* Aleksander Barkov made an immediate impact in his return to the Panthers lineup following an eight-game absence as he led Florida to victory in its tune-up ahead of 2024 NHL Global Series Finland presented by Fastenal.
* San Jose secured their first win of the season in dramatic fashion by staging the third three-goal, third-period comeback win in franchise history. Overall, four teams overcame a multi-goal deficit to at least tie the game Monday with the Sharks being the only team to earn a victory.
* Tuesday’s seven-game slate features an ESPN doubleheader which pits the Rangers against the Capitals before the Kings visit the Sharks. Marc-Andre Fleury also returns to Pittsburgh to face-off against familiar faces.
BARKOV LIFTS PANTHERS TO VICTORY IN FINAL GAME BEFORE NHL GLOBAL SERIES
Captain Aleksander Barkov (1-1—2) was one of three Finnish-born players to find the score sheet (also Eetu Luostarinen: 0-1—1 & Anton Lundell: 0-1—1) as the Atlantic Division-leading Panthers (7-3-1, 15 points) scored five or more goals in consecutive road games – one contest shy of the longest stretch in franchise history (3 GP in 2021-22 & 2011-12). Florida will now head overseas to take on the Stars (7-2-0, 14 points) for the 2024 NHL Global Series Finland presented by Fastenal.
* This will be the second time Barkov plays an NHL game in his home country (also 2018 Global Series in Helsinki) but the first time he’ll play an NHL contest in his hometown of Tampere. He made a name for himself on the international stage at the 2012 World Junior Championship when, at age 16, he became the second-youngest player to score a goal at the event behind Sidney Crosby.
DID YOU KNOW? Barkov (18 years, 31 days) made his NHL debut on Oct. 3, 2013 at American Airlines Center in Dallas and became the youngest player since 1943-44 to score his first career goal (beating Stars netminder Kari Lehtonen to achieve the feat). He remains the youngest player to score in the past 80 years and the youngest European to score in NHL history.
* Click here for the #NHLStats Pack: 2024 NHL Global Series Finland presented by Fastenal and click here for the 2024 NHL Global Series Information Guide.
SHARKS SURGE BACK FROM THREE-GOAL DEFICIT TO WIN IN OT
Down 4-1 in the third period, the Sharks surged back in dramatic fashion with Fabian Zetterlund (2-0—2), Mikael Granlund (1-2—3) and Tyler Toffoli (1-1—2) each finding the back of the net in a span of 1:50 to pull the Sharks even, setting the stage for Alexander Wennberg’s (1-1—2) overtime heroics. It marked the third time in franchise history that San Jose overcame a three-goal, third period deficit to win (also Dec. 5, 2023 at NYI & Dec. 8, 2010 at PHI).
* The Sharks became the ninth team in NHL history to win their first game of a season by overcoming a three-goal deficit in the third period. They joined the 2021-22 Lightning, 2019-20 Canadiens, 2019-20 Jets, 2016-17 Jets, 2015-16 Wild, 2013-14 Oilers, 2009-10 Wild and 1986-87 Whalers.
TAVARES NETS HAT TRICK TO HELP MAPLE LEAFS SNAP JETS’ STREAK
John Tavares netted three of his team’s six goals while his teammates William Nylander (1-2—3) and Max Pacioretty (0-3—3) also put up three-point performances to help the Maple Leafs snap the Jets’ season-opening winning streak at eight games. Toronto earned its sixth straight win against Winnipeg dating to March 31, 2022, tied for its longest active run against a single opponent (also 6-0-0 vs. DAL).
* Tavares recorded his 12th career hat trick, tied with Connor McDavid for the seventh most among active skaters behind only Alex Ovechkin (30), David Pastrnak (17), Evgeni Malkin (13), Sidney Crosby (13), Steven Stamkos (13) and Auston Matthews (13).
* Hockey Fights Cancer powered by the V Foundation presented by AstraZeneca has returned this season. With every hat trick, AstraZeneca will donate $3,000 to the Hockey Fights Cancer Fund of the V Foundation up to $300,000. Additionally, all 32 Clubs are set to host in-game awareness nights throughout the season beginning with the Bruins tonight.
GOLDEN KNIGHTS REMAIN UNDEFEATED AT HOME
Keegan Kolesar (2-1—3) and Nicolas Roy (1-2—3) each posted three-point outings as the Golden Knights shut out the Flames and extended their home winning streak to seven games, tied for the second longest in franchise history. Their only longer run was in 2017-18 (8-0-0).
STAMKOS’ RETURN TO TAMPA, MacKINNON’S STREAK FEATURED IN LIVE UPDATES
The latest edition of Live Updates featured more #NHLStats from Monday’s eight-game slate, including noteworthy performances from a couple of No.1 picks.
* The Lightning celebrated Predators forward Steven Stamkos (0-2—2) in his return to AMALIE Arena as the franchise icon nearly guided his new club to a third straight multi-goal comeback win, but Nick Paul scored with 1:38 remaining in overtime to secure the win for the Lightning. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 35 saves in the effort and captured his ninth straight victory against Nashville dating to Dec. 3, 2019 – his fourth-longest stretch versus one franchise behind Chicago (13 GP), Detroit (13) and Montreal (11 GP). His streak against the Blackhawks is still active.
* Nathan MacKinnon (1-0—1) and Cale Makar (0-1—1) each extended their season-opening point streak to 10 games – the forward’s second such stretch (13 GP in 2019-20) – and became the first pair of teammates in Avalanche/Nordiques history with simultaneous runs of at least that length to begin a campaign.
QUICK CLICKS
* ‘Three Stars’ of the Week presented by GEICO: Mark Stone, Juuse Saros, Matt Duchene
* Marc-Andre Fleury steps in at youth hockey practice in Pittsburgh
* Bruins dress up as 'Monsters Inc.' characters for Halloween visit to hospital
* Connor McDavid sustains lower-body injury in Oilers loss to Blue Jackets
* Anton Lundell talks Finland homecoming with Panthers in Q&A with NHL.com
ESPN DOUBLEHEADER HIGHLIGHTS TUESDAY’S SLATE
After five contests hosted by Eastern Conference clubs open Tuesday’s slate, a pair of rivalries will be featured on an ESPN doubleheader to cap the night. At 7:30 p.m. ET, Artemi Panarin will look to extend his season-opening point streak to nine games when the Rangers take the Eastern Conference’s top points percentage (.813) into Washington to face Alex Ovechkin and the Capitals. At 10 p.m. ET, former teammates Anze Kopitar and Tyler Toffoli will clash for the second time in six days as Pacific Division foes renew acquaintances when the Kings visit the Sharks.
* The Rangers (6-1-1, 13 points) and Capitals (5-2-0, 10 points) meet for the first time since the two clubs clashed during the First Round of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Panarin’s season-opening point streak has brought the forward within striking distance of 800 career points (271-525—796 in 680 GP) – a mark his counterpart Tuesday, Ovechkin, reached prior to his 700th contest (658 GP). Connor McDavid (545 GP) holds the benchmark for fewest games by an active player.
* Longtime teammates Kopitar and Toffoli spent more than 500 games together from 2012-13 to 2019-20 (regular season & playoffs) – a stretch that included the Stanley Cup in 2013-14. The duo factored on the same goal 52 times, the second most by any teammate in Toffoli’s career behind only Jeff Carter (87).
* Another storyline on Tuesday’s docket is what could be Marc-Andre Fleury’s final game in Pittsburgh as the Wild visit the Penguins for the only time in the 2024-25 regular season. Fleury made 691 of his 1,027 career regular-season appearances in a Penguins uniform from 2003-04 to 2016-17 (67.3%) – including 667 of his 997 starts (66.9%) – and was part of each of their past three Stanley Cup-winning teams.
* Fleury dressed at least 650 games as teammates with each of Sidney Crosby (861), Evgeni Malkin (790) and Kris Letang (655), including 465 in which the entire quartet all dressed. Fleury has since faced them each at least six times (Crosby: 2-2—4 in 6 GP; Malkin: 2-4—6 in 6 GP; Letang: 1-4—5 in 9 GP).
* Fleury has won four of six head-to-heads against Crosby (4-2-0 in 6 GP; .923 SV%, 2.51 GAA, 1 SO), three of six against Malkin (3-3-0 in 6 GP; .896 SV%, 3.20 GAA) and five of nine against Letang (5-4-0 in 9 GP; .906 SV%, 3.05 GAA, 1 SO). Overall, Fleury has faced the Penguins nine times in his career (5-4-0, including 1-3-0 at PIT), including five games in which he faced all three of those former teammates (Dec. 14, 2017 at VGK; Feb. 6, 2018 at PIT; Jan. 19, 2019 at VGK; April 6, 2023 at PIT; Feb. 9, 2024 at MIN).
