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NHL Preview: Vegas Golden Knights (24-11-1) at Anaheim Ducks (9-22-4)

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NHL Preview: Vegas Golden Knights (24-11-1) at Anaheim Ducks (9-22-4)

VEGAS GOLDEN KNIGHTS NOTES:

GOLDEN KNIGHTS UPCOMING GAMES
Golden Knights 2022-23 Record: 24-12-1, 49 points (10-9-0 at Home, 14-3-1 on Road)

DATE OPPONENT TELEVISION RADIO SPANISH RADIO
Dec. 28 at Anaheim Ducks AT&T SportsNet Fox Sports 98.9 FM/1340 AM None
Dec. 31 vs. Nashville Predators AT&T SportsNet Fox Sports 98.9 FM/1340 AM Deportes 1460 AM
Jan. 2 at Colorado Avalanche AT&T SportsNet Fox Sports 98.9 FM/1340 AM None
Jan. 5 vs. Pittsburgh Penguins AT&T SportsNet Fox Sports 98.9 FM/1340 AM Deportes 1460 AM
Jan. 7 vs. Los Angeles Kings AT&T SportsNet Fox Sports 98.9 FM/1340 AM Deportes 1460 AM

GOLDEN KNIGHTS LAST GAME RECAP
December 27 – Vegas Golden Knights 2, Los Angeles Kings 4
The Vegas Golden Knights (24-12-1) fell to the Los Angeles Kings (20-12-6), 4-2, in their first game back from the holiday break on Tuesday night at Crypto.com Arena. Midway through the first, Gabriel Vilardi fired a shot home to put the Kings up, 1-0. Michael Amadio answered on the power play as the former King tied the score at 1-1. Brayden McNabb gave the Golden Knights their first lead of the night as he converted on a Reilly Smith pass to put the visitors ahead by a goal. Phillip Danault scored to tie the game three minutes later and the teams went into the final frame level at 2-2. Alex Iafallo and Viktor Arvidsson scored in the third period to give Los Angeles the 4-2 win.

LAST GAME BY THE NUMBERS

  • McNabb nets his first tally of the season
  • Amadio extends his goal streak to three games for the first time in his career
  • Pietrangelo’s helper is his fifth in five straight games since returning to the line-up
  • Vegas drops to 24-12-1 on the season and 14-3-1 on the road

It’s-A Me, Amadio
Michael Amadio has scored a goal in three straight games for Vegas, setting a new personal best for the forward. Amadio’s goal against his former club was his sixth point (3-3—6) since being promoted to Vegas’ top line on Dec. 19. On a four-game point streak, Amadio has now matched his career best of consecutive games with a point.

Hitting the Gas
Since returning to the lineup from personal reasons, Alex Pietrangelo has points in five straight games (1-5—6). The defenseman has recorded an assist in each of the five, including the primary assist on Stephenson’s game-tying goal against the Blues on Dec. 23. Pietrangelo also scored his fourth goal of the season against his former team, his first since joining Vegas in 2020 as a free agent.

Nabber, My Bro!
Brayden McNabb netted his first goal of the season against his former club, Los Angeles on Tuesday night. McNabb had not scored a goal in the regular season against the Kings during his six seasons as a Golden Knight. McNabb is third among Vegas defensemen in points with 11 (1-10—11).

Easy Steph-y
Chandler Stephenson leads Vegas in points with 36 (9-27—36) in 37 games after posting his second four-point game in 11 days on Friday night against the Blues. Stephenson recently had a seven-game point streak with 14 points (3-11—14), he led all NHL players in points during that time. It was the longest point streak for Stephenson in his career and tied the longest by a Golden Knight this season (last, Eichel 10/28-11/10). Stephenson leads the club in helpers with 27 on the season and is T-5th among NHL forwards.

Power Play Magic
The Golden Knights have converted on 14 of their 35 power play opportunities for the month of December, passing the club’s previous record (12) for the most power play goals in a month. Vegas’ 40% power play percentage this month is second in the NHL, behind the Edmonton Oilers (41.3%).

The Shorty King
Reilly Smith netted his fourth shorthanded goal of the season on Dec. 15 in Chicago, which leads the league. Smith’s 12 shorthanded goals since joining Vegas in 2017-18 are the most in franchise history. The Golden Knights are tied with the Wild for the most shorthanded goals by a team with six on the season.

Martinez Block Party
Golden Knights defenseman Alec Martinez leads the NHL with 132 blocked shots in 37 games and is the only player in the league to reach the century mark so far this season. Martinez has led the team in blocked shots in 22 of 36 games.

Spreading the Wealth
Eight Golden Knights have recorded 20 or more points this season, and 12 have 10 or more. Chandler Stephenson leads the club with 36 points, followed by Mark Stone with 31 points, and Jack Eichel with 29 points.

Golden Knights Point Leaders

  1. Chandler Stephenson – 36 (9G, 27A)
  2. Mark Stone – 31 (15G, 16A)
  3. Jack Eichel – 29 (13G, 16A)
  4. Reilly Smith – 27 (17G, 10A)
    Jonathan Marchessault – 27 (14G, 13A)
    Alex Pietrangelo – 27 (4G, 23A)
  5. William Karlsson – 25 (7G, 18A)

Hot Streaks
Alex Pietrangelo (1-5—6) – 5 games
Michael Amadio (3-3—6) – 4 games
Mark Stone (3-3—6) – 3 games

Against the Ducks
The contest between the Golden Knights and the Ducks is the second of three this season. The last time these teams met, Logan Thompson shut out Anaheim to secure a 4-0 win for Vegas and his second clean sheet of the season. The Golden Knights used goals from Chandler Stephenson, Reilly Smith, Nicolas Roy, and William Karlsson to defeat the Ducks. Vegas is 10-2-0 at the Honda Center but 20-4-0 overall against Anaheim during the regular season. Mark Stone has 24 points (8-16—24) in 24 meetings against Anaheim and Karlsson owns three points 1-2—3 in his last two games facing the Ducks.

2022-23 Season ANA Series: 1-0-0 (Home: 1-0-0, Road: 0-0-0)
Oct. 28 – at Vegas (Vegas 4, Anaheim 0)
Dec. 28 – at Anaheim
Feb. 12 – at Vegas

2021-22 Season ANA Series: 3-1-0 (Home: 2-0-0, Road: 1-1-0)
Oct. 29 – at Vegas (Vegas 5, Anaheim 4 SO)
Dec. 1 – at Anaheim (Vegas 5, Anaheim 6)
Dec. 31 – at Vegas (Vegas 3, Anaheim 1)
Mar. 4 – at Anaheim (Vegas 5, Anaheim 4)

ANAHEIM DUCKS NOTES:

LAST ANAHEIM DUCKS GAME
DEC. 23, 2022 – ANAHEIM 2 vs. CALGARY 3 – OT
The Ducks continued their franchise-record 10-game homestand with a 3-2 overtime loss to the Calgary Flames Friday night at Honda
Center. Mason McTavish scored his second goal in as many games, making him the fourth NHL rookie to cross the 20-point mark this
season (6-14=20). Jakob Silfverberg scored a PPG at 3:28 of the third to tie the game at 2-2, his fifth goal of the season. Troy Terry,
Cam Fowler, Frank Vatrano and Ryan Strome added assists. Lukas Dostal stopped 42 shots to help Anaheim earn a point while
becoming the first rookie goaltender in franchise history with multiple 40-plus save contests (also 46, Dec. 17 @ EDM).
PP: 2-5 PK: 4-4 SF: 23 SA: 45 TOI: Cam Fowler (25:12)
Three Stars: 1. R. Andersson 2. L. Dostal 3. E. Lindholm Game Summary | Event Summary | Game Recap

UPCOMING GAME SCHEDULE
DATE OPPONENT LOCATION TIME (PT) TV / AUDIO
Dec. 30 Nashville Honda Center 2 p.m. BSSC / Ducks Stream
Jan. 2 Philadelphia Honda Center 7 p.m. BSW / Ducks Stream
Jan. 4 Dallas Honda Center 7 p.m. BSSC / Ducks Stream
Jan. 6 San Jose Honda Center 7 p.m. ESPN+
Jan. 8 Boston Honda Center 7 p.m. BSW / Ducks Stream

RECENT TRANSACTIONS:
Dec. 6 Claimed C Jayson Megna on waivers from Colorado. Activated LW Max Comtois from Injured Reserve (IR) and placed C Isac Lundestrom on IR.
Dec. 9 Activated D John Klingberg from Injured Reserve (IR).
Dec. 10 Recalled G Lukas Dostal from San Diego (AHL). Placed C Derek Grant on Injured Reserve (IR).
Dec. 14 Recalled G Olle Eriksson Ek from San Diego (AHL). Placed G Anthony Stolarz on Injured Reserve (IR).
Dec. 19 Acquired D Michael Del Zotto in a three-team trade. Detroit acquires C Danny O’Regan from Anaheim while Florida receives RW Givani Smith. Assigned D Colton White to San Diego (AHL) on a Conditioning Loan.
Dec. 20 Recalled C Justin Kirkland from San Diego (AHL). Placed LW Max Jones on Injured Reserve (IR).

ANAHEIM DUCKS INJURIES
Man-Games Lost: 183

PLAYER INJURY/ILLNESS EXPECTED ABSENCE GAMES MISSED
John Moore Upper-body Indefinite 35
Jamie Drysdale Torn labrum (shoulder) 4-6 months 27
Isac Lundestrom Upper-body 6 weeks 11
Derek Grant Lower-body Day-to-day 10
Anthony Stolarz Lower-body Day-to-day 7
Max Jones Upper-body Day-to-day 6
John Gibson Lower-body Day-to-day 5
Urho Vaakanainen Illness Day-to-day 3

ANAHEIM DUCKS NOTES
TONIGHT’S GAME: The Anaheim Ducks continue a franchise record 10-game homestand tonight and play the penultimate game of
2022 vs. the Vegas Golden Knights at Honda Center (7 p.m. PT, TV: Bally Sports SoCal AUDIO: Ducks Stream). Anaheim continues its
14-game December schedule, consisting of six home and eight road contests. All-time, Anaheim is 155-145-49 in the month of
December. Since the start of 2013-14, Anaheim is 62-35-20 in December, picking up points in 82 of the 117 contests. Upcoming
Anaheim Ducks: Media Notes
milestones include Trevor Zegras one point from 100 career NHL points (currently 36-63=99). Zegras can become can become the
third player in Ducks history to reach the milestone in 140 games or fewer (all with Anaheim), joining Paul Kariya (45-56=101 in 98 GP)
and Bobby Ryan (55-45=100 in 126 GP). Following tonight’s game, the Ducks continue the franchise record 10-game homestand on
Friday, Dec. 30 in a matinee contest vs. Nashville (2 p.m. PT).

RECORD HOMESTAND: The Ducks are in the midst of a franchise record 10-game homestand with the stretch of contests at home
spanning 24 days (Dec. 21 through Jan. 13). The homestand is tied for the third-longest in NHL history, trailing 12 straight at home by
Tampa Bay (2010-11) and California (1975-76). The 24 days during the stretch are the third most, trailing Winnipeg (22 days, 2017-18)
and Vancouver (22, 1981-82). Anaheim’s longest prior homestand was eight games (three times), including Dec. 28, 2014-Jan. 16,
2015 (6-2-0, 12 pts.), Mar. 2-18, 2007 (6-1-1, 13 pts.) and Oct. 28-Nov. 14, 2001 (2-4-2, 6 pts.). Anaheim begins the homestand tied for
the most road contests in the NHL this season (21, also Arizona). The Ducks will also host an eight-game homestand from Mar. 12-27,

  1. Below is a list of the longest homestands in NHL history:

SEASON TEAM GAMES DATES DAYS RECORD (W-L-T-OT, PTS.)
2010-11 Tampa Bay 12 Jan. 23, 2011 – Feb. 25, 2011 34 7-3-0-2, 16 pts.
1975-76 California 12 Nov. 26, 1975 – Dec. 28, 1975 33 4-7-1-0, 9 pts.
2022-23 Anaheim 10 Dec. 21, 2022 – Jan. 13, 2023 24 0-1-1-0, 1 pts.
2017-18 Winnipeg 10 Jan. 30, 2018 – Feb. 20, 2018 22 6-3-0-1, 13 pts.
2005-06 Phoenix 10 Jan. 28, 2006 – Mar. 4, 2006 36 3-5-0-2, 8 pts
1981-82 Vancouver 10 Jan. 13, 1982 – Feb. 3, 1982 22 4-3-3-0, 11 pts.

DUCKS-GOLDEN KNIGHTS: Anaheim and Vegas continue a three-game season series today at Honda Center. Vegas opened the
2022-23 season series with a 4-0 win Oct. 28 at T-Mobile Arena. In the 2021-22 season series, Anaheim earned three points in four
games, including a 6-5 win in Orange County (Dec. 1) and a 5-4 SO loss in Vegas (Oct. 29). The Ducks own a 4-16-5 all-time record
vs. the Golden Knights, including an 2-8-2 mark in Orange County. John Gibson was the first Ducks goalie to record a shutout against
the Golden Knights, a 1-0 win in Vegas on Feb. 11, 2021. Trevor Zegras has recorded 2-4=6 points with a +1 rating in four career
games against the Golden Knights. Adam Henrique (7-6=13 in 23 GP) leads active Ducks skaters in career scoring and goals vs. the
Golden Knights. John Klingberg (0-8=8 in 10 GP) paces current Ducks skaters in career assists vs. the Golden Knights. These two
teams will conclude the season series Sunday, Feb. 12 at T-Mobile Arena (12 p.m. PT).

ANA-VGK SEASON SERIES:
DATE LOCATION TIME / RESULT TV / AUDIO
Oct. 28 T-Mobile Arena 4-0 VGK win
Dec. 28 Honda Center 7 p.m. PT TNT / Ducks Stream
Feb. 12 T-Mobile Arena 12 p.m. PT Bally Sports SoCal / Ducks Stream

ANA-VGK ALL-TIME SERIES:
Overall @ Anaheim @ Vegas
All-Time Series: 4-16-5 2-8-2 2-8-3
Current Streak: Three VGK wins One VGK win Three VGK wins
Last ANA Win: Dec. 1, 2021 (6-5) Dec. 1, 2021 (6-5) Feb. 11, 2021 (1-0)
Last VGK Win: Oct. 28, 2022 (4-0) Mar. 4, 2022 (5-4) Oct. 28, 2022 (4-0)
ANA Last 10: 2-6-2 2-6-2 1-7-2

CLUTCH COMEBACKS: The Ducks co-lead the NHL with three third-period, multi-goal comebacks wins this season (also NYI), including Oct. 12 vs. SEA (5-4, OT win, trailed 4-2 with 15:51 in third), Oct. 30 vs. TOR (4-3 OT win, trailed 3-1 with 12:36 remaining) and Nov. 5 @ SJS (5-4 shootout win, trailed 4-2 with 9:33 remaining). The Ducks four multi-goal comeback wins this season rank second behind only Chicago’s four. Anaheim’s comeback win over San Jose marked the second time in franchise history the club has come back from a multi-goal deficit in the final 5:00 of regulation in the regular season (also Dec. 7, 2016 vs. CAR). Anaheim has recorded four third-period, multi-goal comeback victories in a single regular season just three times in franchise history (six in 2014-15 and five in 2009-10 & 4 in 2013-14).

TERRY TALK: Right wing Troy Terry leads Anaheim in points (12-17=29), goals, PPG (4) and assists this season, and he co-leads the club with eight multi-point outings. Terry has earned 4-4=8 points his last 12 games and 5-4=9 points his last 15 outings. He also has
collected 8-12=19 points his last 25 appearances and 8-14=22 points his last 28 contests. He had a career-best five-game assist streak Oct. 30-Nov. 6 (1-7=8), surpassing his prior best of four straight games with an assist Nov. 9-16, 2021 (3-4=7). Terry’s 29 points in 34
games are on pace for 70 points this season, which would surpass his career high 37-30=67 points set last season.

GENERATION Z: Center Trevor Zegras co-leads Anaheim in PPP (2-6=8) and is second among Ducks in points (10-15=25), goals and assists. Zegras has 2-6=8 points his last 14 games, 3-10=13 points his last 21 outings and 6-14=20 points his last 26 games.
Zegras’ career 36-63=99 points in 133 GP are the second-most points by an Anaheim player 21 or younger, trailing only Paul Kariya (68-79=147 in 129 GP). Zegras currently co-leads Anaheim with eight multi-point efforts this season, and paces the Ducks in multi-point outings (29) since his debut in 2020-21.

M(A)C ATTACK: Rookie center Mason McTavish has scored goals in back-to-back games in addition to 2-4=6 points his last five outings, including consecutive multi-assist games Dec. 17 @ EDM (0-2=2) and Dec. 15 @ MTL (0-2=2). His 2-7=9 points in December co-lead all NHL rookies, while he ranks tied for second among NHL newcomers in assists (14) and tied for third in scoring (6-14=20). Among team leaders, McTavish ranks third in points and assists, while he leads Anaheim in PPP (3-6=9) and co-leads in PPA. McTavish recorded his sixth multi-point outing of his career Dec. 17 @ EDM, while Cam Fowler is the only Ducks player with more before age 20 (nine times).

CAM’S CORNER: Defenseman Cam Fowler leads Anaheim blueliners in points (4-13=17), and assists, and co-leads in goals through 33 games. Fowler has 4-11=15 points his last 17 games, including four multi-point outings (three multi-assist). Since Nov. 15, Fowler’s
15 points (4-12=16 in 17 GP) rank tied for fifth among all NHL defensemen in that span. Fowler had a career-tying five-game point streak Nov. 15-23 (2-6=8), matching his prior high set four prior times; last: Nov. 7-16, 2021; 1-4=5). The last Ducks defenseman with a
longer run was Chris Pronger (six games, Oct. 29-Nov. 7, 2009; 3-6=9). Fowler recorded three straight multi-point efforts Nov. 15-19 (1-5=6), joining Karlsson (four straight multi-point games, Oct. 27-Nov. 3; 7-4=11) and Hronek (three straight, Nov. 19-25; 4-2=6) as the only defensemen in the NHL with three or more consecutive multi-point outings. Fowler is one of four defensemen in Ducks history with multiple points in three consecutive games and the first since Scott Niedermayer in 2008-09.

KLING-ON: Defenseman John Klingberg has scored three goals his last four games (3-0=3), netting the game-winning goal in back-toback games Dec. 15 @ MTL and Dec. 17 @ EDM. He became the second defenseman in Ducks history to score a game-winning goal
in consecutive games (also Sheldon Souray Feb. 4 and Feb. 6, 2013) while only Carolina’s Brett Pesce has done so this season (Nov. 26 and 29). Klingberg co-leads all Ducks skaters in game-winning goals (2), while he co-leads Anaheim blueliners in goals (4) and ranks second in points (4-7=11), and is tied for second in assists.

GIBBY’S GAME: John Gibson ranks tied for ninth among NHL goalies in saves (677). Gibson leads the NHL with nine games of 35-plus saves this season, three more than any other goaltender, while he co-leads the league with four 40-save performances (also WPG’s Connor Hellebuyck). Gibson was one of seven goalies the last 10 years with eight 35-plus save contests through the first 19 starts in a season, and is the only goalie to do so twice (also 2018-19). Gibson has recorded four 40-plus save games this season (Dec. 3 @ MIN, 45; Nov. 23 vs. NYR, 41; Nov. 6 vs. FLA, 43; Oct. 12 vs. SEA, 44), co-leading the NHL with Connor Hellebuyck (WPG). Gibson earned his fifth career helper, the primary assist, on Troy Terry’s OT winning goal Oct. 12 vs. SEA and tied J.S. Giguere for second in Ducks all-time goaltender assists with his sixth career helper Nov. 3 @ VAN. Gibson stopped his eighth career penalty shot (10th attempt) against Alexander Kerfoot Oct. 30 vs. TOR. He has stopped an NHL-leading six penalty shots since the start of 2020-21, with two goalies tied with three penalty shot saves (Connor Hellebuyck, WPG & Frederik Andersen, CAR/TOR).

QUE RICO!: Center Adam Henrique has earned 1-2=3 points his last five outings and also has 9-9=16 points his last 25 contests. He ranks third among team leaders in goals (9) and is tied for fourth in scoring overall (9-8=17). He recorded points in a season-long six
straight games Nov. 5-19 (5-3=8), his best as a Duck and one short of his career-long point streak set over 10 years ago in seven straight contests with New Jersey Nov. 25-Dec. 8, 2011 (2-7=9). He scored goals in a season-best three straight games Nov. 5-12 (3-
0=3, +3; missed Nov. 9 due to birth of first child), including his 100th goal as a Duck (100-90=190) Nov. 12 vs. CHI, becoming the 10th player in franchise history to reach the milestone. On Dec. 17 @ EDM, Henrique appeared in his 800th career game.

NHL Preview: Calgary Flames (16-13-7) at Seattle Kraken (18-10-4)

NHL Editor
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NHL Preview: Calgary Flames (16-13-7) at Seattle Kraken (18-10-4)

CALGARY FLAMES NOTES:

FLAMES LAST GAME RECAP
DECEMBER 27, 2022 – CALGARY FLAMES [1] vs. EDMONTON OILERS [2]
The Calgary Flames returned home after the Christmas break for the third and final edition of the Battle of Alberta. The two teams came out to start the game firing with 19 first period shots with Calgary holding a 10-9 advantage but the score remained tied at zeros through a back and forth opening 20 minutes of play. In the second, Mikael Backlund opened the scoring with his seventh of the season, and fourth-straight game against the Oilers with a goal. Edmonton would respond with Tyson Barrie scoring his fifth on the campaign to square the game at one a piece and it remained that way at the end of 40. In the final frame, the Flames would outshoot Edmonton 24-4 but only Connor McDavid would find the back of the net on the power play. The Flames would hit a post in the dying seconds but fall 2-1 at the hands of the Edmonton Oilers.
CGY GOAL SCORERS: Backlund (7)
GOALIE: Markstrom (21/23, .913 Sv%)
PP: 0/4 (0%)
PK: 3/5 (60%)

FLAMES LAST FIVE RESULTS, RECORD: 3-1-1
DATE RESULT GWG CGY GOALIE OPP. GOALIE
December 27, 2022 EDM [2] vs. CGY [1] McDavid Markstrom Skinner
December 23, 2022 CGY [3] at ANA 2 Andersson Markstrom Dostal
December 22, 2022 CGY [3] at LAK 4 Kempe Vladar Copley
December 20, 2022 CGY [7] at SJS [3] Kadri Markstrom Reimer
December 18, 2022 CGY [5] at SJS [2] Lindholm Markstrom Kahkonen
*shootout winning goal

FLAMES UPCOMING SCHEDULE:
DATE TIME
(MST) OPPONENT VENUE
December 28, 2022 8:00pm at Seattle Kraken Climate Pledge Arena
December 31, 2022 8:00pm vs. Vancouver Canucks Scotiabank Saddledome
January 3, 2023 6:00pm at Winnipeg Jets Canada Life Centre
January 6, 2023 7:00pm vs. New York Islanders Scotiabank Saddledome
January 8, 2023 5:00pm at Chicago Blackhawks United Center

TONIGHTS STORYLINES & STATS
This is the second of three matchups this season between the Flames and Kraken. The Flames fell for the first time to Seattle in their first meeting back in November. This is a Pacific Division Matchup; The Flames have an overall record of 6-3-2 against Pacific Division opponents this season and a record of 10-5-2 against Western Conference opponents.

THIS SEASON VERSUS THE KRAKEN:
This is the second meeting this season between the Flames and Kraken and their first of two clashes at the Climate Pledge Arena. Their first contest came back on November 1st, 2022 which saw Seattle best Calgary for the first time ever in a 5-4 victory. Matty Beniers scored the game winner on that night for Seattle, while Lindholm had a pair of helpers and Toffoli had a goal and an assist for the Flames. Nazem Kadri also scored for Calgary amid a stretch where the centre recorded 10 points in eight games to start the season.

SUCCESS IN SEATTLE:
The Flames have made two trips to the Climate Pledge Arena since Seattle began play in the NHL in 2021, winning on both occasions. The Flames were victorious in an offensive showdown 6-4 on December 30th, 2021 during their first ever trip to Climate Pledge. The Flames outscored Seattle 3-2 in a five goal third period with goals from Mangiapane, Tkachuk and Hanifin to knock off the Kraken. Calgary also won their second trip to Seattle 4-1 in April of last season, Noah Hanifin recorded four assists in the April meeting while Jacob Markstrom put up a .964 SV% and turned aside 27 shots earning First Star honors.

BACK-TO-BACK:
The Flames will skate in their third back-to-back scenario in the month of December after hosting the Edmonton Oilers last night in Calgary. This will be Calgary’s fourth-straight game in a back-to-back scenario, the Flames finished up a California road-trip just prior to the Christmas break with back-to-back games against Los Angeles and Anaheim. The Flames took three of a possible four points with an overtime defeat at the hands of the Kings but bounced back for an overtime win over the Ducks the following night. Calgary has five more back-to-back sets remaining during the 2022-23 season, with their next one coming on January 26th against Colorado at home followed by their second and final trip to Seattle on January 27th

HOT STARTS:
The Flames have scored in the opening five minutes of the game 13 times so far this season, which leads the NHL. The Flames have scored in the game’s opening five minutes in three of their last four games, with their most recent occurrence coming in Anaheim on December 23rd courtesy of Michael Stone. Prior to that, Jonathan Huberdeau scored 3:23 into the game in Los Angeles on December 22nd and Tyler Toffoli and Dillon Dube both scored in the opening 30 seconds in San Jose on December 20th

KRAKEN HUNTER:
Elias Lindholm has recorded five points in five career meetings against the Seattle Kraken over his career. Lindholm had two assists in their first meeting back in November, tying him for third in points against the Kraken this season among all skaters, and is also tied for second among skaters to only face the Kraken once so far in 2022-23. He is currently second on the Flames in career points against Seattle, Trailing Nazem Kadri who scored in the two clubs first meeting this season, and has six points (2G, 4A) in four career games against the Kraken.

DID YOU KNOW?
The Calgary Flames were involved in the Seattle Kraken’s first ever trade. On July 22, 2021 the Flames acquired forward Tyler Pitlick from Seattle in exchange for a 2022 fourth-round pick. Calgary is one of only two franchises the Seattle Kraken have made multiple transactions with. The Flames have made two trades with the Kraken in Seattle’s short history, the only other team to make multiple trades with Seattle is
Washington.

CALGARY FLAMES vs. SEATTLE KRAKEN
ALL-TIME HOME AWAY L10 STRK
CGY vs. SEA 4-1-0-0 2-1-0-0 2-0-0-0 4-1-0 L1

GAME INFO:
Calgary Flames vs. Seattle Kraken
7:00pm PT
Climate Pledge Arena
TV: Sportsnet West
Radio: Sportsnet Fan 960

2022-23 Season Series: 0-1-0 (Home: 0-1-0, Road 0-0-0)
Nov. 1, 2022 – SEA [5] vs. CGY [4]
Dec. 28, 2022 – CGY vs. SEA
Jan. 27, 2023 – CGY vs. SEA

2021-22 Season Series: 4-0-0 (Home: 2-0-0, Road 2-0-0)
Last Home Win vs. SEA: April 12, 2022 – Calgary [5] vs. Seattle [3]
Last Road Win @ SEA: April 9, 2022 – Calgary [4] at Seattle [1]
Last Home Loss vs. SEA: November 1, 2022 – Seattle [5] vs. Calgary [4]
Last Road Loss @ SEA: TBD
2022-23 CALGARY FLAMES

FLAMES RECENT TRANSACTIONS:
Dec. 8 – placed Kevin Rooney (F) on waivers; cleared waivers
Dec. 8 – recalled Matthew Phillips (F) from Calgary (AHL)
Dec. 9 – recalled Radim Zohorna (F) from Calgary (AHL)
Dec. 18 – recalled Dennis Gilbert (D) from Calgary (AHL); placed Chris Tanev (D) on IR (retroactive)
Dec. 20 – recalled Nick DeSimone (D) from Calgary (AHL); placed Dennis Gilbert (D) on IR
Dec. 20 – reassigned Radim Zohorna (F) to Calgary (AHL)
Dec. 24 – reassigned Matthew Phillips (F) and Nick DeSimone (D) to Calgary (AHL)
Dec. 27 – recalled Radim Zohorna (F) from Calgary (AHL)

FLAMES RECENT INJURIES (Total man games lost – 27)
Noah Hanifin – illness (1 game: Oct. 21)
Chris Tanev – upper-body (5 games: Nov. 3 – Nov. 10)
Jonathan Huberdeau – upper-body (3 games: Nov. 8 – Nov. 12)
Michael Stone – lower-body (11 games: Nov. 7 – Nov. 25)
MacKenzie Weegar – non-COVID illness (1 game: Dec. 12)
Elias Lindholm – upper-body injury (1 game: Dec. 12)
Chris Tanev – upper-body injury (3 games: Dec. 14 – Dec. 18)
Radim Zohorna – non-COVID illness (1 game: Dec. 18)
Dennis Gilbert – lower-body injury (4 games: Dec. 20 – Dec. 27)

RECORD BY MONTH
October November December January February March April
HOME 4-2-0 3-2-1 3-3-1 0-0-0 0-0-0 0-0-0 0-0-0
AWAY 1-0-0 2-5-2 3-1-3 0-0-0 0-0-0 0-0-0 0-0-0
TOTAL 5-2-0 5-7-3 6-4-4 0-0-0 0-0-0 0-0-0 0-0-0

POINTS LEADER BY MONTH
October November December January February March April
Player Kadri Lindholm Lindholm – – – –
Points 4-5 – 9 4-9 – 13 5-11 – 16 – – – –

RECORD BY DAY
Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
1-0-0 3-0-2 4-3-0 1-0-2 1-5-1 1-3-0 4-2-2

RECORD BY DAYS BETWEEN GAMES/ON…
0 Days: 1-2-1
1 Day: 11-8-5
2 Days: 3-2-0
3 Days: 0-2-0
4+ Days: 0-0-0
First of B2B: 0-3-2
Second of B2B: 1-2-1

CALGARY FLAMES ALTERNATE JERSEY SCHEDULE:
November 29 vs FLA (6-2 W) December 1 vs. MTL (1-2 L) December 16 vs. STL (2-5 L) January 18 vs. COL
January 21 vs. TBL January 23 vs. CBJ January 26 vs. CHI February 28 vs. BOS
March 2 vs. TOR March 4 vs MIN March 23 vs. VGK March 25 vs. SJS

CALGARY FLAMES REVERSE RETRO SCHEDULE:
December 3 vs. WSH December 5 vs. ARI December 7 vs. MIN December 14 vs. VAN
(5-2 W) (3-2 W) (5-3 W) (3-4 SOL)

SEATTLE KRAKEN NOTES:

LAST GAME
Seattle 5 at Vancouver 6 (SO)
Goals: Sprong (2), McCann, Bjorkstrand, Wennberg
Goalie: Jones (32/37)
PP: 0/1 PK: 2/3 Shots: Seattle 36 – Vancouver 37

CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 87)
Chris Driedger (ACL; IR) – 32 games – month-to-month
Joonas Donskoi (upper body; IR) – 32 games – day-to-day

TRANSACTIONS IN PAST 7 DAYS
N/A

UPCOMING GAMES
Friday, Dec. 30: Edmonton at Seattle, 7 p.m. PT
Sunday, Jan. 1: NY Islanders at Seattle, 5 p.m. PT
Tuesday, Jan. 3: Seattle at Edmonton, 6 p.m. PT
Thursday, Jan. 5: Seattle at Toronto, 4 p.m. PT
Saturday, Jan. 7: Seattle at Ottawa, 4 p.m. PT

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW
• Tonight is Seattle’s second of three meetings with Calgary this season and the first one at Climate Pledge Arena this year. A win tonight would give the Kraken consecutive wins against the Flames for the first time in franchise history. The team previously defeated the Flames 5-4 on Nov. 1 in Calgary.

• The Kraken have 7-2-2 record against Pacific Division opponents this season, which is good for 16 points and a 0.727 points percentage. Last season, the team only won six total games against their division rivals, defeating the San Jose Sharks three times and beating the Anaheim Ducks, Edmonton Oilers and Los Angeles Kings once each.

• Yanni Gourde has nine points (four goals, five assists) in his last nine games against the Flames.

• Matty Beniers (one goal, one assist) has a point in each of the two career games he has played against Calgary.

• Will Borgen has already set a career high with 40 blocked shots this season and is just five hits shy of tying his career best of 89 that he set last year.

• The Kraken have had 16 different players score at least three goals this season. Entering play Tuesday, no team had had more players on its roster score three or more goals.

• Additionally, the Kraken were one of six teams (Arizona, Calgary, Dallas, Florida, NY Islanders) this season to have four different defensemen score at least three goals entering play Tuesday. Jamie Oleksiak (four), Vince Dunn (four), Adam Larsson (three) and Justin Schultz (three) have all scored at least three times for the Kraken this year.

• Martin Jones’ 14 wins were tied for the seventh-most in the NHL this season entering play Tuesday.

• According to Natural Stat Trick, the Kraken ranked sixth in the NHL with a 52.4 percent Corsi rating entering play Tuesday. The Kraken are outshooting their opponents 780-674 at five-on-five this season. Their 53.7 percent shot share was good for seventh in the NHL entering play Tuesday according to Natural Stat Trick.

GOING STREAKING
• A goal or an assist tonight for either Will Borgen or Carson Soucy would give them points in three consecutive games for the first time in their careers.

• Daniel Sprong has three goals in his last two games played. If he were to score again tonight, Sprong would match his career-high, three-game goals streak that he previously reached on three other occasions.

• Adam Larsson has notched an assist in each of the Kraken’s last three games dating back to Dec. 18 vs. the Jets. If he were to record an assist again tonight, it would extend his assist streak to four games, matching his career high that he set from Nov. 19 to 25, 2011.

• An assist tonight would give Brandon Tanev assists in three consecutive games, matching his career high that he has reached on two previous occasions. Tanev has four points (one goal, three assists) in his last four games played.

TANEV VS. TANEV
• If both players dress, it will mark the 12th time in their NHL careers that brothers Brandon and Chris Tanev will face off against each other in an NHL game.

• Brandon’s teams have posted a 9-2-0 record when facing Chris. He’s played him once has a member of the Kraken, twice with the Penguins and eight times with the Jets. o Brandon has won the duo’s only meeting since he joined the Kraken – Nov. 1, 2022 in Calgary, a 5-4 Seattle win.

• Chris has totaled six points (one goal, five assists) in the 11 games he has played against Brandon in the NHL. Brandon in turn has tallied on assist when facing Chris. Brandon holds the advantage with 34 hits compared to Chris’ six and Chris has more blocked shots with 25 to Brandon’s six.

• Tonight’s game will mark the 16th time this season where brothers on opposite teams have played one another. It is also the second time this season that a Kraken player has faced his brother, with Cale and Haydn Fleury doing so when Seattle took on Tampa Bay on Dec. 13, 2022.
*All stats courtesy of NHL Stats

HE WENT TO JARED
• Entering play Tuesday, Jared McCann led the league with 2.37 goals-per-60 at five-on-five among players that have played in at least three games this season.

• McCann has scored in each of the Kraken’s last three games dating back to Dec. 18 vs. Winnipeg and also enters tonight’s game riding a career-best, four-game home goal streak. His four-game, home goal streak is the longest such streak in franchise history. McCann has eight points (six goals, two assists) in his last eight games played at Climate Pledge Arena.

• A goal tonight would extend McCann’s scoring streak to four games, matching his career high that he previously achieved earlier this season (Oct. 21 to 27). It would also make him the 10th player this season to score in at least five consecutive home games according to NHL Stats.

• McCann is pacing to finish the year with 44 goals and 60 points, both of which would set career highs. He scored a career-high 27 goals last season with the Kraken.

HOME COOKING
• The Kraken enter tonight’s contest looking to win their third consecutive game at home. A victory would give the team their second home winning streak of at least three games this season. The team previously won four straight games at Climate Pledge Arena from Nov. 17 to Dec. 1, 2022.

• Despite only playing in 17 home games this season, the Kraken are just seven wins shy of matching their total of 16 home wins from last season.

• Andre Burakovsky is the team’s leading scorer when playing at Climate Pledge Arena this season. He has totaled 17 points (three goals, 14 assists) in 17 home games.

• Ryan Donato has scored in each of the Kraken’s last two home games: Dec. 18 vs. Winnipeg and Dec. 20 vs. St. Louis. If he were to score tonight it would give him goals in three consecutive home games for the first time in his career.

• Adam Larsson has recorded an assist in the Kraken’s last two home games. A goal or an assist tonight would give him points in three straight home game for the first time since he also had points in three straight home games from Feb. 20 to 23, 2015 while playing for the New Jersey Devils. He totaled five points (all assists) during that three-game stretch.

• Vince Dunn has six points (one goal, five assists) in his last six home games.

A LITTLE GOES A LONG WAY
• The Kraken roster houses the top two scorers among NHL players that are averaging fewer than 11 minutes of ice time per-game entering play Tuesday: Daniel Sprong, who has 19 points (10 goals, nine assists) in 10:37 of average ice time and Morgan Geekie, who has 13 points (four goals, nine assists) in 10:09 of average ice time.

• Sprong’s 10 goals are the most among players who have averaged less than 11 minutes of ice time this season. Entering play Tuesday, no other player who fit those criteria has more than six goals this year. Geekie is tied for sixth with four goals this season.

• Sprong was leading the NHL entering play Tuesday with 0.76 points per game among players that are averaging less than 11 minutes of ice time and have played in at least two games this season.

• The Kraken are the only team this season to have two players that are averaging less than 11 minutes of ice time to have at least four goals and 10 points this season.

• Additionally, Geekie (3.76) led the NHL entering play Tuesday is points-per-60 at five-on-five this season among players that have played in at least six games. Sprong, who has 3.42 points-per-60 this year, ranked fourth.

• According to Natural Stat Trick, Geekie (plus-13) and Sprong (plus-12) rank second and third, respectively, on Seattle’s roster in five-on-five on ice goal differential this season. They trail only Vince Dunn (plus-15) for the team lead. Geekie (81.0 percent) and Sprong (77.3 percent) also rank second and third, respectively, on the team in goals-for percentage this season according to Natural Stat Trick. Shane Wright (83.3) leads the team this year.

• Both Geekie and Sprong are on pace to finish the year with new career highs in goals, assists and points. Sprong, who is tied
for third on the Kraken roster with 10 goals this season, enters tonight’s game just four goals tying his career high of 14 that he
set in 2018-19 and matched last season.

CHEERS TO BENIERS
• Matty Beniers leads all NHL rookies this season in goals (11) and points (25), and his 14 assists were tied for second entering
play Tuesday. Beniers is ranked in the top five on Seattle’s roster in goals (second), assists (tied fourth) and points (tied second) this
season.

• He enters tonight’s game having totaled 16 points (six goals, 10 assists) in his last 15 games played, dating back to Nov. 19 vs. Los Angeles. His 16 points during that span leads all rookies and all Kraken skaters.

• Beniers scored the game-winning goal in the Kraken’s game on Dec. 1, a 3-2 overtime win against the Washington Capitals. It was the first overtime goal of his career and his second game-winning goal of the season (Last: Nov. 1 at Calgary). Beniers’ overtime goal came seven seconds into overtime, the fastest overtime goal in franchise history. According to NHL Stats, it was also the fastest goal by a rookie from the start of a regular-season overtime in NHL history. Walter Jackson (0:08 on March 7, 1933) held the previous record. Entering play Tuesday, Beniers was one of three rookies (Nils Lundkvist, Fabian Zetterlund) to score an overtime goal this season and is also one of three rookies (Pontus Holmberg, Shane Pinto) to score two game-winning goals this year.

• Entering play Tuesday, Beniers was the only rookie this season to have two three-point games, doing so on Nov. 23 vs. San Jose and on Nov. 27 at Anaheim. Beniers’ six multi-point games led all rookies and were tied with Andre Burakovsky for the team lead entering play Tuesday.

• Beniers is also averaging 17:13 of ice time per game this season, which is the second-most among rookie forwards (Noah Cates; 17:59) and ranks fourth among Kraken forwards.

• The 20-year-old is currently on pace to finish the season with 28 goals, 36 assists and 64 points. Twenty-eight goals would be the most by a rookie since Patrik Laine and Auston Matthews had 36 and 40 goals, respectively, during their rookie season in 2016-17.

BENNY AND THE VETS
• Since Nov. 13 vs. Winnipeg, forwards Matty Beniers, Jordan Eberle and Jared McCann have played on a line together, totaling 175:07 of ice time at five-on-five together during that span.

• According to Natural Stat Trick, since Nov. 13 when that line is on the ice during five-on-five play, the Kraken are outscoring their opponents 17-4, outshooting them 89-76 and have 88 scoring chances to their opponents’ 64.

• One of Beniers, Eberle or McCann has scored in 16 of the last 17 games the Kraken have played dating back to Nov. 13.

SETTING THE PACE
• With 32 games played this year, the Kraken are roughly 39 percent of the way through their second season. Heading into tonight’s matchup with the Flames, nine of the 20 veteran skaters on the Kraken’s active roster are on pace to surpass their career highs in scoring.

• Will Borgen, Andre Burakovsky, Morgan Geekie and Daniel Sprong are all on pace to set new career highs in goals, assists and points. Borgen has already tied his career high with two goals this season and has set career highs in both assists (eight) and points (10).

• Ryan Donato (20), Jared McCann (44) and Jamie Oleksiak (12) are on pace to finish the 2022-23 season with a new career high in goals. If the pace holds, it would mark the first time in his career that McCann would surpassed the 40-goal threshold. Adam Larsson (eight) is on pace to tie his career highs in goals.

• Oliver Bjorkstrand (31), Vince Dunn (36), Jordan Eberle (44), Adam Larsson (23), Carson Soucy (15) and Brandon Tanev (28) are all pacing to finish the year with new career highs in assists. Yanni Gourde (39) is on pace to tie his career high in assists.

• Vince Dunn (46), Adam Larsson (31), Jared McCann (60), Jamie Oleksiak (21) and Brandon Tanev (41) are all playing at a pace to surpass their career highs in points.

AFC Players of the Week – Week 16

NFL Editor
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AFC Players of the Week – Week 16

BENGALS QB JOE BURROW, STEELERS DT CAMERON HEYWARD & JAGUARS K RILEY PATTERSON NAMED AFC PLAYERS OF WEEK 16

Quarterback JOE BURROW of the Cincinnati Bengals, defensive tackle CAMERON HEYWARD of the Pittsburgh Steelers and kicker RILEY PATTERSON of the Jacksonville Jaguars are the AFC Offensive, Defensive and Special Teams Players of the Week for games played in Week 16 (December 22, 24-26).

OFFENSE: QB JOE BURROW, CINCINNATI BENGALS

  • Burrow completed a career-high 40 of 52 pass attempts (76.9 percent) for 375 yards and three touchdowns for a 99.4 passer rating in Cincinnati’s 22-18 victory over New England in Week 16. Burrow is the first player Since Week 14, 2018 (Dak Prescott) with at least 40 completions, a completion percentage of 75-or-higher and three touchdown passes in the same game.   
  • This is Burrow’s fifth-career Offensive Player of the Week award and third this season:
    • 2021: Weeks 4, 16
    • 2022: Weeks 7, 13, 16
  • Burrow’s five Offensive Player of the Week awards are the most by a former LSU Tiger and the second-most by a Bengals player ever, trailing only Boomer Esiason (nine-time winner).
     

DEFENSE: DT CAMERON HEYWARD, PITTSBURGH STEELERS

  • Heyward recorded seven tackles, three tackles for loss, two sacks and one pass defensed in Pittsburgh’s 13-10 win over Las Vegas. He was the only player in the AFC to record multiple sacks with a pass defensed last week.
  • This is the third Defensive Player of the Week for Heyward, having previously won the award in Weeks 4 and 12 of the 2017 season. He is the third Steelers defender to win the award this season, joining Minkah Fitzpatrick (Week 1) and Alex Highsmith (Week 10).
  • He is the third former Ohio State Buckeye to win Defensive Player of the Week award at least three times, joining Nick Bosa (four times) and Malcolm Jenkins (four).
     

SPECIAL TEAMS: K RILEY PATTERSON, JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS

  • Patterson connected on a career-high four field goals – from 32, 45, 41 and 37 yards – and totaled 13 points in Jacksonville’s 19-6 win over the New York Jets on Thursday Night Football.
  • This is the second-career Special Teams Player of the Week award for Patterson, having previously earned the award as a rookie in Week 15 of the 2021 season with Detroit.
  • Patterson becomes the third former Memphis Tiger to win multiple Special Teams Player of the Week awards, joining Stephen Gostkowski (seven) and Jake Elliott (two).

2022 AFC PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

OffenseDefenseSpecial Teams
Wk 1Wk 2Wk 3Wk 4Wk 5Wk 6QB Patrick Mahomes, Kansas CityQB Tua Tagovailoa, MiamiQB Trevor Lawrence, JacksonvilleQB Patrick Mahomes, Kansas CityQB Josh Allen, BuffaloQB Josh Allen, BuffaloS Minkah Fitzpatrick, PittsburghCB Jaylen Watson, Kansas CityDE Trey Hendrickson, CincinnatiS Jordan Poyer, BuffaloLB Matthew Judon, New EnglandDL Quinnen Williams, N.Y. JetsK Cade York, ClevelandP Braden Mann, N.Y. JetsP Corliss Waitman, DenverK Evan McPherson, CincinnatiK Chase McLaughlin, IndianapolisK Dustin Hopkins, L.A. Chargers
Wk 7QB Joe Burrow, CincinnatiCB Sauce Gardner, N.Y. JetsK Randy Bullock, Tennessee
Wk 8Wk 9Wk 10RB Derrick Henry, TennesseeRB Joe Mixon, CincinnatiRB Jonathan Taylor, IndianapolisDE Dre’Mont Jones, DenverLB Justin Houston, BaltimoreLB Alex Highsmith, PittsburghK Nick Folk, New EnglandK Cameron Dicker, L.A. ChargersP Ryan Stonehouse, Tennessee
Wk 11Wk 12Wk 13Wk 14Wk 15Wk 16TE Travis Kelce, Kansas CityRB Josh Jacobs, Las VegasQB Joe Burrow, CincinnatiQB Trevor Lawrence, JacksonvilleQB Josh Allen, BuffaloQB Joe Burrow, CincinnatiLB Matt Milano, BuffaloDT Ed Oliver, BuffaloDE Chandler Jones, Las VegasLB Josh Uche, New EnglandS Rayshawn Jenkins, JacksonvilleDT Cameron Heyward, PittsburghDB Marcus Jones, New EnglandP JK Scott, L.A. ChargersWR Donovan Peoples-Jones, ClevelandDE Calais Campbell, BaltimoreP Tommy Townsend, Kansas CityK Riley Patterson, Jacksonville

NFC Players of the Week – Week 16

NFL Editor
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NFC Players of the Week – Week 16

ANTHERS RB D’ONTA FOREMAN, 49ERS DL NICK BOSA & VIKINGS K GREG JOSEPH NAMED NFC PLAYERS OF WEEK 16

Running back D’ONTA FOREMAN of the Carolina Panthers, defensive lineman NICK BOSA of the San Francisco 49ers and kicker GREG JOSEPH of the Minnesota Vikings are the NFC Offensive, Defensive and Special Teams Players of the Week for games played in Week 16 (December 22, 24-26).

OFFENSE: RB D’ONTA FOREMAN, CAROLINA PANTHERS

  • Foreman rushed for a career-high 165 yards on 21 attempts (7.9 average) with a touchdown in the Panthers’ 37-23 win over Detroit. It marked the most rushing yards of any player in Week 16.
  • This is the first-career Offensive Player of the Week award for Foreman and he is the first Carolina running back to earn the honor since Jonathan Stewart (Week 14, 2017).
     
  • Foreman is the fifth former Texas Longhorn running back to win an Offensive Player of the Week award.
     

DEFENSE: DL NICK BOSA, SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS

  • Bosa registered seven tackles, two sacks and a forced fumble in the 49ers’ 37-20 win over Washington in Week 16. He also recorded a sack on a two-point conversion attempt in the fourth quarter.
  • Bosa leads the NFL with a career-high 17.5 sacks and has 12 games with at least one sack this season, tied for the fourth-most such games in a season since 1982, when the individual sack became an official statistic. Only DEMARCUS WARE (14 games in 2008), JUSTIN HOUSTON (13 in 2014) and CHANDLER JONES (13 in 2017) have more.
  • This is Bosa’s fourth-career Defensive Player of the Week award, the most ever by a 49ers defensive lineman, and second this season:
    • 2019: Weeks 5, 8
    • 2022: Weeks 13, 16

SPECIAL TEAMS: K GREG JOSEPH, MINNESOTA VIKINGS

  • Joseph converted all five of his kicks (two field goals and three point after attempts), including the game-winning 61-yard field goal as time expired in the Vikings’ 27-24 win over the New York Giants.
  • Joseph’s 61-yard game-winning field goal tied JAKE ELLIOTT (61 yards on September 24, 2017) for the fourth-longest game-winning field goal with no time remaining in the fourth quarter or in overtime. Only JUSTIN TUCKER (66 yards on September 26, 2021), TOM DEMPSEY (63 yards on November 8, 1970) and MATT BRYANT (62 yards on October 22, 2006) had longer game-winners.
     
  • This is Joseph’s second-career Special Teams Player of the Week award, having previously earned the honor in Week 4 earlier this season.
  • Joseph is the fourth Vikings kicker to win Special Teams Player of the Week multiple times in the same season, joining Gary Anderson (1998), Dan Bailey (2019) and Blair Walsh (2012).

2022 NFC PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

OffenseDefenseSpecial Teams
Wk 1RB Saquon Barkley, N.Y. GiantsLB Uchenna Nwosu, SeattleCB Zech McPhearson, Philadelphia
Wk 2WR Amon-Ra St. Brown, DetroitCB Darius Slay, PhiladelphiaK Graham Gano, N.Y. Giants
Wk 3RB Cordarrelle Patterson, AtlantaDE Brandon Graham, PhiladelphiaP Pat O’Donnell, Green Bay
Wk 4QB Geno Smith, SeattleLB Haason Reddick, PhiladelphiaK Greg Joseph, Minnesota
Wk 5TE Taysom Hill, New OrleansLB Micah Parsons, DallasK Cameron Dicker, Philadelphia
Wk 6QB Marcus Mariota, AtlantaCB Tariq Woolen, SeattleP Ryan Wright, Minnesota
Wk 7QB Daniel Jones, N.Y. GiantsCB Marco Wilson, ArizonaK Cairo Santos, Chicago
Wk 8RB Christian McCaffrey, San FranciscoLB Za’Darius Smith, MinnesotaTE Will Dissly, Seattle
Wk 9QB Justin Fields, ChicagoS Kerby Joseph, DetroitP Jake Camarda, Tampa Bay
Wk 10WR Justin Jefferson, MinnesotaLB Devin White, Tampa BayK Joey Slye, Washington
Wk 11RB Tony Pollard, DallasDL Aidan Hutchinson, DetroitRB Cordarrelle Patterson, Atlanta
Wk 12QB Jalen Hurts, PhiladelphiaDE Brian Burns, CarolinaRB Kene Nwangwu, Minnesota
Wk 13QB Jalen Hurts, PhiladelphiaDL Nick Bosa, San FranciscoK Michael Badgley, Detroit
Wk 14QB Baker Mayfield, L.A. RamsDE Brandon Graham, PhiladelphiaK Eddy Pineiro, Carolina
Wk 15QB Kirk Cousins, MinnesotaLB Kayvon Thibodeaux, N.Y. GiantsWR Kalif Raymond, Detroit
Wk 16RB D’Onta Foreman, CarolinaDL Nick Bosa, San FranciscoK Greg Joseph, Minnesota

NHL Preview: Detroit Red Wings (14-11-7) at Pittsburgh Penguins (19-10-5)

NHL Editor
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NHL Preview: Detroit Red Wings (14-11-7) at Pittsburgh Penguins (19-10-5)

DETROIT RED WINGS NOTES:

LAST GAME
RED WINGS 7 vs. TAMPA BAY 4 (12/21/22)
1ST PERIOD: TB Point (Kucherov, Cernak) 1:29-EV; DET Määttä (Suter) 15:34-EV; TB Killorn (Colton, Perbix) 18:38-EV; DET Rasmussen (Chiarot, Sundqvist) 19:32-EV
2ND PERIOD: DET Larkin (Perron, Rasmussen) 11:08-EV; TB Colton (unassisted) 13:15-EV
3RD PERIOD: DET Söderblom (Veleno) 3:48-EV; DET Larkin (Rasmussen) 9:46-EV; TB Kucherov (Hedman, Stamkos) 16:13-EV; DET Perron (Larkin) 17:27-EN; DET Rasmussen (Perron) 18:59-EN
SHOTS: DET 31 (15-8-8) / TB 38 (17-11-10)
GOALIES: DET Husso (W, 34-38) / TB Elliott (L, 24-29)
PP: DET 0-2 / TB 0-4

MAN GAMES LOST (games missed / out since)
Robby Fabbri – lower body (32 / Oct. 10)
Jakub Vrána – personal (30 / Oct. 17)
Tyler Bertuzzi – upper body (23 / Nov. 30)
Filip Zadina – lower body (21 / Nov. 5)
Matt Luff – upper body (19 / Nov. 8)
Robert Hägg – undisclosed (6 / Dec. 8)
Total Man Games Lost: 169
Individual Man Games Lost: Elmer Söderblom (13), Gustav Lindström (11), Oskar Sundqvist (7), Olli Määttä (4), Michael Rasmussen (2), Dylan Larkin (1)

RECENT TRANSACTIONS
12/28 – Assigned forward Jakub Vrána to Grand Rapids for conditioning
12/27 – Reassigned goaltender Sebastian Cossa from Grand Rapids to Toledo (ECHL)
12/23 – Signed forward Amadeus Lombardi to a three-year entry-level contract

TONIGHT’S GAME
RED WINGS at PENGUINS / 7:30 P.M. EST / PPG PAINTS ARENA / TV: BSD / RADIO: WXYT 97.1 FM
TONIGHT: 164th all-time meeting, 83rd at Pittsburgh … First of three games this season, only game at Pittsburgh ALL-TIME vs. PIT: 71-71-16-5 / AWAY: 23-53-4-2 / LAST 10: 3-6-1 / IN 2021-22: 1-2-0 / THIS SEASON: 1-0-0
DET top scorers vs. PIT: Dylan Larkin (6-7-13 in 17 GP), David Perron (2-9-11 in 17 GP), Michael Rasmussen (1-2-3 in 4 GP), Dominik Kubalík (1-1-2 in 3 GP)
PIT top scorers vs. DET: Evgeni Malkin (16-22-38 in 24 GP), Sidney Crosby (14-21-35 in 29 GP), Kris Letang (7-18-25 in 27 GP), Rickard Rakell (7-10-17 in 15 GP), Jeff Carter (8-8-16 in 25 GP), Jake Guentzel (4-7-11 in 11 GP), Kasperi Kapanen (6-3-9 in 15 GP), Jason Zucker (4-4-8 in 14 GP), Chad Ruhwedel (2-4-6 in 9 GP), Teddy Blueger (1-4-5 in 7 GP), Josh Archibald (1-1-2 in 3 GP)

UPCOMING GAMES (ALL TIMES EST)
Thursday, Dec. 29: RED WINGS at SABRES / 7:00 p.m. / KeyBank Center / TV: BSD / RADIO: WXYT 97.1 FM
Saturday, Dec. 31: RED WINGS vs. SENATORS / 7:00 p.m. / LITTLE CAESARS ARENA / TV: BSD / RADIO: WXYT 97.1 FM
Wednesday, Jan. 4: RED WINGS vs. DEVILS / 7:00 p.m. / LITTLE CAESARS ARENA / TV: TNT / RADIO: WXYT 97.1 FM

LAST TIME OUT
Dec. 21 vs. Tampa Bay – 7-4 W
Detroit earned a 7-4 win over Tampa Bay to improve to 14-11-7 overall and 8-6-3 inside Little Caesars Arena … The result ends Detroit’s six-game winless streak (0-4-2) … Detroit matched a season high with seven goals, which was previously accomplished on Nov. 17 at San Jose … Detroit tied a season high with four goals in the third period, which was previously set in the third period on Nov. 17 at San Jose and the second period on Oct. 15 at New Jersey … Michael Rasmussen set career highs in goals (2) and points (4) … It marked Rasmussen’s second multi-point game of the season, and first since collecting three points (1-2-3) on Oct. 14 vs. Montreal … Dylan Larkin recorded two goals and an assist for his seventh multi-point game of the campaign … Larkin tallied his 158th and 159th career NHL goals, passing Kris Draper for 22nd place on the franchise’s all-time list … Larkin has gained sole possession of the team lead in goals (12), assists (19), points (31) and shots (103) through 31 games … David Perron tallied a goal and two assists to extend his point to three-straight games (2-3-5 in 3 GP) … Perron, who registered his fifth multi-point game of the season, has tied Dominik Kubalík for second place among Detroit skaters with 26 points (11-15-26) through 32 games … Olli Määttä put Detroit on the board with his third goal of the season … Määttä has five points (1-4-5) in his last five appearances dating back to Dec. 4 at Columbus … Elmer Söderblom gave Detroit a 4-3 lead with his fourth goal of the season … Söderblom is on a career-long three-game point streak, collecting three points (2-1-3) and a plus-four rating since being recalled by Detroit on Dec. 14 … Joe Veleno picked up the lone assist on Söderblom’s goal to extend his point streak to three-consecutive games (1-2-3 in 3 GP).

SAVE THE DATE
NHL Game No. 534 on Friday, Dec. 23 between Detroit and Ottawa at Canadian Tire Centre was postponed, and rescheduled to Monday, Feb. 27 at 7:00 p.m. EST, due to severe winter weather expected to impact the area.

ZETTERBERG SELECTED TO IIHF HALL OF FAME

  • Henrik Zetterberg has been selected to the IIHF Hall of Fame Class of 2023. The IIHF Hall of Fame’s 2023 Induction Ceremonies will take place prior to the medal games of the 2023 IIHF World Championship on May 28 in Tampere, Finland.
  • Ranks among Detroit’s all-time leaders with 1,082 games played (6th), 337 goals (5th), 623 assists (5th), 960 points (5th), 100 power play goals (8th) and 64 game-winning goals (5th).
  • Also places among the franchise’s postseason leaders with 137 games played (10th), 57 goals (3rd), 63 assists (7th), 120 points (5th), 21 power play goals (3rd) and eight game-winning goals (T8th).
  • On the international stage, he represented Sweden at four Winter Olympics, six IIHF World Championships, the 2004 World Cup of Hockey, and the 2000 IIHF World Junior Championship.
  • Won a gold medal at both the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, and the 2006 IIHF World Championship in Riga, Latvia.
  • Became the 21st member of the IIHF’s Triple Gold Club when he helped Detroit win a Stanley Cup championship in 2008.
  • Also became the second European-born player to win the Conn Smythe Trophy when he earned the honor in 2008.

FRENCH CONNECTION

  • David Perron ranks among the team leaders with 11 goals (2nd), 15 assists (T4th), 26 points (T2nd), two power play goals (T5th), nine power play points (T3rd), two game-winning goals (T2nd) and 87 shots (T2nd) through 32 games.
  • Currently on a three-game point streak, tallying five points (2-3-5) in that span.
  • Has 18 points (6-12-18) and a plus-five rating in 18 games dating back to Nov. 12 at Los Angeles.
  • Has netted 10-or-more goals in 15 of his 16 NHL seasons.
  • Scored a goal in his 1,000th career NHL game on Dec. 10 at Dallas.
  • Became the 374th player in NHL history to reach the 1,000-game milestone.
  • Also the fourth player to hit the 1,000-game mark this season, joining Minnesota defenseman Alex Goligoski (Oct. 20 vs. Vancouver), New York Islanders forward Josh Bailey (Oct. 28 at Carolina) and Pittsburgh forward Evgeni Malkin (Nov. 20 at Chicago).
  • Became the sixth active player to score a goal in his 1,000th career NHL game, joining Malkin, Bailey, Jeff Carter, Patrice Bergeron and Brent Burns.
  • He is the fourth member of the 2007 NHL Draft class to reach the 1,000-game milestone, joining Patrick Kane, Jakub Voracek and Wayne Simmonds.

FIL THE THRILL

  • Filip Hronek ranks among the team leaders with seven goals (5th), 18 assists (2nd), 25 points (4th), a plus-15 rating (1st), three power play goals (4th), 11 power play points (2nd), 69 shots (4th) and 21:58 average time on ice (2nd) through 32 games.
  • Became the first Red Wings defenseman to reach the 25-point mark (7-18-25) within a season in 30 games or fewer since both Brian Rafalski (27 GP) and Nicklas Lidström (30 GP) did so in 2010-11.
  • Tied for the team lead with seven multi-point games. He recorded 16 points (6-10-16) and a plus-nine rating during an 11-game stretch from Nov. 12-Dec. 6.
  • Set a franchise record for the longest season-opening road point streak (4-11-15 in 11 GP), eclipsing Sergei Fedorov who set the mark in 1993-94 (9-10-19 in 10 GP).
  • Became the second defenseman in NHL history to post a road point streak of 11-or-more games from the start of a season, joining Paul Coffey who notched a point in each of Edmonton’s first 12 road games in 1986-87 (4-16-20 in 12 GP).
  • Also became the third Red Wings defenseman to post a road point streak of 11-or-more games, following Brian Rafalski (12 GP in 2007-08) and Paul Coffey (15 GP in 1994-95).

NOVEMBER TO REMEMBER

  • Filip Hronek totaled 14 points from Nov. 3-30 (6-8-14 in 13 GP), which were the most by a Red Wings defenseman in a calendar month since Nicklas Lidström in December 2010 (8-8-16 in 16 GP).
  • Had a career-high four-game goal streak from Nov. 17-25 (5-2-7 in 4 GP) and six-game point streak from Nov. 12-25 (6-4-10 in 6 GP).
  • His four-game goal streak matched the longest goal streak by a defenseman in franchise history, joining Mathieu Schneider (4 GP in 2005-06), Nicklas Lidström (4 GP in 2000-01) and Reed Larson (4 GP in 1980-81).
  • Became the first Red Wings defenseman to record six goals in a six-game span since Reed Larson did so from Jan. 29-Feb. 8, 1981 (6-3-9 in 6 GP).
  • Scored a pair of goals – including his first career GWG – on Nov. 19 at Columbus for his first career multi-goal game.

BIG VILLE STYLE
Detroit acquired goaltender Ville Husso from St. Louis in exchange for a third-round pick in the 2022 NHL Draft (Aleksanteri Kaskimäki) on July 8 and subsequently signed him to a three-year contract extension with an average annual value of $4.75 million.

  • Ville Husso has earned three shutouts in 23 games with the Red Wings, tying Connor Hellebuyck, Pyotr Kochetkov and Ilya Sorokin for the league lead. Husso posted three shutouts in 57 appearances with the Blues from 2020-22.
  • Recorded his 46th win in his 80th career NHL appearance (46-19-12 in 80 GP). Only six active goaltenders (min. 1 GP in 2022-23) had more wins through 80 games: Frederik Andersen (54), Jordan Binnington (53), Matt Murray (52), Igor Shesterkin (51), Ilya Samsonov (48) and Jake Allen (48).
  • Has allowed one goal or fewer in eight starts this season.

SIGNED, SEALED, DELIVERED
Detroit forwards Andrew Copp, Austin Czarnik, Dominik Kubalík, Matt Luff and David Perron, and defensemen Ben Chiarot, Robert Hägg and Olli Määttä have made an immediate impact to begin the 2022-23 season. The eight players, all signed as free agents by the Red Wings in July, have combined for 96 points (32-64-96) through the first 32 games of the campaign.

  • Ben Chiarot netted his second goal of the season on Nov. 19 at Columbus. He recorded a goal and an assist on Oct. 15 at New Jersey for his first multi-point game in a Detroit uniform.
  • Andrew Copp tallied 10 points (2-8-10) in a 10-game span from Nov. 17-Dec. 8. He ranks third among Detroit skaters with 16 even-strength points (2-14-16), trailing only Dylan Larkin (7-14-21) and David Perron (9-8-17).
  • Austin Czarnik (AHL) potted a goal on Nov. 8 vs. Montreal and Dec. 4 at Columbus. The Metro Detroit native has also racked up 18 points (7-11-18) in 13 games with the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins.
  • Robert Hägg (IR) ranks among the team leaders with 36 hits (8th) and 17 blocks (T10th). He registered an assist on Oct. 21 at Chicago and Oct. 25 vs. New Jersey.
  • Dominik Kubalík places among the team leaders with 10 goals (3rd), 16 assists (3rd), 26 points (T2nd), five power play goals (1st), 12 power play points (1st), one overtime goal (1st) and 87 shots (T2nd) through 32 games. He became the first Detroit skater to average a point-per-game through their first 25 career contests with the franchise since Marián Hossa in 2008-09 (14-14-28 in 25 GP).
  • Matt Luff (IR) earned his first goal/point with Detroit on Nov. 6 against the New York Rangers. He picked up seven points (3-4-7) in five appearances with Grand Rapids to begin the 2022-23 season.
  • Olli Määttä has registered 12 points (3-9-12) and a plus-seven rating through 28 games. Prior to signing with Detroit, he had 12 points (1-11-12) in 107 appearances with Los Angeles from 2020-22.
  • David Perron has totaled 18 points (6-12-18) in his last 18 contests since Nov. 12 at Los Angeles. He recorded two goals and an assist on Oct. 17 vs. Los Angeles, in addition to a goal and two helpers on Nov. 17 at San Jose and Dec. 21 vs. Tampa Bay.

SWEDISH MAFIA KEEPS GROWING

  • Jonatan Berggren has recorded 10 points (4-6-10) in 19 games to begin his NHL career.
  • Became the eighth Red Wings rookie in the past 30 years to record six-or-more points through their first nine contests, joining Lucas Raymond (4-5-9 in 2021-22), Moritz Seider (0-8-8 in 2021-22), Filip Zadina (1-5-6 in 2019-20), Taro Hirose (1-6-7 in 2018-19), Dennis Cholowski (2-4-6 in 2018-19), Dylan Larkin (2-5-7 in 2015-16) and Henrik Zetterberg (3-3-6 in 2002-03).
  • Registered seven points (4-3-7) in seven games with the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins to begin the 2022-23 campaign.
  • Made his North American professional debut with the Griffins in 2021-22 and set franchise records for a rookie in assists (43), points (64), game-winning goals (7) and overtime goals (3) in 70 games.
  • Named AHL Rookie of the Month for April after totaling 20 points (6-14-20) in 14 contests. He finished the season with 26 points (7- 19-26) in his last 18 games, including a season-high 11-game point streak (6-13-19) to close out the year.

EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND

  • Lucas Raymond ranks among the team leaders with eight goals (4th), 10 assists (T6th), 18 points (T5th), four power play goals (T2nd), nine power play points (T3rd), three game-winning goals (1st) and 57 shots (5th) through 32 games.
  • Became the third member of the 2020 NHL Draft class to reach the 30-goal mark, joining Tim Stützle (45) and Alexis Lafrenière (36).
  • Has five career game-winning goals, trailing only Steve Yzerman (8), Dylan Larkin (6) and Alex Delvecchio (6) for the most GWGs in franchise history at age 20 or younger.

GERMAN ENGINEERING

  • Moritz Seider leads the Red Wings in blocks (78) and average time on ice (22:57).
  • Set career highs in assists (3) and points (3) in his 100th NHL game on Nov. 19 at Columbus.
  • Became the fourth defenseman in franchise history to register 60-or-more points (9-53-62 in 114 GP) at age 21 or younger, joining Steve Chiasson (15-48-63 in 139 GP), Reed Larson (19-42-61 in 89 GP) and Nicklas Lidström (11-49-60 in 80 GP).

LOVE TO ‘C’ IT

  • Dylan Larkin is in his third season as Detroit’s captain and eighth NHL campaign. He was named the 37th captain in franchise history on Jan. 13, 2021, becoming the first Michigander and native metro Detroiter to wear the ‘C’ for the Red Wings, assuming a captaincy that had been vacant for two seasons following the end of Henrik Zetterberg’s career in 2017-18 due to injury.
  • Ranks among the team leaders with 12 goals (1st), 19 assists (1st), 31 points (1st), a plus-seven rating (T3rd), four power play goals (T2nd), nine power play points (T3rd), one shorthanded goal (T1st) and 103 shots (1st) through 31 games.
  • Finished with three points (2-1-3) on Dec. 21 vs. Tampa Bay. He is currently three points away from tying Igor Larionov for 21st place on the franchise’s all-time scoring list (see list below):
  1. Vyacheslav Kozlov – 415 career points with Detroit
  2. Igor Larionov – 392
  3. Dylan Larkin – 389
  4. Johan Franzén – 370
  5. Marcel Dionne – 366
  6. Shawn Burr – 362

CAPTAIN CLUTCH

  • Dylan Larkin tallied his 158th and 159th career NHL goals on Dec. 21 vs. Tampa Bay, passing Kris Draper for 22nd place on the franchise’s all-time list (see list below):
  1. Mickey Redmond – 177 career goals with Detroit
  2. Red Kelly – 162
  3. Dylan Larkin – 159
  4. Kris Draper – 158
  5. Ray Sheppard – 152
  6. Bruce MacGregor – 151
  • Larkin recorded his 228th career NHL assist on Dec. 3 vs. Vegas, passing Marcel Dionne for sole possession of 22nd place on the franchise’s all-time list (see list below):
  1. Syd Howe – 248 career assists with Detroit
  2. Gary Bergman – 243
  3. Dylan Larkin – 230
  4. Marcel Dionne – 227
  5. Marcel Pronovost – 217
  6. Shawn Burr – 214
  • Larkin scored his fourth career shootout-deciding goal on Nov. 25 vs. Arizona, passing Gustav Nyquist and Tomas Tatar for the sixth-most in franchise history. He trails only Pavel Datsyuk (11), Todd Bertuzzi (7), Henrik Zetterberg (7), Frans Nielsen (6) and Jiri Hudler (5).
  • Also has seven career overtime goals, which is tied with Herbie Lewis and Henrik Zetterberg for the fifth-most in franchise history. He trails only Sergei Fedorov (12), Brendan Shanahan (9), Steve Yzerman (9) and Pavel Datsyuk (8).

PITSBURGH PENGUINS NOTES:

LAST 2 GAMES
Dec. 27: NY Islanders 5, Pittsburgh 1 – UBS Arena
PIT Goals: Joseph
Multiple Points: None
Goalie: Jarry (38 saves/43 shots)
Key Stats: P.O Joseph scored the lone goal for Pittsburgh, establishing a new career high with his second goal of the season.
PP: 0-1
PK: 3-3

Dec. 22: Carolina 4, Pittsburgh 3 (OT) – PPG Paints Arena
PIT Goals: Crosby (PP), McGinn (SH), Rust
Multiple Points: None
Goalie: Jarry (32 saves/36 shots)
Key Stats: The Penguins picked up a point for the 10th time in the last 11 games (8-1-2) heading into the holiday break.
PP: 1-3
PK: 5-5

INJURIES
Position Player Status Consecutive Games Missed Total Games Missed
D Jeff Petry Upper-Body 6 6
F Josh Archibald Lower-Body 3 4
F Ryan Poehling Upper-Body 2 4
2022-23 Total Regular-Season Man-Games Lost: 50

RECENT TRANSACTIONS
Date Transaction
Dec. 28 D Ty Smith and F Drake Caggiula recalled from the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (AHL).
Dec. 28 F Josh Archibald and F Ryan Poehling placed on injured reserve.
Dec. 27 D Mark Friedman recalled from the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (AHL).
Dec. 23 D Mark Friedman re-assigned to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (AHL).
Dec. 13 F Drew O’Connor and D Mark Friedman recalled from the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (AHL).

Pittsburgh’s All-Time Record vs. Red Wings: 76-67-20
In Pittsburgh: 55-22-5
In Detroit: 21-45-15
OT Record vs. Red Wings: 6-3-8
Shootout Record vs. Red Wings: 3-1

2021-22 Results: Pittsburgh went 2-0-1.
Penguins All-Time Point Leaders vs. RED WINGS:
Mario Lemieux: 27 GP, 58 PTS (21G-37A)
Jean Pronovost: 53 GP, 55 PTS (22G-33A)
Syl Apps: 35 GP, 39 PTS (12G-27A)

TONIGHT’S GAME

  • The Pittsburgh Penguins take on the Detroit Red Wings for the first time this season at PPG Paints Arena (TV: AT&T SportsNet; Radio: 105.9 The X).
  • Last season the Penguins went 2-0-1 versus Detroit, outscoring them 20-6 in those three contests. The Penguins scored a power-play goal in each game and went 50% (5/10) in the three-game series.
  • Pittsburgh enters tonight’s game with points in seven-straight contests against Detroit (6-0-1).
  • Here at home, the Penguins have points in six-straight games (5-0-1), and eight of their last nine (7-1-1) versus the Red Wings dating back to Feb. 18, 2016.
  • Pittsburgh is 5-3-3 against Atlantic Division opponents.

QUICK HITS
1) Evgeni Malkin has points in 10 of his last 11 games (9G-12A) versus Detroit. In 24 career games against them, he has recorded 38 points (16G-22A). His 1.58 points-per-game average against them is tied with Mathew Barzel (12GP, 19 PTS – 1.58) for first in the NHL among active players.

2) Home games against Detroit have historically been high-scoring affairs for Pittsburgh. In their last 12 home contests versus the Red Wings dating back to April 9, 2014, the Penguins have scored four or more goals nine times, including five of the last six games.

3) Danton Heinen sits one assist shy of 100 in his career. Heinen, who was drafted in the fourth round (116th overall) in the 2011 NHL Draft, is looking to become the 21st member of his draft class to register 100 assists. Of the 20 players with 100 assists, only six (Christian Dvorak and Brandon Montour, 2nd Round; Brayden Point, 3rd Round; Viktor Arvidsson and Devon Toews, 4th Round; Kevin Lebanc, 6th Round) were selected outside of the first round.

4) Jeff Carter enters tonight’s game one assist from 400 in his career. He’s set to become the sixth player from the 2003 draft class to collect 400 goals and 400 assists along with Eric Staal, Patrice Bergeron, Joe Pavelski, Corey Perry and Zach Parise. He would become the 100th player in NHL history to accomplish this feat.

5) In two career games against Detroit, Casey DeSmith is 1-0-1 with a 1.92 goalsagainst average and a .930 save percentage.

TEAM NOTES
‘TIS THE SEASON
Pittsburgh heads towards the end of 2022 as one of the hottest teams in the NHL. Dating back to November 9, Pittsburgh has points in 18 of its last 22 games overall (15-4-3). Since this 22-game stretch began, only Boston (34) and Carolina (34) have picked up more points than the Penguins (33), and they have vaulted from 27th in the league standings to ninth. Excluding a stretch where the Penguins were winless for seven games (0-6-1) from Oct. 24-Nov. 5, Pittsburgh has gone 19-4-4 on the year and have points in 10 of its last 12 games (8-2-2).

HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS
Sidney Crosby leads all Penguins with 24 home points (13G-11A) in 16 games. He’s only been held off the scoresheet twice in 16 home games, and his 0.81 goals-per-game average at home is tied for fifth in the league.

PENALTY KILLIN’ IT
The Penguins’ penalty kill was perfect for a seventh-straight game last night against New York (3-for-3), and has now killed off 22-consecutive penalties.

The team’s penalty killing unit has made massive strides over the last 19 games, which has coincided with Teddy Blueger’s return from an upper-body injury that kept him sidelined for the first 15 games of the season. With Blueger, Pittsburgh has allowed a power-play goal in only two of 19 games, and have climbed from the league’s 24th-ranked penalty kill to a tie with San Jose for first in the NHL

NHL Preview: Boston Bruins (27-4-3) at New Jersey Devils (22-10-2)

NHL Editor
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0
NHL Preview: Boston Bruins (27-4-3) at New Jersey Devils (22-10-2)

BOSTON BRUINS NOTES:

TONIGHT’S GAME

  • The Bruins visit the Devils tonight in the 2nd of 3 games between these teams this season and the second of two Boston visits to the Prudential Center.
  • They are 27-4-3 overall this season and are 9-4-1 on the road … They are 15-3-1 vs. Eastern Conference opponents.
  • The Bruins are playing their 5th of 14 sets of back-to-back games last night in Ottawa (3-2 SO loss) and tonight in New Jersey

… They are currently 4-0-1 in the 1st game of those sets and are 3-1-0 in the 2nd games so far.

  • The Bruins will next return to Boston to host Buffalo on 12/31 in closing out 2022 and will open 2023 hosting Pittsburgh on 1/2 in the Winter Classic at Fenway Park.

RECENT GAMES:

  • The Bruins are 6-0-2 in their last 8 games with wins vs Vegas (3-1 on 12/11), vs NY Islanders (4-3/SO on 12/13), vs Columbus
    (4-2 on 12/17), 7 vs Florida (7-3 on 12/19), vs Winnipeg (3-2 on 12/22) and in New Jersey (4-3 on 12/23) and 3-2 shootout
    setbacks each to Los Angeles on 12/15 and Ottawa on 12/27.
  • They are 10-1-3 in their last 14 games and are 17-2-3 in their last 22 games.
  • They are 18-0-2 in their 20 home games, including a 14-game home win streak, the longest from the start of a season in
    league history … That is the 2nd longest point streak from a season’s start in Boston annals to 1973-74’s 21-game stretch at 19-
    0-2 … This is their fifth longest home point streak overall in team history (4x) with their club mark a 26-0-1 stretch in 1970-71.
  • Boston 3 vs Winnipeg 2 … The Bruins went down 0-2 after the 1st period before tying the score on goals by David Pastrnak (1-
    1=2 totals) and Jake DeBrusk (his 200th NHL point) … Nick Foligno had 1-1=2 totals with the GWG in the 3rd period … Jeremy
    Swayman took his 2nd straight win in net … SOG: Bos 39, Wpg 27 … PP: 1/4 … PK: 0/2
  • Boston 4 at New Jersey 3 … The Bruins scored 4 straight 2nd period goals en route to the 4-3 victory with goals by Patrice
    Bergeron, David Pastrnak (2) and Jake DeBrusk (GWG+A) and 2A from David Krejci … Linus Ullmark extended his pt streak to
    11-0-1 … SOG: Bos 23, NJ 40 … PP: 0/1 … PK: 1/2
  • Boston 2 at Ottawa 3/SO … Jake DeBrusk and Pavel Zacha scored but Ottawa prevailed in the shootout … Jeremy Swayman earned a point in net … SOG: Bos 51, Ott 33 … PP: 0/3 … PK: 1/2

INJURIES (Total man-games lost in 2022-23: 36)

  • None

BOSTON vs NEW JERSEY, LIFETIME SERIES

  • The Bruins and Devils are meeting for the 174th time in their histories with the Bruins having a 96-45-19-13 record and 573-447 scoring advantage in those games.
  • The Bruins are 45-22-11-7 lifetime in New Jersey with a 265-207 scoring edge in those 85 contests.

NUMBERS
1 / 2: Boston’s rank in win percentage (.838) and fewest goals against per game (2.18) while 2nd in goals for per game (3.82).

2 / 3: Boston’s special teams ranking in the penalty-kill at 84.1% (20/126) and power play at 28.6% (36/126).

2: Player on the current roster new to the Bruins organization this season – A.J. Greer (free agent) and Pavel Zacha (trade).

3: Season series completed – ARI (1-1-0, snapping a 19-gm win streak which was the longest by an opponent in club history), COL (2-0-0), VGS (1-0-1).

4: Defenseman points in a game this season by Hampus Lindholm (1-3=4 vs PIT on 11/1) and Charlie McAvoy (4A vs CHI on 11/19).

4: Points by David Pastrnak (1-3=4 totals) on 10/12/2022 in Washington in the 2022-23 season opener … That is the most points in a Boston opener since Brad Marchand (2-3=5) and Pastrnak (2-2=4) in 10/13/2016.

5: Game-winning goals by Taylor Hall (tied for 3rd in the NHL), including three straight deciding goals from 10/20-25/2022 – deciding shootout goal vs. Anaheim on 10/20, OT goal vs. Minnesota on 10/22 and GWG vs. Dallas on 10/25.

7: Straight 20-goal seasons by David Pastrnak, including his 3rd-fastest 20 in his 30th game (22 gms in 2019-20 and 28 gms in 2018-19).

9: New career-best win streak by Linus Ullmark from 11/7-12/13/2022 … That bested his 8-game stretch from 10/12-11/3/2022 which was his previous mark and it also tied the longest win streak by a Boston goaltender from the start of a season (Tim Thomas, also 8-0-0 in 2010-11).

9: Players on the Bruins current roster who played college hockey – Connor Clifton, Charlie Coyle, Derek Forbort, Trent Frederic, AJ Greer, Matt Grzelcyk, Charlie McAvoy, Craig Smith and Jeremy Swayman.

10: Former first round draft picks on the current roster – Charlie Coyle, Jake DeBrusk, Derek Forbert, Trent Frederic, Taylor Hall, Hampus Lindholm, Charlie McAvoy, David Pastrnak, Pavel Zacha and Jakub Zboril

11: Game point streak by David Pastrnak with 10-5=15 totals from 12/3-23, which is his 6th career stretch of at least 10 gms … Pastrnak had a 9-game streak from 11/7-25 with 6-7=13 totals in that span earlier this season.

14: Straight home wins to open this season, which is the longest such streak in NHL history … That also tied as Boston’s longest home win streak overall since a 14-game stretch in 2008-09.

20: Current home point streak at 18-0-2 … That is the 2nd-longest from the start of a season in club history and is tied for the 5th-longest home point streak overall in team history with their club mark a 26-0-1 stretch in 1970-71.

27: Shots on goal in the 2nd period on 12/27 at Ottawa … That is their most shots in a period since they had 29 1st period shots vs Washington on 2/8/2000.

57: Points by the Bruins after 34 games this season at 27-4-3 … That is the 2nd-best mark after 34 games in team history (29-4-1).

+55: Boston’s league-leading goal differential (Toronto is 2nd at +30), including an NHL-best 3rd period goal differential at 48-21 and +27.

102: Points by David Pastrnak in this 2022 calendar year … That ranks 7th in club history (Ray Bourque is next with 103 points).

396-25-21: Boston’s record since 2011-12 in games in which they have had a 2-goal lead in a game … That extends to 259-2-6 over that span when they have led by 3 goals

557: Consecutive Bruins games (regular season & playoffs) currently sold out at TD Garden … Their last non-sellout game was on 12/2/2009 when a Wednesday game vs. TB drew 16,553

FUN FACTS

  • The Bruins currently have 22 players on their roster … 10 were drafted by the team, 4 were acquired in trade and 8 were signed as free agents.
  • The Bruins play 16 matinees this season (local start time 4:00 pm or earlier) … They have a 3-0-0 record in afternoon games so far.
  • The Bruins play 14 sets of back-to-back games this season … They are currently 4-0-1 in the 1st game of those sets and are 3-1-0 in the 2nd games so far.
  • The Bruins are playing game 13 of a 14-game December schedule tonight (8 hm/6 rd, 8-1-3) … They will play 14 games in January (5 hm/9 rd), 10 in February (3 hm/7 rd), 15 in March (9 hm/6 rd) and 7 in April (3 hm/4 rd) … They went 8-1-0 in October and 11-2-0 in December.

RECENT TRANSACTIONS:
Dec. 20: Craig Smith assigned to Providence/AHL (cleared waivers 12/19).
Dec. 21: Craig Smith recalled from Providence/AHL.

NEW JERSEY DEVILS NOTES:

LAST GAME
Boston Bruins 4 New Jersey Devils 3
(26-4-2—54 PTS) (22-9-2—46 PTS)
Three Stars: 1. D. Pastrnak 2. T. Tatar 3. J. DeBrusk

Goals:
BOS: P. Bergeron, D. Pastrnak, D. Pastrnak, Jake Debrusk
SCORE 1
ST 2
ND 3
RD OT SO FINAL
Boston 0 4 0 – – 4
DEVILS 1 0 3 – – 3
NJD: J. Hughes (PPG), T. Tatar, Y. Sharangovich

INJURIES/ILLNESS
PLAYER INJURY OUT SINCE GAMES MISSED
Jonathan Bernier – LTIR Lower-body, hip 2021-22 33
Ondrej Palat I.R. Lower-body Retro-active to Oct. 24 27
Nate Bastian Upper-Body Nov. 27 11
John Marino Upper-body Dec. 21 2
Ryan Graves Lower-body Dec. 22 1
2022-23 Total Man-Games Lost to Injury/illness: 99

TRANSACTIONS
DATE PLAYER ACTION
12/1 Nico Daws Reassigned to Utica
12/2 Andreas Johnsson Recalled from Utica
12/13 Mackenzie Blackwood Assigned to Utica (conditioning loan)
12/19 Akira Schmid Reassigned to Utica
Mackenzie Blackwood Recalled from conditioning loan, Utica
12/22 Nate Bastian Placed I.R. retro to Nov. 26
Nikita Okhotiuk Recalled from Utica

WHAT TO KNOW
The Devils host Boston for consecutive contests, while the two Eastern Conference foes met on Fri., Dec. 23. Yet, Boston defeated the Devils by a score of 4-3 at the Rock. Jersey’s team allowed four goals in the second period of play, which marked and tied a season low for goals allowed in period:

Oct. 15 vs DET, 2nd, per., 5-2, L
Oct. 24vs WSH, 2nd, per., 6-3, L

The Devils are 0-5-0 vs Boston dating to last season. The last time that the Devils defeated Boston was on May 4, 2021, at the Rock in a 4-3 win. After the last meeting with Boston, Jersey’s team is now 2-9-0 when trailing after two period of play this season, and fell to 14-6-1 when scoring first in a game this season. Yet, the team is 17-0-1 when leading after the second period this season. Only Boston entails more wins (18-0-1) when leading after the second period for 2022-23. The Devils fell to 15-9-2 when outshooting an opponent this season. Jersey outshot Boston 40-23 on Dec. 23. Jersey’s team is 6-1-0 when outshot by an opponent this season. The last meeting with Boston, marked the second time this season that the B’s allowed 40 (or more shots) in a game for 2022-23, last: Oct. 17, vs FLA, 41 shots, in a 5-3 win for Boston. Boston’s 23 shots on goal via Dec. 23, marked the team’s second-fewest in a game this season (Nov. 5, at TOR, 2-1, L). Side note…three former Devils in A.J. Greer, Pavel Zacha and Taylor Hall started the game for Boston via. After the loss on Dec. 23, Jersey’s team is 20-3-2 when scoring three-or-more goals in a game this season. At Dec. 25 last season, the Devils earned 10 wins compared to the team’s 22 wins this season. The Devils logged 27 blocked shots on Wed., Dec. 21, at Florida, which marked a season-high (prior, 26 blocks on Nov. 26, 2022, vs WSH). The Devils are 12-9-1 vs the Eastern Conference and 7-4-0 vs the Atlantic Division for 2022-23. Side note…the Devils entered the month of December with a share of first place, or sole possession, atop the League standings for the first time in franchise history. Jersey’s team is 18-2-2 when Nico Hischier recorded a point in a game this season and 10-4-1 when Jack Hughes scored a goal in a game for 2022-23.
Former Devil, Pavel Zacha, returns back to the Prudential Center for the second time since the Czech Republic native was traded to Boston in exchange for Erik Haula on July 13, 2022. Haula also face-off vs his former team (Boston) for the second time this season. Zacha is one of three former Devils who were selected in the 1 st round at the NHL Draft and are currently active in the league: Z. Parise, 2003, now NYI & A. Larsson, 2011, now SEA The Devils have allowed 1, or fewer, goals against nine times this season in a game. Jersey’s team allowed one, or fewer goals against, in a game just eight times all of last season. Looking ahead…The Devils are scheduled to play on New Year’s Day for the first time since Jan. 1, 2011, which resulted in a 6-3 loss at Carolina.

Since 1982-83, New Jersey’s games played on New Year’s Day:
Year Vs Result
2011 At CAR 6-3, L
2004 At WSH 2-2, T
2003 Vs FLA 2-1, L
2002 Vs STL 2-1, W
2000 At BOS 2-2, T
1998 At FLA 2-1, OT-L
1994 At OTT 7-1, W
1993 At WSH 9-2, L
1991 At WSH 4-3, L
Record: 2-4-2-1

THE RANKS
STAT NHL RANK
GA/GP, 2.56, 3rd
GF/GP 3.38, 9
TH
SA/GP 26.6, 2ND
SF/GP 35.3, 2nd
Since 1994-95, the franchise’s first Stanley Cup championship, the Devils have finished a season averaging under 25 shots against, per game seven times:

23.7 1997-98
24.7 1998-99
24.7 2000-01
23.2 2001-02
23.6 2002-03
24.4 2003-04
23.1 2012-13

The team clinched a playoff berth in six of those seasons, while winning a Stanley Cup championship in 2002-03, plus advancing to the Stanley Cup final in 2000-01. The team didn’t clinch a playoff berth in the shortened (lockout year) in 2012-13. Since 1994-95, the team’s highest shots per game total is 33.1, which was earned in 1999-00. The team then won its second Stanley Cup championship. The Devils are one of 11 teams this season that haven’t been shut out in a game, yet. Head coach Lindy Ruff became the fifth bench boss in NHL history who earned 800 wins. Only four other NHL coaches all-time are in the “800 club.”

S. Bowman: 1,244 wins
Joel Quenneville: 969 wins
Barry Trotz: 914 wins
Ken Hitchcock: 849 wins
The Devils officially announced and revealed their second-ever Adidas Reverse Retro sweater, which turns back the clock and nods to the franchise’s Colorado roots. The team is scheduled to wear the sweaters four times this season and twice on the road:

Dec. 3, at PHI, 7:00 P.M. 3-2, W
Dec. 9, vs NYI, 7:00 P.M. 6-4, L
Dec. 30, at PIT, 7:00 P.M.
Jan. 7, vs NYR, 1:00 P.M.

2022-23 TEAM STATS
RECORD ON DAYS OF THE WEEK
The Devils record on Wednesday in 2022-23…1-1-0…at home: 0-1-0…road: 1-0-0 Record in night games in 2022-23…19-10-2…home: 8-8-1…road: 11-2-1 Record in day games in 2022-23…3-0-0…home: 2-0-0…road: 1-0-0 2022-23 Alternate jersey record…3-1-0

RECORD WHEN SCORING FIRST
Scoring first…14-6-1…Trailing first…8-4-1
The longest duration of a game this season: 2 hours, 42 minutes, 11/23, vs TOR, 7:12 pm – 9:54 pm
Team’s average: H: 6’1” | W: 197lbs | A: 26 years old

GOALS BY PERIOD
PERIOD GOALS FOR/AGAINST DIFFERENTIAL
1 30-25 +5
2 44-38 +6
3 38-22 +16
OT 3-2 +1
TOTAL 115-87 +28
The team’s +28 goal differential ranks 3rd in the NHL behind Boston (+56) and Toronto (+29), per Dec. 27.

BACK-TO-BACK GAMES
Overall: 4-3-1
First game: 1-2-1 | home: 0-1-0 | road: 1-1-1
Second game: 3-1-0 | home: 1-1-0 | road: 2-0-0

DATE/TIME OPPONENT RESULT
Oct. 18, 7:00 P.M. vs ANA 4-2, W
Oct 28, 7:00 P.M. vs COL 1-0, W
Dec. 6, 7:00 P.M. vs CHI 3-0, W
Dec. 13, 7:00 P.M. vs DAL 4-1, L
Jan. 1, 3:00 P.M. Vs CAR
Jan. 5, 7:00 P.M. Vs STL
Feb. 6, 7:30 P.M. Vs VAN
Feb. 21, 7:00 P.M. Vs MTL
Mar. 30, 7:00 P.M. Vs NYR
Apr. 11, 7:00 P.M. HOME FINALE Vs BUF

AROUND THE RINK THE RINK
On Wed., Dec. 28, the Devils celebrate Pride Night the Rock. Fans will have the opportunity to get involved and support the cause with various fundraising activities and more.

VS BEANTOWN
The Devils and Boston meet for the second of three matchups this season. The last time the Devils were scheduled in consecutive games vs Boston, and at home, was May 3, 2021, to May 4 (1-1-0). Third matchup: Apr. 8, at BOS, 7:00 P.M. The Devils were 0-3-0 vs Boston last season.
The last time that the Devils won a season series vs Boston was 2020-21 (5-2-1).

ALL-TIME vs THE B’S
Record: 58-86-19-10
Home: 29-41-11-4
Road: 29-46-8-6

DID YOU KNOW…
The most goals in franchise history earned in a single game vs Boston is eight, twice, last earned on Mar. 19, 1994 at Boston. The most goals that the Devils allowed in a single game vs Boston is eight, three times, which last occurred on Mar. 31, 2022, at Boston. The most shots that Jersey earned in a single game vs Boston is 48, which occurred on Oct. 29, 19996 at Boston. The most shots that the Devils allowed in a single game vs Boston is 48, which occurred on Mar. 30, 2021, in a 5-4 shootout loss at Boston. The last time the Devils shut out the Bruins was on Mar. 28, 2021, in a 1-0 win at Boston (M. Blackwood, 40 saves). The last time that Boston shut out the Devils was on May 3, 2021, in a 3-0 loss.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE .
Fri. Dec. 30, at PIT, 7:00 P.M.
Sun. Jan. 1, vs CAR, 3:00 P.M.
Wed., Jan. 4, at DET, 7:00 P.M.
Thu., Jan. 5, vs STL, 7:00 P.M.

LAST TRADE
P. Zacha in exchange for E. Haula on July 13, 2022.

NHL Preview: Montreal Canadiens (15-16-3) at Tampa Bay Lightning (20-11-1)

NHL Editor
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NHL Preview: Montreal Canadiens (15-16-3) at Tampa Bay Lightning (20-11-1)

MONTREAL CANADIENS NOTES:

À SURVEILLER CE SOIR / KEEP AN EYE ON…

  • Les Canadiens et le Lightning s’affrontent ce soir pour la 110e fois en saison régulière. En incluant les matchs de séries, il s’agira de la 128e confrontation entre ces deux clubs.
  • The Canadiens and Lightning are facing each other for the 110th time in regular season. Including playoff contests, this will be the 128th match-up between those two opponents.

DERNIER MATCH / LAST GAME – DAL 4 VS. MTL 2 (@ AMERICAN AIRLINES CENTER)
Buts MTL Goals – Evans (AN/PP), Pezzetta
Buts DAL Goals – Hintz (AN/PP), Hintz (AN/PP), Johnston (AN/PP), Kiviranta
Gardien MTL Goalie – Allen (32-35)
Gardien DAL Goalie – Oettinger (22-24)
Avantage numérique MTL Powerplay – 1/2
Avantage numérique DAL Powerplay – 3/5
Meneurs MTL Leaders – TOI (Guhle – 24:49) ; S (Hoffman – 4) ; HT (Pezzetta – 4) ; BS (Wideman, Xhekaj – 3)

MATCHS À VENIR / UPCOMING GAMES
29 DÉC. @ FLORIDE 19 h / 7 p.m.
31 DÉC. @ WASHINGTON 16 h / 4 p.m.
3 JAN. @ NASHVILLE 20 h / 8 p.m.
5 JAN. VS. NY RANGERS 19 h / 7 p.m.
7 JAN. VS. ST. LOUIS 19 h / 7 p.m.

RAPPORT MÉDICAL DE LA SAISON / SEASON INJURY REPORT
Joueur
Player
Date Blessure
Injury
Matchs ratés
Games lost
Retour
Return
C. Price – Genou / Knee 34 –
P. Byron – Hanche / Hip 34 –
M. Matheson – Haut du corps / Upper-body 17 19/11/2022
B. Gallagher – Bas du corps / Lower-body 12 –
D. Savard – Haut du corps / Upper-body 10 –
S. Monahan – Bas du corps / Lower-body 9 –

RÉAFFECTATIONS, SIGNATURES ET TRANSACTIONS / ROSTER MOVES, SIGNINGS AND TRANSACTIONS
Les Canadiens ont rappelé le défenseur Justin Barron du Rocket de Laval (27/12)
The Canadiens have recalled defenseman Justin Barron from the Laval Rocket (12/27)
Les Canadiens ont cédé l’attaquant Rem Pitlick au Rocket de Laval et ont rappelé l’attaquant Anthony Richard (18/12)
The Canadiens have loaned forward Rem Pitlick to the Laval Rocket and recalled forward Anthony Richard (12/18)
Les Canadiens ont rappelé l’attaquant Rem Pitlick du Rocket de Laval (01/12)
The Canadiens have recalled forward Rem Pitlick from the Laval Rocket (12/01)
Les Canadiens ont cédé l’attaquant Rem Pitlick au Rocket de Laval (18/11)
The Canadiens have loaned forward Rem Pitlick to the Laval Rocket (11/18)
Les Canadiens ont rappelé l’attaquant Rem Pitlick du Rocket de Laval (16/11)
The Canadiens have recalled forward Rem Pitlick from the Laval Rocket (11/16)

NOTES DES CANADIENS / CANADIENS NOTES
STATISTIQUES D’ÉQUIPE / TEAM STATISTICS – AVANT LES MATCHS DU 27/12 – BEFORE GAMES ON 12/27
PTS (33 – 24e/24th)
V/W (15 – 23e/23rd)
BP/GF (91 – 26e/26th)
BC/GA (118 – 23e/23rd)
Tirs-PM/Shots-PG (28.3 – 30e/30th)
Tirs accordés-PM/Shots allowed-PG (33.1 – 26e/26th)
MÉ/Hits (609 – 30e/30th)
MP/PIM (411 – 4e/4th)
AN/PP (14.3% – 32e/32nd)
DN/PK (77.2% – 20e/20th)

LES CANADIENS CONTRE CHAQUE DIVISION L’AN DERNIER / THE HABS VS. EVERY DIVISION LAST SEASON
Adversaire
Opponent
Fiche
Record
PTS Buts pour
Goals for
Buts contre
Goals against
Atlantique 9-14-3 21 84 89
Centrale 3-9-4 10 39 65
Métropolitaine 6-17-1 13 55 103
Pacifique 4-9-3 11 43 62
Total 22-49-11 55 221 319
*Inclut les buts en fusillade / Includes the shootout goals

LES CANADIENS CONTRE CHAQUE DIVISION CETTE SAISON / THE HABS VS. EVERY DIVISION THIS SEASON
Division Fiche
Record
PTS Buts pour
Goals for
Buts contre
Goals against
Atlantique 3-4-0 6 15 25
Centrale 4-4-2 10 28 31
Métropolitaine 4-3-0 8 22 25
Pacifique 4-5-1 9 30 37
Total 15-16-3 33 95 118
*Inclut les buts en fusillade / Includes the shootout goals

MARTIN ST-LOUIS EN CHIFFRES / MARTIN ST. LOUIS’ NUMBERS…
Matchs/Games : 71
Victoires/Wins : 29
Fiche : 29-35-7
Points de classement/Standing points : 65

CANADIENS VS. TAMPA BAY
À vie / All-Time
CANADIENS vs. TBL 49-45-6-9 (109 PJ / GP)
Dom. / Home 26-21-1-6 (54 PJ / GP)
Étr. / Away 23-24-5-2 (55 PJ / GP)
Dern. Match / Last game:
D 5-1 L @ MTL (17/12/22)
J. Allen 5-27 | A. Vasilevskiy 1-23
BG / WG: N. Paul

10 DERNIERS MATCHS CONTRE TAMPA BAY / LAST 10 GAMES VS. TAMPA BAY:
17/12/22 – TBL 5 @ MTL 1
02/04/22 – MTL 5 @ TBL 4 (TB/SO)
28/12/21 – MTL 4 @ TBL 5 (P/OT)
07/12/21 – TBL 3 @ MTL 2
05/03/20 – MTL 0 @ TBL 4
02/01/20 – TBL 2 @ MTL 1
28/12/19 – MTL 4 @ TBL 5
15/10/19 – TBL 3 @ MTL 1
02/04/19 – TBL 2 @ MTL 4
16/02/19 – MTL 0 @ TBL 3

CETTE SAISON CONTRE TAMPA BAY / THIS SEASON VS. TAMPA BAY
Match #1: 17/12/2022 @ MTL – D/L 5-1
Match #2: 28/12/2022 @ TBL
Match #3: 18/03/2023 @ TBL
Match #4: 21/03/2023 @ MTL

MEILLEURS BUTEURS CONTRE TAMPA BAY / LEADING GOAL SCORERS VS. TAMPA BAY:
1) Mike Hoffman (8-8-16, 30 pj/gp)
2) Sean Monahan (7-3-10, 15 pj/gp)
3) Josh Anderson (5-2-7, 11 pj/gp)

MEILLEURS POINTEURS CONTRE TAMPA BAY / LEADING SCORERS VS. TAMPA BAY:
1) Mike Hoffman (8-8-16, 30 pj/gp)
2) Evgenii Dadonov (4-9-13, 19 pj/gp)
3) Brendan Gallagher (5-8-13, 29 pj/gp)

MENEURS MINUTES DE PÉNALITÉ CONTRE TAMPA BAY / MOST PENALTY MINUTES VS. TAMPA BAY:
1) Mike Hoffman (16, 30 pj/gp)
2) Josh Anderson (15, 11 pj/gp)
3) David Savard (12, 25 pj/gp)

TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING NOTES:

LAST GAME
Lightning 4 at Detroit 7
The Tampa Bay Lightning surrendered a season-high seven goals against and dropped a second-straight contest in a 7-4 loss to the Detroit Red Wings last Wednesday at Little Caesars Arena…The Bolts fell to 20-11-1 on the season with a road record of 8-7-0…The Lightning have lost both games vs. DET this season with two matchups remaining…Tampa Bay got off to a quick start when Brayden Point scored the game-opening goal 1:29 into the contest with a shot off the left post as Nikita Kucherov and Erik Cernak picked up the assists…Olli Maatta tied the game at one with 4:26 left in the first before Alex Killorn restored the Lightning’s one-goal lead 3:04 later when he cleaned up a rebound in front off assists from Ross Colton and Nick Perbix…Michael Rasmussen scored just 54 seconds after Killorn to make it a 2-2 game heading into the first intermission…Dylan Larkin gave DET a 3-2 lead at the 11:08 mark of the second period before Colton tied the game for the Bolts 2:07 later when he jumped on a turnover in the offensive zone and beat Ville Husso over the blocker…DET got back-to-back goals from Elmer Soderblom and Larkin at the 3:48 and 9:46 marks of the third period to go up 5-3…With Brian Elliott pulled for a sixth attacker, Kucherov snuck a wrist shot over the left pad of Husso with 3:47 remaining to pull Tampa Bay within one as Victor Hedman and Steven Stamkos collected the helpers…David Perron and Rasmussen scored back-to-back, empty-net goals 1:32 apart to wrap up the 7-4 win for DET…Elliott had his seven-game win streak snapped, making 24 saves on 29 shots against in the loss…Point recorded his 400th career point with the game-opening goal.
PP: TBL – 0-4 DET – 0-2
SOG: TBL – 38 DET – 31
Attendance: 19,515

TONIGHT’S MATCHUP
The Lightning and the Canadiens are playing the second of four matchups this season and the first of two meetings at AMALIE Arena…The Bolts won the first matchup of the season with a 5-1 victory Dec. 17 at Bell Centre…Brandon Hagel opened the scoring for Tampa Bay just 2:57 into the contest before Nick Paul doubled the lead with 8:21 left in the first…The Bolts continued to push forward in the second period with a pair of power-play goals from Anthony Cirelli at the 9:26 mark and Hagel with 2:13 left in the frame…MTL got on the board 16 seconds into the third period off the stick of Nick Suzuki…Nikita Kucherov put a bow on the 5-1 win with his 12th goal of the year with 1:59 remaining in regulation…Andrei Vasilevskiy earned his 13th win of the season with 23 saves on 24 shots against…The Bolts have won seven of their last eight home games vs. MTL and are 8-1-1 in the last 10 meetings at AMALIE Arena…Overall, the Lightning are 12-1-2 in their last 15 games vs. MTL…Steven Stamkos has recorded points in nine straight games vs. MTL (5-8—13) and 14 of his last 15 contests vs. the Habs (9-11—20)…Stamkos has pointed in four straight home games vs. MTL (2-4—6)…Kucherov has posted three straight multi-point games vs. MTL (3-4—7) and scored a goal in four consecutive contests against the Canadiens (4-4—8)…Kucherov has points in 13 of his last 15 games vs. MTL (10-13—23) with nine multi-point performances during that span (7-12—19)…Kucherov has recorded multi-point games in four of his last five home games vs. MTL (4-5—9)…Victor Hedman has pointed in five straight games vs. MTL (2-6—8) and eight of his last 10 contests against the Habs (2-13—15)…Hedman has recorded four straight multi-point games vs. MTL at AMALIE Arena (2-8—10)…Cirelli has picked up points in six straight games vs. MTL (3-4—7)…Brayden Point has points in five of his last six home games vs. MTL (3-4—7)…Corey Perry has pointed in three of four games vs. MTL since joining Tampa Bay (2-2—4)…Andrei Vasilevskiy has won 10 straight games vs. MTL with two shutouts, a .944 save percentage, a 1.79 goals against average and one assist…Vasilevskiy is 6-0-1 in seven career home starts vs. MTL with two shutouts, a .933 SV%, a 2.13 GAA and two assists…Vasilevskiy is just the third goaltender in NHL history, and the first since 1940, to earn a victory in 10 consecutive reg. season games vs. MTL (also: Alec Connell, SEN, 12 GP, Feb. 28, 1925-Feb. 22, 1927; Turk Broda, TOR, 12 GP, Dec. 9, 1939- Jan. 23, 1941)…Vincent Lecavalier (19-23—42) and Hedman (8-34—42) are tied for the Lightning franchise record for career points vs. MTL.

TBL ALL-TIME POINT LEADERS VS. MTL
T1. Victor Hedman – 42 pts. (8-34—42, 41 GP)
T1. Vincent Lecavalier – 42 pts. (19-23—42, 53 GP)

  1. Steven Stamkos – 41 pts. (22-19—41, 44 GP)
  2. Martin St. Louis – 40 pts. (18-22—40, 48 GP)
  3. Nikita Kucherov – 31 pts. (12-19—31, 29 GP)

TONIGHT’S STORYLINES
Tampa Bay is playing the first game of a three-game homestand tonight…The Bolts will play nine of their 13 games in December on home ice…The Lightning are 7-5-0 against Atlantic Division opponents this season…Tampa Bay is 12-4-1 at home this season and have won four straight games at AMALIE Arena…The Lightning are playing for the first time since Dec. 21 at DET after the game scheduled for Dec. 23 at BUF was re-scheduled to March 4 due to a severe winter storm…The Bolts are playing the first game of a back-to-back set and will face the New York Rangers on Thursday…Tampa Bay is 3-2-0 in the first game of a back-to-back this season…Tonight’s contest will feature all five of the Lightning’s all-time leading scorers with Victor Hedman, Nikita Kucherov and Steven Stamkos playing in the game, Martin St. Louis serving as head coach for MTL and Vincent Lecavalier serving as a special advisor for MTL.

INJURIES
2022-23 Regular Season Man Games Lost: 77
Current Injuries:
Rudolfs Balcers (Upper-body injury; Out indefinitely) 12 Games

TRANSACTIONS
Dec. 3 – Re-assigned D Philippe Myers to AHL Syracuse
Dec. 3 – Assigned F Cole Koepke to AHL Syracuse

KLUTCHEROV
Tampa Bay forward Nikita Kucherov scored a goal and added an assist Dec. 21 at DET for his 15th multi-point game of the season…Kucherov has posted a multi-point game in four of his last five contests (2-8—10)…Kucherov has pointed in eight of his last nine games (3-11—14)…Kucherov (13-36—49) is tied with Connor McDavid for the NHL lead in assists and ranks fifth in the league in points…Kucherov leads all Lightning skaters in points, assists, even-strength points (29), power-play points (20) and shots (113)…Kucherov recorded his 400th career assist Dec. 13 vs. SEA in his 590th career game, the sixth-fewest games needed to reach the mark among active players…Kucherov is the fifth player in Bolts franchise history to hit the 400-assist mark with the club…Kucherov’s 20 power-play points are tied with Rasmus Dahlin for the sixth-most in the NHL, while his 29 even-strength points are tied with Leon Draisaitl for the fifth-most in the league…Kucherov’s 1.53 points per game rank fourth in the NHL…Kucherov has recorded points in 15 of 17 home games this season (7-22—29) and 26 of 32 games overall…Since the start of the 2017-18 season, Kucherov’s 1.39 points per game trails only McDavid’s 1.56 for the highest among NHL skaters.

NHL POINT PER GAME LEADERS SINCE 2017-18

  1. Connor McDavid – 1.56 P/GP (224-392—616, 396 GP)
  2. Nikita Kucherov – 1.39 P/GP (151-280—431, 309 GP)
  3. Leon Draisaitl – 1.33 P/GP (225-311—536, 403 GP)
  4. Nathan MacKinnon – 1.32 P/GP (175-301—476, 361 GP)
  5. Brad Marchand – 1.23 P/GP (168-280—448, 365 GP)

GAME POINT
Bolts forward Brayden Point scored his team-leading 17th goal of the season for his 400th career point Dec. 21 at DET…Point became the first member of the 2014 NHL Draft Class drafted outside of the first round to record 400 career points…Point has scored a goal in six of his last eight games (7-1—8)…Point tied the fifth-longest goal streak in the NHL this season with goals in five straight games from Dec. 6-15…Point was the third Tampa Bay skater to record a five-game goal streak this season (also: Nikita Kucherov, 6 GP, Oct. 25 – Nov. 5; Steven Stamkos, 5 GP, Oct. 11-21)…Point (17-15—32) leads all Lightning skaters in goals and game-winning goals (5)…Point ranks third on the team in points, fifth in assists, fourth in power-play points (10) and tied for second in power-play goals (5, also: Kucherov)…Point has recorded at least one shot on goal in every game this season…With his goal Dec. 15 vs. CBJ, Point became the fifth player in Tampa Bay franchise history to score 40 career game-winning goals, joining Stamkos (75), Martin St. Louis (64), Vincent Lecavalier (60) and Kucherov (41)…Point’s five game-winning goals this season are tied for the third-most among all NHL skaters…Since the start of the 2017-18 season, Point’s 38 game-winning goals are tied with Kyle Connor for the fourth-most among all NHL skaters during that span.

NHL GAME-WINNING GOAL LEADERS SINCE 2017-18

  1. Connor McDavid – 46 GWG (224-392—616, 396 GP)
  2. Leon Draisaitl – 43 GWG (225-311—536, 403 GP)
  3. Auston Matthews – 40 GWG (236-192—428, 360 GP)
    T4. Brayden Point – 38 GWG (166-194—360, 381 GP)
    T4. Kyle Connor – 38 GWG (191-187—378, 399 GP)

HED RUSH
Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman recorded his 17th assist of the season Dec. 21 at DET…Hedman has picked up assists in four of his last five games (0-6—6) and six of his last eight (0-8—8)…Hedman (1-17—18) ranks fourth in assists among all Tampa Bay skaters…Hedman’s 61 shots on goal lead all Bolts defensemen and are good for fourth on the team overall…Since the start of the 2016-17 season, Hedman leads NHL defensemen with 392 points (86-306—392).

NHL POINT LEADERS SINCE 2016-17, DEFENSEMEN

  1. Victor Hedman – 392 pts. (86-306—392, 458 GP)
  2. John Carlson – 386 pts. (87-299—386, 463 GP)
    T3. Roman Josi – 378 pts. (95-283—378, 459 GP)
    T3. Brent Burns – 378 pts. (90-288—378, 489 GP)
  3. Erik Karlsson – 323 pts. (66-257—323, 395 GP)

STAMMER TIME
Tampa Bay captain Steven Stamkos recorded one assist Dec. 21 at DET and has pointed in seven consecutive games against the Red Wings (5-7—12)…Stamkos has recorded at least one point in 17 of his last 18 games (9-16—25)…Stamkos went on a 14-game point streak Nov. 13 – Dec. 13 (9-12—21), the second-longest point streak in Lightning franchise history, trailing only his 18-game point streak in 2009-10 (17-16—33)…The 14-game point streak is tied for the fourth-longest point streak in the NHL this season…Stamkos (16-22—38) ranks second in goals and points among all Bolts skaters and is tied with Mikhail Sergachev (5-22—27) for the second-most assists on the team…Stamkos leads the Lightning with seven power-play goals…Since Nov. 13, only three skaters in the NHL have recorded more even-strength points than Stamkos’s 18 (more: Matthews – 21; Crosby, Ovechkin – 20 each)…Stamkos is three goals away from his 500th career goal…Stamkos ranks 48th all-time in NHL history with 497 career goals…Since entering the league in 2008-09, only Alex Ovechkin (639) has scored more goals than Stamkos…Stamkos has recorded more career goals and points than any player in Tampa Bay franchise history.

TBL ALL-TIME POINT LEADERS

  1. Steven Stamkos – 1,010 pts. (497-513—1,010, 954 GP)
  2. Martin St. Louis – 953 pts. (365-588—953, 972 GP)
  3. Vincent Lecavalier – 874 pts. (383-491—874, 1,037 GP)
  4. Nikita Kucherov – 665 pts. (259-406—665, 594 GP)
  5. Victor Hedman – 621 pts. (135-486—621, 928 GP)

KILLER INSTINCT
Bolts forward Alex Killorn scored his ninth goal of the season Dec. 21 at DET…Killorn has recorded 10 points over his last 15 contests (4-6—10)…Killorn (9-14—23) ranks sixth in goals and points, and is tied with Brandon Hagel (12-14—26) for the sixth-most assists among all Lightning skaters…Killorn has skated in 755 career games with Tampa Bay, the fifth-most in franchise history.

TBL ALL-TIME GAMES PLAYED LEADERS

  1. Vincent Lecavalier – 1,037 GP
  2. Martin St. Louis – 972 GP
  3. Steven Stamkos – 954 GP
  4. Victor Hedman – 928 GP
  5. Alex Killorn – 755 GP

ROSS THE BOSS
Lightning forward Ross Colton scored a goal and added an assist Dec. 21 at DET for his fourth multi-point game of the season…Colton has four points over his last five games (2-2—4)…Colton has scored four goals over his last 10 contests (4-2—6)…Colton (8-7—15) ranks seventh in goals and ninth in points among all Tampa Bay skaters.

WEEKEND AT CERNY’S
Bolts defenseman Erik Cernak recorded one assist Dec. 21 at DET…Cernak has posted two assists over his last three games…Through the first 10 games of December, Cernak (1-5—6) ranks second in assists and is tied with Ian Cole (2-4—6) for the second-most points among all Tampa Bay defensemen…Cernak has recorded at least one hit in 27 of his 28 games this season…Cernak leads all Lightning skaters with 93 hits and his 55 blocked shots trail only Mikhail Sergachev (62) for the team lead…Cernak leads all Bolts skaters in shorthanded time on ice per game (3:03).

TBL SHORTHANDED TIME ON ICE PER GAME LEADERS

  1. Erik Cernak – 3:03 SH TOI/GP
  2. Mikhail Sergachev – 2:46 SH TOI/GP
  3. Pierre-Edouard Bellemare – 2:36 SH TOI/GP
  4. Ian Cole – 2:34 SH TOI/GP
  5. Alex Killorn – 2:13 SH TOI/GP

PERBIX: WHERE SCORING IS A PLEASURE
Tampa Bay defenseman Nick Perbix collected one assist Dec. 21 at DET…Perbix has picked up two assists over his last three contests…Perbix (plus-eight) ranks fourth in plus/minus among all Lightning skaters…Perbix (3-5—8) is tied for the second-most goals among all NHL rookie defensemen, while his plus-eight rating is the third-best…Perbix ranks fourth in points and is tied with Ian Cole (3-9—12) for the second-most goals among all Bolts defensemen.

HOW ABOUT HAGEL?
Lightning forward Brandon Hagel has recorded points in five of his last seven contests (5-4—9)…Hagel has 13 points over his last 13 games (7-6—13)…Hagel (12-14—26) ranks fifth in goals and points, and is tied with Alex Killorn (9-14—23) for the sixth-most assists among all Tampa Bay skaters…Hagel leads all NHL forwards with 44 takeaways and his 4.4 takeaways per 60 is the highest among all NHL skaters with 30 or more games played.

NHL Morning Skate – Dec. 28, 2022

NHL Editor
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NHL Morning Skate – Dec. 28, 2022

* Antti Raanta backstopped the Hurricanes to their ninth straight win – matching a franchise record – and 15th straight game with a point, tying the Maple Leafs for the longest such run in 2022-23.

* A trio of Pacific Division players posted notable performances as Connor McDavid, Bo Horvat and Erik Karlsson added to their strong season totals.

* Wednesday’s slate features a TNT and TVA Sports doubleheader with the Bruins visiting the Devils followed by the Kraken hosting the Flames.


HURRICANES STAY HOT, MATCH FRANCHISE RECORD WITH NINTH STRAIGHT WIN
Antti Raanta (24 saves) blanked his former club to help the Metropolitan Division-leading Hurricanes (23-6-6, 52 points) extend their point and winning streak to 15 and nine games, respectively. Carolina (13-0-2 dating to Nov. 25) tied Toronto (12-0-3 from Nov. 12–Dec. 13) for the longest point streak in the NHL this season.

* Raanta, who manned the Blackhawks’ crease during each of his first two campaigns from 2013-14 to 2014-15, recorded the 16th shutout of his NHL career and third with Carolina.



TRIO OF PACIFIC DIVISION PLAYERS SHINE
Oilers captain Connor McDavid, Canucks captain Bo Horvat and Sharks defenseman Erik Karlsson continued to roll Tuesday:

* McDavid (15-17—32 in 16 GP) scored his 10th career game-winning goal against Calgary during the regular season and extended his point streak to 16 contests, which marks the longest active run in the NHL and is one back of his career high. He moved past Mike Gartner (9) for sole possession of the most game-winning goals versus the Flames franchise in League history.

* Horvat (2-2—4) had four points for the second time in as many games (also 2-2—4 on Dec. 23), which included scoring his team-leading 25th and 26th goals of the season. Horvat became the first Canucks player to record four points in consecutive contests since Feb. 23-25, 2003, when Markus Naslund, Todd Bertuzzi and Brendan Morrison each did so.

* Karlsson (2-14—16 in 10 GP) collected two assists to extend his point streak to a career-high 10 games, doing so while wearing the Sharks’ Reverse Retro jersey which is inspired by the classic look of the 1974-75 California Golden Seals. Karlsson’s point streak marks the lengthiest by a defenseman in franchise history.



GOALTENDERS HELP ISLANDERS, CAPITALS KEEP PACE WITH HURRICANES
Ilya Sorokin and Darcy Kuemper helped the Islanders (20-14-2, 42 points) and Capitals (20-13-4, 44 points) keep pace with the Metropolitan Division-leading Hurricanes (23-6-6, 52 points):

* Sorokin (20 saves) recorded his 51st career win in his 100th NHL appearance and Anders Lee tallied twice to climb one of the franchise’s all-time lists as New York defeated Pittsburgh at UBS Arena. Sorokin has the fifth-most wins by an Islanders goaltender through 100 games with the franchise.

* Kuemper (32 saves) outdueled Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin (26 saves) to record his third shutout since joining the Capitals and Erik Gustafsson (1-1—2) scored his fifth goal since Dec. 17 as Washington passed Pittsburgh (19-10-5, 43 points) for third place in the Metropolitan Division. Tuesday marked the fifth instance in the NHL’s expansion era (since 1967-68) where a goaltender who won the Stanley Cup during the previous season recorded a shutout against a reigning Vezina Trophy winner.



STARS, WILD EARN WINS AGAINST CENTRAL DIVISION RIVALS
Dallas (21-9-6, 48 points) maintained its lead atop the Central Division standings Tuesday, while Minnesota (20-12-2, 42 points) climbed past Colorado (19-12-2, 40 points) with a win in Winnipeg:

* Jamie Benn scored and collected an assist to help Dallas best Nashville at Bridgestone Arena. Benn (343) surpassed Brian Bellows (342) for sole possession of second place on the Stars/North Stars franchise’s all-time goals list, trailing only Mike Modano (557).

* Mats Zuccarello (1-1—2) factored on two of his team’s four goals as Minnesota defeated division-rival Winnipeg at Canada Life Centre. Zuccarello, who became the 10th player in franchise history to post 50 career multi-point games with the Wild, boosted his totals since Dec. 1 to 9-10—19 (13 GP), trailing only Connor McDavid (13-13—26), Tage Thompson (12-9—21) and Leon Draisaitl (6-15—21) for the most points in the NHL this month – Minnesota has two games remaining in December.



NYLANDER NOTCHING OVERTIME WINNER FEATURED IN #NHLSTATS: LIVE UPDATES
Tuesday’s edition of #NHLStats: Live Updates featured more notes from the 11-game slate, including William Nylander taking the puck from Vladimir Tarasenko and netting the winner at 4:03 of overtime as the Maple Leafs edged the Blues at Enterprise Center. Toronto (22-7-6, 50 points) occupies second place in the Atlantic Division and moved within seven points of League-leading Boston (27-4-3, 57 points), which fell to Ottawa in a shootout.



NOT ONE PATH: BRANDON & CHRIS TANEV

The Tanev brothers, Chris and Brandon, are the most recent players to be featured in the Not One Path series, highlighting unconventional roads to the NHL, ahead of their 12th head-to-head set to take place Wednesday in Seattle. Both Chris and Brandon stepped away from hockey while in high school, during formative years when most players are skating in junior leagues across North America and Europe. The tenacious brothers did not allow multi-year hiatuses or going undrafted stop them from becoming mainstays on NHL rosters.
 

QUICK CLICKS

* Tuesday’s Buffalo at Columbus game postponed

* Nicklas Backstrom writes for NHL.com: Alex Ovechkin’s march to 802 goals surreal

* Alex Ovechkin set to begin final step, new goal of breaking Gretzky’s record

* Johnny Gaudreau homecoming, Winter Classic among storylines after holiday break

* Winter Classic great chance to experience best of Boston, Matt Grzelcyk says

NATIONAL BROADCASTS IN CANADA AND U.S. ACCOUNT FOR 3 OF 5 GAMES WEDNESDAY

The final Wednesday of 2022 features national telecasts in both Canada and the U.S. as the Canadiens and Lightning return from the holiday break with a showdown on Sportsnet, followed by a doubleheader on both TNT and TVA Sports. The doubleheader begins in New Jersey, where the Bruins and Devils will meet for the second time this season – the clubs have occupied first place in their respective divisions for a combined 131 days this season (BOS: 82; NJD: 49).

RINK BUILD CONTINUES FOR WINTER CLASSIC AT FENWAY PARK

As preparations continue at Fenway Park, the Bruins and Penguins each will be in action Wednesday for one of their two remaining contests before they go head-to-head outdoors on Jan. 2. TNT, TVA Sports, Sportsnet and CBC will carry the 36th regular-season outdoor game in League history in less than one week as each club maintains a strong hold in the standings.

* Boston will enter its outdoor game showdown as the No. 1-ranked team in the NHL, marking the first time a club has done so for the Winter Classic. The only other outdoor game to feature the League’s top team entering play was the 2014 Stadium Series at Dodger Stadium – the top-ranked Ducks shut out the Kings (who entered as the No. 9-ranked club).

* The Penguins (19-10-5, 43 points) currently sit in ninth place in the League standings. The 2023 Winter Classic could mark the eighth NHL outdoor game – and second straight Winter Classic – to feature two of the NHL’s top 10 clubs entering play. The last was Jan. 1, 2022, when the Blues (No. 8 in NHL) defeated the Wild (No. 10 in NHL) at Target Field in Minneapolis.

NBA Preview: Denver Nuggets (22-11) at Sacramento Kings (17-15)

NBA Editor
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NBA Preview: Denver Nuggets (22-11) at Sacramento Kings (17-15)

The Denver Nuggets have been historically poor on the road but are starting to show they can win away from altitude.

Denver has a 10-8 road record after Tuesday night’s win at Sacramento, and the Nuggets can notch another victory when the same two teams play again at the Kings’ arena on Wednesday night.

The Nuggets rallied from 20 points down in the first half to beat Sacramento 113-106 for their fifth straight win, and they did it without two key pieces.

Aaron Gordon, the dunking star from the Christmas Day overtime win over Phoenix, was a late scratch Tuesday with a shoulder strain, and he watched the game in street clothes. Denver then lost Bruce Brown to an ankle sprain in the first half.

Coach Michael Malone said Brown’s injury didn’t appear serious, but both players are questionable for Wednesday night.

The Kings played Tuesday without Domantas Sabonis due to an avulsion fracture in his right thumb suffered in Friday’s loss to Washington. Meanwhile, coach Mike Brown was placed in the health and safety protocol earlier Tuesday, and assistant Jordi Fernandez led the team.

The Kings didn’t announce if Brown would be cleared for the second game against Denver.

Fernandez, a former Nuggets assistant under Malone, has seen what Nikola Jokic can do to a team, and Sacramento smartly made him the focus of its defense Tuesday night. Jokic attempted only two shots in the first half and scored two points.

Jokic finished with 20 points, 11 assists and was a rebound shy of a triple-double.

The Kings, meanwhile, have lost five of their past eight games, including two straight at home. Not having Sabonis is tough for a team that is trying to stay in the playoff race.

Sacramento recovered nicely from an 0-4 start to this season and was four games above .500 before losing to the Wizards and Nuggets. After the loss to Washington, Brown lamented the team cannot afford to let down against any opponent.

Without Sabonis on Tuesday night, Fernandez inserted Alex Len into the starting lineup after he didn’t play in the previous game. Len was no match for Jokic and scored just two points in 14 minutes and picked up four personal fouls.

De’Aaron Fox led Sacramento with 26 points, and Kevin Huerter added 21.

NBA Preview: Utah Jazz (19-17) at Golden State Warriors (17-18)

NBA Editor
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NBA Preview: Utah Jazz (19-17) at Golden State Warriors (17-18)

Two powerful trends that have pulled the Golden State Warriors in opposite directions will intersect Wednesday night when the defending champions host the Utah Jazz in San Francisco.

The Warriors improved to a league-best 14-2 at home with a hard-fought, 110-105 victory over the Charlotte Hornets on Tuesday night.

The win came despite the absence of Stephen Curry (shoulder) and Andrew Wiggins (groin), both of whom are expected to miss Wednesday’s second night of a back-to-back.

Klay Thompson posted a game-high 29 points against the Hornets, and he also likely will sit out the Utah game as part of a rest routine the veteran has undergone so far this season.

Always without Thompson and often without Curry, Wiggins and/or Draymond Green, the Warriors have struggled on the second nights of back-to-backs this season, going 2-5. They lost 125-119 at Indiana and 143-113 at Brooklyn on second nights during their recent six-game trip.

The Warriors have swept just one back-to-back this season, and that came on their only previous sequence of two home games in two nights. They beat the Chicago Bulls 119-111 and Houston Rockets 120-101 on that occasion in early December.

One player the Jazz can expect to see in their second trip to San Francisco this season is Jonathan Kuminga. The 20-year-old, getting a chance to play at crunch time with Curry and Wiggins out, made contributions plays at both ends of the court late in the Tuesday win.

Kuminga played 30 minutes in Golden State’s 124-123 loss at Utah on Dec. 7, a night when Kerr chose not to suit up Curry, Wiggins and Green. He hit 10 of his 13 shots while also logging five rebounds and four assists.

The Jazz took advantage of a Warriors team that was resting up for an NBA Finals rematch with the Boston Celtics by getting 22 points and nine assists from Jordan Clarkson and double-figure scoring from six others in the high-scoring affair.

Utah has lost five of nine since then but has seemed to find its offense in the past three contests. The Jazz scored 126, 120 and 122 points while going 2-1 against the Detroit Pistons, Washington Wizards and San Antonio Spurs.

The lone loss in the stretch occurred in their most recent outing, a 126-122 defeat against the Spurs on Monday that resulted despite Lauri Markkanen’s 32 points and Clarkson’s 25.

Utah was without Kelly Olynyk, who might be able to return against the Warriors following a four-game absence caused by a sprained left ankle.

The Monday defeat followed a relaxing stretch in which the Jazz enjoyed three days off, including Christmas, before flying into San Antonio to begin a three-game trip.

The Warriors beat the Jazz 129-118 at home in the teams’ first head-to-head matchup of the season on Nov. 25. Curry and Wiggins combined for 53 points in that game.

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