* The Jets continue to soar as the League leaders equaled the second-most wins through 20 games of a season in NHL history.
* Jiri Kulich’s second NHL goal was the overtime winner as the 20-year-old helped Buffalo complete its first multi-goal comeback win of 2024-25.
*A 15-game Saturday will feature over 11 hours of hockey and six of seven Canadian teams in action across four Hockey Night in Canada games on Sportsnet programming, while fans in San Josewill watch Joe Thornton’sNo. 19 rise to the rafters at SAP Center when the Sharks welcome the Sabres.
JETS TIE FOR SECOND-MOST WINS THROUGH 20 GAMES
Kyle Connor (1-1—2) and Josh Morrissey (0-1—1) powered the NHL-leading Jets to victory and helped them secure the second-most wins through 20 games of a season in League history. Of the five other teams on the list, the 1929-30 Bruins went on to make a Stanley Cup Final appearance, while the 2012-13 Blackhawks went on to hoist the championship.
* Connor improved to 13-13—26 and now owns the second-highest point total through this stage of a season (20 GP) in Jets team history, behind Mark Scheifele in 2020-21 (11-17—28). Connor is on pace for 106 points – should he surpass the century mark, he would establish a franchise record for points in a season.
* Morrissey (2-18—20 in 20 GP) followed Cale Makar (28) as the second defenseman this season to 20 points and also joined Makar (2x) and Quinn Hughes (3x) as the third active blueliner to record 18-plus assists through 20 games of a campaign multiple times (also 19 in 2022-23).
KULICH HELPS SABRES EARN MULTI-GOAL COMEBACK WIN IN #NHLSTATS: LIVE UPDATES
The latest edition of #NHLStats: Live Updates featured notes on all four teams in action Friday, including the Sabres who earned their first multi-goal comeback win of the season thanks in part to two goals by Alex Tuch and Jason Zucker in a span of 50 seconds and the overtime winner by Jiri Kulich. The last time Buffalo earned a comeback win by erasing a multi-goal deficit in 50 seconds or fewer was April 11, 2021 (0:46; 5-3 W at PHI).
NHL PODCASTS WEEKLY ROUNDUP
* NHL Fantasy on Ice (Nov. 18): Week 7 pickups; buy low on Connor Bedard or struggling Bruins?
* La Tasse de Café LNH (Nov. 20): Jim Montgomery congédié; du positif chez les Canadiens
* NHL Fantasy on Ice (Nov. 21): Bruins’ coaching change, Ovechkin injury; betting with Chris Meaney
* NHL @TheRink (Nov. 21): Tripp Tracy Joins; Ovechkin Injured, Mailbag, Montgomery
QUICK CLICKS
* Brett Howden signs 5-year, $12.5 million contract with Golden Knights
* Connor Bedard hopes to get out of ‘frustrating’ stretch for Blackhawks
* NHL EDGE stats: Calder Trophy contenders at one-quarter mark
* Marc-Andre Fleury feels ‘fortunate’ after moving into 3rd on goalie games-played list
* #NHLStats: 2024-25 season hits Quarter Mark on Saturday
FOUR-PACK HIGHLIGHTS HOCKEY NIGHT IN CANADA SCHEDULE ON 15-GAME SATURDAY
Six of seven Canadian teams are in action on a 15-game Saturday with the Canadiens (7-10-2, 16 points), Canucks (9-6-3, 21 points), Senators (8-10-1, 17 points), Jets (17-3-0, 34 points) and Oilers (10-9-2, 22 points) set to take to the ice as part of Hockey Night in Canada.
* Captain Nick Suzuki leads the Canadiens in points this season (7-12—19 in 19 GP) and can register 20 points through his first 20 games of a campaign for the second time in three seasons (11-12—23 in 2022-23). He can join Mark Recchi (4x; most: 23 in 1996-97), Saku Koivu (3x; most: 26 in 1996-97) and Tomas Plekanec (2x; most: 20 in 2011-12 & 2010-11) as the fourth Montreal skater in the past 30 years to accomplish the feat multiple times.
* Quinn Hughes and the Canucks head on the road for the first time since Nov. 7, where the captain factored on two of his team’s four goals. Hughes, within five assists of tying the most by a defenseman in franchise history, can become the fifth Canucks blueliner to register multiple points in three straight road games; Filip Hronek (3 GP in 2023-24), Mattias Ohlund (3 GP in 1998-99), Jyrki Lumme (3 GP in 1995-96) and Dennis Kearns (3 GP in 1976-77) are the only ones to do so to date.
* Brady Tkachuk and the Senators continue a four-game homestand as the captain sits within striking distance of 200 career assists (171-198—369 in 459 GP). He can join two other members of his family to hit the mark after his brother, Matthew, did so in 397 career games and his dad, Keith, reached the milestone in 439 contests.
* Kyle Connor can join Nathan MacKinnon (2x) and Mitch Marner (2x) as the third player with two multi-point streaks of at least three games this season (4 GP from Oct. 24-30) when his Jets play their second game in as many nights when they visit the Predators. Winnipeg was 6-2-0 in the second half of back-to-backs last season – its .750 points percentage in that scenario was tied for the fourth highest (also PIT: 9-3-0), behind Nashville (.944; 8-0-1), NY Rangers (.917; 11-1-0) and Florida (.813; 6-1-1).
* Connor McDavid (9-16—25 in 18 GP) is two games removed from his most-recent game-winning goal and has collected 6-13—19 in 13 career contests against the Rangers – a total that includes two winners. The Oilers captain is one game-winning goal shy of tying Glenn Anderson (72) for the most in Oilers history.
Sharks set to retire Thornton’s No. 19 in pre-game ceremony at SAP Center
Joe Thornton is set to have his No. 19 raised to the SAP Center rafters before Macklin Celebrini and the Sharks square off with Rasmus Dahlin and the Sabres. Thornton will become the second player to have his number retired by the franchise, following longtime teammate and the club’s current hockey operations executive Patrick Marleau (No. 12 on Feb. 25, 2023).
* Thornton’s 24-season career included parts of 15 campaigns with San Jose, which acquired him from Boston via trade on Nov. 30, 2005. Thornton, who won the Art Ross and Hart Memorial Trophy that season and remains the only player in NHL history to win either award while playing for multiple teams, went on to become the franchise’s all-time leader in assists over the course of his tenure which was highlighted by a trip to the 2016 Stanley Cup Final.
AVALANCHE-PANTHERS GAME WILL HAVE 4 NATIONS FLAVOR
All four teams competing in the 4 Nations Face-Off will be represented when the Avalanche (11-9-0, 22 points) visit the Panthers (12-7-1, 25 points) with Cale Makar and Nathan MacKinnon from Team Canada, Mikko Rantanen and Aleksander Barkov from Team Finland, Matthew Tkachuk from Team United States, as well as Gustav Forsling from Team Sweden. Full rosters for the 4 Nations Face-Off will be unveiled across two live shows Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024.
*Rantanen (13-15—28) and Makar (8-20—28) can join MacKinnon (7-27—34) as the club’s second and third 30-point scorers. Should Team Finland’s Rantanen and Team Canada’s Makar record a multi-point game, it would mark the second time the franchise has seen three-plus 30-point scorers at this stage of a season (21 GP as of Saturday). The only instance came with the Nordiques (4 in 1982-83: Marian Stastny, Peter Stastny, Michel Goulet & Anton Stastny).
BOO NIEVES FEATURED IN THIS IS HOCKEY: PUERTO RICO EPISODE
This week, the NHL released ‘This Is Hockey,’ an original series featuring the growth of hockey in seven unexpected places where hockey is thriving, including Puerto Rico. The episode featured Boo Nieves who appeared in four seasons with the Rangers and has Puerto Rican roots. He says hockey brought him back to his Puerto Rican roots and is working to grow grassroots hockey in the country.
Viewers can watch in Canada on Amazon Prime Video (English and French captions), in the U.S. on ESPN+ (English and Spanish) with all episodes also airing on ESPN Deportes in Spanish; and on YouTube.com/NHL for the rest of the world (English and Spanish, with “Brazil” episode also offered in Portuguese).
