* It was a night of milestones to cap the week as John Gibson recorded his 200th win, Mika Zibanejad tallied his 400th assist and Sebastian Aho reached the 600-point milestone
* Sunday finished with three games requiring overtime, marking the first five-game day to feature as many contests going to extra time since Feb. 17, 2023.
* Monday’s four-game schedule could feature Alex Ovechkin hitting the 20-goal mark and will include another instalment of Prime Monday Night Hockey with the Canucks making their only visit to Bell Centre to face the Canadiens.
CANUCKS, CANADIENS MEET ON PRIME MONDAY NIGHT HOCKEY
The first full week of January opens with a four-game slate, highlighted by the Canucks (18-12-8, 44 points) and Canadiens (18-18-3, 39 points) meeting for the first time this season on Prime Monday Night Hockey and could feature Alex Ovechkin reaching the 20-goal mark on NHL Network.
* Vancouver has earned a point in eight of its past 10 meetings against Montreal (7-2-1), which includes a season sweep in 2023-24 and three straight wins. The Canucks own a longer active winning streak versus just four other opponents (9-0-0 vs. CHI, 8-0-0 vs. ANA, 4-0-0 vs. FLA & 4-0-0 vs. BUF).
* With a win on Prime Monday Night Hockey, the Canadiens (18-18-3, 39 points) can leapfrog the idle Senators (19-17-2, 40 points), Blue Jackets (17-17-6, 40 points) and Penguins (17-17-7, 41 points) for the second Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference. The last time the Canadiens occupied a playoff spot at this stage of a season (639 GP) or later was 2020-21 when the club made the Stanley Cup Final for the first time in nearly three decades.
* Ovechkin (19-11—30 in 23 GP) looks to move up multiple all-time lists when Washington (26-10-3, 55 points) visits Buffalo (14-21-5, 33 points). The Capitals captain can tie Ron Francis (20) for the second-most 20-goal seasons in NHL history and can pass Brendan Shanahan (19) for sole possession of the second-most consecutive 20-goal campaigns – both lists are topped by Gordie Howe.
WEEK AHEAD FEATURES MORE NATIONAL GAMES
Other national broadcasts to look forward to during the week ahead:
Wednesday, Jan 8 – Capitals continue The Gr8 Chase against Canucks
* Alex Ovechkin, who has scored in four of his five games since returning to the lineup Dec. 28, will continue The Gr8 Chase when the Capitals welcome the Canucks for the only time this season in a national broadcast in Canada on Sportsnet. Washington owns a five-game point streak against Vancouver (4-0-1 dating to March 11, 2022) – tied for the club’s second-longest active run versus one opponent (also 10 GP vs. CBJ & 5 GP vs. PHI).
Wednesday, Jan 8 – Colorado, Chicago and Florida, Utah clash on NHL on TNT doubleheader
* An NHL on TNT doubleheader will start with the Blackhawks meeting the Avalanche in what will mark the sixth matchup between Connor Bedard and Nathan MacKinnon. MacKinnon (5-4—9) holds the edge in points and overall record (3-2-0), while Bedard (0-2—2) is 2-3-0 in those contests. The doubleheader will close with the first-ever meeting between the Panthers and Utah Hockey Club.
Saturday, Jan 11 – Bruins, Panthers meet on ABC and ESPN+
* The Bruins and Panthers will meet for the first time since October during the third ABC game of 2024-25. Boston swept the four-game season series in 2023-24, but Florida has taken the first two meetings in 2024-25.
Saturday, Jan. 11 – Hockey Night in Canada returns
* Saturday’s Hockey Night in Canada slate will be highlighted by 4 Nations Face-Off connections, starting with the Canucks visiting the Maple Leafs for their lone visit to Toronto before Quinn Hughes, J.T. Miller and Auston Matthews become teammates at the tournament. Matthews and Miller have history as teammates, representing Team USA at the 2016 World Juniors. The slate will close with a Pacific Division showdown between two Sweden 4 Nations Face-Off teammates when Rasmus Andersson and the Flames visit Adrian Kempe and the Kings. Andersson and Kempe have represented their country together many times starting at the Under-16 level and most recently at the 2014 Under-18 World Championship.
FIVE CLUB’S EARN A WIN SUNDAY
ZIBANEJAD, AHO HELP METROPOLITAN CLUBS COLLECT VICTORIES
Mika Zibanejad (0-1—1) and Sebastian Aho (1-2—3) both reached milestone plateaus as the Rangers (18-20-1, 37 points) and Hurricanes (24-14-2, 50 points) both skated to wins Sunday. The duo will go head-to-head against one another at the 4 Nations Face-Off in February when Zibanejad suits up for Sweden and Aho for Finland.
* Zibanejad factored on one of the Rangers’ six goals to notch his 400th career assist and become the 18th Swedish-born player in NHL history to reach the milestone. Only two other active Swedes have hit the mark: Erik Karlsson (652) and Victor Hedman (596), both of whom will be Zibanejad’s teammates at the 4 Nations Face-Off.
* Aho scored the overtime winner to reach the 600th career point milestone and help lead the Hurricanes to their third multi-goal comeback victory of the season. Aho joined Ron Francis and Eric Staal as third player in franchise history to record 600 points and tied Aleksander Barkov as the fourth-fastest Finnish player to reach the plateau (638 GP) behind Jari Kurri (419 GP), Teemu Selanne (455 GP) and Mikko Rantanen (556 GP). Lastly, Aho surpassed Olli Jokinen (13) for the most overtime goals by a Finnish national.
GIBSON COLLECTS 200TH CAREER WIN
John Gibson stopped 36 of 37 shots to help the Ducks earn their first win against the Lightning since Jan. 21, 2022, which snapped a five-game skid. Gibson collected his 200th victory hours after he was named to one of Anaheim’s Quarter-Century Teams with Jean-Sebastien Giguere – the only other goaltender in franchise history to reach the plateau.
OVERTIME GAMES IN #NHLSTATS: LIVE UPDATES
The latest edition of #NHLStats: Live Updates features all five games, including two of the three which required overtime.
* Morgan Rielly completed the Eastern Conference-leading Maple Leafs’ (26-13-2, 54 points) comeback victory and helped his club earn its fourth straight win. Rielly scored his sixth overtime goal and moved within one of tying Tomas Kaberle (7) for the most by a defenseman in Maple Leafs history, as well as his 15th game-winning goal, which tied Bryan McCabe (15) for the fourth most by blueliner in franchise history.
* Bo Horvat netted the overtime winner for the Islanders in a nine-goal thriller, but not before David Pastrnak scored twice to erase a two-goal deficit and put his name on a rare Bruins list. Horvat scored his fifth overtime goal with the Islanders and tied three others for fifth most in franchise history. Since 2023-24, only Leon Draisaitl has as many (6).
QUICK CLICKS
* Jessica Campbell speaks to Montreal Victoire ahead of PWHL ‘Takeover Tour’ in Seattle
* Frank Vatrano signs 3-year, $18 million contract with Ducks
* Linus Ullmark week to week for Senators with back injury
* Yanni Gourde, daughter, announce starting lineup during PWHL ‘Takeover Tour’ in Seattle
