Matt Duchene (2-1—3) and Wyatt Johnston (1-1—2) both put up multi-point showings as the Stars scored seven straight goals in a road game for the first time in 17 years.
* Brandon Hagel (2-2—4) and Nikita Kucherov (0-3—3) helped the Lightning skate to victory Saturday, with the latter moving into second place on the franchise’s all-time points list.
* Several 4 Nations Face-Off players produced notable performances in their last game before the best-on-best tournament begins in three days, including brothers Matthew and Brady Tkachuk.
* A two-game Sunday features Alex Ovechkin continuing The Gr8 Chase in Utah as well as the Canadiens hosting the final game at Bell Centre before the 4 Nations Face-Off takes over the venue on Wednesday.
STARS SCORE SEVEN STRAIGHT GOALS EN ROUTE TO COMEBACK VICTORY
Matt Duchene (2-1—3) and Wyatt Johnston (1-1—2) both posted multi-point performances as the Stars (35-18-2, 72 points) scored eight goals – seven in consecutive fashion – to overcome a multi-goal deficit and maintain their two-point edge over the Wild (33-19-4, 70 points) for second in the Central Division. It marked Dallas’ highest-scoring game since Feb.15, 2024 (9-2 W at NSH).
* Johnston, who factored on Duchene’s game winner, recorded his 31st career multi-point game and tied Dino Ciccarelli for the fifth most by a Stars/North Stars player at age 21 or younger. He trails only Brian Bellows (71 GP), Mike Modano (48 GP), Tim Young (34 GP) and Bobby Smith (33 GP).
* Johnston and Duchene are two of 15 Stars players that found the score sheet against the Sharks – the ninth game in franchise history with at least that many and the fifth since they relocated to Dallas in 1993-94. The others: March 9, 2023 (16), Dec. 15, 1998 (16), Jan. 31, 2009 (15) and Dec. 23, 2008 (15).
HAGEL, KUCHEROV LIFT LIGHTNING TO CRUCIAL WIN OVER RED WINGS
Brandon Hagel (2-2—4) and Nikita Kucherov (0-3—3) helped Tampa Bay score twice in the opening three minutes, and four times in the first period, as the Lightning built an early lead and held off a Red Wings rally en route to a crucial win. Tampa Bay (30-20-4, 64 points) created a two-point cushion above Ottawa (29-23-4, 62 points) and a three-point lead over Detroit (28-22-5, 61 points) for third place in the Atlantic Division.
* Hagel (26-34—60 in 54 GP), ready to represent Canada at the 4 Nations Face-Off with a gold medal already on his international resume (2021 World Championship), became the fourth Tampa Bay player to reach the 25-goal mark this season alongside Kucherov, Brayden Point and Jake Guentzel. The Lightning became the 13th team in NHL history with at least four 25-goal scorers through 54 games in a campaign and first since the 1991-92 Penguins.
* Kucherov (345-610—955), who notched his third three-assist game of the season, climbed a pair of Lightning lists as he overtook Martin St. Louis (365-588—953) for second place on Tampa Bay’s all-time points list and surpassed teammate Victor Hedman (163-607—770) for the most assists in franchise history.
BRATT, HUGHES LEAD DEVILS TO ANOTHER WIN IN MONTREAL AHEAD OF 4 NATIONS
Two stars bound for the 4 Nations Face-Off gave the crowd at Bell Centre a sneak peek at what they can expect next week as USA’s Jack Hughes (1-1—2) and Sweden’s Jesper Bratt (1-1—2) scored two of New Jersey’s four goals and helped the Devils capture their 10th straight road win in Montreal.
* Bratt matched the second-longest assist streak in franchise history and will represent Sweden internationally for the first time since the 2019 World Championship. The 2024-25 season is the fourth straight campaign in which a Swedish player posted an assist streak of that length following William Nylander (10 GP in 2023-24), Erik Karlsson (14 GP in 2022-23) and Victor Hedman (8 GP in 2021-22); Karlsson’s stretch is the longest by a Swedish player in NHL history.
* Hughes, who improved to 7-0-0 in his career at Bell Centre, extended his road point streak to nine games and matched a franchise record for longest in a season – a feat two Devils players have accomplished since 2012-13 (Nico Hischier: 9 GP in 2023-24 & Taylor Hall: 9 GP in 2017-18). Only three players in NHL history have had a longer win streak in Montreal as the visitor to begin their careers: Matt Hendricks (9 GP), Alex DeBrincat (8 GP) and Timo Meier (8 GP).
4 NATIONS FACE-OFF STARS SHINE IN FINAL GAMES BEFORE TOURNAMENT
Several other players set to skate in the 4 Nations Face-Off in three days put up big performances Saturday before heading to Montreal for the best-on-best tournament:
* Every goal scorer in the Panthers-Senators game – which saw Florida extend its home winning streak to five games – will skate in the best-on-best tournament: Matthew Tkachuk (1-2—3; USA), Aleksander Barkov (1-1—2; FIN), Anton Lundell (FIN), Gustav Forsling (SWE), Sam Bennett (CAN) and Brady Tkachuk (USA). Matthew matched the third-longest goal streak in Panthers history (6 GP) and scored in the same game as his brother for the third time in his career – in the Tkachuks’ next contest, they will be teammates for USA.
- Seth Jarvis (2-2—4; CAN) and Sebastian Aho (2-1—3; FIN) accounted for more than half of Carolina’s offensive output as the Hurricanes tied the Kraken, Capitals, Jets and Stars (all w/ 3) for the second-most games with seven or more goals this season. Jarvis is set to represent Canada internationally for the first time ever and is the only player with multiple four-point outings since Jan. 1; Meanwhile, Aho’s 20th career multi-goal period propelled the Finnish forward to a ninth straight 20-goal season to begin his career.
* Brad Marchand (CAN) opened the scoring with his 20th goal of the season as Boston took a 3-2 lead into the final frame, but Jack Eichel (USA) assisted on the tying tally and the game winner with 70 seconds left in regulation to help the Golden Knights earn their seventh third-period comeback win of 2024-25, behind only the Flyers (8) for the League lead. Eichel set the franchise record for most multi-point games in a season (23 GP) and also tied the Vegas record for assists in a campaign (50).
* Zach Werenski and Adam Fox each collected a helper in their final game before suiting up for USA at the 4 Nations Face-Off, with Werenski extending his home point streak to 21 games while Fox became the first defenseman in Rangers history to hit the 40-assist mark in five straight seasons. Werenski tied Bobby Orr (21 GP in 1970-71) for the fourth-longest such run by a defenseman in NHL history.
* Filip Forsberg (SWE) scored two of his team’s six goals to reach and eclipse the 20-goal mark as the Predators fended off a Sabres comeback attempt spearheaded by his soon-to-be teammate Rasmus Dahlin, who climbed Buffalo’s all-time goals list among defensemen. Forsberg became the eighth Swedish player to record nine or more seasons with 20-plus goals behind Mats Sundin (17), Daniel Alfredsson (13), Markus Naslund (12), Daniel Sedin (11), Tomas Sandstrom (11), Mika Zibanejad (9) and Gabriel Landeskog (9) while also adding to his career game-winning goal totals.
* More notable performances from 4 Nations Face-Off bound players included Matt Boldy (USA) scoring twice for his third consecutive 20-goal season to help the Wild earn their seventh straight win against the Islanders; Travis Konecny (CAN) factoring on two of the Flyers’ three goals to reach the 60-point mark; and Leo Carlsson (SWE) tying the fifth-most points in franchise history at age 20 or younger in the Ducks’ victory over the Kings.
DUKE SCORES FIRST NHL GOAL IN #NHLSTATS: LIVE UPDATES
Saturday’s edition of #NHLStats: Live Updates featured Dylan Duke, a member of the Lightning, scoring his first NHL goal in his NHL debut. Duke’s tally came in the afternoon with his family in attendance and in the state where he played college hockey. Hours later, his brother Tyler scored on the same net at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit when Michigan State took on the University of Michigan.
QUICK CLICKS
* Drew Doughty added to Canada’s 4 Nations Face-Off roster
* Blues celebrate Ryan Suter’s 1,500th NHL game with custom T-shirts
* Quinn Hughes misses 4th straight game for Canucks, status uncertain for 4 Nations Face-Off
* Brad Marchand ‘so grateful’ to represent Canada in 4 Nations Face-Off
* Prince Harry drops puck before Canucks game to kick off 2025 Invictus Games
OVECHKIN EYES 11TH PLACE ON ALL NHL’S ALL-TIME POINTS LIST
Alex Ovechkin, who owns the second-most career goals and points on Super Bowl Sunday in NHL history (13-7—20 in 17 GP), continues The Gr8 Chase and now sits 16 goals shy of breaking Wayne Gretzky’s all-time goals record thanks to a four-game goal streak. His recent string of success also has placed the Capitals captain (879-711—1,590) within one point of passing Phil Esposito (717-873—1,590) for 11th place on the NHL’s all-time points list.
* Ovechkin has already posted a five-game goal streak earlier this season (6-5—11 in 5 GP from Oct. 29 – Nov. 6, 2024) and can become the first player age 39 or older in NHL history to register multiple such streaks. Just two other 39-year-olds have notched a goal streak of at least five games: Brett Hull (7 GP in 2003-04) and Johnny Bucyk (6 GP in 1974-75).
BELL CENTRE HOSTS FINAL GAME BEFORE 4 NATIONS FACE-OFF
The Canadiens (25-25-5, 55 points) and Lightning (30-20-4, 64 points) are set to clash at Bell Centre as the NHL’s oldest franchise welcomes its Atlantic Division rival to the city where the League was officially founded and will play host to four round-robin games for the 4 Nations Face-Off next week.https://foco.vegb.net/c/3065197/1608989/10075
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* An NHL International Tournament returns to Montreal for the first time since the city hosted two round robin games during the 2004 World Cup of Hockey. Other than the 2016 World Cup of Hockey, Montreal has hosted at least one contest in every NHL International Tournament (also 1976 Canada Cup, 1981 Canada Cup, 1984 Canada Cup, 1987 Canada Cup, 1991 Canada Cup & 1996 World Cup of Hockey).
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