* Sidney Crosby factored on three of five Penguins goals to guide his club to victory against the Oilers and climbed the NHL’s all-time points list in the process.
* Four clubs scored six goals Thursday, including Columbus which defeated Seattle with the help of Zach Werenski, who extended his home point streak to 16 games and became one of only seven defensemen in NHL history with a run of at least that length.
* Connor Bedard, Alex Ovechkin and Macklin Celebrini are all in action during a five-game slate Friday, which also marks the start of the third annual “Hockey Day in Czechia.”
TRIO OF METROPOLITAN DIVISION TEAMS TALLY HIGH-SCORING WINS. . .
The Hurricanes (25-15-2, 52 points), Blue Jackets (19-17-6, 44 points) and Penguins (18-17-8, 44 points) each potted at least five goals en route to victories:
* After the Maple Leafs jumped out to a 2-0 lead, Jordan Staal scored three of his team’s six goals to spearhead the Hurricanes’ fourth multi-goal comeback win of the season – tied with the Golden Knights, Wild, Ducks and Avalanche for the second most in the League behind the Kraken (5). Staal (36 years, 121 days) became the third player in franchise history to score a hat trick at age 36 or older, joining his current head coach Rod Brind'Amour (37 years, 79 days on Oct. 27, 2007) and Ray Whitney (36 years, 302 days on March 6, 2009). With every hat trick this season, AstraZeneca will donate $3,000 to the Hockey Fights Cancer Fund of the V Foundation up to $300,000.
* Zach Werenski (10-22—32 in 16 GP) extended his home point streak to 16 games, Denton Mateychuk and Luca Del Bel Belluz logged their first and second career goal, respectively, and Owen Sillinger became the latest member of his family to play for the franchise as Columbus clipped Seattle. Werenski became the seventh NHL defenseman with a run of that length and first in more than 30 years, while Del Bel Belluz became the first player in club history with a goal in each of his first two career games (also April 16, 2024).
* Sidney Crosby (604-1039—1,643 in 1,315 GP) collected his 184th career three-point game to reach 1,643 points and pass Joe Sakic (1,641) for ninth place in NHL history as well as fifth on the League’s all-time list for most with one franchise. Crosby, who also passed Phil Esposito and Mark Messier (both w/ 183) for the fifth most three-point games in League history, helped Pittsburgh keep pace with Columbus, which occupies the Eastern Conference’s final Wild Card spot.
. . . WHILE A PAIR OF CENTRAL DIVISION CLUBS FOLLOWED SUIT WITH SIX-GOAL WINS
The Avalanche (26-16-1, 53 points) and Blues (20-19-4, 44 points) were two of the four clubs to score six goals Thursday night thanks in large part to multi-point performances from their star players:
* League-scoring leader Nathan MacKinnon (1-1—2) joined Leon Draisaitl (21) and Mitch Marner (20) as the third skater with 20 multi-point games in 2024-25 while Mikko Rantanen (1-1—2) hit the 25-goal mark for the fifth straight season. Rantanen joined Joe Sakic (9 from 1997-98 to 2006-07) as the second player in Avalanche team history with at least five consecutive 25-goal campaigns.
* Jordan Kyrou (1-1—2) recorded his 300th career point and became the ninth player from the 2016 NHL Draft class to reach the milestone as a four-goal first period helped deliver the Blues their 1,200th home victory in franchise history. Since returning from the holiday break, the Blues have scored six goals on three different occasions (also Dec. 27 & Dec. 31), which is matched by only the Blue Jackets for the most through that span (6 on Jan. 9, Jan. 4 & Dec. 27).
EASTERN CONFERENCE WILD CARD RACE HIGHLIGHTED IN #NHLSTATS: LIVE UPDATES
The tightly-contested Eastern Conference Wild Card race took center stage in the latest edition of #NHLStats: Live Updates as the Lightning (22-15-2, 46 points), Rangers (19-20-2, 40 points), Islanders (16-18-7, 39 points) and Sabres (16-21-5, 37 points) secured wins to strengthen their grip on or inch closer to playoff spots in the Eastern Conference.
* Brayden Point capped off the Lightning win with his 25th goal of the season and 600th career point while Andrei Vasilevskiy picked up his 311th career victory to surpass Kari Lehtonen for the eighth most in NHL history among goaltenders born outside of North America. Point became the third player to score 25 goals this season alongside Leon Draisaitl (31) and Mikko Rantanen (25) and sixth skater in franchise history to reach the 600-point milestone.
* Adam Fox (1-1—2) factored on both New York goals in regulation before Sam Carrick scored the overtime winner to help the Rangers defeat the Devils in the latest edition of the Hudson River rivalry. Fox (55-286—341 in 398 GP) passed Victor Hedman (67-272—339 in 392 GP) for the fourth-most points among all defensemen since the Rangers blueliner debuted in 2019-20.
* Ilya Sorokin stopped all 30 shots he faced to lead the Islanders to victory at T-Mobile Arena as he became the third goaltender in franchise history with 20 career shutouts, joining Glenn Resch (25) and Billy Smith (22). Sorokin, playing in his 222nd career game, also became the second-fastest active goaltender to reach the mark, trailing only Jonathan Quick (214 GP).
* Rasmus Dahlin assisted on one of Buffalo’s four goals and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen turned aside all 35 shots he faced to help the Sabres best the Atlantic Division-rival Senators. Dahlin, who is set to represent Sweden at the 4 Nations Face-Off in February, recorded his 250th assist in his 470th career game and became the fifth-fastest Swedish defenseman to reach the mark behind Borje Salming (403 GP), Stefan Persson (425 GP), Erik Karlsson (433 GP) and John Klingberg (457 GP).
QUICK CLICKS
* Johnny Gaudreau to have No. 8 jersey retired by Dubuque of USHL
* Blues, Ducks celebrate Cam Fowler’s 1,000th NHL game with special ceremony
* Warrior Sports bringing sticks to NHL, 4 Nations all the way from Tijuana, Mexico
* Auston Matthews brings Joe Thornton on Maple Leafs Mentors Trip
* Pittsburgh Penguins Quarter-Century Teams unveiled
Friday’s FIVE-game slate has Bedard on NHL Network, The Gr8 Chase
Friday’s five-game slate opens with Connor Bedard looking to extend his point streak to nine games when the Blackhawks visit Dylan Larkin and the Red Wings as well as Alex Ovechkin searching for another goal in the latest installment of The Gr8 Chase when the Capitals host Nick Suzuki and the Canadiens. Bedard (4-7—11 in 8 GP) can become the third teenager in franchise history with a run of that length, following Jonathan Toews (10 GP in 2007-08) and Eddie Olczyk (9 GP in 1985-86), while later in the night Macklin Celebrini (13-15—28 in 31 GP) can become the fastest player in franchise history to reach 30 career points – he would best the current mark set by Steve Bernier (41 GP on Oct. 7, 2006).
