The Red Wings extended their League-leading winning streak to seven games dating to Dec. 29, a span that has seen Detroit move from eight points out of the playoff picture to two.
* Nikita Kucherov scored 20 goals in a season for the 10th time in his career and helped the Lightning achieve a rare feat as he became the fourth player on the team to reach the mark in 2024-25.
* The start of a new week signals the latest edition of Prime Monday Night Hockey, this time featuring Nazem Kadri and the Flames visiting Connor Bedard and the Blackhawks at 7:30 p.m. ET.
RED WINGS CONTINUE TO ROLL UNDER McLELLAN
Patrick Kane (1-1—2) and Alex DeBrincat (1-0—1) scored two of Detroit’s four goals in the opening 7:53 as the Red Wings (20-18-4, 44 points) captured their seventh straight win – two contests shy of the longest streak in franchise history – and improved to 7-1-0 since Todd McLellan took over as head coach on Dec. 27. The Red Wings, who were the highest-scoring team Sunday, are averaging 4.13 goals per game under their new head coach, which is second to only the Blues (4.25 G/GP) through that span.
* The Red Wings have scored 14 power-play goals under McLellan – boosted by three Sunday which is tied for their most in a game this season (also Nov. 15). Those 14 tallies on the man advantage are the most by all teams over that span and five more than the next closest (CBJ: 9). Overall, the Red Wings extended their streak of consecutive games with a power-play goal to eight contests – the club’s longest such stretch since 2015-16 (8 GP from March 19 – April 2, 2016). McLellan is now the second head coach in franchise history to win seven of his first eight games with the franchise (also Mike Babcock: 7-1-0 in 2005-06).
* Kane extended his point streak to seven games, which is tied for the longest by a Red Wings player age 36 or older in the past decade. The other two came from Henrik Zetterberg (7 GP in 2016-17) and Pavel Datsyuk (7 GP in 2015-16).
KUCHEROV LEADS LIGHTNING TO VICTORY WITH 20TH GOAL
The Lightning’s 5-2 win Sunday saw a couple of players reach the 20-goal mark, beginning with Brandon Hagel (1-1—2) and ending with Nikita Kucherov (2-1—3). The pair joined Brayden Point (25) and Jake Guentzel (21) – who also hit 20 assists this season – as the third and fourth Tampa Bay players with 20 tallies in 2024-25 – two more than the next closest teams.
* Kucherov recorded his 10th career 20-goal season and tied Martin St. Louis (10x) for the third most in franchise history, behind Steven Stamkos (14x) and Vincent Lecavalier (12x). Kucherov has reached the mark in each of the past 10 campaigns he’s played (he missed the 2020-21 regular season).
ROOKIES SHINE IN #NHLSTATS: LIVE UPDATES
Rookies for the Senators and Ducks played an integral role in helping their clubs claim victory Sunday, all of which was featured in the latest #NHLStats: Live Updates.
* Leevi Merilainen made 24 saves for his second victory in as many days as the Senators (21-18-3, 45 points) ended the Stars’ (27-14-1, 55 points) winning streak at seven games and moved within one point of the final Wild Card spot. Merilainen became the third rookie goaltender in franchise history to record wins on consecutive days, joining Brian Elliott (Feb. 11-12, 2009 & Jan. 13-14, 2009) and Ray Emery (March 18-19, 2006 & March 1-2, 2006).
* Cutter Gauthier recorded his first career multi-goal game, which was capped by an overtime winner, to quell the Hurricanes’ third-period, multi-goal comeback attempt. Gauthier became the fourth rookie to score an overtime goal this season (also Matvei Michkov: 3, Macklin Celebrini & Jiri Kulich) and first Ducks rookie to do so since Trevor Zegras on Nov. 16, 2021.
QUICK CLICKS
* Marc-Andre Fleury gets emotional after standing ovation by Vegas crowd
* Trophy Tracker: Connor Hellebuyck of Jets choice to win Vezina as best goalie
* 4 Nations Roster Remix: 2005 Finland team
* 4 Nations Roster Remix: 2005 United States team
FLAMES, BLACKHAWKS READY TO CLASH ON PRIME MONDAY NIGHT HOCKEY
Nazem Kadri (15-14—29 in 41 GP) and the Flames travel to Chicago to meet Connor Bedard (11-27—38 in 43 GP) and the Blackhawks in the latest instalment of Prime Monday Night Hockey. Calgary, which has benefited from one-goal victories in each of its past two games, can leapfrog idle Vancouver (19-13-10, 48 points) and move into the second Wild Card position in the Western Conference.
* Bedard, who was held off the score sheet for the first time in nearly a month Saturday, starts a new week one point shy of 100 in his career (33-66—99 in 111 GP). The 19-year-old can become the 24th teenager in NHL history to collect 100 points and the sixth active following Sidney Crosby (75-147—222 in 160 GP), Patrik Laine (80-54—134 in 155 GP), Jeff Skinner (51-56—107 in 146 GP), Steven Stamkos (55-52—107 in 136 GP) and Nathan MacKinnon (38-63—101 in 146 GP).
* Kadri’s rookie teammate, Dustin Wolf, shone for the club on Hockey Night in Canada with a 31-save performance and has a 14-6-2 record in 2024-25 (.916 SV%, 2.53 GAA, 2 SO). Wolf currently owns the second-highest save percentage and second-lowest goals-against average by a Flames rookie goaltender in a single season (min. 10 GP) behind Tyler Moss (.922 SV% & 2.51 GAA in 1998-99).
A CLOSER LOOK AT NOTABLE GAMES AND STORYLINES TO KEEP AN EYE ON THIS WEEK
More #NHLStats and storylines are on the docket as the second-half of the 2024-25 campaign continues:
Wednesday, Jan. 15 – Will Thompson add to his NHL EDGE-leading totals on TNT
* Sabres forward Tage Thompson has recorded a League-leading (tied) four 100+ mph shot attempts this season and recently recorded both the hardest shot (106.00 mph on Dec. 31) and hardest goal (103.70 mph on Jan. 6) in the NHL EDGE era (regular season & playoffs).
Thursday, Jan. 16 – American stars meet for final time before combining at 4 Nations Face-Off
* Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin (8-3—11 in 17 GP; 2-13-2) and Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk (5-10—15 in 17 GP; 15-1-1) are set to go head-to-head for the 18th time and will do so during an ESPN doubleheader before teaming up for the United States at the 4 Nations Face-Off.
Thursday, Jan. 16 – ESPN heads to Colorado where handful of stars take to the ice
* Four of the League’s six highest-scoring players take to the ice at Ball Arena as Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen host Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. All four skaters are on pace for at least 100 points, while MacKinnon is in pursuit of his first Art Ross Trophy and Draisaitl, his first Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy.
Saturday, Jan. 18 – Scotiabank Hockey Day in Canada
* Entering the halfway mark of the season, all seven Canadian teams either hold a playoff spot or are within three points of the bracket. The last time six or more Canadian teams played in the opening round of the playoffs was 1993. The day’s coverage will be available in 10 languages: Punjabi, Plains Cree, Mandarin, Cantonese, Hindi, Tagalog, Gujarati, Spanish, ASL and English.https://foco.vegb.net/c/3065197/1608989/10075
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Saturday, Jan. 18 – Crosby and Ovechkin continue their pursuit of surpassing Gretzky
* Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin meet for the second of four matchups this season as the Capitals captain continues The Gr8 Chase and his quest for the NHL’s all-time goals record. The Penguins captain is also after a record Gretzky holds a share of, as Crosby has his sights on a 20th career point-per-game season and would break the current mark they share (19).
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