second Jets player this season to reach the 30-goal mark after teammate Mark Scheifele (2-0—2) did it earlier in the night before he tied Kovalchuk (328) for the most goals in Jets/Thrashers history.
* Brandon Hagel (CAN) factored on all three tallies via a 2-1—3 effort to snap an eight-game goal drought and help the Lightning (27-20-3, 57 points) leapfrog the Bruins (25-22-6, 56 points) for the Eastern Conference’s first Wild Card spot. Anthony Cirelli (CAN) collected his 17th career shorthanded goal, which ranks among the top 10 for active players – that list is topped by Brad Marchand (36), who is set to team up with Hagel and Cirelli in February.
* Seth Jarvis (CAN) scored his team-leading 20th goal of the season and Mikko Rantanen (FIN) found the back of the net for the first time as a member of the Hurricanes as Carolina became the second team to 20 home wins this season. Jarvis became the fifth player in Hurricanes team history to record multiple 20-goal seasons with the club at age 22 or younger, joining Andrei Svechnikov (4x), Sebastian Aho (4x), Jeff Skinner (3x) and Eric Staal (2x).
ISLANDERS, BLUE JACKETS CONTINUE PLAYOFF CHASE IN LIVE UPDATES
The latest edition of #NHLStats: Live Updates featured several teams fighting for a playoff position in the Eastern Conference pick up wins, including the Blue Jackets (25-19-7, 57 points) and Islanders (23-20-7, 53 points).
* After the Golden Knights took an early lead, Adam Fantilli pulled the Blue Jackets even and Cole Sillinger scored 52 seconds into the extra frame – the fastest overtime goal by a Columbus player since Kirill Marchenko (0:16 on April 2, 2023) – to help the Blue Jackets overtake the Bruins (25-22-6, 56 points) for the final Wild Card position. Fantilli’s goal was the 27th of his career, which moved him past Nikolay Zherdev (26) for the third most by a Columbus player through 100 NHL games behind Rick Nash (35) and Pierre-Luc Dubois (28).
* Ilya Sorokin made 23 saves to help the Islanders shut out the Flyers and extend the League’s longest active win streak to six games as they kept pace in the East. New York became the latest team involved in the Eastern Conference’s Wild Card race this season with a win streak of six or more games, following Detroit (7 GP from Dec. 29, 2024 to Jan. 12, 2025), Ottawa (6 GP from Dec. 11-21, 2024) and Columbus (6 GP from Jan. 4-16, 2025) – all three of which also earned a win Thursday.
NHL HOCKEYVERSE MATCHUP OF THE WEEK TO AIR ON SATURDAYS STARTING FEB. 1
Sportsnet (Canada), NHL Network (United States) and the NHL YouTube channel (globally) will be the home for the NHL HOCKEYVERSE Matchup of the Week, a first of its kind 30-minute animated program that will recap an NHL regular-season matchup from the prior week in a fun, youth centric show. Airing Saturdays starting Feb. 1, the NHL HOCKEYVERSE Matchup of the Week will bring viewers into an animated world where NHL Player avatars, powered by NHL EDGE Positional Data, will create a visualization of the on-ice action with stunning realism and dynamic movements.
* The NHL HOCKEYVERSE Matchup of the Week will feature teenaged commentators appearing as animated avatars, calling the action in a fun, entertaining and casual tone. They’ll share insights, fun facts and stories to take viewers deeper inside the NHL, making each episode a must-watch for fans of all ages. The first episode will feature a recap of the Canucks-Capitals matchup from Jan. 25 (a 2-1 Canucks win featuring two goals by Quinn Hughes), premiering Feb. 1 at 9 a.m. ET on NHL Network and NHL YouTube, and at 12 p.m. ET on Sportsnet.
QUICK CLICKS
* Zach Hyman's persistency paying off for Oilers after slow start
* Utah adds Outlaws as choice to fan vote for permanent nickname
* Hurricanes celebrate Frederik Andersen’s 500th NHL game
* Senators honor late broadcaster Shawn Simpson with moment of silence
STARS, CANUCKS CLOSE OUT THE WEEK WITH CLASH ON SPORTSNET
A showdown between future 4 Nations Face-Off opponents takes over a four-game Friday when Sweden’s Elias Pettersson (11-21—32 in 44 GP) and Finland’s Roope Hintz (20-12—32 in 46 GP) clash in a meeting between the Canucks (23-17-10, 56 points) and Stars (32-17-1, 65 points) on Sportsnet. Pettersson (6-7—13 in 12 GP) owns the edge in 12 all-time NHL meetings against Hintz (5-3—8 in 12 GP), with Vancouver going 9-2-1 in those contests (DAL: 3-6-3).
