* Artemi Panarin and Nikita Kucherov continued their strong starts to the season as the Rangers recorded five goals against the Red Wings and the Lightning stunned the Golden Knights.
* Connor Bedard and Adam Fantilli each put up points to help their clubs pick up their first home win of the season.
* Luke Schenn skated in his 1,000th career NHL game and can achieve a League-first later this season with his brother, Brayden.
PANARIN, KUCHEROV CONTINUE GOAL-SCORING WAYS IN WINS
Artemi Panarin (3-1—4) potted a hat trick and Nikita Kucherov (2-0—2) capped a late comeback win as the Rangers and Lightning logged victories Thursday. Kucherov (6-1—7 in 3 GP) leads the League with six goals this season, while Panarin (5-6—11 in 4 GP) shares second place with Dylan Guenther (5-1—6 in 5 GP) and Paul Cotter (5-1—6 in 7 GP).
* Panarin scored the NHL’s fourth hat trick of 2024-25 and became the first player in franchise history to start a season on a four-game multi-point streak. The Rangers (3-0-1, 7 points) pushed their season-opening point streak to four contests and are off to their best start to a campaign since 2008-09, when they rattled off five straight wins.
* Kucherov scored the go-ahead marker with just 54.1 seconds remaining in regulation to help the Lightning start a season with three straight wins for the first time since 2020-21 – their last Stanley Cup-winning campaign. Kucherov tied the Lightning mark for most goals through the team's first three games of a season (also Chris Kontos: 6 in 3 GP in 1992-93).
Bedard, Fantilli HELP CHICAGO, COLUMBUS CORRAL FIRST HOME WINS
Connor Bedard (0-2—2) and Adam Fantilli (1-0—1) found the score sheet as the Blackhawks and Blue Jackets beat the Sharks and Sabres, respectively, to earn their first home win of the season.
* Bedard recorded his third multi-point game of the season and 15th of his career. The 19-year-old became the fifth teenager in Blackhawks history with at least 15 career multi-point performances, joining Eddie Olczyk (29 GP), Patrick Kane (24 GP), Jeremy Roenick (15 GP) and Bobby Hull (15 GP).
* Fantilli found the back of the net along with Kirill Marchenko (1-1—2), Mathieu Olivier (1-1—2), Zach Aston-Reese, Yegor Chinakhov and Damon Severson after they walked the “blue carpet” during the CBJ Plaza Party outside Nationwide Arena.
NHL Coast to Coast haD FAST KRAKEN GOALS, McDAVID EXTENDING STREAK
More highlights from the second edition of Prime Video Canada’s whiparound show NHL Coast to Coast:
* Jordan Eberle (1-1—2) and Shane Wright (1-1—2) scored eight seconds apart to establish a franchise record for fastest two goals before the Kraken quelled a Flyers comeback attempt en route to their third win of the campaign. Seattle scored the quickest two goals by one team this season.
* Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl connected on the game-winning goal as McDavid recorded his first tally of the season and extended his point streak against the Predators to 14 games (9-25—34 in 14 GP). McDavid’s 70 career game winners are two shy of Glenn Anderson for the most in franchise history.
ELDER SCHENN SIBLING SKATING 1,000TH NHL GAME FEATURED IN LIVE UPDATES
Thursday’s edition of #NHLStats: Live Updates featured more notes from the 11-game slate, including Luke Schenn skating in his 1,000th NHL game. His brother, Brayden (945 GP), is also likely to reach the milestone this season and they can become the first siblings in NHL history to hit the mark in the same campaign. Overall, the Schenns will be the eighth family to have siblings each play 1,000 career games (they will be the 10th pair of brothers to do so).
* Brayden helped the Blues earn a 1-0 overtime victory versus the Islanders capped by Jake Neighbours notching the winner at Enterprise Center. They skated alongside brothers Mathieu and Pierre-Olivier Joseph, whose parents were in attendance and interviewed during the first period on Thursday.
QUICK CLICKS
* Jake Oettinger signs 8-year, $66 million contract with Stars
* Aleksander Barkov skates, could return next week for Panthers
* Luke Schenn's path to 1,000 games included winning Stanley Cup twice, time in AHL
* Predators wear unique T-shirts to honor defenseman Luke Schenn for 1,000th NHL game
* Bruins unveil uniforms for Centennial Game on Dec. 1
NHL SCORING LEADER MALKIN, PERFECT JETS PART OF FRIDAY’S SLATE
NHL Network will open Friday’s slate with a Metropolitan Division showdown between the Hurricanes and Penguins – featuring Evgeni Malkin (2-9—11 in 5 GP), who is tied with Artemi Panarin (5-6—11 in 4 GP) for the League scoring lead – while two Central Division adversaries will host California clubs, with one seeking to continue its start and the other aiming to right the ship. After finishing three points apart in 2023-24 and clashing in the First Round of the playoffs, Winnipeg and Colorado are off to polarizing starts in 2024-25: the 3-0-0 Jets have the longest season-opening winning streak in franchise history, while the Avalanche have started with four straight regulation defeats for only the second time in club history.
