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CFB: Duke’s Mayo Bowl Preview – Maryland Terrapins (7-5) at North Carolina State Wolfpack (8-4)

NCAAFB Editor
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CFB: Duke’s Mayo Bowl Preview – Maryland Terrapins (7-5) at North Carolina State Wolfpack (8-4)

MARYLAND TERRAPINS NOTES:

THE OPENING KICK
BOWL HISTORY
▶ The Duke’s Mayo Bowl will be Maryland’s 29th bowl appearance all-time, with the Terps looking for their first back-to-back bowl wins since 2002-03. The Duke’s Mayo Bowl is the 20th different bowl the Terps have played in and it will mark the third-straight bowl game against an ACC team (2016, Boston College & 2021, Virginia Tech). Last season, the Terps defeated Virginia Tech 54-10 in the New Era Pinstripe Bowl in New York City behind game MVP Taulia Tagovailioa who piled up 307 yards of total offense – as Maryland totaled 481 yards on offense. He was 20-of-24 for 265 passing yards with two touchdowns, including 14-15 for 192 yards and a touchdown in the first half. He also ran four times for 42 yards.

▶ Maryland has averaged 31.8 points in bowl games this century, best in the Big Ten and seventh best among FBS teams to appear in at least 10 bowls since 2000 (Note via Press Box Live).

MARYLAND VS. NC STATE
▶ These schools have met 70 times all-time, dating back to their first in 1909. That’s the most previous meetings in any bowl matchup since the 2016 Poinsettia Bowl between BYU and Wyoming (77). The series is deadlocked at 33 wins apiece with four ties.

▶ The Terps won the last meeting in 2013, a 41-21 win in Raleigh in the Terps’ final conference game as a member of the ACC. his will be the first postseason meeting between the two programs as they have only played at a neutral site twice, in 1917 and 1921.

NON-CONFERENCE SUCCESS
▶ The Terps have won seven-straight games against non-conference opponents, with the last loss coming on September 15, 2019 against Temple. Under head coach Michael Locksley, the Terps are 9-1 in non-conference games with wins over Power Five teams Virginia Tech, West Virginia and Syracuse.

▶ In the Locksley era (2019-pres.), Maryland’s average of 46.2 points per game in non-conference play leads the nation. The Terps’ have scored 30-plus points in nine-of-10 non-conference games under Locksley, and seven-straight.

REWRITING THE RECORD BOOKS
▶ QB Taulia Tagovailoa has established himself as one of the top quarterbacks in the country and in Maryland history, currently standing as the Terps all-time leader in passing yards (7,658), passing touchdowns (50), completion percentage (68%), 300- yard passing games (12), total offense (7,843) and passing efficiency (148.0). He broke the passing yards record vs. #2 Ohio State (11/19), the touchdowns record vs. Rutgers (11/26) and is only five completions away from breaking that record (651).

▶ Tagovailoa is one of two current FBS QBs who holds his school’s career passing yards record despite playing only three seasons (or fewer) at that school. The other is Mississippi State’s Will Rogers, who broke Dak Prescott’s school career passing yards record earlier this year (Note via Press Box Live).

▶ Tagovailoa’s 68.1 career completion percentage (including Alabama) is currently seventh among all active FBS quarterbacks, trailing only Mississippi State’s Will Rogers (70.8), Coastal Carolina’s Grayson McCall (70.4), Ohio State’s CJ Stroud (69.3), Missouri’s Jack Abraham (69.0), South Carolina’s Spencer Rattler (68.7) and Fresno State’s Jake Haenar (68.3). He also stands 14th among all FBS quarterbacks in career completions per game (19.85, 15th in passing yards per game (235.1) and 23rd in passing efficiency (148.3).

THE ROMAN EMPIRE
▶ A College Football News Freshman All-American, RB Roman Hemby has been one of the best running backs in the nation through 12 games, standing top five in the Big Ten in both rushing touchdowns (10) and yards per carry (5.63).

▶ Hemby stands third among all FBS freshmen in yards from scrimmage with 1,200 (924 rushing, 276 receiving), only trailing Ole Miss’ Quinshon Judkins (1,590) and Cal’s Jaydn Ott (1,218). Against SMU (9/17), Hemby became the first Terrapin in the last 25 years to have 150+ rushing yards and 50+ receiving in a game (151 rushing, 62 receiving).

▶ Hemby has accounted for 24.6 percent of the team’s scrimmage yards this season (rushing and receiving), the third-highest percentage by any freshman in the FBS (Ott, 27.9; Judkins, 26.9).

▶ Hemby has three rushes over 50 yards this season, tied for the seventh-most in the nation and second-most in the Big Ten (Blake Corum, Michigan). His two rushes over 70 yards is tied with 10 other players for the most in the FBS.

▶ The Edgewood, MD native has rushed for 100 yards in four of Maryland’s seven wins (114 vs. Buffalo, 151 vs. SMU, 107 at Indiana & 179 vs. Northwestern), tied with Anthony McFarland Jr. for the most in a single season of any freshman in Maryland history. He is the first Terp ever to earn multiple Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors (9/19 & 10/24) and leads all Big Ten freshmen in rushing touchdowns.

▶ Hemby has played a huge role in each of Maryland’s last three wins, scoring three touchdowns in both the Northwestern (10/22) and Rutgers (11/26) games and the game-winning touchdown in the Indiana (10/15) and Northwestern games. He is only the sixth Terp to rush for three or more touchdowns in multiple games in a season in Maryland history. The last was Brandon Ross in 2015 with three each against Rutgers and Indiana. Hemby is also one of only two running backs in the Big Ten to have two games with three touchdowns this season (Mohamed Ibrahim, Minnesota).

J-(P)-B-(U)
▶ DB Jakorian Bennett leads all Power Five players in passes defended since the beginning of the 2021 season with 27 (16 in 2021, 11 in 2022) and has the most career passes defended per game of any active FBS player (1.07). Bennett has 25 pass breakups and four interceptions over his career as a Terp, with 27 of them coming since the beginning of last year.

▶ Bennett is the only player in the Power Five this season to have two games with four-plus passes defensed (five vs. Buffalo, 9/3 & four vs. Purdue, 10/8). His five against Buffalo (9/3) were the most by a Terp since Tino Ellis in 2018 and tied for the second-most by any Big Ten player since 2015. Against Purdue (10/8), Bennett added three pass breakups and his first interception of the season, his seventh career game with at least two passes defensed.

▶ In 12 games played last season, Bennett had 13 pass breakups and three interceptions, for an average of 1.3 pass breakups per game. The senior had five games with at least two pass breakups, tied for the third-most in the country. Bennett’s 16 pass breakups were the most by a Terp since Domonique Foxworth had 22 in 2002.

ON THE OFFENSE: BY THE NUMBERS
1 – Over the last two seasons, Maryland tight ends have combined for 140 receptions, 1,453 yards and 15 touchdowns, the most receptions, receiving yards and second-most touchdowns of any tight end unit in the Big Ten over this time span. This season, TE Corey Dyches ranked third among all Big Ten tight ends in receptions (35) and receiving yards (449).

5 – QB Taulia Tagovailoa currently has the fifth-best career completion percentage in Big Ten history at 68.0 (646-for-950), only trailing Northwestern’s Dan Persa (72.7), Ohio State’s Dwayne Haskins (70.0), Ohio State’s CJ Stroud (69.7) and Wisconsin’s Scott Tolzien (68.1).

6 – QB Taulia Tagovailoa had the sixth-most single season passing yards in Big Ten history last season, only trailing Dwayne Haskins (Ohio State, 2018), CJ Stroud (Ohio State, 2021), Curtis Painter (Purdue, 2006) and Drew Brees (Purdue, 1998 & 1999).

8 – Maryland is one of only eight teams in the FBS and the only team in the Big Ten that return all five starters on the offensive line from a year ago (Cincinnati, Oregon, Pittsburgh, Stanford, Syracuse, Wake Forest & West Virginia). The Terps bring back All-Big Ten performers Spencer Anderson and Jaelyn Duncan as well as center Johari Branch, tackle DJ Glaze and guard Mason Lunsford.

10 – Maryland has eight players that have amassed 10+ receptions this season (Rakim Jarrett, 40; Jeshaun Jones, 40; Corey Dyches, 35; Roman Hemby, 31; CJ Dippre, 30; Jacob Copeland, 26; Dontay Demus Jr., 22, & Tai Felton, 19) trailing only Indiana (10) for the most in the Big Ten.

12 – QB Taulia Tagovailoa has 12 300-yard passing games in his career, the most in program history, breaking the record vs. Purdue (10/8). Last season, Tagovailoa set the single-season program record for 300-yard games with eight.

14 – The Terps have been one of the best teams in the nation in the red area, scoring on 41-of-45 of their trips to the opponent’s 20-yard line, the 14th-best red zone percentage in the nation (91.1). Maryland has scored touchdowns on 32 of those 41 scores, good for 78.0-percent of their red zone scores.

25 – QB Taulia Tagovailoa has thrown at least one touchdown pass in 25-of-28 games as a Terp, including 17-straight from October 30, 2020 to December 27, 2021. Tagovailoa has seven games of at least three passing touchdowns, most recently a career-best four at Charlotte (9/17).

65.4 – Maryland converted at a 65.4-percent clip on fourth down this year (17-of-26), the fifth-highest in the nation of those with more than 25 attempts. The Terps 17 fourth down conversions are the most in a single-season in program history. Maryland has converted a fourth down in 10-of-12 games this year (Purdue & Penn State) and moved the chains a season-high four times in the final game of the regular season vs. Rutgers (11/26).

70 – Over the course of his career, Maryland is 7-0 when WR Jeshaun Jones has 70 or more yards receiving. Jones’ 152 yards in the regular season finale against Rutgers were the most by a Terrapin since DJ Moore’s 210 against Northwestern in 2017

ON THE DEFENSE/SPECIAL TEAMS: BY THE NUMBERS
3 – K Chad Ryland has three made field goals of over 50 yards this season (a 52 and 53 yarder at #4 Michigan and a 51 yarder vs. Michigan State), tied for the most in program history (Nick Novak, 2002) and the second-most in the nation (Harrison Mevis, Missouri). The Second Team All-Big Ten selection was named the Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week after going three-for-three on field goal attempts, all from over 30 yards, against Rutgers (11/27).

9 – S Beau Brade is the ninth-highest rated safety in pass coverage among all Power Five defenders with over 700 snaps at that position, earning an 84.6 grade via Pro Football Focus

15 – P Colton Spangler is averaging 45.1 yards per punt this season (2301 yards on 51 punts), the 15th-best punting average in the nation (min. 3.6 punts per game) and third-best in the Big Ten. The Honorable Mention All-Big Ten selection has pinned 15 punts inside the 20-yard line and booted 12 over 50 yards. Spangler was added to the Ray Guy Award Watch List on October 11.

24 – K Chad Ryland set the Big Ten record for most consecutive made field goals (24) with a 43-yarder in the third quarter of the win against Michigan State (10/1). The senior tied Maryland’s Brad Craddock (2013-14) and Ohio State’s Mike Nugent (2001-02) as part of a streak which spanned 14 games between October 2, 2021 and October 1, 2022.

41 – Maryland has had 41 different players start a game (offense or defense) this season, the seventh-most of any school in the FBS and the most in the Big Ten. The Terps have had 16 different players start on the offensive side of the ball and 25 on defense. OL Spencer Anderson, OL Johari Branch, TE CJ Dippre, OL DJ Glaze, RB Roman Hemby, S Beau Brade and S Dante Trader Jr. have started all 12 games.

53 – LB Jaishawn Barham has 53 tackles through 12 games, the most of any Big Ten freshman. Barham was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Week after tallying five tackles (four solo), two sacks, two tackles for loss and a fumble recovery against Purdue (10/8), only the third Terp freshman in the last 12 years to have two-plus sacks in a game (Ruben Hyppolite vs. Penn State in 2020 & Andre Monroe vs. Wake Forest in 2011). He was named a College Football News First Team Freshman All-American.

NORTH CAROLINA STATE WOLFPACK NOTES:

THE PACK IN BANK OF AMERICA STADIUM
In addition to the three bowl games the Wolfpack has played in Bank of America Stadium, it’s also played four regular season contests in that venue. The Wolfpack closed out the regular season versus East Carolina in Charlotte in 1996 (L, 29-50) and in 2005 (W, 52-14). In 1998 and 1999, NC State and UNC moved their matchup to the stadium. The Wolfpack fell in both of those contests, a 34-37 overtime shootout in Torry Holt’s last regular season game and a 6-10 loss the following year. NC State opened the 2017 campaign at BoA Stadium versus South Carolina in the Belk College Kickoff Game, losing by a touchdown to South Carolina (28-35).

NO PLACE LIKE HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS
Not only does playing in the Duke Mayo Bowl give more NC State fans the opportunity to see their Wolfpack in action, but it will also give a big percentage of the Wolfpack roster a chance to play in their home state or near their hometown. Seventy-four players on the Wolfpack squad are from the state of North Carolina, including eight players who call Charlotte their hometown and 11 others are from the surrounding areas.

NC STATE VS. MARYLAND
NC State and Maryland are no strangers. The overall series record between the two schools dates back over 100 years. The teams first met on Oct. 30, 1909. For 30 years (1923 – 1953) both teams were members of the Southern Conference before leaving to become charter members of the Atlantic Coast Conference in 1953. The Pack and the Terps met every year on the gridiron from 1956 until 2013. The results of all those meetings couldn’t be closer, standing at 33-33-4.

CLOSE CALLS VS. TERRAPINS
In the 21st century, the games between NC State and Maryland have been close ones. Of the last 14 contests between the two teams, 11 have been decided by 10 points or fewer. Five of those 14 games have been decided by four or less points. Here’s a look at the games between NC State and Maryland since the turn of the century:

Year Score Res Site Description
2000 28-35 L College Park Game went into double-overtime.

2001 19-23 L Raleigh The Terrapins scored with under a minute.

2002 21-24 L College Park Maryland kicked a field goal with 34 seconds remaining to take their first and final lead.

2003 24-26 L Raleigh After missing an extra point to tie the game, the Terrapin placekicker booted a 43-yard game-winning field goal with just 23 seconds remaining.

2004 13-3 W College Park The Pack dominated the Terrapins defensively, allowing just 91 yards of total offense.

2005 20-14 W Raleigh NC State won by six to become bowl eligible in the final game of the regular season.

2006 20-26 L College Park The Pack turned the ball over three times to give the Terps a short field and easy scores.

2007 0-37 L Raleigh Maryland shut out the Wolfpack for the first time in 150 games dating back to 1995.

2008 24-27 L College Park Maryland drove 90 yards in the final five minutes and kicked a game-winning FG.

2009 38-31 W Raleigh Maryland got the ball back with 59 seconds and drove to the Wolfpack 42, but the Wolfpack defense held strong.

2010 31-38 L College Park With the Pack playing for the ACC Atlantic Division title, Maryland came back from 14 pts down to win.

2011 56-41 W Raleigh State trailed 41-14 with less than six minutes in the 3rd quarter, but scored 42 unanswered points.

2012 20-18 W College Park Nik Sade hit a 43-yard FG to put the Pack ahead 20-18 with 32 seconds left, and a Terp FG hit the upright as time expired.

2013 21-41 L Raleigh In Dave Doeren’s first year as head coach, the Terrapins won handily in Raleigh.

CLOSE GAMES
The Wolfpack has had five games decided by three points or less this season (three wins, one loss) and the scoring margin in its 10 games against FBS opponents has been just seven points.

Opponent Res Diff
ECU W +1
FSU W +2
Virginia Tech W +1
Boston College L -1
UNC W +3

WINNING VS. WINNERS
Know how many other teams in the nation have more 2022 victories over teams with 7+ FBS wins? ZERO! The Wolfpack is tied with eight other schools with five wins each against 7+ win (vs. FBS) teams. in terms of wins over bowl eligible teams, NC State is tied for third nationally with six – trailing just TCU (8) and Georgia (7).

Most wins vs. 7-win teams Most wins vs. Bowl Teams

  1. NC State 5 1. TCU 8
    Louisville 5 2. Georgia 7
    Tulane 5 3. NC State 6
    Clemson 5 Tulane 6
    Michigan 5 Kansas State 6
    Ohio State 5 Michigan 6
    TCU 5 Ohio St. 6
    Georgia 5 LSU 6
    USC 5 Tennessee 6

SERIAL SIGNAL CALLERS
NC State did not have a quarterback controversy in 2022. In fact, the matter of NC State’s starting signal caller for this season was pretty much decided last season, when Devin Leary threw for a school record 35 touchdown passes. Or was it? Leary – voted ACC Preseason Player of the Year – went down with a season-ending injury in Game 6. Enter Jack Chambers, who started the next two games before true freshman MJ Morris came off the bench vs. Virginia Tech to throw for three touchdowns and win the starter’s job for the next two contests. Next, down goes Morris with an injury and after Chambers started again vs. Louisville, scout team regular Ben Finley came in to lead the team and earned the nod in the regular season finalé. Over the last 15 seasons, (technically) only two other teams had four starting QBs each earn a win in a season: Army in 2020 and Utah State in 2014 (Tennessee also had four players earn wins in 2019, but that included a WR and South Carolina did it in 2021 but the fourth quarter didn’t get the official start because he wasn’t lined up at QB on the first play of the game).

Quarterback Games Started Record
Devin Leary 6 5-1
Jack Chambers 3 1-2
MJ Morris 2 1-1
Ben Finley 1 1-0

STRENGTH IN NUMBERS
NC State’s four starting quarterbacks (plus WR Thayer Thomas) threw for 23 touchdowns in 2022. That mark currently ranks 10th in school history with a game left two play. But what’s most impressive about those 23 touchdowns is whom they were thrown to … or actually how many they were thrown to. Fifteen different players caught touchdowns for the Wolfpack in 2022 – the highest mark in the nation this season. That’s also a school record for number of different players with a TD catch (the previous high was 12 in 2010 and 2014).

FINE-BACKERS
NC State definitely boasts one of the most talented linebacking corps in the country, but also one of the most experienced. The Wolfpack trio of Isaiah Moore (MLB), Drake Thomas (SLB) and Payton Wilson (WLB) combined to post some pretty impressive numbers in 2022 and throughout their careers. Against ACC competition in 2022, they ranked first (Thomas), third (Moore) and sixth (Wilson) in the league in tackles for loss. For their careers, the Pack LBs have played in 134 games, 6,982 snaps, tallied 867 tackles, 110 tackles for loss and 37 sacks!

PACK PICKS
NC State has not had a single interception in a game this season. The Wolfpack did, however, have multiple interceptions in seven of its 12 contests. NC State intercepted 17 passes in 2022 – a mark that leads the ACC and ranks third in the FBS. The last time the Wolfpack had as many multi-interception games was in 2011 – the year NC State led the nation and set a school record with 27 INTs in 13 games. Tony Gibson’s defense has had three games with no INTs this season (UConn, Clemson and Virginia Tech), but picked a pair versus East Carolina, Charleston Southern, Florida State, Syracuse, and Boston College while pulling down three picks in the wins over Texas Tech and Wake Forest.

NHL Preview: Vegas Golden Knights (24-11-1) at Los Angeles Kings (19-12-6)

NHL Editor
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NHL Preview: Vegas Golden Knights (24-11-1) at Los Angeles Kings (19-12-6)

VEGAS GOLDEN KNIGHTS NOTES:

GOLDEN KNIGHTS UPCOMING GAMES
Golden Knights 2022-23 Record: 24-11-1, 49 points (10-9-0 at Home, 14-2-1 on Road)

DATE OPPONENT TELEVISION RADIO SPANISH RADIO
Dec. 27 at Los Angeles Kings AT&T SportsNet Fox Sports 98.9 FM/1340 AM None
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

GOLDEN KNIGHTS LAST GAME RECAP
December 23 – Vegas Golden Knights 5, St. Louis Blues 4 (SO)
Four players had multi-point nights for the Vegas Golden Knights (24-11-1) as they defeated the St. Louis Blues (16-16-2), 5-4, in a shootout on Friday night at T-Mobile Arena. Early in the first period, Alex Pietrangelo skated into a Chandler Stephenson pass and lifted a backhand shot past Jordan Binnington, to give the Golden Knights a 1-0 lead. Less than a minute into the middle frame, Pavel Buchnevich found the back of the net to tie the game, but a quick answer from Mark Stone put Vegas back in front. Vladimir Tarasenko and Justin Faulk scored two minutes apart to give St. Louis its first lead of the game midway through the second period. Late in the frame, Stone found Michael Amadio who buried his second goal in as many games to send the teams into the third tied up at 3-3. Noel Acciari put St. Louis back in front early in the thid, but Stephenson scored with the goalie pulled to tie the game with 1:36 to play. Neither side scored in overtime to set up Stone’s shooutout winner as the Golden Knights came away with two points.

LAST GAME BY THE NUMBERS

  • Amadio had his first multi-point game of the season (1-2—3) to extend his point streak to three games
  • Stone scores agaist the Blues and has three goals, five points in last two games
  • Stephenson extends his point streak to seven games, the longest of his career
  • Pietrangelo nets his first goal against his former team since joining Vegas in 2020-21
  • Logan Thompson made 25 saves, and maintained his dominace in the shootout as he leads all active goaltenders with a .848 career shootout save percentage
  • Vegas improves to 24-11-1 on the season and 10-9-0 at home

Easy Steph-y
Chandler Stephenson leads Vegas in points with 36 (9-27—36) in 36 games after posting his second four-point game in 11 days on Friday night against the Blues. The forward’s offensive performance has been critical to the Golden Knights’ success as he scored the tying goal in the final minutes of regulation to send Vegas into extra time and then scored in the shootout to allow Stone to secure the win. Stephenson currently owns a seven-game point streak with 14 points (3-11—14) during that time. This is the longest point streak for Stephenson in his career and ties 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.

Aye-Aye Captain
Mark Stone posted his seventh multi-point game of the season on Friday and now has three goals in two games. The captain also scored the winning goal in the shootout on his second attempt of the season to give Vegas two points against St. Louis. Stone is second on the team with goals scored (15) this season, just two behind Smith.

It’s-A Me, Amadio
Michael Amadio matched his career high of points in a game with three (1-2—3) on Friday against the Blues and owns five points (2- 3—5) since being promoted to Vegas’ top line on Dec. 19. Tuesday’s meeting with the Kings will be the fourth time that Amadio has faced his former team, where he spent the first four seasons of his NHL career (2017-21).

Hitting the Gas
Since returning to the lineup from personal reasons, Alex Pietrangelo has points in four straight games (1-4—5). The defenseman has recorded an assist in each of the four, including the primary assist on Stephenson’s game-tying goal against the Blues on Friday. Pietrangelo also scored his fourth goal of the season against his former team, his first since joining Vegas in 2020 as a free agent.

Power Play Magic
The Golden Knights have converted on 13 of their 32 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’ 40.6% power play percentage this month is second in the NHL, behind the Edmonton Oilers (41.9%).

Road Warriors
The VGK road record stands at 14-2-1, the best in the NHL. 29 of Vegas’ 49 points have come on the road, including the six points the Golden Knights brought home after going 3-1-0 as the visiting team earlier this month. With their win in Chicago on Dec. 15, the Golden Knights have now returned from a road trip unbeaten twice this season. In November, Vegas went 5-0-0 on the road, which saw scoring from 13 different Golden Knights. With their 14th win on enemy ice coming against the Blackhawks, the Golden Knights currently own a road win streak of four games.

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 131 blocked shots in 36 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, which is the most of any team in the league. Chandler Stephenson leads the club with 36 points, followed by Mark Stone with 30 points, and Jack Eichel with 29 points.

Against the Kings
The contest between the Golden Knights and the Kings is the second of four this season. The last time these teams met, Vegas spoiled Los Angeles’ opening night with a 4-3 win on Oct. 11. The Golden Knights used goals from Jonathan Marchessault, Jack Eichel, William Karlsson, and Mark Stone to defeat the Kings. Stone was the hero of the contest as the captain netted the game-winner with just 26 seconds left in regulation. Vegas is 7-5-1 in Crypto.com Arena but 13-9-1 overall against Los Angeles during the regular season. Alex Pietrangelo leads the Golden Knights with 28 points in 38 meetings, including four points in their last two meetings (1-3—4).

LOS ANGELES KINGS NOTES:

DEC. 27 vs. VEGAS GOLDEN KNIGHTS – 7:30 PM PT // Venue: Crypto.com Arena // TV: Bally Sports West // Radio:
iHeartRadio
-The LA Kings host the Vegas Golden Knights for the second of four meetings between the clubs this season (4-3 L on Oct. 11; Jan. 7;
April 6).
-The Kings look to even the season series against the Golden Knights.
-With a win tonight, the Kings can extend their home win streak to four games (3-2 W on Dec. 17 vs. SJ; 4-1 W on Dec. 20 vs. ANA; 4-3
OTW on Dec. 22 vs. CGY).

WARM-UPS
1) The last time the Kings and Golden Knights met was on Opening Night at Crypto.com Arena this season, Gabriel Vilardi opened the LA Kings season scoring with his first period goal. At 23 years and 56 days old, Vilardi became the fourth-youngest LA skater in the last 15 years to score in the team’s season-opening game. (Nick Shore, 23 years and 11 days; Drew Doughty, 19 years and 299 days; Anze Kopitar, 22 years and 40 days).

2) Only the Florida Panthers (1,284) have put up more shots on goal this season than the LA Kings (1,217).

3) Carolina (13) and Vegas (12) are the only two teams have more one-goal game victories this season than the Kings (10).

4) No team has scored more goals against Vegas all-time than the Kings (77).

5) No skater has drawn more penalties on the Kings than Gabriel Vilardi (17).

vs. VEGAS ALL-TIME:
All-Time Record: 12-13-1
Home: 6-7-1
Away: 6-6-0
OT: 3-1
Shootout: 0-0
2021-22: 2-2-0
2022-23: 0-1-0

FRANCHISE LEADERS vs. VEGAS:
Anze Kopitar* – 26 GP, 30 PTS (11-19=30)
Alex Iafallo* – 26 GP, 19 PTS (5-14=19)
Adrian Kempe* – 26 GP, 18 PTS (7-11=18)
Drew Doughty* – 25 GP, 17 PTS (3-14=17)
Dustin Brown – 23 GP, 12 PTS (5-7=12)
*-denotes active roster player

LAST MEETING vs. VEGAS: October 11, 2022 – LAK 3 vs. VGK 4
Venue: Crypto.com Arena
LAK Goals: Vilardi (1), Kempe (1), Kaliyev (1)
VGK Goals: Marchessault (1), Eichel (1), Karlsson (1), Stone (1)
Goalies: LAK: Quick (L, 47 saves, 51 shots) VGK: Thompson (W, 27 saves, 30 shots)
LAK PP: 0-for-3
LAK PK: 4-for-5

THE NEXT THREE:
Thurs., Dec. 29 | at Colorado Avalanche | 7:00 p.m. MT (6:00 p.m. PT) | Bally Sports West | LA Kings iHeart Radio Audio Network
o The LA Kings play Colorado for the first of three meetings between the clubs this season (March 9; April 8).

Thurs., Dec. 31 | vs. Philadelphia Flyers | 1:00 p.m. PT | Bally Sports West | LA Kings iHeart Radio Audio Network
o The LA Kings and Flyers met nearly one year from this date on Jan. 1, 2022. LA won, 6-3.

Thurs., Jan. 3 | vs. Dallas Stars | 7:00 p.m. PT | ESPN | LA Kings iHeart Radio Audio Network
o Kevin Fiala (6-6=12) is riding an eight-game point streak against the Dallas Stars while teammate Arthur
Kaliyev is riding a four-game point streak (4-1=5), having points in all four career games versus Dallas.

INJURY & MGL REPORT
Player, Games Missed, Date(s), Status
F Alex Iafallo, 23 games, Oct. 18 – Dec. 3 (lower-body)
F Brendan Lemieux, 18 games, Nov. 14 – Dec. 20 (lower-body)
F Quinton Byfield, 6 games, Oct. 27 – Nov. 5 (illness)
F Arthur Kaliyev, 2 games, Dec. 22 – Pres. (lower-body)
F Viktor Arvidsson, 2 games, Oct. 13 (illness); Oct. 25 (illness)
D Sean Durzi, 2 games, Nov. 19 – Nov. 22. (lower-body)
D Drew Doughty, 1 game, Dec. 11 (lower-body)
F Gabriel Vilardi, 1 game, Nov. 27 (lower-body)
2022-23 Total Regular-Season Man-Games List: 55

RECENT TRANSACTIONS (as of 12/25/22)
Dec. 19 – Rasmus Kupari (F) and Jordan Spence (D) recalled from Ontario (AHL).
Dec. 22 – Brendan Lemieux (F) activated from injured reserve.
Dec. 22 – Tobie Bisson (D) loaned to Hockey Canada for the Spengler Cup.
Dec. 23 – Rasmus Kupari (F) and Jordan Spence (D) loaned to Ontario (AHL).
LA KINGS TEAM NOTES:

HOME SWEET HOME
The Kings have found success on the man advantage at home, scoring at least one power play goal in eight of their last nine games at
Crypto.com Arena, dating back to Nov. 12. During that time, the Kings have 12 power-play goals in 30 man-advantage opportunities for
a league-high 40.0% conversion rate on the power play:

Best home PP% since Nov. 12, 2022
Team GP PP%
LA Kings 9 40.0% (12-for-30)
Boston Bruins 12 35.4% (17-for-40)
Edmonton Oilers 10 35.1% (13-for-37)
Toronto Maple Leafs 10 33.3% (11-for-33)
Buffalo Sabres 9 31.3% (8-for-31)

Of those eight games with a power-play goal, four of them saw multiple goals on the power play. The Kings have had five multi-power
play goal efforts at home, which is fifth-most in the league:

Most multi-PPG games at home this season
Team Multi-PPG home games Record
Edmonton Oilers 8 6-2-0
Buffalo Sabres 7 5-2-0
Boston Bruins 7 7-0-0
Ottawa Senators 6 4-2-0
LA Kings 5 3-2-0

KING OF THE KNIGHTS
Kings captain Anze Kopitar is no stranger to the scoring sheet against the Golden Knights with 30 points (11-19=30) in 26 career
games. Of his 26 games against Vegas, Kopitar has been held pointless in just seven occasions. No skater has more points against the
Golden Knights than Kopitar since Vegas joined the league prior to the 2016-17 season, while fellow teammate Alex Iafallo is tied with
Edmonton’s Connor McDavid for fourth-most and Adrian Kempe is tied sixth-most:

Most points against Vegas all-time
Player GP Points
Anze Kopitar 26 30 (11-19=30)
Ryan O’Reilly 21 22 (11-11=22)
Kyle Connor 14 21 (10-11=21)
Alex Iafallo 26 19 (5-14=19)
Connor McDavid 15 19 (8-11=19)
Adrian Kempe 26 18 (7-11=18)
Leon Draisaitl 16 18 (6-12=18)
Nathan MacKinnon 20 18 (5-13=18)

Kopitar is one of four players to have a point-per-game average of over one versus Vegas, joining Connor McDavid (1.27), Leon
Draisaitl (1.13) and Ryan O’Reilly (1.05) (min. GP: 15).

PACIFIC DIVISION SHOWDOWN
The top two teams in the Pacific Division meet for the second of four matchups between one another this season (4-3 L on Oct. 11;
Jan. 7; April 6). The Kings trail the Golden Knights by just five points for the Pacific Division lead:

THE CAPTAIN’S HOUSE
Anze Kopitar sits at 597 (198-399=597) career home points, trailing only Marcel Dionne (288-412=700) and Luc Robitaille (322-
347=669) in club history. With three more points, Kopitar can become the fifth active player to eclipse 600 career home points:

Most home points among active skaters
Player GP Points
Sidney Crosby 568 805 (292-513=805)
Alex Ovechkin 651 749 (393-356=749)
Evgeni Malkin 510 658 (250-408=658)
Patrick Kane 573 636 (224-412=636)
Anze Kopitar 623 597 (198-399=597)

With one more assist at home, Kopitar can become one of two players in franchise history to have 400+ assists at home (Dionne – 412)
and one of four active skaters to accomplish such feat (Sidney Crosby – 513; Patrick Kane – 412; Evgeni Malkin – 408). Kopitar has
1,097 points in 1,247 career NHL games. Kopitar can join Dionne and Robitaille as the only three skaters in franchise history to record
1,100 points for the LA Kings with three more points.

GETTING BACK IN THE GROOVE
Forward Alex Iafallo tallied his fourth goal of the season to give him points in each of this last three games (2-1=3). In 14 games this
season, Iafallo has recorded 10 points (4-6=10) with a plus-5 rating. Since his NHL debut season in 2017-18, Iafallo has accumulated
178 points (75-103=178) in 375 career NHL games which ranks seventh-most among undrafted skaters during that time:

Most points among undrafted skaters since 2017-18
Player GP PTS
Artemi Panarin 381 459 (135-324=459)
Jonathan Marchessault 391 318 (136-182=318)
Mats Zuccarello 338 281 (93-118=281)
Torey Krug 347 253 (45-208=253)
Yanni Gourde 393 245 (99-146=245)
Mark Giordano 385 214 (53-161=214)
Alex Iafallo 375 178 (75-103=178)
Conor Sheary 380 173 (85-88=173)

WE’RE GOING STREAKIN’
Forward Phillip Danault enters tonight riding a four-game point streak (2-2=4), dating back to Dec. 17, and a four-game home point
streak (2-2=4), dating back to Dec. 3 versus Carolina. Danault’s four-game regular point streak matches his season-long streak after
establishing a four-game streak earlier this season (Oct. 22 – 29; 2-2=4). With a point tonight, Danault can extend both his point streaks
to five games. In doing so, his home point streak will tie his career-long previously set with Montreal from Nov. 28, 2019 to Dec. 11,
2019 (1-5=6). Danault can also join Sean Durzi (Nov. 25 – Dec. 6, 2022, 6 GP, 1-8=9) and Kevin Fiala (Oct. 25 – Nov., 1, 2022, 5 GP,
2-6=8) as the only two Kings skaters to record a regular point streak of at least five games this season and can be the second to have a
five-game home point streak (Gabriel Vilardi, Oct. 25 – Nov. 8, 2022, 5 GP, 5-1=6).

PHEONIX RISING
Kings goaltender Pheonix Copley stopped 27 of 30 shots Thursday night versus Calgary to improve to 6-1 on the season. In his seven
games with the Kings this season, Copley has established a 2.49 goals-against average and .910 save percentage to go along with his
6-1-0 record. Since his season debut with the Kings on Dec. 6 at Ottawa, only Washington’s Charlie Lindgren (7) has more wins than
Copley. A native of North Pole, AK, Copley is one of three Alaska-born goaltenders to play in the NHL, joining Jeremy Swayman
(BOS) and Ty Conklin.

SACRIFICING THE BODY
The LA Kings have blocked 607 shots through 37 games played this season, which is third-most in the league behind Vegas (668) and
Philadelphia (628). Of the team’s 607 blocked shots, 243 have come from forwards with Anze Kopitar and Phillip Danault leading the
way. Both Kopitar and Danault sit second and third in blocked shots among forwards in the league this season:

Most blocked shots among forwards
Player GP Blocked shots
Nick Bonino (SJS) 32 49
Anze Kopitar (LAK) 37 46
Phillip Danault (LAK) 37 40
Garnet Hathaway (WSH) 36 38
Auston Matthews (TOR) 34 36
Noel Acciari (STL) 34 36

VILARDI PARTY
Gabe Vilardi scored his team-leading 14th goal of the season last Thursday night, giving him 22 points (14-8=22) in 35 games this
season. With one more point, Vilardi can tie his season-high of 23 points (10-13=23) previously set in the 2002-21 season through 54
games. Vilardi’s 14 goals are sixth-most in the league among forwards 23 years of age or younger:

Most goals by skaters 23 years of age or younger
Player GP Goals
Jason Robertson (DAL) 35 24
Cole Caufield (MTL) 34 19
Jack Hughes (NJD) 34 18
Andrei Svechnikov (CAR) 33 18
Nick Suzuki (MTL) 34 15
Gabe Vilardi (LAK) 35 14
Brady Tkachuk 33 13

ROYAL LEADER
Forward Kevin Fiala scored his 10th goal of the season last week against Anaheim to eclipse the 10-goal plateau for the seventh
consecutive season and extend his team leading point total to 35 (10-25=35). He also boosted his regular-season totals in the 2022
calendar year to 100 points (37-63=100), becoming the 14th player in 2022 to reach the century mark. Per NHL PR, only three other
calendar years in league history had as many: 1992 (20), 1983 (15) and 1993 (14).
Fiala also leads the team in multi-point games this season with 10. (6 GP with 2 PTS; 3 GP with 3 PTS; 1 GP with 4 PTS). With one
more three-plus point game, Fiala can become the first Kings skater since the 2017-18 season, and second in the last 15 years, to have
at least five three-plus point games in a season (Anze Kopitar, 7 GP in 2017-18; 5 GP in 2014-15; 7 GP, 2009-10; 6 GP, 2008-09).

YOUNG GUN
Defenseman Sean Durzi registered an assist last Friday night in Arizona to reach the 20-point mark (4-16=20) for a second
consecutive season. In doing so, Durzi became just the fourth Kings defenseman in the past 25 years to have recorded 20-plus points
in each of their first two or more consecutive seasons in the NHL, including current Kings defenseman Drew Doughty (15 seasons:
2008-09 to 2022-23).
Durzi sits at 98 career NHL games played entering tonight. With two more games played, Durzi can become the 11th defenseman from
his draft class to appear in 100 career NHL games. In 34 games this season, Durzi’s 20 points sits third among defensemen from the
2018 NHL Draft class and eighth among defensemen 24 years of age or younger in the league:
2022-23 point totals among 2018 NHL Drafted defensemen

Player GP Points
Rasmus Dahlin (BUF) 31 37 (10-27=37)
Quinn Hughes (VAN) 29 28 (0-28=28)
Noah Dobson (NYI) 35 23 (10-13=23)
Sean Durzi (LAK) 34 20 (4-16=20)
Two Players n/a 16 (n/a)

RESPECT YOUR EDLERS
Since signing with the Kings in 2021, defenseman Alex Edler has tallied four goals, 21 assists and 25 points in 71 games with a plus15 rating. In 997 career NHL games, Edler has amassed 434 points (103-331=434). With five more games, Edler can become the sixth
Swedish-born defenseman in league history to skate in 1,000 career NHL games, 12th active defenseman, second defenseman from
the 2004 NHL Draft class (Alex Goligoski, 1,010 GP) and seventh overall skater from his draft class to reach such mark.

NHL Preview: San Jose Sharks (11-18-6) at Vancouver Canucks (15-15-3)

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NHL Preview: San Jose Sharks (11-18-6) at Vancouver Canucks (15-15-3)

SAN JOSE SHARKS NOTES:

LAST GAME
Game 35 – 12/22 – SJS 5 vs MIN 2…The Sharks earned the win in their final game before the Holiday break. Erik Karlsson (1g, 3a)
tied his longest ever point streak (nine games) with four points, which also matched a career best. With his first goal, Karlsson passed
Brad Stuart (39) for sole possession of fifth most goals by a defenseman in franchise history. Timo Meier (1g, 1a) also recorded a
multi-point game and has goals in four straight contests. James Reimer saved 24 of 26 shots he faced.
SJ Goals: Karlsson (13), Gregor (2), Meier (18 pp), Lindblom (2), Labanc (8 en)
SF: 25
SA: 26
SJ PP: 2/6
SJ PK: 4/4
W: Reimer
L: Gustavsson

RECENT TRANSACTIONS
12/18 Assigned D Nick Cicek and F C.J. Suess to the San Jose Barracuda
12/17 Placed F Luke Kunin on IR; activated F Matt Nieto off IR
12/12 Activated G James Reimer off IR; Assigned G Eetu Makiniemi to the San Jose Barracuda
12/7 Activated F Nico Sturm off IR

TONIGHT’S OPPONENT
The Sharks entered the break on a strong note after a 5-2 decision against Minnesota at home on the 22nd. San Jose looks to build on that and avenge overtime losses to the Canucks at home on Dec. 27 and Dec. 7. In the past month, including Vancouver’s game against San Jose, the Canucks have been clinical in overtime, with a 6-0 record in 12 appearances. The Canucks own a 7-5-0 record in that span but have a League-low one regulation win. Elias Pettersson and Andrei Kuzmenko (both 2g, 2a) lead Vancouver in scoring against the Sharks this season. Pettersson has been red-hot of late, with seven points (2g, 5a) in his last two games and 14 points (4g, 10a) in his last eight games. The Swedish Forward matched a career high with five points (2g, 3a) in a 6-5 OT win against Vancouver on Dec. 22.

VANCOOUVER CANUCKS NOTES:

TV: Sportsnet Pacific
Radio: Sportsnet 650
MATCH-UP INFO
• Tonight marks the third of four meetings between the Canucks and Sharks this season: Nov. 27 (4-3 OTW @ SJS), Dec. 7 (6-5 OTW @ SJS), Dec. 27 (home), and Mar. 23 (home).

• The Canucks are 63-55-9-7 all-time against the Sharks, including a 28-26-4-5 record at home.

• Vancouver is 9-1-0 in their last 10 games vs San Jose (5-0-0 in their last 5).

• Among active Canucks skaters, Oliver Ekman-Larsson leads the team in career points and games played against San Jose with 28 points (8-20-28) in 55 games played.

• Bo Horvat has 21 points (8-13-21) in 31 career games against San Jose.

• J.T. Miller has 18 points (6-12-18) in 17 career games against San Jose.

• Conor Garland has 17 points (8-9-17) in 18 career games against San Jose.

• Elias Pettersson has 12 points (4-8-12) in 13 career games against San Jose.

• Spencer Martin is 1-1-1 with a 4.24 goals against average and .863 save percentage in three career games against San Jose.

QUICK NUMBERS
• Bo Horvat has 11 points (7-4-11) in his last nine games is tied for third in the NHL in goals (24) this season.

• Quinn Hughes has seven points (0-7-7) in his last nine games and ranks t-3rd in the NHL in assists among defencemen this season (28 in 29 GP).

• Hughes is also ranked third among NHL defencemen in power play assists with 15.

• Elias Pettersson has 14 points (4-10-14) in his last seven games.

• Oliver Ekman-Larsson has three points (0-3-3) in two games against San Jose this season.

• Luke Schenn holds the NHL all-time record of most hits (2,992) by a defenceman.

LAST MEETING – DEC. 7/22: VAN 6 at SJS 5 (OT)
Dakota Joshua tied the game 4:15 into the first…Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Ethan Bear picked up the assists…Joshua scored his second of the game with 24.5 left in the first…Conor Garland and Ekman-Larsson recorded the assists…Nils Höglander scored his third of the season just 1:34 into the second off of a chip pass from Bo Horvat…Ilya Mikheyev re-took the lead with 31.8 left in the second…Tyler Myers picked up the only assist…Andrei Kuzmenko tied the game on the power play with 3:53 left…Elias Pettersson and Horvat picked up the helpers…Pettersson scored the overtime winner with 34.7 remaining…Kuzmenko and Quinn Hughes assisted on Pettersson’s 13th of the season…Luke Schenn led the team with five hits…Schenn also tied the team’s season-high in blocked shots with five…Spencer Martin stopped 34 shots.

2022.23 TEAM RANKS
VAN SJS
Goals For/Game 3.39 (8th) 3.06 (t-20th)
Goals Against/Game 3.88 (30th) 3.57 (26th)
Power Play % 26.6 (t-6th) 22.2 (17th)
Penalty Kill % 68.4 (32nd) 84-8 (t-1st)
Penalty Min./Game 10:43 (25th) 8:32 (13th)
*Rankings are accurate as of 8:00am PT on December 27

LAST GAME PLAYED – DEC. 23/22: VAN 5 at EDM 2
J.T. Miller got the Canucks on the board just 41 seconds into the second period…Conor Garland and Oliver Ekman-Larsson recorded the assists…Miller scored his second of the contest on the power play with 1:27 left in the second…Elias Pettersson and Bo Horvat picked up the assists…Bo Horvat gave Vancouver their first lead just over halfway through the third…Tyler Myers and Garland recorded the assists…Ilya Mikheyev doubled the Canucks lead with under three minutes left in the third…Horvat picked up the only assist…Horvat added an empty netter to make it 5-2…Pettersson and Myers added assists…Pettersson and Miller each ed the team with five shots each…Miller tied his season-high with nine faceoff wins…Collin Delia made 31 stops in his first start in a Canucks uniform.

LAST 5 vs SAN JOSE
• Dec. 7/22: VAN 6 @ SJS 5 (OT)
• Nov. 27/22: VAN 4 @ SJS 3 (OT)
• Apr. 9/22: VAN 4 vs SJS 2
• Feb. 17/22: VAN 5 @ SJS 4 (OT)
• Dec. 16/21: VAN 5 @ SJS 2

EXCEPTIONAL ELIAS
Tallying two goals and three assists, in addition to the shootout winner, on Dec. 22 vs SEA, Elias Pettersson registered his second five-point outing of the season and the fourth such occasion in his career, setting a new Canucks franchise record. The previous mark was held by Alexander Mogilny with three five-point games.

• Pettersson now has 41 points (15-26-41) in 31 games played this season, which is t-11th in the NHL. His 41 points are also the most by a Canucks skater through the team’s first 33 games of a season since Daniel and Henrik Sedin (both 43 pts) in 2010.11.

• With all 15 of his goals so far this season coming at even-strength, Pettersson ranks t-5th in the NHL in even-strength goals and is the only player with 11+ tallies to have scored all of his goals at even-strength.

SEATTLE CRACKIN’
With a 6-5 shootout victory on Dec. 22 vs SEA, the Canucks improved their record vs the Seattle Kraken to 6-0-0 all-time. This marks only the second time in franchise history that the Canucks have won each of their first six regular season games vs an opponent (also won first nine games vs the Washington Capitals from Dec. 17/74 – Oct. 13/76).

SEEING DOUBLE (DIGITS)
Thanks to Ilya Mikheyev’s 10th goal of the season on Dec. 19 vs STL, the Canucks have five 10+ goal-scorers on their roster (Horvat [24], Pettersson [15], Kuzmenko [14], Miller [13], Mikheyev [11]) through the team’s first 31 games for the first time since 1992.93 (also five). Other occasions with at least five 10+ goal scorers through 31 team games include: 1986.87 (5), 1982.83 (5), 1981.82 (5), 1980.81 (5), 1979.80 (6), 1975.76 (5), 1974.75 (5).

• With Mikheyev’s goal, the Canucks also became just the 5th team in the NHL to possess five or more 10+ goal-scorers at that point in the season, joining Buffalo (6), Boston (5), Ottawa (6), and Tampa Bay (5), joined since by Dallas (5), Pittsburgh (5), and Vegas (5).

ALL ABOUT APPLES
Assisting on Brock Boeser’s third period power play goal, Quinn Hughes registered his 28th assist of the season in his 28th game of the season and the 32nd team game for Vancouver. In doing so, he became the second player (third occasion) in franchise history to record 28 or more assists in the team’s first 31 games, and first since Henrik Sedin (28) in 2011.12. Henrik Sedin has the most assists through the team’s first 32 games in a season with 32 (2010.11).

• With two assists on Dec. 3 vs ARI, Quinn Hughes surpassed Doug Lidster for fourth most multi-assist games among defencemen in Canucks history at 35 games.

LET’S GET IT STARTED
Scoring two goals just 34 seconds apart on Dec. 14 at CGY, Bo Horvat and Conor Garland recorded the fifth fastest two goals to start a game in Canucks history at 1:48 in the first.

• Scoring his team-leading 22nd goal on Dec. 17 vs WPG, Bo Horvat is the fourth skater in Canucks history to score at least as many goals in the team’s first 30 games of the season, joining Tony Tanti (22 in ’83-’84), Pavel Bure (25 in ’92-93) and Alexander Mogilny (22 in ’95-96).

• Earlier this season, Horvat became the first player in franchise history to have five multi-goal games in the first 13 games.

MARTY MART AND THE WINNING BUNCH
Collecting his ninth victory of the season on Dec. 14 at CGY, Spencer Martin ranks third in Canucks history for most wins through the first 15 appearances in a season behind Ryan Miller (12 in 2014.15) and Kirk McLean (10 in 1991.92).

BELIEVING IN BRUCE
With the team’s 7-6 OT victory on Dec. 5 vs MTL, the Canucks overcame a 4-0 deficit for only the third time in franchise history to secure a 4-goal comeback win (Jan. 16/73 vs TOR 6-4 W & Oct. 15/71 vs CAL 9-6 W). Coincidentally, Bruce Boudreau also earned his third career win in a game where his team trailed by four-plus goals (Dec. 23/08 w/ WSH & Mar. 31/14 w/ ANA).

• With the team’s 5-2 victory on Dec. 23 at EDM, Bruce Boudreau tied Rick Ley for 11th place on the Canucks all-time coaches wins list at 47.

PUTTING THE ‘SUDDEN’ IN SUDDEN DEATH
Elias Pettersson’s game-winning overtime goal on Dec. 5 vs MTL came just 13 seconds into OT, making it the fastest goal to start a regular season overtime period in Canucks history. The previous record was held by Dixon Ward who scored 15 seconds into OT on Nov. 29/93.

SCHENN’S GREATEST HITS
Luke Schenn has collected the most hits among all skaters in the NHL this season (152 in 33 GP).

• Recording six hits on Dec. 3 vs ARI, Luke Schenn claimed the NHL all-time record for most hits by a defenceman (2,948), surpassing Brooks Orpik (2,946), and is now ranked sixth all-time among all skaters.

• On Nov. 12 at TOR, Schenn matched a franchise record with 12 hits in a game and became the first player in NHL history to record at least three games with 12+ hits in his career.
*The NHL began tracking hits in 2005.06.

RECENT TRANSACTIONS
• Collin Delia recalled from Abbotsford under emergency conditions, Dec. 22

• Arturs Silovs reassigned to Abbotsford, Dec. 22

• Arturs Silovs recalled from Abbotsford under emergency conditions, Dec. 21

• Collin Delia reassigned to Abbotsford, Dec. 21

• Collin Delia recalled from Abbotsford under emergency conditions, Dec. 20

• Arturs Silovs reassigned to Abbotsford, Dec. 20

• Nils Höglander reassigned to Abbotsford, Dec. 19

• Arturs Silovs recalled from Abbotsford under emergency conditions, Dec. 19

• Collin Delia reassigned to Abbotsford, Dec. 19

• Travis Dermott assigned to Abbotsford on LTI conditioning loan, Dec. 19

• Lane Pederson recalled from Abbotsford, Dec. 16

NHL Preview: Edmonton Oilers (18-15-2) at Calgary Flames (16-12-7)

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NHL Preview: Edmonton Oilers (18-15-2) at Calgary Flames (16-12-7)

EDMONTON OILERS NOTES:

8:00 p.m. MT at Scotiabank Saddledome
BROADCAST INFO: 630 CHED Radio, Sportsnet
18-15-2 – 38 PTS RECORD 16-12-7 – 39 PTS
Div. – 5th Conference – 9th RANK Div. – 4th Conference – 8th
1st –32.3% (41/127) POWER PLAY 23rd – 19.5% (23/118)
26th – 72.3% (94/130) PENALTY KILL 10th – 80.7% (109/135)
ALL-TIME RECORDS vs. CALGARY GP RECORD HOME (131) AWAY (131) GF GA
OILERS ALL-TIME vs. CALGARY 262 112-122-19-9 65-49-10-7 47-73-9-2 856 903
OILERS vs. CALGARY – 2022-23 2 1-1-0 0-1-0 1-0-0 6 6

QUICK FACTS
• Tuesday’s game will mark Edmonton’s third and final game against Calgary this season.

• The last time these teams met was on October 29th in Calgary, with the Oilers winning 3-2.

• Leon Draisaitl leads the Oilers with 51 career points against Calgary and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins has appeared in a team leading 50 career games against the Flames.

POINT STREAKING
-Connor McDavid is currently on 15-game point streak posting 31 points (14G, 17A), with the longest streak of his career at 17 games.

-Connor McDavid became the first player in 2022-23 to reach 30 goals and joined elite company in the past 25 years by reaching the mark in 35 or fewer games.

GOALS BY PERIOD
The Oilers rank T-1st in the NHL in goals for in the second period with 47. They also rank tied for 2nd in the league in third period goals with 48.

HATS OFF
Zach Hyman scored his first career hat trick on Dec. 13 at NSH, while posting four points (3G, 1A) in the Oilers 6-3 win over the Predators.

MCDAVID AND DRAISAITL – 1, 2 PUNCH
Connor McDavid (14-17—31 in 15 GP) extended the League’s longest active point streak to 15 contests on Dec. 23 vs. VAN. Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid had five and four points, respectively on Dec. 13 against Nashville and became the fifth pair of teammates in NHL history each with at least 20 goals and 30 assists through 30 games in a season.

McDAVID GOES “ZERO TO SIXTY” IN 31 GAMES
Connor McDavid scored on Dec. 15 en route to becoming the first skater to reach the 60-point mark in 2022-23 – just four games after eclipsing the 50-point plateau on Dec. 7.

BOUCHARD’S LATE GOAL MAGIC
On Nov. 28 vs. Florida, Evan Bouchard scored the game-tying goal in the final five seconds of regulation before Connor McDavid (1G, 2A – 3PTS) capped off his three-point performance with an assist on Leon Draisaitl’s overtime winner.

OVERTIME WINNER
Connor McDavid scored the overtime winning goal on Nov.19 vs. Vegas. The goal marked his 14th career overtime goal and he ranks first in the NHL in overtime goals since 2015-16.

MOST OVERTIME GOALS SINCE 2015-16
Connor McDavid – 14
Jonathan Toews – 13
Brad Marchand – 13
Sidney Crosby – 12

POWER PLAY PUNCH
Leon Draisaitl scored his 100th career power play goal on Nov. 21 against New Jersey and recorded his 101st power play goal which also stood as the game winning goal on Nov. 26 against the New York Rangers. Draisaitl holds sole possession of 5th spot all-time in Oilers power play goals and is just 25 goals shy of the all-time lead held by Glenn Anderson and Ryan Smyth. Draisaitl is one power play goal from tying Jari Kurri (107) for 4th on the Oilers power play goals list.

200 CLUB
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored his 200th career goal with the Oilers on Oct. 26 at STL which stood as the game winning goal. Nugent-Hopkins becomes just the ninth player in Oilers history to record 200 goals with the Oilers and has achieved the mark in 726 games all with the Oilers.

LAST 10 GAMES VS. CALGARY
Record: 6-4-0
GF: 42 GA: 41
2022-22 10/29/22 @ CGY 3-2 W
2022-23 10/15/22 @ EDM 4-3 L
*2021-22 5/26/22 @ CGY 6-5 W (OT)
*2021-22 5/24/22 @ EDM 5-3 W
*2021-22 5/22/22 @ EDM 4-1 W
*2021-22 5/20/22 @ CGY 5-3 W
*2021-22 5/18/22 @ CGY 9-6 L
2021-22 3/26/22 @ CGY 9-5 L
2021-22 3/7/22 @ CGY 3-1 L
2021-22 1/22/22 @ EDM 5-3 W
*Notes playoff game

CALGARY FLAMES NOTES:

FLAMES LAST GAME RECAP
DECEMBER 23, 2022 – CALGARY FLAMES [3] vs. Anaheim Ducks 2
The Calgary Flames finished off their four-game California road trip with a final stop at the Honda Center for a clash with the Anaheim Ducks. The Flames once again found the back of the net early with Michael Stone blasting a shot past Lukas Dostal to put Calgary up 1-0 just 4:19 into the contest. It would stay that way until the 16:44 mark of the first when Mason McTavish netted the equalizer for the Ducks on a five-on-three advantage to square the game through 20. In the second, the Flames would outshoot the Ducks 23-1, culminating in Brett Ritchie scoring his sixth of the season to help the Flames regain their advantage 2-1 and they would hold that lead through 40 minutes of play. In the third, Jakob Silfverberg’s wrist shot would beat Jacob Markstrom to tie the game, and it would stay that way through the end of regulation, and the Flames and Ducks headed to overtime. In the extra frame, Tyler Toffoli would feed Rasmus Andersson who would snap home his career-high fourth game-winning goal of the season and the Flames headed into the Christmas Break with a 3-2 win over the Ducks.

CGY GOAL SCORERS: Stone (4), Ritchie (6), Andersson (5)
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 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
December 16, 2022 STL [5] vs. CGY [2] Buchnevich Markstrom Greiss
*shootout winning goal

FLAMES UPCOMING SCHEDULE:
DATE TIME
(MST) OPPONENT VENUE
December 27, 2022 7:00pm vs. Edmonton Oilers Scotiabank Saddledome
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

TONIGHTS STORYLINES & STATS
This is the third of three matchups this season between the Flames and Oilers. The two-clubs have split the first two Battle of Alberta’s with the road team prevailing on both occasions. This is a Pacific Division Matchup; The Flames have an overall record of 6-2-2 against Pacific Division opponents this season and a record of 10-4-2 against Western Conference opponents.

BATTLE OF ALBERTA THIS SEASON:
This is the third and final edition of the Battle of Alberta during the 2022-23 campaign, with the Flames and Oilers having split the two meetings so far. Their first meeting came on the Flames second game of the season in Edmonton which saw an early Flames offensive onslaught with first period goals from Backlund, Stone, Kadri and Mangiapane on 16 opening-frame shots. Kadri’s goal was his first as a Flame, Michael Stone would go on to record his first three-point game in the NHL and Dan Vladar made 20 saves to help the Flames win round one of the Battle of Alberta 4-3. In their second meeting, Mikael Backlund scored his second against the Oilers this season shorthanded, Brett Ritchie also tallied for Calgary, but two goals from Zach Hyman would help the Oilers take the second meeting 3-2.

HOT STARTS:
Michael Stone scored 4:19 into the game on Friday night in Anaheim to give the Flames an early 1-0 lead, it marked the 13th time this season the Flames have scored in the opening five minutes of a game so far this season which leads the NHL in goals in the opening five minutes of a game. The Flames have scored in the games opening five minutes in three-straight games, including the Stone goal along with Jonathan Huberdeau scoring 3:23 into the game in Los Angeles and Tyler Toffoli and Dillon Dube both scoring in the opening 30 seconds in San Jose.

ANDERSSON’S WINNERS:
Rasmus Andersson was the overtime hero on Friday night in Anaheim, notching his fifth goal of the season, and fourth game-winning goal. His four game-winners are a career-high and lead the Flames while also tying him for the third-most in the NHL so far this season. The Flames have now won 11-straight games when Andersson scores, dating all the way back to the COVID-shortened 2021 season. Andersson and the Flames were 4-0-0 last season in games where he scored and are 5-0-0 so far in 2022-23 when Andersson finds the back of the net.

MARKY MARK:
Jacob Markstrom turned aside 21 of the 23 shots he faced on Friday night at the Honda Center to help the Flames knock off the Ducks 3-2 in overtime. With the win, Markstrom moved into a tie for the sixth most regular season and playoff wins combined in franchise history (75). Markstrom tied Trevor Kidd who spent five seasons with the Flames from 1991 to 1997 playing in 178 games over the course of his time as a Flame. Markstrom is in his third year as a Flame and has amassed the 75 wins in 142 total games in a Flames sweater.

‘DOME SWEET ‘DOME:
The Flames finished their California road-trip prior to the Christmas break with a record of 3-0-1 and recorded seven of a possible eight points. They started with back-to-back wins in San Jose, outscoring the Sharks 12-5 over the two games. They then went to Los Angeles where they fell 4-3 in overtime but finished the trip strong with the 3-2 overtime victory at the Honda Center. The Flames improved their record to 6-3-4 in December, totaling the seventh most points in the NHL through the month.

DID YOU KNOW?
For the first time since 2009, the first two Battle of Alberta matchups in a season have both been decided by one goal. The last time was October 3, 2009 (CGY [4] at EDM [3]) and (October 8, 2009, CGY [4] at EDM 3). Chris Tanev scored his first NHL goal against the Edmonton Oilers on February 4th, 2013. Blake Coleman skated in his first NHL game against the Edmonton Oilers back on January 12th, 2017. Mikael Backlund recorded his first assist against the Oilers on February 4th, 2013.

CALGARY FLAMES vs. EDMONTON OILERS
ALL-TIME HOME AWAY L10 STRK
CGY vs. EDM 131-106-19-6 75-46-9-1 56-60-10-5 5-5-0 L1

GAME INFO:
Calgary Flames vs. Edmonton Oilers
7:00pm MT
Scotiabank Saddledome
TV: Sportsnet West
Radio: Sportsnet Fan 960
2022-23 Season Series: 1-1-0 (Home: 0-1-0, Road 1-0-0)
Oct. 15, 2022 – CGY [4] vs. EDM [3]
Oct. 29, 2022 – EDM [3] vs. CGY [2]
Dec. 27, 2022 – EDM vs. CGY

2021-22 Season Record vs. EDM: 2-2-0
Last Home Win vs. EDM: March 26, 2022 – Edmonton [5] vs. Calgary [9]
Last Road Win @ EDM: October 15th, 2022 – Calgary [4] at Edmonton [3]
Last Home Loss vs. EDM: October 29, 2021 – Edmonton [3] vs. Calgary [2]
Last Road Loss @ EDM: January 22, 2022 – Calgary [3] at Edmonton [5]

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)

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 (3 games: Dec. 20 – Dec. 23)

NHL Preview: Colorado Avalanche (19-11-2) at Arizona Coyotes (11-16-5)

NHL Editor
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0
NHL Preview: Colorado Avalanche (19-11-2) at Arizona Coyotes (11-16-5)

COLORADO AVALANCHE NOTES:

UPCOMING GAMES
Date Opponent Time (MT) TV Radio
Tue, Dec. 27 at Arizona 7 p.m. Altitude 2 92.5
Thu, Dec. 29 LOS ANGELES 7 p.m. Altitude 92.5
Sat, Dec. 31 TORONTO 5 p.m. Altitude 92.5
Mon, Jan. 2 LAS VEGAS 7 p.m. Altitude 2 950 AM

LAST GAME – Dec. 23 (Colorado 3, Nashville 2 in OT)
Samuel Girard scored with 43 seconds left in overtime and the Avalanche rallied from an 0-2 deficit to beat the Nashville Predators, 3-2, at Bridgestone Arena … Mikko Rantanen notched his team-leading 23rd goal of the season and J.T. Compher scored the tying goal with 4:55 left in regulation … Alexandar Georgiev made 38 saves for his fourth straight win and the club’s fourth consecutive victory as well.
SF: 46 SA: 40 PP: 0-4 PK: 2-3

• The Avalanche headed into the holiday break winners of four straight games and 6-1-0 in their last seven contests… The four straight victories matches the club’s longest win streak of the season (Nov. 4-12)

• The Avs improved to 7-2-0 in games decided beyond regulation, 4-1 in overtime and 3-1 shootouts

• Girard’s OT winner was the first of his NHL career

• This marked the third straight overtime game for the Avalanche (all wins) … The last time the Avalanche went to overtime in three straight games and won all three of those OT contests was March 10-14, 2012

• Rantanen’s goal was his 23rd of the season (fifth in the NHL) and league-leading 19th even-strength goal … It was his 10th goal in December, the second most of his career in a single month (13 in March 2021) … Mikko also had an assist for his 118th career multi-point game, passing Dale Hunter (117) for sole possession of 10th place in franchise history

TONIGHT’S GAME
COLORADO at ARIZONA
7:08 p.m. MT
Altitude / 92.5
Altitude: Marc Moser (play-by-play), Mark Rycroft (analyst), Katie Gaus (reporter)
Radio: Conor McGahey
The Avalanche returns from their three-day holiday break as they head to Arizona to face the Coyotes tonight at Mullett Arena … Colorado had the last three days off before flying here earlier this morning … There have been no games on Christmas Eve since 1972 (when three were played) and none on Christmas Day since 1971 (when six were played) … There have been none on Boxing Day (Dec. 26) since 2011-12 … The Avs have won four straight games, tying their longest win streak of the season, and are 6-1-0 in their last seven contests.

AVALANCHE & COYOTES
Tonight is the first of four meetings between the Avalanche and Coyotes and Colorado’s first-ever visit to Mullett Arena.

SCHEDULE vs. COYOTES
Dec. 27 @ ARI
Mar. 11 vs. ARI
Mar. 24 vs. ARI
Mar. 26 @ ARI

RECORD VS. COYOTES
THIS SEASON 2021-22 ALL-TIME SINCE 1995-96 PLAYOFFS
Overall: — Overall: 2-1-1 Overall: 72-52-20 Overall: 55-32-12 Series: 2 (2-0)
Home: — Home: 1-0-1 Home: 38-24-10 Home: 28-14-7 W-L Record: 8-2
Road: — Road: 1-1-0 Road: 34-28-10 Road: 27-18-5

SEEING STARS
Alexandar Georgiev was named the NHL’s Second Star for the week of Dec. 19-25 … He led the NHL with three wins – all of which required extra time – while stopping 82 of the 85 shots for a 0.94 goals-against average and .965 save percentage with one shutout … He opened the week by stopping all 26 shots he faced to record his 10th career shutout in a 1-0 shootout win over the New York Islanders Dec. 19, becoming just the second goalie in Avalanche history to post a 1-0 shootout win (Reto Berra, April 9, 2015 vs. Winnipeg) … Georgiev then made 19 saves in a 2-1 overtime triumph over the Montreal Canadiens on Dec. 21 followed by a 37-save performance in a 3-2 overtime victory over the Nashville Predators on Dec. 23… Georgiev has won his past four starts, his longest win streak of the season, during which he’s allowed just four goals on 111 shots (0.96 GAA, .964 Sv%) … He ranks among the NHL’s top-10 netminders in wins (15, t-5th), save percentage (.925, 6th), goals-against average (2.36, 6th) and shutouts (2, t-5th) …. Going back to last year, Alexandar is 23-7-2 in his last 33 regular-season games (32 starts).

HAPPY HOLIDAYS
The Avalanche finished with one of their best records at the NHL’s holiday break since relocating to Denver
Year Record Pts Pts%
2000-01 23-7-5-0 51 .729
2013-14 23-10-3 49 .681
2021-22 17-8-2 36 .667
2019-20 23-11-3 49 .662
1997-98 19-8-11 49 .645
2022-23 19-11-2 40 .625
2009-10 21-12-6 48 .615
2001-02 21-13-4-0 46 .605

UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL
Each of Colorado’s last three games have gone to overtime (all wins) … The last time the Avalanche went to overtime in three straight games and won all three of those OT contests was March 10-14, 2012 … The Avs are 6-1-0 in their last seven contests with five of the six wins coming by one goal … Half of Colorado’s 32 games this season have been decided by one goal, with Colorado posting a 9-5-2 record in those situations.

CROWDED DRESSING ROOM
The Avalanche have used 36 different players this season (34 skaters, two goalies), the most of any team in the NHL … The club used 39 players in each of the last two seasons, which tied the Avalanche record (since relocating) also set in 2010-11, 2003-04 and 1998-99 … Colorado’s injury list is now at 184 which puts them unofficially fourth in the league behind Washington (228), Columbus (208) and Philadelphia (202).

MOST PLAYERS USED, 2022-23
36 ….. Colorado
35 ……Columbus
33 ……Toronto
31 ……Vancouver

YOU’RE A MEAN ONE, MISTER GRINCH
Colorado has out-shot the opposition 199-132 over the last five games (an average of 39.8 to 26.4) and out-attempted its opponents 319-204 (+115) at 5-on-5 during this stretch … The Avs have allowed two goals or less in six of their last seven games and have yielded only four goals TOTAL over the last four contests.

GRAND CENTRAL
Colorado is 8-2-1 against Central Division teams this season, 4-1-1 at home and 4-1-0 on the road

WORKING OVERTIME
Each of Colorado’s last three games have gone to overtime (all wins) … The last time the Avalanche went to overtime in three straight games and won all three of those OT contests was March 10-14, 2012 … The Avalanche are 7-2 in games decided past regulation, 4-1 in overtime and 3-1 in shootouts … Colorado’s .778 winning percentage beyond regulation ranks fourth in the league, while its three shootout wins are tied for second behind only Montreal (4-0) … The Avalanche are 80-45 all-time in shootouts, the highest winning percentage (.640) of any team since the tiebreaker started in 2005-06 (not including Seattle) … The Avs have the best all-time shooting percentage at 38.3% (161/420) and the fifth-best save percentage at .717 (306/427) … Alexandar Georgiev has participated in all four shootouts this year, allowing just three goals on 13 shots (.769) … His three wins are tied for the league lead while his .769 save percentage ranks second among all netminders who have faced 10+ shots behind Logan Thompson (.917) … Georgiev is 9-4 with a .688 Sv% in career shootouts (48/15) … Pavel Francouz is 3-0 in career shootouts stopping all nine shots he’s faced … Evan Rodrigues is 2-for-2 in shootouts this year, scoring the winning tally in both contests.

THE MOOSE IS LOOSE
Mikko Rantanen ranks sixth in the NHL in goals (23), which includes a league-leading 19 even-strength tallies … Only two Avalanche players ever scored more goals at the time of the NHL’s holiday break, Joe Sakic (25) in 1995-96 and Gabriel Landeskog (24) in 2018-19 … Rantanen’s 23 tallies are the most by a Colorado skater through 32 team games … He has 10 goals in December, the second most of his career in a single month (13 in March 2021) … Mikko scored his 20th goal of the season on Dec. 15 against the Sabres, reaching the 20-goal mark for the sixth time in his seven NHL seasons … Rantanen, who hit the milestone in Colorado’s 28th game of the season, became the first player in Avalanche history to reach the 20- goal mark in fewer than 30 contests.

NHL GOAL LEADERS NHL LEADERS, EVEN-STRENGTH GOALS GOALS IN DECEMBER
30 Connor McDavid EDM 19 Mikko Rantanen COL 12 Tage Thompson BUF
26 Tage Thompson BUF 18 Jason Robertson DAL 12 Connor McDavid EDM
24 Jason Robertson DAL 16 Sidney Crosby PIT 10 Mikko Rantanen COL
24 David Pastrnak BOS 16 Connor McDavid EDM 10 David Patrnak BOS
24 Bo Horvat VAN 15 (3) Players Tied 9 Alex Ovechkin WSH
23 Mikko Rantanen COL

MOST 20-GOAL SEASONS FEWEST TEAM GAMES TO REACH 30 GOALS
AVALANCHE HISTORY (since 1995-96) AVALANCHE HISTORY (since 1995-96)
11 Milan Hejduk 28 GP Mikko Rantanen 2022-23
11 Joe Sakic 30 GP Joe Sakic 1995-96
9 Gabriel Landeskog 30 GP Nathan MacKinnon 2018-19
7 Nathan MacKinnon
6 Mikko Rantanen
6 Paul Stastny
6 Peter Forsberg

MINUTE BY MINUTE BY MINUTE…. I’ll KEEP HOLDING ON
Cale Makar leads the entire NHL in ice time, averaging 27:12 minutes per game … He’s logging a league-high 27:57 in December, with Devon Toews third among all skaters in average ice time this month at 26:39 … Mikko Rantanen leads all NHL forwards in ice time this month (24:42) with J.T. Compher second (23:34)

THE HIT PARADE
Andreas Englund leads the team with 59 hits despite playing just 15 games … He has 45 hits in 11 games this month, fifth most in the NHL so far in December.

STAYING OUT OF THE BOX
The Avalanche have taken only 11 penalties (all minors, 22 penalty minutes) in the last six games, which included a franchise-record streak of four straight games with two penalties or less from Dec. 13-21 … For the year, Colorado ranks sixth in the league in fewest penalties per game (8.2).

ALL HAIL CALE
With an assist on Dec. 21, Cale Makar passed Rob Blake (208) for sixth place on the franchise’s all-time scoring list among defensemen with 209 points … Makar (55 goals) is one behind Adam Foote (56) for sixth place in that category … Cale recorded his 200th career point on Nov. 21 in Dallas, reaching the milestone faster than any defenseman in NHL history (195th game) … He appeared in his 200th career NHL game on Dec. 3 at Boston, with his 203 career points at the time the most ever by a defender through 200 contests … Cale ranks fifth among NHL blueliners this season with 29 points (7g/22a) in 32 contests.

QUICK ON THE DRAW
J.T. Compher leads the NHL with 180 faceoff wins this month (180-153, 54.1%) … Compher won a career-high 25 draws (25-10, 71%) on Dec. 15 against Buffalo, tied for the third-most faceoff wins in Avalanche history … Colorado won a season-high 48 faceoffs against the Sabres, tied for the eighth most in club history and matching its highest total over the last 20 seasons.

FACEOFF WINS, AVALANCHE HISTORY TEAM FACEOFF WINS, AVALANCHE HISTORY
28 Joe Sakic Jan. 6, 1999 vs. Florida 54 Jan. 6, 1999 vs. Florida
27 Joe Sakic Nov. 3, 2000 vs. Carolina 52 Feb. 22, 2000 vs. Atlanta
25 J.T. Compher Dec. 15, 2022 vs. Buffalo 51 Nov. 1, 1997 vs. Calgary
25 Chris Drury Feb. 22, 2000 vs. Atlanta 51 Feb. 10, 2000 vs. Calgary
25 Peter Forsberg Dec. 19, 1998 at San Jose 50 Oct. 14, 2000 vs. Columbus
50 Oct. 28, 1999 at Philadelphia
50 Jan. 18, 2001 vs. Vancouver
48 Dec. 15, 2022 vs. Buffalo
48 Jan. 6, 2017 vs. NY Islanders

THAT’S THE POWER OF LOVE
Colorado ranks sixth in the NHL in power-play percentage at 26.6% (29-109) … The Avalanche had the NHL’s top-ranked power play for 55 consecutive days from Oct. 15–Dec. 9 … The Avs are 12-5-1 when scoring a PPG this year, 3-6-1 when failing to do so … Colorado tallied a power-play goal in a season-high eight consecutive games from Oct. 29–Nov. 26 … The Avalanche’s power play scored at a 32.8% clip during the 2022 playoffs, the highest rate on record (since 1977-78) by an NHL team that played at least 20 games … During the 2021-22 regular season, Colorado finished seventh in power-play percentage (24.0%) and led all teams in power-play goals (67).

FIN-ISH WHAT YOU STARTED
Mikko Rantanen tallied his fifth career hat trick, including the tying score with 8.1 seconds left in regulation and the game-winning goal in overtime to finish Colorado’s Dec. 11th victory in St. Louis … Rantanen became the second player in Avalanche history to complete a hat trick with an overtime goal, joining Valeri Kamensky on Jan 3, 1998 at Pittsburgh … Overall, he’s the fourth skater in franchise history to accomplish the feat, as two Quebec Nordiques did it during the 1992-93 season: Owen Nolan on Nov. 26, 1992 at Toronto and Scott Young on Dec. 12, 1992 at San Jose … Rantanen’s five hat tricks are tied for the sixth most in franchise history and the third most since the team relocated behind Joe Sakic (10) and Peter Forsberg (7).

ONE MONTH AT A TIME
Colorado finished 8-3-0 in November, the 23rd consecutive month that the Avs have posted a .500 or better record in… And 21 of those 23 months featured a winning record.

EAST SIDE STORY
The Avalanche are 10-6-1 against Eastern Conference teams … Colorado finished 22-8-2 against the East last year, its most wins and tied for its most points (46) ever against the other conference … Since Jared Bednar was hired in 2016-17, the Avs are 100-60-16 against the Eastern Conference, which includes a league-best 53-20-7 (.706) mark since 2019-20.

DAYDREAM BELIEVER
The Avalanche will play nine afternoon contests this season … The schedule originally called for 10 daytime contests but the Nov 25th game in Nashville was postponed due to a water main break at Bridgestone Arena … The Avs are 1-0-0 in day games this season and 14-3-1 (.806) in afternoon contests since 2019-20, the second highest points percentage in day contests during that span behind only Carolina (19-3-2, .833) … The Avs finished 5-1-0 in day games last year, 3-0-0 at home.

REVERSE RETRO JERSEY
The Avalanche are 2-0-0 in their adidas Reverse Retro 2022 ADIZERO jerseys … Colorado will wear the RR jersey four times this season: Nov. 26 vs. Dallas (W, 4-1), Dec. 11 at St. Louis (W, 3-2 OT), Dec. 29 vs. Los Angeles and Jan. 2 vs. Vegas … The 2022 Colorado Avalanche Reverse Retro uniform pays tribute to its home state by incorporating colors of the Colorado flag while reintroducing the original jersey design donned in the 1995 inaugural season.

POSTPONEMENT
The Avalanche and Predators game at Bridgestone Arena on Nov. 25 was postponed due to a water main break that significantly impacted the event level at the arena … The contest has been rescheduled for April 14 as Colorado’s final game of the regular season – it’s the second half of a back-to-back, the Avs play Winnipeg at home on April 13.

MILE HIGH MAINSTAY
Erik Johnson is in his 15th NHL season and 13th with the Avalanche … His 13 seasons rank fourth in franchise history behind only Joe Sakic (20), Adam Foote (17) and Milan Hejduk (14), with Foote the only other defenseman on that list … Johnson is the longest current tenured athlete of any of Denver’s four major sports teams, followed by Gabriel Landeskog and Rockies outfielder Charlie Blackmon (both 12 seasons).

BACK-TO-BACK
The Avalanche will play 13 back-to-backs this season … They have competed in four back-to-backs so far, going 2-2-0 in the first game and 2-2-0 in the second … The Avalanche posted a 15-5-2 (.727) combined record in back-to-back games last season, the second-best mark behind Minnesota (.732, 19-6-3) … The Avs finished 7-3-1 in the first game and 8-2-1 in the second (.773), with only Tampa (10-0-2, .917) posting a better record in the second half of a back-to-back.

ROCKY MOUNTAIN HIGH; AVS WIN STANLEY CUP
The Avalanche won their third Stanley Cup championship in 2022 following 1996 and 2001 … Colorado claimed its title by going 16-4 in the postseason, which included a pair of sweeps and defeating the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Lightning in six games during the Final … The Avs became the sixth team to win a Cup with four or fewer postseason losses since 1987 when the NHL went to four rounds of best-of-seven … And of those six only one team had fewer losses, the 1988 Oilers (two) … The Avalanche did not lose consecutive games all playoffs.

ALL I DO IS WIN WIN WIN NO MATTER WHAT
The 2021-22 Avalanche equaled the NHL record for the most combined regular season/playoff wins with 72 (56 regular season, 16 playoff), a feat only three teams in NHL history had achieved before … The 2021-22 Avalanche joined the 1995- 96 Red Wings, 1983-84 Oilers and 1976-77 Canadiens on that list.

RECORD REGULAR SEASON
The 2021-22 Avalanche set a franchise record with 56 wins and 119 points en route to winning their second straight division title and 11th since moving to Denver (13th in franchise history) … The Avs clinched the conference’s top spot despite facing a 10-point deficit behind the No. 1 seed on Dec. 3 … The last team to win their conference after overcoming a deficit of 10 or more points was the Rangers in 2014-15 (13) … The Avalanche sat in first place in the Western Conference over the final 106 days of the season and from Feb 10–April 19 were first in the entire NHL for all but one day (68 out of 69).

WINS, FRANCHISE HISTORY POINTS, FRANCHISE HISTORY
56 2021-22 119 2021-22
52 2000-01 118 2000-01
52 2013-14 112 2013-14

TAKE ME HOME TONIGHT
The 2021-22 Avalanche posted their best home season in franchise history with a 32-5-4 record (68 points) … Colorado tied Florida for the league lead in home points, ending with the most home points in the NHL for the second straight season after tying Pittsburgh with 46 in 2020-21 … The Avs posted an 18-game home winning streak from Nov. 11–Jan. 30, the fifth longest run in NHL history, and had a franchise record 22-game home point streak (20-0-2) from Oct. 30–Feb. 10.

AINT NO MOUNTAIN HIGH, AINT NO VALLEY LOW
Colorado’s Stanley Cup championship came five years after a last-place finish in 2016-17 …. The Avs became the fifth team in the expansion era (1967-68) to win a title within five years of a last place finish and the first since the 2009 Penguins … Colorado won the Presidents’ Trophy the previous year in 2020-21, becoming the first NHL team to go from worst to first overall in four seasons or less since the Bruins in 1970-71.

DOWN BUT NEVER OUT
Ten of the Avalanche’s wins during the 2022 postseason were earned in come-from-behind fashion, including four thirdperiod comebacks … Colorado’s 10 comeback wins tied the 2009 Penguins for the most in NHL history … The Avs trailed in all four of their series-clinching victories, the first team in NHL history to do so.

ROAD, SWEET ROAD
The Avalanche finished a league-best 9-1 on the road during the 2022 postseason, tied for the fewest road losses by a Stanley Cup champion since 1987 (the 2012 Kings and 1995 Devils were both 10-1) … Colorado earned all four series-clinching wins on the road.

MAGIC YEAR FOR MAKAR
After becoming the first player in franchise history to win the Norris Trophy in 2021-22, Makar followed that up by winning the 2022 Conn Smythe as playoff MVP … At 23 years, 239 days, he became the youngest defenseman in 52 years to win the Conn Smythe and just the third overall to do so at age 23 or younger, joining Bobby Orr with the 1970 Bruins (22 years, 51 days) and Serge Savard with the 1969 Canadiens (23 years, 102 days) … Makar won the Conn Smythe just five days after receiving his first Norris Trophy … He became the third player to win both awards in the same season, following Orr in 1970 and Nicklas Lidstrom in 2002 … Makar led the Avalanche and all NHL defensemen with 29 points (8g/21a) in 20 games, the fourth-highest total by a defenseman in Stanley Cup Playoff history behind Paul Coffey (37) with the 1985 Oilers, Brian Leetch (34) with the 1994 Rangers and Al MacInnis (31) with the 1989 Flames.

SONG SUNG BLUE(LINE)
Colorado’s defensemen produced 64 goals last season, a franchise record and the most by any team since the 1992-93 Capitals (94) … The Avalanche’s blueline also lead all teams in points with a franchise-record 238, the most since the 1995- 96 Red Wings had 240 … Colorado’s defensemen finished with 69 points (18g/51a) during the playoffs, the most by any blueline in a four-round postseason since the 1984-85 Oilers (77).

IN BEDNAR WE TRUST
Jared Bednar is in his seventh season as the Avalanche’s head coach … Hired on Aug. 25, 2016, he is the third-longest tenured coach in the NHL behind Jon Cooper (March 25, 2013) and Mike Sullivan (Dec. 12, 2015) … Jared led the 2021-22 Avalanche to their most successful regular season in franchise history (56-19-7, 119 points) and continued that into the postseason with a 16-4 playoff mark en route to capturing the 2022 Stanley Cup … Bednar, who won a Calder Cup with the Lake Erie Monsters in 2016 and a Kelly Cup with the South Carolina Stingrays in 2009, became the first individual to win a championship in the NHL, AHL and ECHL as a head coach … He is the winningest coach in Avalanche history with a 259-179- 48 (.582) regular season record … Bednar owns a 40-22-1 (.635) record in 63 postseason games, the best playoff winning percentage among active coaches and the third highest all time (min 50 GP) behind Glen Sather (.706) and Toe Blake (.689).

SUPER JOE ACHIEVES RARE FIRST
General Manager (now President) Joe Sakic, who captained the Avalanche to a pair of titles in 1996 and 2001, became the first individual in league history to win a Stanley Cup as a captain and GM with the same organization … He was just the third to win a championship as a player and general manager with the same franchise, joining Serge Savard of the Canadiens and Milt Schmidt of the Bruins.

TIP OF CAP
Gabriel Landeskog is in his 12th NHL season and 11th as team captain … He was the youngest captain in NHL history when he assumed the role at 19 years, 286 days on Sept. 4, 2012, a title he held for four years before Connor McDavid was given the ‘C’ by Edmonton at 19 years, 266 days on Oct. 5, 2016 … Landeskog is the second-longest serving captain in franchise history behind Joe Sakic (17 seasons, 16 consecutive) … Only three players have been captain of their current teams longer:

Sidney Crosby (PIT) ………………… 16th season (since 2007-08)
Jonathan Toews (CHI) …………….. 15th season (since 2008-09)
Alex Ovechkin (WSH) ……………… 14th season (since 2009-10)
Gabriel Landeskog (COL) …………11th season (since 2012-13)

2022-23 AVALANCHE COACH’S CHALLENGES (3 W, 0 L)
W Oct. 28 at New Jersey – call on the ice overturned. Devils player was offsides, no goal
W Nov. 23 vs. Vancouver – call on the ice overturned for goaltender interference on Canucks player. No goal
W Nov. 29 at Winnipeg – call on the ice overturned for goaltender interference on Jets player. No goal

2022-23 RECORD BY JERSEYS
Burgundy: 6-5-1 (wore it once as visitors, 5-1 loss in Boston on Dec. 3)
White: 9-5-0
Blue: 2-1-1
Reverse Retro: 2-0-0

2022-23 AVALANCHE TRANSACTIONS
Dec. 17 – Brad Hunt recalled from the Colorado Eagles (AHL) … Jean-Luc Foudy, Charles Hudon reassigned to Colorado (AHL)
Dec. 18 – Danila Zhuravlyov placed on unconditional waivers
Dec. 19 – Martin Kaut recalled from the Colorado Eagles (AHL) … Denis Malgin acquired from the Toronto Maple Leafs in
exchange for Dryden Hunt … Kurtis MacDermid activated from Injured Reserve … Danila Zhuravylov cleared waivers
and contract terminated

ARIZONA COYOTES NOTES:

3 HARD LAPS
• Arizona is 2-2-1 in its last 5 games but hold a 5-3-2 record at home this season

• Nick Schmaltz comes into the matchup on a 5-game point streak and can match the longest by a Coyote this season with a point tonight (Keller, 11/5 – 11/17)

• The last time the Coyotes beat the Avalanche three straight times was a four-game run from 1/16/12 – 4/6/13

LAST GAME
Coyotes 2, Kings 1 (SO) – December 23, 2022 – Mullett Arena
ARI Goals: Schmaltz (6)
LAK Goals: Iafallo (4)
ARI Goalie: Vejmelka (W) – 26 svs on 27 shots
LAK Goalie: Quick (O) – 23 svs on 24 shots
PP: 1-6 PK: 1-2
Notes: Arizona won a game via shootout for the first time this season…Nick Bjugstad registered the shootout-deciding goal, which was the only goal of the shootout…The shootout goal was Bjugstad’s seventh career shootout-deciding goal…Nick Schmaltz extended his point streak to five games (2-5-7) with his first period goal. The tally came on a 5-on-3 power play, the second such tally for the Coyotes this season (12/13 at San Jose)…Clayton Keller got back on the scoresheet by assisting on Schmaltz’s goal, his 19th of the season to put him in a tie with Matias Maccelli for the most on the team…Shayne Gostisbehere pitched in an assist for his 10th point of December, giving the Coyotes four players with 10 points this month (Gostisbehere, Keller, Schmaltz, Chychrun)…Karel Vejmelka stopped 26-of-27 shots as well as three shootout attempts en route to his 10th win of the season…Friday marked the fifth consecutive game the Coyotes and their opponent were tied after two periods…ARI is yet to lose in regulation on a Friday this season (3-0-2)…The Yotes’ 39 hits were tied for the most hits in a game this season (12/9 vs BOS)…Jack McBain threw 7 of those hits and overtook the team-lead in that category this season (103)…Matias Maccelli left the game in the first period and did not return due to a lower-body injury

MAN GAMES LOST (Name/Roster Status/Injury Type/Games Missed/Last Game Played)
Liam O’Brien…Week-to-Week…Upper-Body (4 / 12/16)
Total man games lost: 67 games
Jakob Chychrun (16), Nick Schmaltz (15), Zack Kassian (9), Connor Timmins (9), Andrew Ladd (6), Josh Brown (3),
Ben McCartney (3), Juuso Valimaki (1), Lawson Crouse (1)

RECENT TRANSACTIONS
-12/18 – Assigned F Jan Jenik to Tucson (AHL)
-12/17 – Recalled F Jan Jenik from Tucson (AHL)
-12/15 – Assigned D Dysin Mayo to Tucson (AHL)
-12/8 – Loaned F Dylan Guenther to Team Canada for the 2023 WJC
UPCOMING SCHEDULE

DATE TIME
(AZ)

OPPONENT VENUE TV RADIO
Thur, Dec 29 7pm vs TOR Mullett Arena Bally Sports Arizona 98.7 FM Sat, Dec 31 3pm at TBL AMALIE Arena Bally Sports Arizona ESPN 620 Tue, Jan 3 5pm at FLA FLA Live Arena Bally Sports Arizona TBD

YOTES & AVS

  • Tonight is the first of four ARI-COL matchups this season. They’ll play in Colorado on 3/11 and 3/24 as well as 3/26 in AZ
  • Excluding the COVID season, the three games in March will represent the first time the Coyotes will play a team three times in a month since March of 2017 when the team played St. Louis 3x
  • Arizona split the season series with the eventual Stanley Cup champs (2-1-1) last season, including winning the final two matchups.
  • A win tonight would mark the Coyotes’ first 3+ game win streak over the Avs since a four-game run from 1/16/12 – 4/6/13
  • Nick Schmaltz registered the game-winning goal in the last matchup back on 3/3/22, which was assisted by Clayton Keller and Jakob Chychrun
  • Karel Vejmelka recorded 42 saves in the 2-1 win on 3/3/22. He’s faced the Avs twice in his career and holds a .920 SV% over his two starts from last year
  • Matias Maccelli made his NHL debut in the 3/3/22 ARI-COL game

-Coyotes franchise vs Avalanche/Nordiques:
• All-Time: 60-60-12-12
• Home: 31-29-7-5
• Road: 29-31-5-7
• L10: 4-4-2
• STRK: W2

SCORING NOTABLES AGAINST THE AVALANCHE
Clayton Keller…2-11-13…20 career GP
Jakob Chychrun…2-5-7…20 career GP
Nick Ritchie…2-7-9…15 career GP
Shayne Gostisbehere…1-4-5…12 career GP
Career Leaders
Goals (Kassian, 5)… Assists (Keller, 11)…Points (Keller, 13)
Career Leaders Among Defensemen
Goals (Chychrun, 2)…Assists (Chychrun, 5)…Points (Chychrun, 7)

KELLER INSTINCT

  • Clayton Keller enters tonight among Arizona leaders in goals (12, 2nd), assists (19, T-1st) and points (31, 1st) in 2022-23…He comes into tonight with 9 pts (5-4-9) in his last 8 GP
  • Keller picked up an assist on Friday and has produced five goals and 10 points over 12 December games
  • Those five tallies all came in the form of multi-goal games (Hat Trick on 12/11, 2 goals on 12/16)…The pair of multigoal games already ties the second-most Keller has recorded in a season (5 in 2019-20)
  • Keller has posted two multi-goal games in a month four different times but has never registered three multi-goal games in a month
  • After being named a Calder finalist in 2017-18, Keller only averaged a hair over half a point per game in the ensuing seasons. His scoring line has spiked back up under André Tourigny, specifically since 11/18/21 10/4/18 – 11/17/21 11/18/21 – 12/23/22

GP 224 83
G 48 37
A 84 51
P 132 88
P/GP 0.59 1.06

IN THE NICK OF TIME

  • Nick Schmaltz has begun his season with 6-8-14 in 17 GP and comes into tonight on a 5-game point streak (2-5-7 in that span)
  • Schmaltz scored last time out (12/23) to extend his point streak to 5 games, which was his first power-play tally of the season
  • His 5-game run is his longest of the season. His only 6+ game point streaks have come during his career-best 7-game run in March of 2022 and a 6-game streak in October of 2019
  • All 14 of Schmaltz’s points have come since returning from injury (11/21), which ranks T-1st on the Coyotes since then
  • The forward has tallied 3-7-10 in his last 8 GP predating his 5-game point streak
  • Schmaltz has found the scoresheet in all six home games he’s played this season, producing 3-6-9 at Mullett Arena…The six-game home point streak is the longest by a Coyote since Keller’s 9-game run from 1/17/22 – 2/25/22
  • Arizona is 12-3-2 when Schmaltz records a multi-point game since the start of 2021-22…This season in Coyotes wins, he’s registered 3-5-8 in 5 GP
  • In his last 82 games (since 4/30/21), Schmaltz has recorded 29-45-74…He’s also registered 29-43-72 in his last 73 GP
  • Since his Coyotes debut on 11/27/18, Schmaltz has recorded 55-109-164 in 219 GP. His 0.75 PPG paces the Coyotes since then (min. 50 GP) and his point total trails just Keller in that span

CHYCHA CHYCHA BOOM BOOM

  • Jakob Chychrun has posted a 3-10-13 scoring line in 16 games this season. All 13 of his points have come in his last 15 games
  • Since 11/23 (his last 15 GP), Chychrun ranks among NHL blueliners in goals (T-6th), assists (T-7th), points (T-7th) and shots (54, 3rd)
  • The blueliner has chipped in 0-6-6 over 6 home games for Arizona this season
  • Chychrun’s start is the second consecutive season a Coyotes defenseman has recorded 13+ points within his first 16 games played of a campaign, as Shayne Gostisbehere (2-11-13 in 16 GP) accomplished the feat last year
  • The seventh-year NHLer enters tonight with 99 career assists. A helper tonight would make him just the ninth defensemen in Coyotes/Jets history to register 50+ goals and 100+ assists with the franchise

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Shayne Gostisbehere (8-16-24 in 32 GP) enters tonight ranking among NHL d-men leaders in goals (T-4th), points (T-15th), power-play goals (3, T-6th) and even-strength points (14, T-13th) on the campaign

  • The blueliner has compiled 10 pts (4-6-10) in his last 11 games, as well as 14 pts (4-10-14) in his last 15 GP (since 11/23)
  • Since 11/23, Gostisbehere ranks T-1st among NHL d-men in goals, T-4th in points as well as T-7th in assists
  • Gostisbehere (82-212-294 in 495 GP) is closing in on 300 pts and 500 games for his career. He is on track tobecome the sixth player and second defenseman from the 2012 Draft Class to play in 500+ games and record 300+ points (Filip Forsberg, Tomas Hertl, Morgan Rielly, Teuvo Teravainen, Alex Galchenyuk)

NFL Transactions 12-27-22

NFL Editor
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0
NFL Transactions 12-27-22

​The following are the NFL transactions for Tuesday, December 27. Transactions will be published each day after they are circulated to NFL clubs. This public version will include waiver requests, assignments via waivers, terminations, free agent signings, reserve list and practice squad additions and deletions, and trades.

WAIVER SYSTEM TRANSACTIONS


WAIVER REQUESTS (All are NO RECALL)

ARIZONA
    Davis, WyattGOhio State   

DENVER
    Ojemudia, MichaelDBIowa   

GREEN BAY
    Galeai, TipaLBUtah State   
         From Reserve/Injured

SEATTLE
    Nixon, DaviyonDTIowa   


    CLAIMING DEADLINE: 4:00 p.m., N.Y. Time, Wednesday, 12/28/22


ASSIGNMENT VIA WAIVER SYSTEM

SEATTLE
    Mack, IsaiahNTChattanooga   
         From BALTIMORE
 
 
ACTIVE LIST ADDITIONS


ACTIVATION

MIAMI
    Eichenberg, LiamTNotre Dame   
         From Reserve/Injured; Designated for Return


FREE AGENT SIGNINGS

GREEN BAY
    Melton, BoWRRutgers   
         From Seattle Practice Squad
 PITTSBURGH
    Crowder, TaeLBGeorgia   
         From New York Giants Practice Squad

SEATTLE
    Crawford, XavierDBCentral Michigan   
         From Seattle Practice Squad
    Igwebuike, GodwinRBNorthwestern   
         From Seattle Practice Squad

TAMPA BAY
    Russell, J.J.LBMemphis   
         From Tampa Bay Practice Squad



RESERVE LIST ADDITIONS

GREEN BAY
    Lowry, DeanDENorthwestern   
         Reserve/Injured

MIAMI
    Gaskin, MylesRBWashington   
         Reserve/Injured

NEW YORK JETS
    Ogbuehi, CedricTTexas A&M   
         Status Changed to Reserve/Injured; Designated for Return
         (Also see OTHER TRANSACTIONS/COMMENTS)

PITTSBURGH
    Allen, MarcusLBPenn State   
         Reserve/Injured

SEATTLE
    Blount, JoeyDBVirginia   
         Reserve/Injured
    Dissly, WillTEWashington   
         Reserve/Injured

TAMPA BAY
    Wells, JoshTJames Madison   
         Reserve/Injured



PRACTICE SQUAD TRANSACTIONS


ADDITIONS

ATLANTA
    Ratkovich, ClintRBNorthern Illinois   

BALTIMORE
    Bynes, JoshLBAuburn   
         Veteran

CAROLINA
    Norman, JoshDBCoastal Carolina   
         Veteran

DENVER
    Hood, DelonteDBPeru State   

JACKSONVILLE
    Sanborn, GarrisonLSFlorida State   
         Veteran

LAS VEGAS
    Calitro, AustinLBVillanova   
         Veteran

NEW ENGLAND
    Hayes, TaeDBAppalachian State   

NEW ORLEANS
    Baker, KawaanWRSouth Alabama   

PITTSBURGH
    Nelson, ScottDBWisconsin   

SAN FRANCISCO
    Robinson, CurtisLBStanford   

SEATTLE
    Jones, TonyRBNotre Dame   
         Exception
    Parker, StevenDBOklahoma   
         Veteran

TAMPA BAY
    Cook, DylanTMontana   
    Odenigbo, IfeadiDENorthwestern   
         Veteran


REVERSIONS FROM ACTIVE/INACTIVE LIST

INDIANAPOLIS
    Olubi, SegunLBSan Diego State   

LOS ANGELES CHARGERS
    Rountree, LarryRBMissouri   


PRACTICE SQUAD; INJURED

NEW ENGLAND
    Washington, ScottyTEWake Forest   
         Does Not Count on Practice Squad


CONTRACTS TERMINATED BY CLUB

ATLANTA
    Fisk, TuckerTEStanford   
    Henry, Ra’ShaunWRVirginia   

DENVER
    Ozigbo, DevineRBNebraska   

KANSAS CITY
    Ealy, JerrionRBMississippi   

LAS VEGAS
    Wright, WillieGTulsa   

SAN FRANCISCO
    Swilling, TreDBGeorgia Tech   


CONTRACTS TERMINATED BY PLAYER

CLEVELAND
    Rochell, IsaacDENotre Dame   

NEW YORK GIANTS
    Crowder, TaeLBGeorgia   
         (Also see ACTIVE LIST ADDITIONS)

SEATTLE
    Crawford, XavierDBCentral Michigan   
         (Also see ACTIVE LIST ADDITIONS)
    Igwebuike, GodwinRBNorthwestern   
         (Also see ACTIVE LIST ADDITIONS)
    Melton, BoWRRutgers   
         (Also see ACTIVE LIST ADDITIONS)

TAMPA BAY
    Russell, J.J.LBMemphis   
         (Also see ACTIVE LIST ADDITIONS)
 
 
OTHER TRANSACTIONS/COMMENTS


RETURNED TO PRACTICE

NEW YORK JETS
    Ogbuehi, CedricTTexas A&M   
         Remains on Reserve/Injured; Designated for Return


DE-ACTIVATIONS (All are 12/26)

INDIANAPOLIS
    French, WesleyCWestern Michigan   
    Granson, KylenTESouthern Methodist   
    McGrone, CameronLBMichigan   
    Moore, KennyDBValdosta State   
    Ryan, MattQBBoston College   
    Williams, ChrisDTWagner   

LOS ANGELES CHARGERS
    Bandy, MichaelWRSan Diego   
    Michel, SonyRBGeorgia   
    Norton, StormTToledo   
    Spiller, IsaiahRBTexas A&M   
    Stick, EastonQBNorth Dakota State   
    Woods, J.T.DBBaylor

NFL: Week 17 Injury Report — Tuesday

NFL Editor
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NFL: Week 17 Injury Report — Tuesday
DALLAS COWBOYS at TENNESSEE TITANS on Thursday night
DALLAS COWBOYS
 The Cowboys did not practice Monday. The Monday practice report is an estimation.
Practice Report
    DID NOT PARTICIPATE IN PRACTICE
 MondayRB Tony Pollard (thigh), LB Leighton Vander Esch (neck)
 TuesdayRB Tony Pollard (thigh), LB Leighton Vander Esch (neck)
 
    LIMITED PARTICIPATION IN PRACTICE
 MondayS Jayron Kearse (elbow, back), DE Demarcus Lawrence (foot), DE Sam Williams (concussion)
 TuesdayS Jayron Kearse (elbow, back), DE Demarcus Lawrence (foot), LB Micah Parsons (hand), DE Sam Williams (concussion)
 
    FULL PARTICIPATION IN PRACTICE
 MondayDE Dorance Armstrong (knee), WR Noah Brown (foot), G Zack Martin (knee)
 TuesdayDE Dorance Armstrong (knee), WR Noah Brown (foot), G Zack Martin (knee)
 
TENNESSEE TITANS
 The Titans did not practice Monday. The Monday practice report is an estimation.
Practice Report
    DID NOT PARTICIPATE IN PRACTICE
 MondayDE Denico Autry (biceps), LB Dylan Cole (ankle), LB Zach Cunningham (elbow), LB Bud Dupree (pectoral), CB Kristian Fulton (groin), RB Derrick Henry (hip), S Amani Hooker (knee), T Nicholas Petit-Frere (ankle), DT Jeffery Simmons (ankle), QB Ryan Tannehill (ankle), CB Josh Thompson (concussion)
 TuesdayLB Dylan Cole (ankle), LB Zach Cunningham (elbow), LB Bud Dupree (pectoral), T Nicholas Petit-Frere (ankle), DT Jeffery Simmons (ankle), QB Ryan Tannehill (ankle), CB Josh Thompson (concussion)
 
    LIMITED PARTICIPATION IN PRACTICE
 MondayG Aaron Brewer (calf)
 TuesdayDE Denico Autry (biceps), G Aaron Brewer (calf), CB Kristian Fulton (groin), RB Derrick Henry (hip), S Amani Hooker (knee)

The Starting 11 — Surprise teams enter postseason conversation, Bills-Bengals clash on MNF, as playoff races intensify

NFL Editor
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The Starting 11 — Surprise teams enter postseason conversation, Bills-Bengals clash on MNF, as playoff races intensify

Dick Clark used to say music is the soundtrack of our lives.

And as New Year’s Eve approaches, the soundtrack of life in the National Football League is nearing a crescendo. The quest for division crowns, homefield advantage, Wild Card berths and playoff seeding will become much clearer this week.

Only 32 regular-season games remain and 23 of those are battles between teams in the same division. All told, 14 teams finish their regular-season schedules with two straight division games, and several of those teams control their own destinies.

AARON RODGERS and the GREEN BAY PACKERS (7-8) have earned their way back into the playoff conversation. The CAROLINA PANTHERS (6-9), NEW ORLEANS SAINTS (6-9) and TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS (7-8) are all playing for the NFC South division title. And a division championship for the JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS (7-8), who have won five of their last seven, is well within reach.

Meanwhile, the MIAMI DOLPHINS (8-7) and NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS (7-8) square off on Sunday (1:00 PM ET, CBS) and each team controls its own path to the postseason.

This week, after an interconference showdown between DALLAS (11-4) and TENNESSEE (7-8) in the season’s final Thursday Night Football game (8:15 PM ET, Prime Video), the NFL kicks off only 13 hours after the ball drops at Times Square. So raise your glass, sing Auld Lang Syne and then get to sleep. It’s the NFL’s first full slate of New Year’s Day games since the 2016 season.

And Super Bowl LVII in Arizona is only 47 days away.

The Starting 11 entering Week 17…

1.   MANDATORY MONDAY VIEWING: Monday Night Football, the longest running series in television history, is in its 53rd season. And since the series kicked off in 1970, this week could be among its most anticipated matchup ever. Not only will the BUFFALO BILLS (12-3) meet the CINCINNATI BENGALS (11-4) at Paycor Stadium (8:30 PM ET, ESPN/ABC) with the AFC’s No. 1 seed potentially on the line, the game also will mark just the third in Monday Night Football history to involve two teams with 11-or-more wins. In 1997, San Francisco (12-2) defeated Denver (11-3), the Broncos’ last loss of that season en route to a Super Bowl XXXII victory. And in 1985, the Los Angeles Raiders (11-4) won the league’s final regular-season game, at the Los Angeles Rams (11-4). …Cincinnati with a win, coupled with a Baltimore loss on Sunday, would clinch the AFC North division title.

2.   NUMBER OF THE WEEK – 8: The number of wins by the MINNESOTA VIKINGS this season after trailing in the fourth quarter, tied for the NFL’s single-season record with the 2016 Detroit Lions. Overall this season, 76 NFL games have been won or tied by teams that trailed in the fourth quarter, more than any season in league annals through 16 weeks. The Vikings (12-3) face a road test at GREEN BAY (7-8) on Sunday (4:25 PM ET, CBS).

  • Packers head coach MATT LAFLEUR is 17-1 in regular-season games played in December and January, including 15 consecutive December wins.
  • And since Dec. 1 of their last Super Bowl season, 2010, the Packers own the league’s best regular-season record in December and January: 46-15 (.754).

3.   WORST-TO-FIRST: Competitive balance, one of the hallmarks of the NFL, gives fans hope entering each season. In 17 of the past 19 years (2003-21), at least one team has finished first in its division the season after finishing last or tied for last place.

  • In fact, of the 50 teams in league history to go from “worst-to-first,” 27 of them have done so since 2003, including an NFL-record three teams in 2005 and 2006.
  • Entering Week 17 this year, three clubs – BALTIMORE (10-5), CAROLINA (6-9) and JACKSONVILLE (7-8) – have an opportunity to continue that remarkable trend.
  • Two teams during that 19-year span, the 2009 New Orleans Saints and the 2017 Philadelphia Eagles, won the Super Bowl after finishing last in their division the season before. Last year, the Cincinnati Bengals advanced to Super Bowl LVI after finishing last in the AFC North in 2020. The Bengals became the fifth team since 2000 to advance to the Super Bowl the season after finishing in last place.
  • The MINNESOTA VIKINGS (12-3) have clinched the NFC North division title after missing the postseason in 2021. In 18 of the past 19 years (2003-21), at least two teams have won their divisions the season after missing the playoffs.

4.   SPOTLIGHT – ROOKIE STANDOUTS: When the NEW YORK JETS (7-8) meet the SEATTLE SEAHAWKS (7-8) on Sunday at Lumen Field (4:05 PM ET, FOX), exceptional rookies will be on the field for both teams. When the Jets have the ball, expect to see Seahawks cornerback TARIQ WOOLEN lined up in coverage against Jets wide receiver GARRETT WILSON on several snaps. Woolen is a rookie Pro Bowler who is tied for the league lead with six interceptions. Wilson, meanwhile, leads all rookies in receptions (71) and receiving yards (996). Meanwhile, Seattle running back KENNETH WALKER leads all rookies with nine rushing touchdowns and Jets rookie Pro Bowl cornerback SAUCE GARDNER leads all NFL players with 16 passes defensed.

  • Gardner and Woolen represent only the second pair of rookie cornerbacks voted to a Pro Bowl, joining EVERSON WALLS and Pro Football Hall of Famer RONNIE LOTT in the 1981 season.

5.   SPOTLIGHT – TEAM MATCHUP: SAN FRANCISCO (11-4) visits LAS VEGAS (6-9) on Sunday (4:05 PM ET, FOX) in an intriguing contest, especially when the 49ers have the ball. Niners tackle TRENT WILLIAMS, who earned his 10th Pro Bowl selection, leads an offensive line that squares off with MAXX CROSBY and the Raiders’ front seven. Crosby leads the NFL this season with 19 tackles for loss and is tied for fifth in the league with 56 quarterback pressures, while teammate CHANDLER JONES ranks third among active players with 112 career sacks. Meanwhile, since entering the NFL in 2017, 49ers running back CHRISTIAN MCCAFFREY leads the league with 112.5 scrimmage yards per game.

  • The 49ers’ BROCK PURDY could become just the fifth quarterback ever to win each of his first four starts in a rookie season. The others: BEN ROETHLISBERGER (won first 13 starts in 2004), MIKE KRUCZEK (first six in 1968), VIRGIL CARTER (first four in 1968) and PHIL SIMMS (first four in 1979).

6.   STREAK SPEAK: The JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS (7-8) are aiming for their first four-game winning streak since 2017, when they advanced to the AFC Championship Game. Quarterback TREVOR LAWRENCE leads the NFL in passer rating (108.2) over his last seven starts. Their foes this week, the HOUSTON TEXANS (2-12-1), have won nine consecutive meetings with the Jaguars entering Sunday’s game at NRG Stadium (1:00 PM ET, CBS), Jacksonville’s last win over Houston was Dec. 17, 2017.

7.   DID YOU KNOW?: At least nine league records over the next two weeks are in danger of falling:

  • Tampa Bay quarterback TOM BRADY (671) needs 57 pass attempts to break the single-season record (MATTHEW STAFFORD, 727 in 2012).
  • Brady, who has 443 completions entering this week, needs 43 more to break his own single-season record, 485 in 2021.
  • Kansas City quarterback PATRICK MAHOMES (4,720) needs 758 passing yards to capture the single-season record (Pro Football Hall of Famer PEYTON MANNING, 5,477 in 2013).
  • Minnesota wide receiver JUSTIN JEFFERSON (1,756) needs 209 receiving yards to secure the single-season record (Pro Football Hall of Famer CALVIN JOHNSON, 1,964 in 2012).
  • Tennessee punter RYAN STONEHOUSE (53.37) leads the NFL in gross punting average and has an opportunity to break the single-season NFL record (Pro Football Hall of Famer SAMMY BAUGH, 51.40 in 1940). The rookie record is 48.19 (MICHAEL DICKSON, 2018).
  • Kansas City punter TOMMY TOWNSEND (45.50) leads the NFL in net punting average and has an opportunity to break the single-season NFL record (JOHNNY HEKKER, 46.00 in 2016).
  • The PHILADELPHIA EAGLES (31) need six rushing touchdowns to break the single-season record, held by the 1962 Green Bay Packers (36).
  • The Eagles (61) also need 12 sacks to break the single-season record, held by the 1984 Chicago Bears (72).
  • As a league, the NFL is averaging 4.46 yards per carry and could break the single-season league record, 4.42, established in 2018.

8.   UNDER-THE-RADAR STORYLINE: One of the NFL’s most consistent players, running back AUSTIN EKELER, has helped the LOS ANGELES CHARGERS (9-6) earn their first postseason berth since 2018. Ekeler now has two seasons with at least 10 rushing touchdowns and five receiving touchdowns. The only other player in league history with more than one such season is Pro Football Hall of Famer MARSHALL FAULK, who also did it twice. Ekeler and the Chargers are the designated home team against the LOS ANGELES RAMS (5-10) on Sunday at SoFi Stadium (4:25 PM ET, CBS). Since the Chargers moved back to Los Angeles in 2017, the teams have met just once during the regular season, in 2018 at the Memorial Coliseum. They did not play in 1960, the only other year in which each club called Los Angeles its home. The Rams relocated to Los Angeles in 2016.

9.   TREND TIME: The CAROLINA PANTHERS (6-9) are 3-1 since quarterback SAM DARNOLD became the starter on Thanksgiving weekend in Week 12. Since Thanksgiving, Darnold and the Panthers lead the NFL in passing yards per attempt (8.63) and have committed the fewest turnovers (one) in the league over that span. Carolina travels to TAMPA BAY (7-8) in a key NFC South matchup Sunday (1:00 PM ET, FOX). The Buccaneers will clinch the division with a win against the Panthers.

10. THIS WEEK IN NFL HISTORY: Dec. 28, 1958 (64 years ago) – In the NFL Championship Game against the New York Giants at Yankee Stadium, JOHNNY UNITAS leads the Baltimore Colts on a last-minute, game-tying drive to force the first sudden-death overtime in league history. After the Giants win the toss, Baltimore gets the ball back on a punt, setting up another Unitas masterpiece, a 13-play, 80-yard march that ends with a 1-yard touchdown plunge by ALAN AMECHE to give the Colts a 23-17 triumph. In what many have called “the Greatest Game Ever Played,” the contest features 17 future Hall of Famers and is widely credited with launching professional football’s popularity. Played in front of a national television audience, a novel concept in the late 1950s, the game goes off the air for a few minutes when an NBC employee accidentally unplugs a cable. …This week, the INDIANAPOLIS COLTS (4-10-1) travel to meet the NEW YORK GIANTS (8-6-1) on Sunday at MetLife Stadium (1:00 PM ET, CBS). With a win, the Giants would clinch their first postseason berth since 2016.

11. AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST: The PHILADELPHIA EAGLES (13-2) could become the first team since 1982, when the individual sack became an official statistic, to have four players reach double digits in sacks. HAASON REDDICK (career-high 14), JOSH SWEAT (career-high 11) and JAVON HARGRAVE (career-high 10) have already reached 10 sacks, while BRANDON GRAHAM (nine) is just one shy. The Eagles host the NEW ORLEANS SAINTS (6-9) on Sunday (1:00 PM ET, FOX). With a win, the Eagles would clinch both the NFC East division title and the only first-round bye in the NFC playoffs.

WEEK 17 NFL SCHEDULE

(All times Eastern)

Thursday, December 29Dallas at TennesseePrime Video8:15
Sunday, January 1Arizona at AtlantaFOX1:00
Chicago at DetroitFOX1:00
Jacksonville at HoustonCBS1:00
Denver at Kansas CityCBS1:00
Miami at New EnglandCBS1:00
Indianapolis at New York GiantsCBS1:00
New Orleans at PhiladelphiaFOX1:00
Carolina at Tampa BayFOX1:00
Cleveland at WashingtonFOX1:00
San Francisco at Las VegasFOX4:05
New York Jets at SeattleFOX4:05
 Minnesota at Green BayCBS4:25
 Los Angeles Rams at Los Angeles ChargersCBS4:25
Pittsburgh at BaltimoreNBC8:20
Monday, January 2Buffalo at CincinnatiESPN/ABC8:30

2022 NFL Playoff Scenarios for Week 17

NFL Editor
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2022 NFL Playoff Scenarios for Week 17

AFC

CLINCHED:

Buffalo Bills – AFC East division title

Kansas City Chiefs – AFC West division title

Baltimore Ravens – playoff berth

Cincinnati Bengals – playoff berth

Los Angeles Chargers – playoff berth

BUFFALO BILLS (12-3)

Week 17 – at Cincinnati (11-4), Monday, 8:30 PM ET, ESPN/ABC

Week 18 – vs. New England (7-8)

Buffalo clinches homefield advantage and AFC’s lone first-round bye with:

  1. BUF win + KC loss

CINCINNATI BENGALS (11-4)

Week 17 – vs. Buffalo (12-3), Monday, 8:30 PM ET, ESPN/ABC

Week 18 – vs. Baltimore (10-5)

Cincinnati clinches AFC North division title with:

  1. CIN win + BAL loss or tie OR
  2. CIN tie + BAL loss

MIAMI DOLPHINS (8-7)

Week 17 – at New England (7-8), Sunday, 1:00 PM ET, CBS

Week 18 – vs. New York Jets (7-8)

Miami clinches playoff berth with:

  1. MIA win + NYJ loss or tie OR
  2. MIA tie + NYJ loss + PIT loss or tie

NFC

CLINCHED:

Minnesota Vikings – NFC North division title

San Francisco 49ers – NFC West division title

Dallas Cowboys – playoff berth

Philadelphia Eagles – playoff berth

NEW YORK GIANTS (8-6-1)

Week 17 – vs. Indianapolis (4-10-1), Sunday, 1:00 PM ET, CBS

Week 18 – at Philadelphia (13-2)

N.Y. Giants clinch playoff berth with:

  1. NYG win OR
  2. NYG tie + SEA loss or tie + WAS loss or tie OR
  3. NYG tie + SEA loss or tie + DET loss or tie OR
  4. NYG tie + WAS loss or tie + DET loss or tie + GB loss or tie OR
  5. SEA loss + WAS loss OR
  6. SEA loss + DET loss + GB loss or tie OR
  7. WAS loss + DET loss + GB loss

PHILADELPHIA EAGLES (13-2)

Week 17 – vs. New Orleans (6-9), Sunday, 1:00 PM ET, FOX

Week 18 – vs. N.Y. Giants (8-6-1)

Philadelphia clinches NFC East division title with:

  1. PHI win or tie OR
  2. DAL loss or tie

Philadelphia clinches homefield advantage and NFC’s lone first-round bye with:

  1. PHI win OR
  2. PHI tie + MIN loss or tie OR
  3. DAL loss or tie + MIN loss + SF loss or tie

TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS (7-8)

Week 17 – vs. Carolina (6-9), Sunday, 1:00 PM ET, FOX

Week 18 – at Atlanta (5-10)

Tampa Bay clinches NFC South division title with:

  1. TB win

WASHINGTON COMMANDERS (7-7-1)

Week 17 – vs. Cleveland (6-9), Sunday, 1:00 PM ET, FOX

Week 18 – vs. Dallas (11-4)

Washington clinches playoff berth with:

  1. WAS win + SEA loss + DET loss + GB loss or tie

Mets re-sign RHP Adam Ottavino

MLB Editor
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Mets re-sign RHP Adam Ottavino

FLUSHING, N.Y., – The New York Mets today announced the club has re-signed RHP Adam Ottavino to a one-year contract, with a player option for the 2024 season. In addition, the Mets designated RHP William Woods for assignment. 

Ottavino, 37, posted a 2.06 ERA (15 ER/65.2 IP) last year, the fourth-lowest mark by a Mets reliever in their first season with the club (min. 50 innings). He was one of nine relief pitchers last year with 60 or more outings and a sub 1.00 WHIP (0.975) with a strikeout percentage of 30 percent or higher (30.6%). He was also for sixth among NL relievers with six wins and tied for seventh in the NL with 19 holds.

“Adam has a long track record of success,” Mets General Manager Billy Eppler said. “He was a staple for us late in games last season, which shows the trust we have in him. We’re excited to have him back.”

A Brooklyn native, who graduated from Berkeley Carroll High School in Park Slope, held righties to a .161/.226/.253 slash line last season and owns a .207/.289/.320 career slash line against right-handers.

Ottavino has 727 career strikeouts, the eighth-most among active relievers. He racked up 79 strikeouts in 2022, his seventh season with 70 or more strikeouts since 2012, the fifth-most such seasons during that span.

The 6-5, 245-pounder has spent 12 years in the majors, posting a 38-34 mark with a 3.44 ERA (239 ER/625.1 IP) with the Rockies, Yankees, Cardinals, Red Sox and Mets.

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