* As Tage Thompson and the rest of his teammates showed up in "Love for 3" shirts in support of Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin, the Sabres forward found the back of the net three times to register his NHL-leading third hat trick of 2022-23.
NHL Morning Skate for January 4
* Matthew Tkachuk scored his first hat trick in a Panthers uniform to reach the 20-goal mark this season and join rare company in franchise history in the process.
* Auston Matthews recorded his 500th career point to help the Maple Leafs extend the game past regulation, but Richmond Hill, Ontario native Jordan Binnington guided the Blues to victory in the shootout.
THOMPSON NETS HAT TRICK IN OT AS SABRES COME TOGETHER IN "LOVE FOR 3"
On a night the health of Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin was top of mind, Sabres forward Tage Thompson (3-1-4) outdueled fellow Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy contender Alex Ovechkin (2-0-2) by capping his three-goal night in overtime to become the second player this season to hit the 30-goal benchmark.
* Buffalo players entered the arena in "Love for 3" shirts and the Capitals asked fans to keep Hamlin in their thoughts in a pre-game moment. As noted by @BuffaloSabres on Twitter: "Thompson scored 3 goals, for his 3rd hat trick of the season, his 30th goal of the season and the winner came exactly 3 minutes into overtime. This one was for you, Damar."
* Thompson (30-25-55 in 36 GP) required the third-fewest games in Sabres history to score 30 goals in a season, trailing only Alexander Mogilny (30 GP in 1992-93) and Pat LaFontaine (31 GP in 1991-92).
* Thompson recorded his League-leading third hat trick of 2022-23. He is the first Sabres player to score three or more hat tricks in a single campaign since Drew Stafford in 2010-11 (4).
* The push for the Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy heated up Tuesday, with each of the top five players in the race scoring at least once. Oilers forward Connor McDavid had a single tally to maintain his League-lead (33 G; 1st), while Thompson (30 G; 2nd), Ovechkin (28 G; t-3rd) and Canucks forward Bo Horvat (28 G; t-3rd) all had multi-goal outings to inch closer to top spot. Stars forward Jason Robertson (26 G; 5th) added one as well.
TKACHUK'S HAT TRICK, STAAL'S MULTI-GOAL GAME PROPEL PANTHERS TO VICTORY
Matthew Tkachuk (3-1-4) netted his third career hat trick and first four-point outing of the season en route to reaching the 20-goal mark. Tkachuk (20-27-47 in 36 GP) required the second-fewest games by a Panthers skater to score his first 20 goals with the franchise, trailing only Pavel Bure (20 GP from 1998-99 - 1999-00).
* Tkachuk recorded his sixth outing with at least three points this season - only five players have more: Connor McDavid (10 GP), Tage Thompson (8 GP), Nikita Kucherov (7 GP), Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (7 GP) and Leon Draisaitl (7). In doing so, Tkachuk tied Sam Reinhart (6 GP in 2021-22) for the most three-plus point performances by a Panthers skater in their first campaign with the franchise.
* Tuesday marked Tkachuk's 25th career multi-goal game and second in a Panthers uniform (also 2-1-3 on Dec. 29). His father, Keith Tkachuk, netted 75 such performances during his 18-season career.
* Eric Staal (2-0-2) scored Florida's other two tallies, recording his first multi-goal game since Dec. 14, 2019 and becoming the first Panthers player age 38 or older to score twice in a contest since Jaromir Jagr (44 years, 24 days) on March 10, 2016.
MATTHEWS' 500-POINT MILESTONE FEATURED IN #NHLSTATS: LIVE UPDATES
The Tuesday edition of #NHLStats: Live Updates featured Auston Matthews (278-223-501 in 445 GP) becoming the fastest player in Maple Leafs history to hit 500 career points. Matthews also required the fifth-fewest games among active skaters to reach the mark, behind Connor McDavid (369 GP), Sidney Crosby (369 GP), Alex Ovechkin (373 GP) and Evgeni Malkin (413 GP), and was the fourth youngest among that cohort at the time of the milestone.
LOOSE PUCKS
* In their first meeting since the 2022 Second Round, the Rangers scored three game-tying goals and K'Andre Miller (1-1-2) gave New York its first lead of the game with 9:33 remaining in the third period to bring an end to Carolina's 17-game point streak and 11-game win streak. After also bringing an end to Toronto's 15-game point streak earlier this season (Dec. 15, 2022), the Rangers became the first team in NHL history to halt an opponent's point streak of 15-plus games multiple times in a single season.
* Sam Gagner's third period go-ahead marker proved to be the game winner for the Jets. Gagner is one of 17 players in NHL history to record a game-winning goal with at least seven different teams (also w/ DET, EDM, VAN, CBJ, PHI & ARI) - Ottawa's Derick Brassard (7) is the only other active skater with as many, while Lee Stempniak (10) paces all players.
* Seattle (20-12-4, 44 points) scored five goals in a road game for the sixth time this season and leapfrogged Calgary (18-14-7, 43 points) for third place in the Pacific Division standings. The Kraken have produced 4.06 goals per game as the visitor in 2022-23 - the most among all teams (including shootout-deciding goals). Vegas (77 in 20 GP, 3.85 G/GP) ranks second.
* Coquitlam, BC, native Mathew Barzal led all skaters with 1-2-3 en route to becoming the ninth player to register 30 assists in 2022-23 and helping the Islanders (22-15-2, 46 points) move past the idle Penguins (19-12-6, 44 points) for the second Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference. Barzal has found the score sheet in every game against his hometown Canucks (2-10-12 in 8 GP).
* Pheonix Copley stopped 28 of 30 shots to extend his winning streak to seven games and help the Kings (22-13-6, 50 points) defeat the Stars (23-10-6, 52 points) as Los Angeles inched within four points of Vegas (26-12-2, 54 points) for top spot in the Pacific Division. Copley became just the fifth different Kings goaltender to post a win streak of at least seven games and the first since Jonathan Quick in 2014-15 (8 GP).
QUICK CLICKS
\
Sabres wear special T-shirts in support of Bills safety Damar Hamlin
\
Wayne Gretzky wowed by Alex Ovechkin chasing his NHL goals record
\
Red Wings give out New Year's resolutions to their teammates
\
Pekka Rinne talks transition to coaching at WJC in Q&A with NHL.com
*
On Tap: 2023 World Junior Championship semifinals
TNT DOUBLEHEADER HEADLINES WEDNESDAY SLATE
A three-game Wednesday will feature a TNT doubleheader that opens with two teams who have improved their pace over last season and closes with a pair of playoff regulars who remain rooted in the mix.
* The Devils (23-11-3, 49 points) will look to become the fourth team in the Eastern Conference to reach 50 points when they visit the Red Wings (16-12-7, 39 points). New Jersey can reach 50 points in their 38th game - it took them 63 games to reach the benchmark last season. Detroit, meanwhile, can surpass 40 points while contesting their 36th game of the season - it took them 40 contests to reach 40 points in 2021-22.
* In the second game on TNT, two teams who are regulars in the postseason will face off when the Lightning (24-11-1, 49 points) - who have made five consecutive playoff appearances and sit third in the Atlantic Division - visit the Central Division's third-place Wild (21-13-2, 44 points), who have appeared in the postseason in nine of the last 10 campaigns. Should he play, Minnesota's Marc-Andre Fleury (962 GP) can tie Ed Belfour (963 GP) for the fifth-most regular-season games played by a goaltender in NHL history.
