* William Nylander notched a career high-tying five points and became one of the fastest Swedish players in NHL history to reach 700 in his career.
* Connor McDavid continued his high-scoring start to the season alongside Evan Bouchard while another set of teammates, Kirill Kaprizov, Quinn Hughes and Jared Spurgeon,made franchise and NHL history with the Wild.
* Alex Ovechkin can score the first goal of his 22nd and final season when the Capitals host the Kraken on Sportsnet+ to open a three-game slate Sunday.
Nylander notches five points against Avalanche to eclipse 700 in career
William Nylander (2-3—5) collected a career high-tying five points, Auston Matthews (2-2—4) recorded his NHL-leading second four-point game of the season and Gavin McKenna (0-1—1) stretched his scoring streak to three contests as the Maple Leafs logged a road win against the high-powered Avalanche. Nylander’s third point was the 700th of his career.
* Nylander became the ninth different player with a five-point game against a reigning Presidents’ Trophy-winning team (since the award was introduced in 1985-86) and first since his opponent Nathan MacKinnon, who had 1-4—5 versus the Capitals on Nov. 16, 2017. Nylander notched each of his five points against reigning William M. Jennings Trophy recipient Mackenzie Blackwood.
BETTER TOGETHER: TEAMMATES ARE FUELING HISTORIC STARTS
Early-season storylines have been fueled by teammates producing in lockstep and that trend continued Saturday as both the Oilers (Connor McDavid: 0-1—1 & Evan Bouchard: 0-1—1) and Wild (Kirill Kaprizov: 3-1—4, Quinn Hughes: 0-1—1 & Jared Spurgeon: 0-1—1) showcased the success of producing in groups.
* Bouchard and McDavid combined on the game-winning goal as the Oilers (4-0-1, 9 points) opened a season with a five-game point streak for the sixth time in franchise history. Bouchard (6-6—12 in 5 GP) became the third defenseman in NHL history to record at least a dozen points through his first five games of a season, alongside Harry Cameron (9-6—15 in 1917-18) and Morgan Rielly (3-9—12 in 2018-19).
* McDavid (3-10—13 in 5 GP) has factored on Edmonton’s game-winning goal in each of its past three contests and became the sixth player in the past 30 years (since 1996-97) to reach 10 assists in five games or fewer. The others: Jack Hughes (5 GP in 2023-24), Evgeny Kuznetsov (5 GP in 2017-18), Joe Thornton (5 GP in 2012-13), Peter Forsberg (5 GP in 2005-06) and Mario Lemieux (5 GP in 2000-01).
* Kaprizov netted his seventh career hat trick with his fourth, fifth and sixth goals of the season – tied with Bouchard, Nick Schmaltz (UTA) and Kyle Connor (WPG) for the League lead this season. Kaprizov, who became the first player in franchise history with six goals through his first five games of a campaign, ranks fifth in the NHL in goals since debuting in 2020-21.
* Spurgeon andHughes bothextended their season-opening point streaks to five games and established the longest run by a defenseman in Wild history, besting Ryan Suter (4 GP in 2016-17 & 2015-16). In fact, Hughes became the fourth defenseman in the past decade to open a season with a five-game assist streak alongside Cale Makar (7 GP in 2024-25 & 5 GP in 2019-20), Rielly (6 GP in 2018-19) and Thomas Chabot (5 GP in 2018-19).
OTHER EUROPEAN STARS PLAY A PART IN SATURDAY-NIGHT SUCCESS
Lightning captain Victor Hedman (Ornskoldsvik, Sweden), Hurricanes forward Sebastion Aho (Rauma, Finland), Bruins forward JJ Peterka (Munich, Germany) and Devils captain Nico Hischier (Naters, Switzerland) each played pivotal roles for their clubs on Saturday night en route to victories.
* Hedman assisted on the first of Brandon Hagel’s three goals as the latter netted his third career hat trick in a Lightning uniform and the former boosted his career total to 172-640—812. He passed Sergei Gonchar (811) for the third-most points by a defenseman born outside of North America in NHL history, behind Nicklas Lidstrom (1,142) and Erik Karlsson (941).
* Aho scored one of five Hurricanes goals as the reigning Stanley Cup champions have strung together four consecutive victories after dropping their first two games of 2026-27. Aho, with goals in each of the team’s first three road games of the season, has witnessed his club score five or more goals in three consecutive games for the first time since a three-game stretch from Oct. 7-13, 2018.
* Peterka (0-2—2) became the ninth German player in NHL history to reach 200 career points (94-107—201 in 326 GP) and the fourth active. Peterka is the third-fastest player among that cohort to reach the milestone behind Tim Stützle (229 GP) and Leon Draisaitl (260 GP).
* Hischier (2-1—3) scored two of New Jersey’s four goals to reach and eclipse the 200-goal mark (201-290—491 in 613 GP). Hischier also climbed several Devils franchise lists in the process: he tied Scott Gomez (31 GP) for the sixth most three-point games and surpassed Petr Sykora for the 10th-most multi-goal outings.
GOALTENDERS STEAL THE SHOW IN #NHLSTATS: LIVE UPDATES
Jacob Fowler stopped all 30 shots he faced through regulation and overtime plus six more in the shootout to lead the Canadiens to victory, while Linus Ullmark became the fourth goaltender in Senators history to win his first four or more games of a season, joining Ray Emery (6 GP in 2005-06), Dominik Hasek (5 GP in 2005-06) and Martin Gerber (4 GP in 2007-08). Notes on Saturday’s entire 14-game slate can be found in the latest edition of #NHLStats: Live Updates.
QUICK CLICKS
* Blackhawks hold moment of silence for former Bears coach Mike Ditka
* Devin Cooley walks in with pet bunny Tito before Flames game
* Blackhawks wear Chicago White Sox gear ahead of ALDS Game 5
* Igor Shesterkin out for season for Rangers with lower-body injury
* NHL mourns the passing of former Capitals forward Bobby Gould
OVECHKIN EYES FIRST GOAL OF THE SEASON WHEN CAPITALS HOST KRAKEN
Alex Ovechkin’s final NHL campaign continues Sunday when Washington hosts Seattle – which has scored six goals in three of its five games – at Capital One Arena as the League’s all-time leader in goals eyes his first tally of 2026-27. The Capitals captain has collected 6-7—13 in 10 career outings against the Kraken (1.30 P/GP) – tied with the Blues for his fourth highest points-per-game average against one opponent behind the Mammoth (2.00 P/GP), Wild (1.48 P/GP) and Jets franchise (1.35 P/GP).
* Forty-one-year-old Ovechkin has scored 32 career goals since turning 40 (32-33—65 in 86 GP) and his 0.37 goals per game during that span is the second highest in NHL history (min. 10 GP), behind only Gordie Howe (113 in 295 GP; 0.38 G/GP).
