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Texas Rangers receive RHP Nick Mears on waiver claim from Pittsburgh; designate OF Eli White for assignment

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Arlington, Texas—The Texas Rangers announced today that the club has received RHP Nick Mears on a waiver claim from the Pittsburgh Pirates.

To make room for Mears on the Major League roster, outfielder Eli White has been designated for assignment.

Mears, 26, spent the majority of the 2022 season on the injured list after having arthroscopic surgery to clean up scar tissue in his right elbow on February 9, 2022. He made 29 total appearances between Bradenton (Low-A) and Indianapolis (AAA), much of that time on rehab assignment, before pitching 2.0 scoreless innings in two games for the Pirates in the season’s final series versus St. Louis in early October. Mears was designated for assignment by Pittsburgh on December 18.

Overall, Mears is 1-0, 4.75 with 32 strikeouts in 30.1 innings over 36 relief appearances with Pittsburgh from 2020-22, including 30 games in 2021. He was signed by the Pirates as an undrafted free agent in 2018.

White batted .200 with three homers, 10 RBI, and 12 steals in 47 games with the Rangers in 2022. He sustained a fractured right wrist in an outfield collision on June 12 and missed the remainder of the season. Originally acquired from Oakland in December 2018, White has a .185 batting average in 130 games with Texas from 2020-22.

With today’s transactions, the Rangers’ Major League roster remains at the 40-man limit.

D-backs acquire Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Gabriel Moreno from Blue Jays

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The Arizona Diamondbacks acquired OF Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and C Gabriel Moreno from the Toronto Blue Jays for OF Daulton Varsho. The D-backs designated C Ali Sánchez for assignment. The D-backs’ 40-man roster is at 40.

Lourdes Gurriel Jr. MLB bio

  • Last season with the Blue Jays, appeared in 121 games and hit .291 (132-for-453)/.343 OBP/.400 SLG with 32 doubles, 1 triple, 5 homers, 52 RBI and 31 walks.
  • Played left field (105 games/104 starts), designated hitter (13 G/13 GS) and first base (8 G/2 GS).
  • Among left fielders in 2022, his 3 defensive runs saved were third to Steven Kwan/CLE (21) and Ian Happ/CHI (13).
  • From 2020-22, his 22 outfield assists are fourth among all outfielders behind Hunter Renfroe (28), Charlie Blackmon (25) and Teoscar Hernández (23).
  • Was an American League Gold Glove finalist in left field in 2020-21.
  • In 5 seasons for the Blue Jays, played in 468 games and hit .285 (491-for-1724)/.329 OBP/.468 SLG with 101 doubles, 5 triples, 68 homers, 254 RBI and 106 walks.
  • His brother, Yuli (Yulieski), spent the last 7 seasons with the Astros.

Gabriel Moreno MLB bio

  • Entered 2022 as the Blue Jays’ No. 1 prospect and the No. 7 overall prospect in baseball by MLB Pipeline and Baseball America.
  • Made his Major League debut in 2022…in 25 games, hit .319 (22-for-69)/.356 OBP/.377 SLG with 1 double, 1 homer, 7 RBI and 4 walks while seeing action at catcher (19 games/17 starts), left field (1 G/1 GS), second base (1 G), third base (1 G) and designated hitter (2 G).
  • In 62 games at Triple-A Buffalo last season, hit .315 (75-for-238)/.386 OBP/.420 SLG with 16 doubles, 3 homers, 39 RBI and 24 walks.
  • In 5 Minor League seasons with the Blue Jays (2017-19, ’21-22), played in 253 games and hit .310 (298-for-962)/.365 OBP/.479 SLG with 64 doubles, 9 triples, 27 homers, 189 RBI and 73 walks.
  • Signed by the Blue Jays in August 2016 as a non-drafted free agent.

Varsho played parts of the last 3 seasons for the D-backs (2020-22) and in 283 games hit .234 (214-for-916)/.306 OBP/.432 SLG with 45 doubles, 7 triples, 41 homers, 121 RBI, 88 walks and 25 stolen bases.

Cubs claim LHP Anthony Kay off waivers from Toronto

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CHICAGO – The Chicago Cubs today claimed left-handed pitcher Anthony Kay off waivers from the Toronto Blue Jays. To make room on the 40-man roster, infielder Alfonso Rivas has been designated for assignment.

Kay, 27, has pitched to a 4-2 record with two holds and a 5.48 ERA (43 ER/70.2 IP) in 28 games (seven starts) in parts of four seasons with Toronto dating to 2019. He has struck out 77 batters, good for an average of 9.81 strikeouts per 9.0 innings, with 38 walks and 10 home runs allowed.

The six-foot tall Kay missed a majority of the 2022 season with a left shoulder injury that saw him placed on Triple-A Buffalo’s seven-day injured list from April 23-June 30 and again July 14-September 18. He went 1-3 with a 5.48 ERA (13 ER/21.1 IP), 12 walks and 23 strikeouts in 13 minor league appearances, all but three while rehabbing from his shoulder injury. Kay was designated for assignment by the Blue Jays on December 16.

Kay owns an 18-26 record with one complete game shutout and a 4.17 ERA (141 ER/304.0 IP) in 70 career minor league games, including 61 starts. He has struck out 310 batters compared to 130 walks, limited opponents to a .254 average and pitched to a 1.30 WHIP.

Kay was selected by the New York Mets in the first round (31st overall) of the 2016 First-Year Player Draft out of the University of Connecticut. He was traded to Toronto July 28, 2019, with right-handed pitcher Simeon Woods Richardson for right-handed pitcher and current Cub Marcus Stroman.

Rivas, 26, has hit .247 (73-for-295) with six doubles, two triples, four home runs and 28 RBI in 119 games spanning parts of two seasons with the Cubs beginning in 2021. He was acquired from Oakland January 13, 2020, for infielder/outfielder Tony Kemp.

NHL Preview: Calgary Flames (15-12-7) at Anaheim Ducks (9-22-3)

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CALGARY FLAMES NOTES:

FLAMES LAST GAME RECAP
DECEMBER 22, 2022 – CALGARY FLAMES [3] vs. Los Angeles Kings 4
The Calgary Flames continued a four-game California road trip with a stop at the Crypto.com Arena for a clash with the Los Angeles Kings. The Flames started the game on the front foot again with Milan Lucic springing Jonathan Huberdeau on a breakaway and Huberdeau would slide the puck five-hole to give the Flames an early 1-0 advantage. In the ladder stages of the first, Gabe Vilardi would deflect a Sean Walker point shot past Dan Vladar to even the score heading into the first intermission. Neither team would find the back of the net in the second, but in the third the Kings would get goals 10 seconds apart from Phillip Danault and Blake Lizotte and just like that it was 3-1 LA. The Flames would battle back with Tyler Toffoli cutting the deficit to one on the power play and Dillon Dube firing his eighth on the campaign past Copley to once again tie the game and the teams headed to overtime. In the extra frame the two clubs would trade chances, but it would ultimately be Adrian Kempe who would score the game winner for LA and the Kings won 4-3.

CGY GOAL SCORERS: Huberdeau (6), Toffoli (14), Dube (8)
GOALIE: Vladar (28/32, .875 Sv%)
PP: 1/2 (50%)
PK: 3/3 (100%)

FLAMES LAST FIVE RESULTS, RECORD: 2-1-2
DATE RESULT GWG CGY GOALIE OPP. GOALIE
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
December 14, 2022 VAN [4] vs. CGY 3 Kuzmenko* Markstrom Martin
*shootout winning goal

FLAMES UPCOMING SCHEDULE:
DATE TIME
(MST) OPPONENT VENUE
December 23, 2022 8:30pm at Anaheim Ducks Honda Center
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

TONIGHTS STORYLINES & STATS
This is the first of four matchups this season between the Flames and Ducks. The Flames won three of their four meetings against the Ducks last season, outscoring them 16-10. This is a Pacific Division Matchup; The Flames have an overall record of 5-2-2 against Pacific Division opponents this season and a record of 9-4-2 against Western Conference opponents.

LAST SEASON AGAINST THE DUCKS:
The Flames and Ducks squared off four times last season, with the Flames going 3-0-1 against their Pacific Division foe, outscoring them 16-10. Their first matchup came on the Flames home opener in October of 2021 which saw Blake Coleman score his first as a Flame along with Elias Lindholm, but the Flames fell 3-2 in overtime. The two clubs wouldn’t meet again until December where Blake Coleman and Elias Lindholm would once again both score for the Flames and the game went to a shootout where Dan Vladar repelled both Anaheim attempts to give the Flames a 4-3 win. Their first meeting of 2022 came at the Scotiabank Saddledome which saw the Flames route the Ducks 6-2 with Elias Lindholm recording a pair of goals along with an assist and First Star honors. Their final meeting once again saw Elias Lindholm find the back of the net, while Michael Stone scored his first of the season to help the Flames over Anaheim 4-2.

LINDHOLM VERSUS THE DUCKS:
Elias Lindholm scored in every meeting with Anaheim last season totaling five goals and an assist for six points in four
games against the Ducks. Over his career, Lindholm has seven goals and five assists for 12 points in 18 career meetings
against Anaheim and has three goals and an assist for four points in five trips to the Honda Center since being acquired
by Calgary prior to the 2018-19 season. Coming into tonight’s contest, Lindholm has two goals and six assists for eight
points in his last four games.

HOT START:
Jonathan Huberdeau opened the scoring in Los Angeles on Thursday night just 3:23 into the contest to give the Flames the early lead. That marked the 37th time this season the Flames have scored within the first five minutes of a game which is tied for the most goals in the opening five minutes of a game in the NHL and leads all Western Conference teams. The Flames scored twice in the opening five minutes two games ago in San Jose with Tyler Toffoli and Dillon Dube both finding the back of the net in 30 seconds to set a franchise record for the fastest two goals to begin a game in franchise history.

MEAN MILAN:
Milan Lucic has recorded points in three straight games with two goals and two assists for four points so far on the Flames California road trip. Lucic extended his season-long three game point-streak on Thursday night in Los Angeles with the primary assist on Jonathan Huberdeau’s game-opening goal. Lucic began the streak in San Jose where he scored his first goal of the season against the Sharks on Sunday and followed it up two days later in San Jose with his first multi-point game since February 6th, 2021 with a goal and an assist to go along with a plus/minus rating of +4.

DUCK HUNTERS:
The Flames have won their last four trips to the Honda Center dating back to the 2019-20 season. The Flames won both matchups in Anaheim last season, the teams did not play during the COVID shortened 2021 season and in 2019-20 the Flames were also 2-0 in Anaheim outscoring the Ducks 16-6 over the three-year span. Nazem Kadri currently leads the Flames with 22 points in 24 matchups with the Ducks (10G, 12A) and had a two point night in his only trip to the Honda Center last season.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS:
This will be the Flames final game of their four-game California road trip and last contest before the Christmas break. The Flames have gone 2-0-1 so far on the trip, outscoring their opponents 15-9 thus far with Elias Lindholm leading the team with six points on the trip. Following this game, the Flames will return to action on December 27th for the Battle of Alberta against the Oilers at the Scotiabank Saddledome.

DID YOU KNOW?
Nikita Zadorov played his first NHL game against the Ducks at the Honda Center back on November 8th, 2013 as a member of the Buffalo Sabres. Noah Hanifin scored his first NHL goal against the Anaheim Ducks back on November 16th, 2015. Flames winger Jonathan Huberdeau and Ducks centre Ryan Strome were teammates on Team Canada during the 2012 IIHF U20 World Junior Championships that took place in Calgary and Edmonton.

CALGARY FLAMES vs. ANAHEIM DUCKS
ALL-TIME HOME AWAY L10 STRK
CGY vs. ANA 48-52-7-9 35-20-1-2 13-32-6-7 8-1-1 W3

GAME INFO:
Calgary Flames vs. Anaheim Ducks
7:30pm PT
Honda Center
TV: Sportsnet One
Radio: Sportsnet Fan 960

2022-23 Season Series: 1-0-0 (Home: 1-0-0, Road 0-0-0)
Dec. 23, 2022 – CGY at ANA
Mar. 10, 2023 – ANA at CGY
Mar. 21, 2023 – CGY at ANA
Apr. 2, 2023 – ANA at CGY

2021-22 Season Record vs. ANA: 3-0-1 (Home: 1-0-1, Road: 2-0-0)
Last Home Win vs. ANA: February 16, 2022 – Anaheim [2] vs. Calgary [6]
Last Road Win @ ANA: April 6, 2022 – Calgary [4] at Anaheim [2]
Last Home Loss vs. ANA: October 18, 2022 – Anaheim [3] vs. Calgary 2
Last Road Loss @ ANA: April 3, 2019 – Calgary [1] at Anaheim [3]
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)

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 (1 game: Dec. 20)

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

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

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

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

ANAHEIM DUCKS NOTES:

LAST ANAHEIM DUCKS GAME
DEC. 21, 2022 – ANAHEIM 1 vs. MINNESOTA 4
The Ducks opened a franchise-record 10-game homestand with a 4-1 loss to the Minnesota Wild Wednesday night at Honda Center. Mason McTavish opened the scoring at 5:48 of the second period with his fifth goal of the season, his fifth point the last four games (1-4=5). Lukas Dostal stopped 38 shots in his career-high fourth straight start. PP: 0-2 PK: 5-6 SF: 22 SA: 42 TOI: Cam Fowler (22:33)
Three Stars: 1. M. Boldy 2. M. McTavish 3. M. Zuccarello

UPCOMING GAME SCHEDULE
DATE OPPONENT LOCATION TIME (PT) TV / AUDIO
Dec. 28 Vegas Honda Center 7 p.m. BSSC / Ducks Stream
Dec. 30 Nashville Honda Center 2 p.m. BSSC / Ducks Stream
Jan. 2 Philadelphia Honda Center 7 p.m. BSW / Ducks Stream
Jan. 4 Dallas Honda Center 7 p.m. BSSC / Ducks Stream
Jan. 6 San Jose Honda Center 7 p.m. ESPN+

RECENT TRANSACTIONS:
Dec. 5 Reassigned LW Pavol Regenda to San Diego (AHL).
Dec. 6 Claimed C Jayson Megna on waivers from Colorado. Activated LW Max Comtois from Injured Reserve (IR) and placed
C Isac Lundestrom on IR.
Dec. 9 Activated D John Klingberg from Injured Reserve (IR).
Dec. 10 Recalled G Lukas Dostal from San Diego (AHL). Placed C Derek Grant on Injured Reserve (IR).
Dec. 14 Recalled G Olle Eriksson Ek from San Diego (AHL). Placed G Anthony Stolarz on Injured Reserve (IR).
Dec. 19 Acquired D Michael Del Zotto in a three-team trade. Detroit acquires C Danny O’Regan from Anaheim while Florida receives RW Givani Smith. Assigned D Colton White to San Diego (AHL) on a Conditioning Loan. Dec. 20 Recalled C Justin Kirkland from San Diego (AHL). Placed LW Max Jones on Injured Reserve (IR).

ANAHEIM DUCKS INJURIES
Man-Games Lost: 175

PLAYER INJURY/ILLNESS EXPECTED ABSENCE GAMES MISSED
John Moore Upper-body Indefinite 34
Jamie Drysdale Torn labrum (shoulder) 4-6 months 26
Isac Lundestrom Upper-body 6 weeks 10
Derek Grant Lower-body Day-to-day 9
Anthony Stolarz Lower-body Day-to-day 6
Max Jones Upper-body Day-to-day 5
John Gibson Lower-body Day-to-day 4
Urho Vaakanainen Illness Day-to-day 2

ANAHEIM DUCKS NOTES
TONIGHT’S GAME: The Anaheim Ducks continue a franchise record 10-game homestand tonight against the Calgary Flames at Honda Center (7:30 p.m. PT, TV: Bally Sports SoCal AUDIO: Ducks Stream). Anaheim continues its 14-game December schedule, consisting of six home and eight road contests. All-time, Anaheim is 155-145-48 in the month of December. Since the start of 2013-14, Anaheim is 62-35-19 in December, picking up points in 81 of the 116 contests. Upcoming milestones include Trevor Zegras one point from 100 career NHL points (currently 36-63=99). Zegras can become can become the third player in Ducks history to reach the milestone in 140 games or fewer (all with Anaheim), joining Paul Kariya (45-56=101 in 98 GP) and Bobby Ryan (55-45=100 in 126 GP). Following tonight’s game, the Ducks continue the franchise record 10-game homestand on Wednesday, Dec. 28 vs. Vegas (7 p.m. PT).

RECORD HOMESTAND: The Ducks are in the midst of a franchise record 10-game homestand with the stretch of contests at home spanning 24 days (Dec. 21 through Jan. 13). The homestand is tied for the third-longest in NHL history, trailing 12 straight at home by Tampa Bay (2010-11) and Calgary (1975-76). The 24 days during the stretch are the third most, trailing Winnipeg (22 days, 2017-18) and Vancouver (22, 1981-82). Anaheim’s longest prior homestand was eight games (three times), including Dec. 28, 2014-Jan. 16, 2015 (6-2-0, 12 pts.), Mar. 2-18, 2007 (6-1-1, 13 pts.) and Oct. 28-Nov. 14, 2001 (2-4-2, 6 pts.). Anaheim begins the homestand tied for the most road contests in the NHL this season (21, also Arizona). The Ducks will also host an eight-game homestand from Mar. 12-27, 2023. Below is a list of the longest homestands in NHL history:

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

DUCKS-FLAMES: Anaheim and Calgary begin a four-game season series tonight at Honda Center. The Ducks own a 61-45-10 all-time record vs. the Flames, including a 39-11-7 mark in Orange County. The Ducks’ .733 home win percentage against the Flames is its second-highest home win percentage against an NHL opponent (.756 at home vs. Nashville). Anaheim has gone 27-4-1 against Calgary at home since 2005-06, earning 55 of a possible 64 points. John Gibson (10-6-1) has a career 2.26 GAA, .921 SV% and two shutouts in 17 games vs. the Flames (six starts). Kevin Shattenkirk (4-16=20 in 31 GP) leads active Ducks skaters in career scoring and assists vs. the Flames. Jakob Silfverberg (9-10=19 in 32 GP) leads current Ducks skater in goals vs. the Flames. These two teams will continue their season series with the final three games in a span of 23 days beginning Mar. 10 in Calgary (6 p.m. PT).

ANA-CGY SEASON SERIES:
DATE LOCATION TIME / RESULT TV / AUDIO
Dec. 23 Honda Center 7:30 p.m. PT Bally Sports SoCal / Ducks Stream
Mar. 10 Scotiabank Saddledome 6 p.m. PT Bally Sports SoCal / Ducks Stream
Mar. 21 Honda Center 7 p.m. PT Bally Sports West / Ducks Stream
Apr. 2 Scotiabank Saddledome 5 p.m. PT Bally Sports SoCal / Ducks Stream

ANA-CGY ALL-TIME SERIES:
Overall @ Anaheim @ Calgary
All-Time Series: 61-45-10 39-12-7 22-33-3
Current Streak: Three CGY wins Four CGY wins One CGY win
Last Win by ANA: Oct. 18, 2021 (3-2 OT) Apr. 3, 2019 (3-1) Oct. 18, 2021 (3-2 OT)
Last Win by CGY: Apr. 6, 2022 (4-2) Apr. 6, 2022 (4-2) Feb. 16, 2022 (6-2)
ANA Last 10: 2-7-1 5-4-1 4-6-0

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

TERRY TALK: Right wing Troy Terry leads Anaheim in points (12-16=28), goals, PPG (4) and assists this season, and he co-leads the club with eight multi-point outings. Terry has earned 4-3=7 points his last 11 games and 5-3=8 points his last 14 outings. He also has collected 8-11=18 points his last 24 appearances and 8-13=21 points his last 27 contests. He had a career-best five-game assist streak Oct. 30-Nov. 6 (1-7=8), surpassing his prior best of four straight games with an assist Nov. 9-16, 2021 (3-4=7). Terry’s 28 points in 33 games are on pace for 72 points this season which would surpass his career high 37-30=67 points set last season.

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

M(A)C ATTACK: Rookie center Mason McTavish has picked up 1-4=5 points his last four games, including consecutive multi-assist games Dec. 17 @ EDM (0-2=2) and Dec. 15 @ MTL (0-2=2). His 1-7=8 points in December rank second among all NHL rookies, while his 5-14=19 points this season rank third among team leaders in points. He also co-leads Anaheim in PPP (2-6=8) and PPA, and is third among team leaders in assists. He currently ranks tied for second among NHL rookies in assists and tied for fourth in points. McTavish recorded his sixth multi-point outing of his career Dec. 17 @ EDM, with Cam Fowler the only Ducks player with more before age 20 (nine times).

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

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

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

QUE RICO!: Center Adam Henrique has earned 1-2=3 points his last four outings and also has 9-9=16 points his last 24 contests. He ranks third among team leaders in goals (9) and is tied for fourth in scoring overall (9-8=17). He recorded points in a season-long six straight games Nov. 5-19 (5-3=8), his best as a Duck and one short of his career-long point streak set over 10 years ago in seven straight contests with New Jersey Nov. 25-Dec. 8, 2011 (2-7=9). He scored goals in a season-best three straight games Nov. 5-12 (3-0=3, +3; missed Nov. 9 due to birth of first child), including his 100th goal as a Duck (100-90=190) Nov. 12 vs. CHI, becoming the 10th player in franchise history to reach the milestone. On Dec. 17 @ EDM, Henrique appeared in his 800th career game.

NHL Preview: St. Louis Blues (16-16-1) at Vegas Golden Knights (23-11-1)

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ST. LOUIS BLUES NOTES:

CURRENT INJURIES
Scott Perunovich – Shoulder (Re-evaluated in 6 months, announced on Oct. 4)
Marco Scandella – Right Hip (Re-evaluated in 6 months, announced on Sep. 20)
2022-23 Total Man Games Lost: 120

Recent Transactions
December
19 – Activated forward Logan Brown from injured reserve
18 – Recalled forward Logan Brown from the Springfield Thunderbirds (AHL)
18 – Assigned forward Will Bitten to the Springfield Thunderbirds (AHL)
17 – Signed defenseman Marc-Andre Gaudet to a three-year, entry-level contract
15 – Assigned forward Logan Brown to the Springfield Thunderbirds (AHL) on a conditioning assignment

BLUES VS. GOLDEN KNIGHTS
-The Blues and Golden Knights will meet for the 2nd of 3 matchups this season
-The Blues and Knights will finish their season series on Mar. 12 in St. Louis
-The Blues won the 1st matchup of the season, 3-2, on Nov. 12 in Vegas
-The Blues went 2-1-0 against Vegas last season (1-1-0 at home; 1-0-0 away)
-The Blues are 3-1-0 in their last 4 games against Vegas
-The Blues have won back-to-back games in Vegas and are 2-1-1 in their last 4 trips to Vegas
-The Blues are 10-5-6 (26 points) in 21 games against Vegas since the Golden Knights entered the NHL in the 2017-18 season, which is the 2nd most points of any team in the NHL against Vegas (1. Minnesota, 12-4-3, 27 points)
-The Blues are 9-3-0 against the Pacific Division this season
-The Blues are 4-1-1 in their last 6 games overall since Dec. 11 vs. Colorado, outscoring their opponent 18-14 during that stretch
-The Blues’ 4 wins and 9 points since Dec. 11 both share 7th in the NHL (1. Carolina, 6 wins/12 points)

UPCOMING SCHEDULE
12/27 – vs. Toronto
12/29 – vs. Chicago
12/31 – vs. Minnesota
1/3 – at Toronto
1/5 – at New Jersey

A LOOK AHEAD
-The Blues have 4 games remaining in December (3 at home; 1 away)
-The Blues will finish their season-long 10-day, 5-game road trip Friday at Vegas (3-1-0 so far, outscoring opponents 15-11)
-The Blues will face 3 teams in their last 4 games who currently hold a playoff spot (Vegas/Toronto/Minnesota)

BLUES LOOK TO END ROAD TRIP ON A HIGH NOTE
-The Blues will finish off a season-long 10-day, 5-game road trip on Friday in Vegas
-The Blues are 3-1-0 so far on the road trip, outscoring their opponents 15-11 (not counting shootout-deciding goals) -With a win Friday at Vegas, the Blues can record 4 or more wins on a road trip of exactly 5 games for the 7th time in franchise history
-The last time the Blues won at least 4 games of a 5-game road trip was from Jan. 21-Feb. 7, 2019 (4-1-0)
-If the Blues can score 4 or more goals on Friday at Vegas, it will mark just the 5th time in franchise history the Blues have scored 20 or more goals on a road trip of exactly 5 games (including shootout-deciding goals)

DEFENSEMEN CONTRIBUTING OFFENSE FOR BLUES
-The Blues defensemen have combined for 13 goals this season
-The Blues are 8-2-0 this season when a defenseman scores
-The Blues’ defense has contributed 5 power play goals this season, which shares 2nd in the NHL (1. Ottawa, 6)
-They have also contributed 5 game-winning goals, which shares 3rd in the NHL (1. Carolina/Winnipeg, 6)
-Torey Krug leads Blues d-men with 5 goals, which also shares 15th in the NHL among all defensemen (1. Karlsson, 13)
-Torey Krug’s 4 power play goals rank 3rd on the Blues (1. Kyrou, 6 / 2. Buchnevich, 5) and share 2nd in the NHL among all defensemen (1. Chabot, 5)
-Justin Faulk’s 2 game-winning goals share the 8th most among all defensemen in the NHL (1. Morrissey, 4)
-Colton Parayko has 49 career goals and with his next goal, he will become the 7th defenseman in franchise history to score 50 goals with the Blues

BLUES CONSISTENT UNDER ARMSTRONG
-Since Doug Armstrong took over the reigns as the Blues General Manager in 2010-11, the Blues have posted a 537-309-100 record
-Their 537 wins since then rank 5th in the NHL (1. PIT, 561)
-The Blues have made the postseason 10 out of the 12 seasons since Armstrong became GM, 1 of 5 teams in the NHL to clinch 10 or more playoff berths since 2010-11 (PIT, 12/WSH, 11/BOS & NSH, 10)
-Armstrong is also just 1 of 2 GMs to clinch 10 or more playoff berths since 2010-11 (David Poile, 10)
-Since 2010-11, the Blues rank 7th with 2.92 goals per game (1. VGK, 3.20) and rank 3rd in the NHL with 2.59 goals against per game (1. BOS, 2.45)
-The Blues also have the 3rd best penalty kill (82.7%) under Armstrong (1. BOS, 83.4%), and have the 6th best power play (20.8%) in the league (1. WSH, 21.5%)

BLUES STAY STRONG UNDER BERUBE
-Since taking over on Nov. 18, 2018, Berube has led the Blues to a 172-96-37 record (381 points) -The Blues 381 points since Nov. 21, 2018 (Berube’s first game), rank 9th in the NHL (1. TBL, 417), while their 172 wins rank 10th (1. TBL, 198)
-Their 3.23 goals per game share 7th in the NHL under Berube (1. TBL, 3.54)
-The Blues have posted a mark of 2.87 goals against per game under Berube, which ranks 10th in the NHL (1. BOS, 2.49)
-The Blues also have the 4th best power play in the NHL at 23.8% since Berube became head coach (1. EDM, 27.3%)
-On Dec. 11 vs. Colorado, Berube became the 4th Head Coach in Blues history to reach 300 games behind the bench (1. Quenneville, 593 / 2. Hitchcock, 413 / 3. B. Sutter, 320)
-Last season on Dec. 29 vs. EDM, Berube became the 7th different coach in NHL history to win 200 games and play in at least 1,000 career games

Wins as Coach / Games Played
Craig Berube – 247 / 1,054
Randy Carlyle – 475 / 1,055
Bob Pulford – 363 / 1,079
Craig MacTavish – 301 / 1,093
Red Kelly – 278 / 1,316
Brent Sutter – 215 / 1,111
Larry Robinson – 209 / 1,384

BINNINGTON REACHES CENTURY MARK
-On Dec. 12 vs. Nashville, Binnington stopped all 25 shots he faced for his 100th career win and his 12th career shutout
-Binnington became the 6th goaltender in franchise history to record at least 100 wins with the club (Liut/Allen/Joseph/Fuhr/Elliott)
-Binnington recorded his 100th win in his 184th career game, becoming the 3rd fastest in franchise history to reach 100 wins with the team
-With his shutout in his 100th career win, Binnington also moved into a tie for 6th on the Blues all-time franchise list with 12 shutouts, 1 of just 7 goaltenders to record at least 12 shutouts with the Blues
-Since Nov. 10, Binnington has 9 wins, which shares 4th in the NHL (1. Jarry/Shesterkin, 11)
-In his last 4 starts (since Dec. 11), Binnington is 3-0-1, with a 1.70 GAA, a .940 SV%, and 1 shutout
-Binnington has appeared in 24 games this season, which shares the 4th most games played by a goaltender in the NHL (1. Hart/Shesterkin, 26)

Fastest to 100 career wins with the Blues:

  1. Brian Elliott – 175 GP
  2. Jake Allen – 176 GP
  3. Jordan Binnington – 184 GP

BUCHNEVICH STEPPING UP FOR BLUES
-Pavel Buchnevich ranks 2nd on the Blues with 11 goals (1. Kyrou, 16) and ranks 5th with 24 points (1. Kyrou, 32)
-Buchnevich has 8 points in his last 7 games (5g, 3a)
-Buchnevich also has 22 points in his last 18 games (10g, 12a), recording at least 1 point in 14 of those 18 games
-Buchnevich ranks 2nd on the Blues this season with 5 power play goals (1. Kyrou, 6)
-Buchnevich recorded 4 points (2g, 2a) on Nov. 19 vs. Anaheim, the 2nd 4-point game of his career (also: Mar. 17, 2021 w/ NYR: 2g, 2a vs. PHI)
-Buchnevich set career-highs with 30 goals, 46 assists, and 76 points last season

BUCHNEVICH REACHES CENTURY MARK WITH BLUES
-Pavel Buchnevich recorded his 100th point as a Blue (41g, 59a) on Tuesday at Seattle
-Buchnevich reached 100 points as a Blue in just his 97th game as a Blue, becoming just the 8th player in Blues franchise history to record at least 100 points in their first 100 games or fewer with the team -Buchnevich also became the 6th fastest Blue in franchise history to reach 100 points with the team
-Buchnevich sits just 2 games shy of 400 for his career and 5 points shy of 300 for his career

THE TARASENK-SHOW
-On Monday at Vancouver, Tarasenko recorded 3 assists, marking the 7th time in his career he has recorded 3 assists in a game (2nd time this season; also Oct. 19 at Seattle)
-It was also Tarasenko’s 145th career multi-point game, which ranks 5th on the Blues all-time franchise list (4. Unger, 153)
-Vladimir Tarasenko has 12 points in his last 13 games (5g, 7a)
-Tarasenko shares 3rd on the Blues with 25 points (1. Kyrou, 32)
-Tarasenko also shares 3rd on the Blues with 9 goals (1. Kyrou, 16) and shares 3rd on the Blues with 7 even-strength goals (1. Kyrou, 10)
-He also ranks 4th on the Blues with 17 even-strength points (7g, 10a) (1. Kyrou/Thomas, 20)
-Tarasenko also ranks 5th on the Blues all-time franchise list in goals (261) and points (549)

BRAYDEN IS SCHENN-SATIONAL
-Brayden Schenn shares 3rd on the Blues with 25 points this season (1. Kyrou, 32)
-He also ranks 2nd on the Blues with 18 assists (1. Thomas, 22)
-Schenn has 5 points in his last 5 games (1g, 4a) and has 8 points in his last 9 games (1g, 7a)
-Schenn ranks 3rd on the Blues with 19 even-strength points this season (6g, 13a) (1. Kyrou/Thomas, 20)
-Schenn scored the overtime winner on Dec. 12 vs. Nashville, the 9th overtime goal of his career
-Schenn has 24 power play goals since the start of the 2019-20 season, which ranks 2nd among all Blues in that span (1. Perron, 26)
-Schenn dressed in his 800th career NHL game on Dec. 3 at Pittsburgh
-Schenn recorded his 300th point as a Blue on Friday at Calgary

KYROU IS RED HOT
-Jordan Kyrou has a point in 4 consecutive games played (6g, 4a)
-Kyrou has also posted 3 straight multi-point games (6g, 3a)
-Jordan Kyrou scored twice, including his first career overtime winner, on Nov. 26 at Florida
-Kyrou posted his first career hat trick on Monday at Vancouver (3g, 1a)
-Since Kyrou’s debut in 2018-19, he has the 3rd most multi-goal games among Blues with 12 (Perron, 14 / Tarasenko, 13)
-Kyrou posted 6 goals and 9 points on the Blues three-game Western Canada road trip (Dec. 15-19), which marks the most goals by a Blue during a three-game Western Canada road trip (Previous: Brett Hull – 5g, 4a in 3 GP from Feb. 12-17, 1991 & Brad Boyes – 5g, 1a in 3 GP from Mar. 8-11, 2008)
-Kyrou leads the Blues with 16 goals and also leads the team with 6 power play goals
-Kyrou also leads the Blues with 32 points and 11 power play points
-Since Nov. 14, Kyrou has posted 27 points (12g, 15a) in 18 games, which shares 3rd in the NHL over that span (1. McDavid, 33 points / 2. Thompson, 31 points)
-Kyrou posted a career-long 8-game point streak (5g, 8a), from Nov. 14-26, including a career-long 6 game assist streak from Nov. 16-25 (2g, 8a)

THOMAS CONTINUING STRONG SEASON
-Robert Thomas leads the Blues with 22 assists and ranks 2nd with 30 points this season (1. Kyrou, 32)
-Thomas has 5 points in his last 4 games (2g, 3a) and has 11 points in his last 11 games (4g, 7a)
-In his last 21 games, Thomas has recorded 23 points (6g, 17a), recording at least 1 point in 16 of those 21 games
-He also leads the Blues with 8 power play assists and shares 2nd on the Blues with 10 power play points (1. Kyrou, 11)
-Thomas also shares 1st on the Blues with 20 even-strength points (6g, 14a) (Kyrou)

VEGAS GOLDEN KNIGHTS NOTES:

GOLDEN KNIGHTS UPCOMING GAMES
Golden Knights 2022-23 Record: 23-11-1, 47 points (9-9-0 at Home, 14-2-1 on Road)

DATE OPPONENT TELEVISION RADIO SPANISH RADIO
Dec. 23 vs. St. Louis Blues AT&T SportsNet Fox Sports 98.9 FM/1340 AM Deportes 1460 AM
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

GOLDEN KNIGHTS LAST GAME RECAP
December 21 – Vegas Golden Knights 5, Arizona Coyotes 2
The Vegas Golden Knights (23-11-1) picked up a 5-2 win in front of their home crowd against the Arizona Coyotes (10-16-5) on Wednesday night at T-Mobile Arena. After a scoreless first period, Daniil Miromanov scored his second career NHL goal and first career power play goal making it 1-0 for Vegas. A minute later, Jusso Valimaki tied the game for Arizona and the teams entered the third level at 1-1. Midway through the third, Mark Stone scored on the power play to give Vegas a 2-1 lead. William Carrier found the back of the net a minute later to extend the Golden Knights’ edge to 3-1. The Coyotes responded when Christian Fischer scored to make it 3-2 with less than nine minutes to play. Less than a minute later, Stone potted his second of the night, this time shorthanded, to bring the score to 4-2. With just three minutes remaining, Michael Amadio tallied a goal to make it 5-2 and secure the win for the Golden Knights.

LAST GAME BY THE NUMBERS

  • Stone becomes the first VGK player to score a PPG and a SHG in the same game
  • Miromanov has five points in his last five games after previously recording one point in his first 16 career games
  • Logan Thompson returned to the win column after making 21 saves, good for a .913 save percentage on the evening
  • Vegas improves to 23-11-1 on the season and 9-9-0 at home

Reilly Smith is Coming to Town
Reilly Smith has extended his point streak to five games after assisting on Amadio’s goal against the Coyotes on Wednesday night. The forward also owns five goals in his last five games and leads all Vegas players with 17 this season.

Aye-Aye Captain
Mark Stone had his first three point night of the season (2-1—3) on Wednesday, and his first since Dec. 12, 2021. The team’s captain scored two goals, one on the power-play and the second shorthanded. Stone’s shorthanded goal was his first since the 2020-21 season and he became the first Golden Knight to score a power play goal and a shorthanded goal in the same game. With his two goals, Stone is second on the team with goals scored (14) this season, tied with Marchessault. Stone’s two-goal game was his third of the season and 24th of his career.

Easy Steph-y
Chandler Stephenson leads Vegas in points with 32 (8-24—32) after recording a pair of assists in the win on Wednesday over the Coyotes. Stephenson currently owns a six-game point streak with 10 points (2-8—10) during that time. This is the longest point streak for Stephenson in his career. During his streak, the forward recorded four assists in Winnipeg to tie his career high and the road record for VGK (last Stone 2/23/20). Stephenson leads the club in helpers with 24 on the season (T-7th for NHL forwards), and his 61.86 faceoff win percentage ranks second in the NHL among all qualified skaters.

Reaching New Highs
William Carrier broke his career high in goals in a season after he scored in Vegas’ win over Arizona on Wednesday. Carrier’s goal was his 10th of the season, the first time he has reached double-digits in goals, and was also his 4th game-winning goal on the season. Carrier’s four game-winning goals is the most of all Golden Knights this season (Stephenson and Smith T-2nd, 3GWG).

Power Play Magic
The Golden Knights have converted on 12 of their 30 power play opportunities for the month of December, matching the club’s record for the most power play goals in a month. Vegas’ 40% power play percentage this month is second in the NHL, behind the Edmonton Oilers (45%).

Killing It
In Vegas’ last four games, the Golden Knights have outscored their opponents 2-0 while being short handed. The team has also not allowed a power play goal in their last seven penalty kills.

The Shorty King
Reilly Smith netted his fourth shorthanded goal of the season at Chicago last Thursday, 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 126 blocked shots in 35 games and is the only player in the league to reach the century mark this season. Martinez has led the team in blocked shots in 21 of 35 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 32 points, followed by, Jack Eichel with 29 points and Mark Stone with 28 points.

Golden Knights Point Leaders

  1. Chandler Stephenson – 32 (8G, 24A)
  2. Jack Eichel – 29 (13G, 16A)
  3. Mark Stone – 28 (14G, 14A)
  4. Jonathan Marchessault – 27 (14G, 13A)
  5. Reilly Smith – 26 (17G, 9A)

Hot Streaks
Chandler Stephenson (2-8—10) – 6 games
Reilly Smith (5-3—8) – 5 games
Alex Pietrangelo (0-3—3) – 3 games
Michael Amadio (1-1—2) – 2 games
William Karlsson (0-2—2) – 2 games

Against the Blues
Friday marks the second of three meetings between Vegas and St. Louis for the 2022-23 season. The Golden Knights hold an all-time record of 11-9-1 against the Blues in 21 total meetings. The last time the two teams faced off, Vegas saw their nine-game win streak come to an end in a 3-2 loss to St. Louis at T-Mobile Arena. Reilly Smith and Phil Kessel were the goal scorers for Vegas but it was not enough to give the Golden Knights a win. The Blues used goals from Brandon Saad, Ivan Barbashev, and Ryan O’Reilly to defeat the Golden Knights. Vegas’ captain Mark Stone owns 22 points (8-14—22) in 23 contests with the Blues in his career.

2022-23 Season STL Series: 0-1-0 (Home: 0-1-0, Road: 0-0-0)
Nov. 12 – at Vegas (Vegas 2, St. Louis 3)
Dec. 23 – at Vegas
Mar. 12 – at St. Louis

2021-22 Season STL Series: 1-2-0 (Home: 0-1-0, Road: 1-1-0)
Oct. 20 – at Vegas (Vegas 1, St. Louis 3)
Nov. 22 – at St. Louis (Vegas 2, St. Louis 5)
Apr. 29 – at St. Louis (Vegas 7, St. Louis 4)

CFB: Quick Lane Bowl Preview – New Mexico State Aggies (6-6) vs Bowling Green Falcons (6-6)

NEW MEXICO STATE AGGIES NOTES:

NM State Bowl History (3-0-1 All-Time)

1936 SUN BOWL
New Mexico State (A&M) 14, Hardin-Simmons 14 January 1, 1936 at Jones Stadium in El Paso, Texas A fourth quarter hook and lateral by New Mexico A&M gave the Aggies a 14-14 tie with Hardin-Simmons in the program’s first bowl appearance. With the ball at midfield, Aggie quarterback Lem Pratt completed a pass to ‘Hooky’ Apodaca at the 35. Hooky then lateraled the ball to Lauro Apodaca, who ran in untouched for the score. Hooky made the extra point to tie the game. Hardin-Simmons had missed the extra point following its second touchdown, but the Aggies were offsides on the play and HSC was successful on the second attempt. Thee Aggies finished the season with a record of 7-1-2 under head coach Jerry Hines.

1959 SUN BOWL
New Mexico State 28, North Texas State 8 December 31, 1959 at Kidd Field in El Paso, Texas New Mexico State defeated North Texas State, 28-8, in the 1959 Sun Bowl, the Aggies making their second bowl appearance and first since 1936. The Aggies took advantage of two North Texas State turnovers in the first quarter to mount a 14-0 lead. They added another touchdown in the second quarter to build the lead to 21-0 at halftime.
NM State scored its rst touchdown when Sun Bowl MVP Charley Johnson hit Pervis Atkins for a 57-yard touchdown pass. At the end of the first quarter, Bob Kelly intercepted a Mean Green pass, but fumbled the ball at NTSU’s 5-yard line. As the ball rolled into the end zone, Billy Ray Locklin pounced on it for an Aggie score. North Texas had six fumbles, with four inside the 25-yard line.

1960 SUN BOWL
New Mexico State 20, Utah State 13
December 31, 1960 at Kidd Field in El Paso, Texas
New Mexico State, making its second-consecutive appearance in the Sun Bowl, rallied from a 13-7 halftime deficit to defeat Utah State, 20-13.
NM State quarterback Charley Johnson threw for 190 yards and was tabbed the Sun Bowl’s MVP for the second-straight year. Johnson is the only player to earn the Sun Bowl’s MVP honor twice. The NM State defense held the nation’s top offense to just 268 total yards. Utah State’s defense was equally impressive. USU, led by future Hall of Famer Merlin Olsen, held the NM State offense to only 224 yards, including just 44 rushing yards on 32 carries. Utah State took a 7-0 lead in the first quarter, but Johnson connected with Pervis Atkins on a 3-yard pass to tie the game. Trailing 13-7, Bob Gaiters scampered 32 yards for a TD and Johnson hit E.A. Sims on a 7-yard pass for the final score

2017 ARIZONA BOWL
New Mexico State 26, Utah State 20 (OT)
December 29, 2017 at Arizona Stadim in Tucson, Arizona
Ending a 57-year bowl drought for NM State, the Aggies made history when they moved to 3-0-1 in bowl games. The game opened up with early scores for both sides. NM State struck first on its opening drive when Dylan Brown split the upright on a 23-yard field goal attempt. The lead did not last long, however, as Utah State returned the ensuing kickoff for a touchdown to go up 7-3 just 3:59 into the game. NM State erased that deficit in a hurry when Jason Huntley answered with a 100-yard kicko return touchdown to give the Aggies a 10-7 advantage just 14 seconds later. NM State sat behind by seven heading into the final 6:58 of action. A great pass from Tyler Rogers to Jaleel Scott saw the receiver haul it in and keep his foot inbounds for the score, which tied the game at 20. A missed field goal in overtime for Utah State gave NM
State the opportunity to take home the trophy. The team did just that when Larry Rose III found the hole and broke off for a 21-yard score to secure the 2017 NOVA Home Loans Arizona Bowl for NM State with a final score of 26-20.

BOWLING GREEN FALCONS NOTES:

OPENING KICK
FALCONS TO SPEND HOLIDAYS IN THE “MOTOR CITY”
• Bowling Green State University returns to action in the eighth annual Quick Lane Bowl against the New Mexico State Aggies on Mon., Dec. 26.

• It is Bowling Green’s first appearance in the Quick Lane Bowl, but the Falcons appeared in a bowl game two previous times at Ford Field, including the now-defunct Motor City Bowl (2003) and the Little Caesar’s Pizza Bowl (2013). Both those games also happened to be played on Dec. 26.

BOWLING GREEN VS. NEW MEXICO STATE
• The 2022 Quick Lane Bowl will be the first all-time meeting between Bowling Green and New Mexico State in football.

• BGSU is playing a FBS Independent team for the first time since traveling to Notre Dame in 2019.

FIVE TOP STORYLINES
• Bowling Green is playing in its first bowl game since the 2015 GoDaddy Bowl when the Falcons fell to the Georgia Southern Eagles.

• Bowling Green enters Bowl Season as one of four FBS programs whose win totals improved 4+ games from 2020 to 2021 and then improved 2+ more games from 2021 to 2022. Joining BGSU on the list are Kansas State, Oregon State and Tennessee as the Falcons are the only program from outside the “Power-5” to accomplish the feat.

• DL Karl Brooks is a first-team All-American by Pro Football Focus and is the highest graded edge rusher in the nation. He enters Bowl Season No. 8 in the nation in sacks with 10.0. He is also No. 9 in the nation with 18.0 tackles for loss.

• WR Odieu Hiliare has a catch in 34-straight games, which includes his career at Alabama A&M. It is the 14th-best active streak in the nation. The Alabama A&M transfer has 156 career receptions for 2,069 career receiving yards and 19 receiving touchdowns.

• TE Harold Fannin Jr. leads BGSU with four rushing touchdowns. He and Tennessee’s Princeton Fant are the only tight ends with at least four rushing touchdowns. Fant scored his fifth last time out at Vanderbilt. He is the only FBS tight end in the nation to lead his team in rushing touchdowns.

BOWLING GREEN IN FORD FIELD BOWL GAMES
• Northwestern took away Bowling Green’s running game. So Josh Harris beat the Wildcats through the air. Harris passed for 386 yards and three touchdowns to lead Bowling Green to a 28-24 victory over Northwestern in the 2003 Motor City Bowl. It was the first postseason meeting ever between schools from the MAC and Big Ten.

• Bowling Green took the lead for good on Harris’ 3-yard touchdown pass to Cole Magner with 4:06 left. Harris, who also ran for a TD, set a Motor City Bowl and BGSU record for completions with 38 in 50 attempts. It also marked the third fourth-quarter rally for BGSU against a Big Ten squad (Northwestern in 2001 and Purdue in 2003). Magner also set a game record for catches, finishing with 12 for 97 yards and two touchdowns.

• Bowling Green used two 80-yard scoring drives to take a 21-17 lead early in the fourth. Harris threw a 7-yard TD pass to Magner, and put the Falcons on top with an 11-yarder to Steve Sanders.

• Chris Blewitt’s field goal with 1:17 remaining gave the Pitt a 30-27 win over the Bowling Green in the 2013 Little Caesars Pizza Bowl at Ford Field.

• Pitt freshman James Conner ran for 229 yards and a touchdown, while the Panthers’ Tyler Boyd had 173 receiving yards and returned a punt 54 yards for a score.

• On BG’s second drive, Johnson found Shaun Joplin for gains of 18 and 17 yards, respectively, on back-to-back plays. Joplin led the BG receivers with six catches and 86 yards vs. the Panthers. The Falcons got into the red zone before the drive stalled, and Tyler Tate kicked a 28-yard field goal fo give the Brown and Orange the early lead.

• Trailing by a touchdown at halftime, BGSU drew even at the start of the second half, as BooBoo Gates returned the opening kickoff 94 yards for a score. Tate’s PAT tied the game with only 11 seconds elapsed.

• That Gates return tied the school record for longest kickoff return in history, matching Leon Weathersby’s 94-yard return in a 1997 game at Doyt Perry Stadium.

• The next drive, however, saw the Panthers kick what proved to be the winning field goal. On the second play of that drive, Voytik rolled out and gained 19 yards, giving Pitt a first down at midfield. Conner gained 20 yards on the following play. Voytik handed the ball to Conner on each of the next three plays, gaining a total of nine yards. On that thirddown play, Conner was stopped for no gain, but on fourth down, Blewitt’s 39-yard kick was good.

BOWLING GREEN FIRST WENT BOWLING IN 1961
• In 1961, Bowling Green played in its first bowl game, the Mercy Bowl at the Los Angeles Coliseum. The game against Fresno State was played to raise money to help the families of 16 members of the Cal Poly San Luis Obispo football team. The 16 players perished in a plane crash shortly after takeoff from Toledo Express Airport after a 1960 game against BG. The game netted $170,000 for the memorial fund.

• A bronze plaque mounted on the peristyle end of the Los Angeles Coliseum commemorates the 1961 Mercy Bowl. Until the 2021 LA Bowl, it was the last bowl game played in the city limits of Los Angeles.

MCDONALD FAMILY KNOWS BOTH BGSU AND NEW MEXICO STATE
• Bowling Green quarterback Matt McDonald is no stranger to New Mexico State. His older brother Andrew was a quarterback for the Aggies in 2012 and 2013. As the starter in 2013, he finished with 2,497 passing yards and 15 passing touchdowns.

• Matt and Andrew’s older brother, Michael, was a quarterback at USC following in dad Paul’s footsteps. More on McDonald family on page 10.

BGSU AND NEW MEXICO STATE WILL SEE A CLASH OF LINES
• Bowling Green is No. 11 in the nation with 37 sacks, or No. 9 in the nation with 3.08 sacks a game. They will have a battle in the trenches as New Mexico State is No. 25 in the nation by allowing only 15 sacks.

• The most sacks New Mexico State gave up in a game was three against UMass. BGSU tallied six in a game three times.

AGGIES HAVE HOSTED A NO-FLY ZONE IN 2022
• New Mexico is No. 13 in the nation by allowing only 183.7 yards per game through the air.

• Bowling Green’s Matt McDonald has thrown for 200+ yards in a game eight times this season, creating a fun matchup to watch.

FALCONS ARE BOWL-ELIGIBLE FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE 2015
• Currently BGSU has the most season wins (6) and MAC wins (5) since 2015 when BGSU went 10-4 overall and 7-1 in MAC play.

• BGSU’s win at Toledo made Bowling Green bowl-eligible for the first time since 2015.

• A win in the Quick Lane Bowl will give BGSU its first winning season since 2015 and 61st in program history.

MCDONALD’S CATCHABLE PASS RATE IS HIGH
• QB Matt McDonald is tied for No. 4 in the nation on catchable pass rate on throws 15+ yards downfield vs. FBS opponents.

• Below is where Matt ranks in the category:
Name, School Catchable Pass Rate

  1. C.J. Stroud, Ohio State 77.3
  2. Kedon Slovis, Pitt 76.4
  3. Bo Nix, Oregon 76.1
  4. Matt McDonald, Bowling Green 75.0
    Spencer Rattler, South Carolina 75.0
  5. Chevan Cordeiro, San Jose State 74.6

BOWLING GREEN IS GETTING TO THE QUARTERBACK
• In records dating back to 1990, BGSU is tied for the third-most team sacks over the past 33 seasons. BGSU cracked the top-5 during that span in just eight games, while the other teams on the list all played in bowl games, with three playing for a MAC championship. The 1992 and 2013 teams won the MAC championship.

• BGSU all-time career sack leader Kevin O’Brien had 19 of those 38 team sacks in 1992.

• BGSU is one of 50 FBS programs since 2000 to have at least 33 team sacks through the first nine games of the season.

• Below are the top-five BGSU team sacks seasons since 2000:
Year Team Sacks (Games)

  1. 2012 38 (13)
    1992 38 (11)
  2. 2022 37 (12)
  3. 2014 33 (14)
  4. 2013 30 (14)

BOWLING GREEN DEFENSE PUTS PRESSURE ON THE QUARTERBACK
• Bowling Green is No. 9 in the nation with 241 QB pressures, per Pro Football Focus.

• Karl Brooks owns 47 of those pressures, or nearly 20 percent (19.5) of the team QB pressures.

• Below is BGSU ranks in team QB pressures heading into Bowl Season:
School QB Pressures

  1. Clemson 287
  2. Texas 277
  3. Pitt 272
  4. Penn State 268
  5. Houston 256
  6. Utah 253
  7. NC State 248
  8. Washington 243
  9. Bowling Green 241
  10. Coastal Carolina 240

MCDONALD CLIMBS THE BGSU CAREER PASSING LIST
• Matt McDonald has entered BGSU Top-10 list for career passing touchdown at Bowling Green.

• McDonald needs 14 passing yards to pass Mark Miller for No. 9 all-time at Bowling Green in career passing.

• McDonald needs 167 passing yards to jump past Erik White for No. 8 all-time in the BGSU career passing annals.

• With 94 passing yards, McDonald will become the ninth Falcon all-time with 6,000 career passing yards. He would be the 59th quarterback in MAC history to reach the milestone.

• Below is where McDonald sits on the BGSU career passing list:
Player Years Career Passing Yards

  1. Rich Dackin 1986-89 6,862
  2. Erik White 1989-92 6,072
  3. Mark Miller 1974-77 5,919
  4. Matt McDonald 2020-pres. 5,906

NHL Preview: Los Angeles Kings (19-12-5) at Arizona Coyotes (10-16-5)

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LOS ANGELES KINGS NOTES:

DEC. 23 vs. ARIZONA COYOTES – 7:30 PM MT (6:30 p.m. PT) // Venue: Mullett Arena // TV: Bally Sports West // Radio: iHeartRadio
-The LA Kings visit the Arizona Coyotes for the second of three meetings between the clubs this season (5-3 W on Dec. 1; Feb. 18).

-The Kings look to win their fourth consecutive game over the Coyotes and their sixth in their last seven contests.

-Tonight marks the second game in LA’s fifth back-to-back this season. Prior to this set, the team is 4-2-2 in back-to-backs (3-1 in the first game, 1-1-2 in the second).

WARM-UPS
1) Anze Kopitar sits four points shy of 1,100 in his career. Only two LA Kings skaters have eclipsed 1,100 points in their career with the Kings: Marcel Dionne (1,307) and Luc Robitaille (1,154).

2) In their previous meeting earlier this year on Dec. 1, the Kings earned their 100th victory against the Coyotes in franchise history.

3) Phillip Danault and Blake Lizotte scored 10 seconds apart last night, marking the fastest two goals by the Kings this season. The last time the Kings tallied twice in 10 seconds or less was on March 10, when Danault and Andreas Athanasiou did so in eight seconds.

4) Viktor Arvidsson (121) has the fifth-most even-strength goals among 2014 NHL Draftees, sitting behind David Pastrnak (169), Leon Draisaitl (161), Nikolaj Ehlers (132) and Brayden Point (122).

5) Carl Grundstrom (88) leads the team in hits.

vs. ARIZONA^ ALL-TIME:
All-Time Record: 100-108-25-12
Home: 52-51-14-4
Away: 48-57-11-8
OT: 12-16 (24 ties)
Shootout: 5-5
2021-22: 2-0-1
2022-23: 1-0-0
^-against ARI franchise, dating back to WPG

FRANCHISE LEADERS vs. ARIZONA^:
Anze Kopitar – 86 GP, 89 PTS (24-65=89)
Luc Robitaille – 87 GP, 87 PTS (42-45=87)
Wayne Gretzky – 44 GP, 81 PTS (22-59=81)
Marcell Dionne – 49 GP, 75 PTS (34-41=75)
Dave Taylor – 85 GP, 75 PTS (28-47=75)
Bernie Nicholls – 58 GP, 64 PTS (28-36=64)
*-denotes active roster player
^-against ARI franchise, dating back to WPG

LAST MEETING vs. ARIZONA: December 1, 2022 – LAK 5 vs. ARI 3
Venue: Crypto.com Arena
LAK Goals: Kopitar (6, 7), Moore (7), Grundstrom (6), Fiala (8),
ARI Goals: Fischer (4), Maccelli (2), Bjugstad (5)
Goalies: LAK: Quick (W, 18 saves, 21 shots) ARI: Vejmelka (L, 27 saves, 31 shots)
LAK PP: 2-for-4
LAK PK: 3-for-3

THE NEXT THREE:
Tues., Dec. 27 | vs. Vegas Golden Knights | 7:30 p.m. PT | Bally Sports West | LA Kings iHeart Radio Audio Network
o No skater has more points against the Golden Knights in league history than Anze Kopitar (11-19=30).

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.

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 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: 53

RECENT TRANSACTIONS (as of 12/23/22)
Dec. 7 – Brandt Clarke (D) loaned to Team Canada (IIHF).
Dec. 12 – Rasmus Kupari (F) and Jordan Spence (D) recalled from Ontario (AHL). Viktor Arvidsson (F) granted non-roster status.
Dec. 16 – Samuel Fagemo (F), Rasmus Kupari (F) and Tobias Bjornfot (D) loaned to Ontario (AHL).
Dec. 18 – Rasmus Kupari (F) and Jordan Spence (D) loaned to Ontario (AHL).
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.

LA KINGS TEAM NOTES:
HOME AWAY FROM HOME
The LA Kings have found consistent success in The Grand Canyon State, having won their last seven consecutive games against the Coyotes in Arizona, dating back to Jan. 30, 2020. During that time, the Kings have scored 24 goals against the Coyotes, the most by any one team. The Kings’ seven game winning streak against the Coyotes in Arizona is the longest active such streak and tied for the third-longest in league history:

Longest road winning streaks against the Coyotes
Team Streak Dates
Boston Bruins 10 games Oct. 10, 2010 – Jan. 28, 2022
St. Louis Blues 9 games Dec. 23, 2011 – March 29, 2017
LA Kings* 7 games Jan. 30, 2020 – Pres.
Detroit Red Wings 7 games Oct. 15, 2005 – Dec. 13, 2008
Edmonton Oilers 7 games Oct. 7, 1983 – Jan. 6, 1985
Six teams 6 games n/a

PHEONIX RISING
Kings goaltender Pheonix Copley stopped 27 of 30 shots last 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. With his secondary assist on Phillip Danault’s first period goal last Saturday night versus San Jose, Copley became the 13th different goaltender to record a point this season. Since his season debut with the Kings, no goaltender has more wins than Copley and only Florida’s Sergei Bobrovsky (454:54) has logged more time on ice than Copley (433:08). 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.

OH CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN
Anze Kopitar sits at 499 (177-322=499) career road points, trailing only Marcel Dionne (262-345=607) in club history. With one more point, Kopitar can become the fifth active player to eclipse 500 career road points:

Most road points among active skaters
Player GP Points
Alex Ovechkin 659 702 (409-293=702)
Sidney Crosby 573 647 (244-403=647)
Patrick Kane 566 569 (211-358=569)
Evgeni Malkin 504 521 (205-316=521)
Eric Staal 655 512 (217-295=512)
Anze Kopitar 623 499 (177-322=499)
Nicklas Backstrom 532 493 (130-363=493)
On Dec. 11 at Columbus, Kopitar surpassed Dave Taylor (198-298=496) for the second-most all-time road points in franchise history.

LAST TIME OUT
The last time the Kings and Coyotes met on Dec. 1, Anze Kopitar scored a pair of goals for his second consecutive multi-point game to earn his 20th point of the season (7-14=21), eclipsing the 20-point plateau for the 17th consecutive season. Kopitar’s two goals marked his 88th and 89th points (23-66=89) against the Arizona Coyotes franchise, surpassing Luc Robitaille (42-45=87) for the most points by an LA Kings skater against the Coyotes. Kopitar leads all active skaters in points against Arizona with the next closest skater being Dallas’ Joe Pavelski with 61 (31-30=61). Fellow teammate Drew Doughty sits sixth among active skaters and leads all active defensemen:

Most points versus Arizona among active skaters
Player GP PTS
Anze Kopitar 86 89 (24-65=89)
Joe Pavelski 75 61 (30-31=61)
Corey Perry 71 58 (29-29=58)
Patrick Kane 45 56 (17-39=56)
Jonathan Toews 44 47 (18-29=47)
Drew Doughty 67 46 (14-32=46)

ROYAL LEADER
Forward Kevin Fiala scored his 10th goal of the season Tuesday night 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).

VILLARDI PARTY
Gabe Vilardi scored his team-leading 14th goal of the season last 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) 34 24
Cole Caufield (MTL) 33 19
Jack Hughes (NJD) 33 17
Andrei Svechnikov (CAR) 33 17
Nick Suzuki (MTL) 33 15
Gabe Vilardi (LAK) 35 14
Brady Tkachuk 33 13

MULTI-POINT EFFORT FOR LIZZO
Forward Blake Lizotte recorded his first multi-point game of the year last night (1-1=2), giving him three points (1-2=3) in his last two outings. In 36 games this season, Lizotte has recorded 15 points (7-8=15) and sits three goals shy of tying his career-high of 10 set last season. Lizotte has skated in 213 career NHL games, tallying 72 points (26-46=72), which is the third-most among St. Cloud State University alumni:

Most NHL points among St. Cloud State Univ. alumni
Player GP PTS
Nic Dowd 405 115 (52-63=115)
Nick Jensen 442 105 (14-91=105)
Blake Lizotte 213 72 (26-46=72)
Ryan Poehling 115 30 (17-13=30)
Dennis Cholowski 115 30 (10-20=30)

HISTORY FOR #8
Drew Doughty scored his second goal of the season Tuesday night versus Anaheim for his 20th point on the year. Per NHL PR, Doughty is the fourth player, and first defenseman, in Kings history to record 15 consecutive campaigns of at least 20 points, joining Anze Kopitar (17), Dustin Brown (17) and Dave Taylor (15). Doughty has now recorded 39 points (8-31=39) in 68 career games against Anaheim. Doughty has scored his most points against Arizona (67 GP, 14-32=46). Doughty’s goal marked his 260th career power-play point. Only Brent Burns (287) has more power-play points among active defensemen in the league. Doughty also has 28 career game-winning goals. He needs one to surpass Butch Goring and Mike Murphy and move into a tie with Rob Blake (29) for seventh on the franchise’s all-time list.

YOUNG GUN
With one more point, Durzi can hit the 20-point mark for his second straight season from the start of his career. Last year, Durzi recorded his 20th point in his 48th game on March 24, 2022 against Chicago with his second career three-point game (0-3=3). Only three Kings defensemen in the past 25 years have recorded 20-plus points in each of their first two or more consecutive seasons in the NHL: Drew Doughty (14 seasons: 2008-09 to 2021-22 – can extend this season) L’ubomir Visnovsky (7 seasons: 2000-01 to 2007-08) and Slava Voynov (3 seasons: 2011-12 to 2013-14). Durzi sits at 97 career NHL games played entering tonight. With three more games played, Durzi can become the 11th defenseman from his draft class to appear in 100 career NHL games. In 33 games this season, Durzi has notched 19 points (4-15=19), which sits fourth among defensemen from the 2018 NHL Draft class and sixth among all skaters from his draft class:

2022-23 point totals among 2018 NHL Drafted defensemen
Player GP Points
Rasmus Dahlin (BUF) 31 37 (10-27=37)
Quinn Hughes (VAN) 28 28 (0-28=28)
Noah Dobson (NYI) 34 22 (10-12=22)
Sean Durzi (LAK) 33 19 (4-15=19)
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:

Most games played among Swedish-born defensemen
Player GP
Nicklas Lidstrom 1,564
Borje Salming 1,148
Calle Johansson 1,109
Ulf Samuelsson 1,080
Frederik Olausson 1,022
Alex Edler* 997
Niklas Kronwall 953
*-denotes active player

SHOOTOUT GURU
Forward Trevor Moore scored the game-deciding shootout goal for the LA Kings for the second consecutive game last Saturday, guiding the team to a 3-2 win over the San Jose Sharks. Moore’s shootout goal marked the third of his career in his fourth-ever attempt (75%). All three of his shootout goals have been game-deciding tallies. Moore is one of four players this season with multiple game-deciding shootout goals, joining Montreal’s Kirby Dach (2) and Nick Suzuki (2) and Colorado’s Evan Rodrigues (2).

ARIZONA COYOTES NOTES:

3 HARD LAPS
• Arizona is winless in its last three outings but enter tonight 3-1-1 in its last five home games

• Nick Schmaltz comes into tonight on a 4-game point streak and has 8 pts (2-6-8) in 5 home game since returning from injury

• The Coyotes begin another 3-game homestand tonight, their final home games before the New Year

LAST GAME
Golden Knights 5, Coyotes 2 – December 21, 2022 – T-Mobile Arena
ARI Goals: Valimaki (2), Fischer (6)
VGK Goals: Miromanov (2), Stone (13, 14), Carrier (10), Amadio (2)
ARI Goalie: Vejmelka (L) – 29 svs on 34 shots
VGK Goalie: Thompson (W) – 22 svs on 24 shots
PP: 0-2 PK: 2-4
Notes: Christian Fischer registered a team-high 2 pts (1-1-2), his fourth multi-point game of the season…2022-23 marks the second-highest amount of multi-point games Fischer has tallied in a season (6, 2017-18)…Fischer (6-6-12 in 31 GP) has already surpassed his point and assist total from last season…Nick Schmaltz notched an assist to extend his point streak to 4 games, a season-high for him…Juuso Valimaki netted his second goal of the season and first on the road as a member of the Coyotes…Nick Ritchie, and Travis Boyd also chipped in assists…Boyd reached double-digit helpers for the second straight season and third time in his career…Josh Brown threw six hits, a season-high for him

MAN GAMES LOST (Name/Roster Status/Injury Type/Games Missed/Last Game Played)
Liam O’Brien…Week-to-Week…Upper-Body (3 / 12/16)
Total man games lost: 66 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
Tue, Dec 27 7pm vs COL Mullett Arena Bally Sports Arizona Extra ESPN 620
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

YOTES & KINGS
-Tonight is the second of three ARI-LAK matchups this season and the only one in Tempe. They’ll play once more at Crypto.com Arena on 2/18

-LAK captured the first meeting 5-3 on 12/1

-Christian Fischer picked up his first career SHG in the December game while Matias Maccelli registered a goal and an assist

-Jakob Chychrun leads all current Coyote skaters in career points (12) against the Kings and is tied for second in goals (5) and assists (7). The blueliner had a 6-game point streak versus LA from 3/3/21 – 5/5/21

-Since the start of 2020-21, Chychrun’s 3 goals vs LAK rank T-2nd among NHL d-men and his 8 pts in that span rank T-6th

-The Kings represent the opponent the Coyotes/Jets franchise have the most games played (245) and wins (120) against in the NHL

  • Coyotes franchise vs Kings:
    • All-Time: 120-90-25-10
    • Home: 65-43-11-5
    • Road: 55-47-14-5
    • L10: 4-6-0
    • STRK: L3

SCORING NOTABLES AGAINST THE KINGS
Jakob Chychrun…5-7-12…24 career GP
Clayton Keller…4-7-11…23 career GP
Shayne Gostisbehere…1-5-6…13 career GP
JJ Moser…0-2-2…3 career GP
Career Leaders
Goals (Bjugstad, 6)… Assists (Chychrun/Keller, 7)…Points (Chychrun, 12)
Career Leaders Among Defensemen
Goals (Chychrun, 5)…Assists (Chychrun, 7)…Points (Chychrun, 12)

KELLER INSTINCT

  • Clayton Keller enters tonight among Arizona leaders in goals (12, 2nd), assists (18, 2nd) and points (30, 1st) in 2022-23
  • Keller has produced five goals and nine points over 11 December games…Three of those tallies came on 12/11 when he registered the first Coyotes hat trick of the season
  • Despite being held off the scoresheet on Wednesday, Keller enters tonight on a run of 8 pts (5-3-8) in his last 7 GP
  • Keller notched his 30th point of the campaign with an assist on Monday, which was his 30th game. Since the franchise relocated to Arizona, Keller is the fifth Coyote (eighth instance) to reach 30 points within his first 30 games of a season
  • 2022-23 also marks Keller’s sixth consecutive season of reaching the 30-point benchmark. Only Dale Hawerchuk (7) has recorded more 30+ point seasons with the Coyotes/Jets franchise before turning 25 -The winger has been clear of a point per game since 11/18/21, recording 37-50-87 in 82 GP since then. His 1.06 points per game in that span ranks 6th among RW (Min. 50 GP)

IN THE NICK OF TIME

  • Nick Schmaltz has begun his season with 5-8-13 in 16 GP and comes into tonight on a 4-game point streak (1-5-6 in that span)
  • His 4-game run is his longest of the season. His last 5+ game point streak came during his career-best 7-game run in March of 2022
  • All 13 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 2-7-9 in his last 7 GP predating his 4-game point streak
  • Schmaltz has found the scoresheet in all five home games this season, producing 2-6-8 at Mullett Arena
  • 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 2-5-7 in 4 GP
  • In his last 82 games (since 4/28/21), Schmaltz has recorded 28-46-74…He’s also registered 28-43-71 in his last 72 GP
  • Since his Coyotes debut on 11/27/18, Schmaltz has recorded 54-109-163 in 218 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 15 games this season. All 13 of his points have come in his last 14 games
  • Since 11/23 (his last 14 GP), Chychrun ranks among NHL blueliners in goals (T-6th), assists (T-6th), points (T-5th) and shots (51, 3rd)
  • Chychrun has been a point-per-game player since 12/3, producing 2-8-10 in 10 GP
  • Chychrun reached 10 assists this year with an assist on Monday, his 14th game. Per NHL Stats & Info, he’s the eighth defenseman (10th instance) in Coyotes/Jets franchise history to require 14 or fewer games in a season to reach 10 assists. Keith Yandle was the last to do it to begin 2014-15
  • 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
  • Chychrun extended his home point streak to 5 games on Monday. The last Coyotes defenseman to post a 6+ game home point streak was Oliver Ekman-Larsson from 12/26/15 – 1/14/16
  • The only NHL defensemen to register a 6+ home point streak this season are Adam Fox (10), Josh Morrissey and Erik Karlsson (twice)

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Shayne Gostisbehere (8-15-23 in 31 GP) enters tonight ranking among NHL d-men leaders in goals (T-4th), points (T-16th), power-play goals (3, T-6th) and even-strength points (14, T-12th) on the campaign

  • The blueliner has compiled 9 pts (4-5-9) in his last 10 games, as well as 13 pts (4-9-13) in his last 14 GP (since 11/23)
  • Since 11/23, Gostisbehere ranks T-1st among NHL d-men in goals, T-5th in points as well as T-10th in assists
  • Gostisbehere (82-211-293 in 494 GP) is closing in on 300 pts and 500 games for his career. He is on track to become 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)

NHL Preview: Vancouver Canucks (14-15-3) at Edmonton Oilers (18-14-2)

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VANCOUVER CANUCKS NOTES:

TV: Sportsnet
Radio: Sportsnet 650

MATCH-UP INFO
• Tonight marks the second of three meetings between the Canucks and Oilers this season: Oct. 12 (5-3 L @ EDM), Dec. 23 (away), Jan. 21 (home)

• The Canucks are 108-121-15-19 all-time against the Oilers, including a 48-69-7-8 record on the road.

• Vancouver is 2-5-3 in their last 10 games vs Edmonton (0-2-3 in their last 5).

• Among active Canucks skaters, Oliver Ekman-Larsson leads the team in career points and games played against Edmonton with 29 points (12-17-29) in 44 games played.

• J.T. Miller has 24 points (6-18-24) in 26 career games against Edmonton.

• Brock Boeser has 20 points (10-10-20) in 25 career games against Edmonton.

• Bo Horvat has 23 points (9-14-23) in 26 career games against Edmonton.

• Conor Garland has nine points (4-5-9) in 12 career games against Edmonton.

• Spencer Martin is 0-0-2 in two career games vs the Oilers, recording a 2.32 GAA and .940 save percentage.

QUICK NUMBERS
• Bo Horvat has seven points (5-2-7) in his last eight games is tied for fourth in the NHL in goals (22) this season.

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

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

• Andrei Kuzmenko has eight points (3-5-8) in his last seven games.

• Elias Pettersson has 12 points (4-8-12) in his last six games.

• Luke Schenn holds the NHL all-time record of most hits (2,988) by a defenceman.

LAST MEETING – OCT. 12/22: VAN 3 at EDM 5
Elias Pettersson notched Vancouver’s first goal of the 2022.23 campaign just 1:49 into the opening frame, unassisted…J.T. Miller added to Vancouver’s lead just 51 seconds later, assisted by Brock Boeser and Quinn Hughes…Andrei Kuzmenko scored his first career NHL goal on the power play…J.T. Miller posted a two-point game with the primary assist while Bo Horvat drew the second assist…Elias Pettersson led the team in shots (5)…Luke Schenn registered team-highs in hits (6) and blocks (4)…Thatcher Demko faced 24 shots.

2022.23 TEAM RANKS
VAN EDM
Goals For/Game 3.34 (9th) 3.65 (3rd)
Goals Against/Game 3.94 (30th) 3.41 (t-22nd)
Power Play % 26.1 (7th) 33.1 (1st)
Penalty Kill % 67.4 (32nd) 72.7 (26th)
Penalty Min./Game 10:52 (25th) 8:28 (11th)
*Rankings are accurate as of 4:00pm PT on December 23
Vancouver Canucks: Media Notes

LAST GAME PLAYED – DEC. 22/22: VAN 6 vs SEA 5 (SO)
Lane Pederson tied the game at 1-1 with his first goal as a Canuck at 17:17 in the first period, assisted by Elias Pettersson and Andrei Kuzmenko…Elias Pettersson scored Vancouver’s second goal at 8:09 in the second period to cut the deficit to one goal…Luke Schenn and Andrei Kuzmenko assisted on the play…Kuzmenko (1-2-3) followed up with a goal of his own at 5:13 in the third period, assisted by Pederson (first career multi-point game) and Pettersson…Brock Boeser and Elias Pettersson each scored in the third period to send the game to overtime, as Pettersson recorded his fourth career five-point game (most in franchise history)…J.T. Miller (one assist) and Elias Pettersson (2-3-5, GDG) each scored in the shootout to give Vancouver the win…Luke Schenn led the team in hits (8) and blocks (4)…Bo Horvat won 18 face-offs…Spencer Martin faced 36 shots.

LAST 5 vs EDMONTON
• Oct. 12/22: VAN 3 @ EDM 5
• Apr. 29/22: VAN 2 @ EDM 3 (SO)
• Jan. 25/22: VAN 2 vs EDM 3 (OT)
• Oct. 30/21: VAN 1 vs EDM 2
• Oct. 13/21: VAN 2 @ EDM 3 (SO)

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 39 points (15-24-39) in 30 games played this season, which is t-14th in the NHL. His 39 points are also the most by a Canucks skater through the team’s first 32 games of a season since Daniel Sedin (40 pts) and Henrik Sedin (39 pts) in 2010.11.

• With all 15 of his goals so far this season coming at even-strength, Pettersson ranks t-4th 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 [22], Kuzmenko [13], Pettersson [13], Miller [11], Mikheyev [10]) 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 fifth team in the NHL to possess five or more 10+ goal-scorers at that point in the season, joining Buffalo (6), Boston (5), Ottawa (5), and Tampa Bay (5).

ALL ABOUT APPLES
Collecting the lone assist on Ilya Mikheyev’s goal on Dec. 19 vs STL, Quinn Hughes registered his 27th assist of the season in his 27th game of the season and the 31st team game for Vancouver. In doing so, he became the third player (fourth occasion) in franchise history to record 27 or more assists in the team’s first 31 games, and first since Henrik Sedin (27) in 2011.12. Henrik Sedin has the most assists through the team’s first 31 games in a season with 31 (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 4-3 (SO) victory on Dec. 14 at CGY, Bruce Boudreau surpassed Hal Laycoe for sole possession of 12th place on the Canucks all-time coaches wins list at 45.

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 (148 in 32 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

EMONTON OILERS NOTES:

7:00 p.m. MT at Rogers Place
BROADCAST INFO: 630 CHED Radio, Sportsnet
18-14-2 – 38 PTS RECORD 13-15-3 – 29 PTS
Div. – 4th Conference – 8th RANK Div. – 6th Conference – 12th
1st – 33.1% (41/124) POWER PLAY 8th – 25.9% (28/108)
26th – 72.7% (93/128) PENALTY KILL 32nd – 67.0% (63/94)
ALL-TIME RECORDS vs. VANCOUVER GP RECORD HOME (132) AWAY (131) GF GA
OILERS ALL-TIME vs. VANCOUVER 263 136-93-19-15 77-42-7-6 59-51-12-9 946 838
OILERS vs. VANCOUVER – 2022-23 1 1-0-0 1-0-0 0-0-0 5 3

QUICK FACTS
• Friday’s game will mark Edmonton’s second of four games against Vancouver this season and the second and final game at home. The next time these teams will meet is January 21st in Vancouver.

• The last time these teams met was on October 12th in Edmonton, with the Oilers winning 5-3.

• Connor McDavid leads the team with 58 career points against Vancouver and also has a team leading 20 goals and 38 assists against the Canucks.

POINT STREAKING
-Connor McDavid is currently on 14-game point streak posting 30 points (13G, 17A), marking the third longest point streak of his career.

-Tyson Barrie is on an 8-game point streak, posting 12 assists

-Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is on a 5-game point streak, notching eight points (4G, 4A)

GOALS BY PERIOD
The Oilers rank 1st in the NHL in goals for in the second period with 47. They also rank tied for 1st 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 (13-17—30 in 14 GP) extended the League’s longest active point streak to 14 contests on Dec. 21 at DAL. 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.

LAST 10 GAMES VS. VANCOUVER
Record: 8-2-0
GF: 33 GA: 27
2022-23 10/12/22 @ EDM 5-3 W
2021-22 4/29/22 @ EDM 3-2 W (SO)
2021-22 1/25/22 @ VAN 3-2 W (OT)
2021-22 10/30/21 @ VAN 2-1 W
2021-22 10/13/21 @ EDM 3-2 W (SO)
2020-21 5/15/21 @ EDM 4-1 L
2020-21 5/8/21 @ EDM 4-3 W
2020-21 5/6/21 @ EDM 6-3 L
2020-21 5/4/21 @ VAN 4-1 W
2020-21 5/3/21 @ VAN 5-3 W

NHL Preview: Columbus Blue Jackets (10-20-2) at Chicago Blackhawks (7-20-4)

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COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS NOTES:

Dec. 23, 2022 Game No. 33 (10-20-2, 22 pts.)
at Chicago Blackhawks (7-20-4, 18 pts.), United Center Road Game No. 13 (2-9-1, 5 pts.) The Blue Jackets Press Box website, which includes game notes, stats, releases and video/audio clips as well as the 2022-23 Media Guide can be accessed at bluejackets.com/pressbox. Follow @BlueJacketsPR on Twitter for comprehensive information and updates on the team.

THE LAST GAME: DEC. 20, 2022 – CBJ 3 at PHI 5
CBJ Goal Scorers: Marchenko (3), Johnson (8), Peeke (3)
PHI Goal Scorers: SHG – Konecny (13), Frost (6), Tippett (9), Konecny (14), EN – Tippett (10)
Goalies: CBJ – Tarasov (34/38; 59:10); PHI – Hart (30/33; 60:00)
CBJ PP: 0/1; PK: 1/1 | Shots: CBJ: 33 / PHI: 39
3 Stars: 1. Konecny, PHI; 2. York, PHI; 3. Frost, PHI
Noteworthy: CBJ dropped a back-to-back set and lost their 5th-straight game… PHI led 1-0 after the 1st before CBJ scored goals 2:43 apart to grab a 2-1 lead… PHI answered with 3-straight goals (2 in 2nd), including the GWG 2:45 into the 3rd… Nine different CBJ players recorded points… CBJ took just one penalty… Johnson stretched goal streak to 2-straight while Nyquist and Roslovic picked up assists for 2nd consecutive contest.

OhioHEALTH INJURY REPORT
Danforth (torn labrum); Placed on Injured Reserve (Oct. 25); 6 months (26 games) Boqvist (broken foot); (24 games) Voracek (upper body); Placed on Injured Reserve (Nov. 4); out indefinitely (21 games) Blankenburg (ankle); Placed on Injured Reserve (Nov. 10); 6-8 weeks (19 games)
Werenski (torn labrum); Placed on Injured Reserve (retro to Nov. 10); Expected to miss rest of regular season (19 games) Bean (shoulder); Placed on IR (retro to Nov. 15); out indefinitely (18 games) Korpisalo (lower body); (6 games) Jenner (thumb); Placed on IR (Dec. 19); approximately 4 weeks (2 games) Sillinger (upper body); Placed on IR (retro to Dec. 17); day-to-day (2 games) Chinakhov (ankle); Placed on IR (Dec. 20); out indefinitely (1 game) Merzlikins (illness); day-to-day (1 game)
TOTAL MAN GAMES LOST: 197

RECENT TRANSACTIONS
Dec. 22 Activated Boqvist and Korpisalo off Injured Reserve, placed Sillinger on Injured Reserve retroactive to Dec. 17 and assigned Greaves to Cleveland (AHL)
Dec. 20 Placed Chinakhov on Injured Reserve and added Greaves to roster on emergency recall from Cleveland (AHL)
Dec. 19 Signed Richards to a one-year, two-way NHL/AHL contract for rest of 2022-23 season
Dec. 19 Placed Jenner on Injured Reserve and recalled Dunne from Cleveland (AHL)
Dec. 12 Recalled Tarasov from Cleveland (AHL) and assigned Greaves to Cleveland (AHL)
Dec. 10 Placed Korpisalo on Injured Reserve and added Greaves to roster on emergency recall from Cleveland (AHL)
Dec. 5 Recalled Marchenko from Cleveland (AHL) and assigned Fix-Wolansky to Cleveland (AHL)

TONIGHT’S GAME BROADCAST INFO
8:30pm ET | Bally Sports Ohio | 97.1 FM

AGAINST THE BLACKHAWKS
2022-23 Series: 0-0-0 (0-0-0 at CHI)
2021-22 Series: 1-1-0 (1-0-0 at CHI)
All-Time Series: 37-45-2-13 (18-24-1-5 at CHI)
Last 10 (Overall | Road): 3-4-3 | 4-4-2
All-Time GF/GA: 266-320
All-Time SF/SA: 2,793-2,956
All-Time PP: 63-of-390
All-Time PK: 311-of-382

THE LAST GAME VS. CHI: FEB. 17, 2022 – CBJ 7 at CHI 4
CBJ Goal Scorers: PP – Jenner (20), Chinakhov (6), Domi (9), Laine (14), Laine (15), Bjorkstrand (15), EN – Laine (16)
CHI Goal Scorers: PP – Kurashev (4), Carpenter (1), Entwistle (5), DeBrincat (29)
Goalies: CBJ – Merzlikins (28/32; 60:00); CHI – Soderblom (30/36; 56:38)
CBJ PP: 1/3; PK: 3/4 | Shots: CBJ: 37 / CHI: 32
3 Stars: 1. Laine, CBJ; 2. Werenski, CBJ; 3. Carpenter, CHI
Noteworthy: CBJ scored 7+ goals for 3rd time in season… CBJ scored 3 goals in the 1st and 3rd periods… Laine (3-0-3) notched CBJ’s 1st hat trick of the season and extended points streak to 8-games (10-6-16); also scored fastest goal to start a period in CBJ history (9 seconds in 2nd period)… Jenner tallied his 8th multi-point game of the campaign (1-2-3)… Chinakhov (1-1-2), Domi (1-1-2), Gavrikov (0-2-2), Nyquist (0-2-2) and Werenski (0-2-2) also posted multi-point efforts.

SEASON SERIES LEFT: Dec. 31 at CBJ

NOTED (Team Highlights vs. CHI)
CBJ have collected points in 3-straight games at United Center (2-0-1) and 6 of the last 7 road games dating back to 2/16/19 (4-1-2)… Road team has won 6-straight games in the series and collected points in 13 of last 14 meetings since 10/20/18 (11-1-2)… Winning team has scored 4+ goals in 4-straight wins and 6 of the last 8… 4 of the last 6 games played at CHI have been decided by a single goal (2-OT)… CBJ have scored a PPG in 3 of their last 5 games at CHI, going 4-of-11 on the man advantage (36.4 pct.)… Most goals scored at CHI: 7 – 2x (MR: 2/17/22)… Most goals allowed at CHI: 7 (1/22/04).

NOTED (Player Highlights vs. CHI)
Boqvist skated in his 100th career NHL game on 1/11/22 vs. CHI… Gaudreau skated in his 100th career game on 11/15/15 at CHI and notched his 600th career point (1st goal) on 4/18/22 at CHI… Kuraly notched his 1st NHL career assist on 4/2/17 at CHI… Laine notched his 100th NHL career goal on 11/29/18 vs. CHI , 300th career point (1st goal) and 9th career hat trick (Soderblom) on 2/17/22 at CHI… Olivier notched his 1st career assist on 1/26/21 vs. CHI

PLAYER NOTABLES vs. CHI
• Gaudreau – 9-17-26 in 20 career GP, including goals in his last three games (4-2-6), points in four consecutive contests played (4-4-8) and points in 11 of his last 12 – with 8 multi-point efforts – against the club (8-13-21).

• Laine – 17-9-26 in 27 career GP, including points in nine of his last 11 contests overall (11-4-15) and his last four played at United Center (5-1-6) after notching a hat trick on Feb. 17, 2022.

• Nyquist – 6-11-17 in 21 career GP, including multiple points in two-straight overall (1-3-4) and three of his last five (2-5-7) as well as points in each of his last four games at United Center (1-4-5).

• Roslovic – 6-8-14 in 21 career GP including 2-1-3 in his last four contests at Chicago.

BLUE JACKETS NOTES
HIT THE ROAD, (BLUE) JACK(ETS)
The Blue Jackets dropped a back-to-back set on Monday/Tuesday, falling for the fifth-straight game and moving to 7-11-2 in the last 20 games overall following a 5-3 loss at Philadelphia on Tuesday. Columbus concludes its two-game road trip at Chicago on Friday, prior to the NHL Holiday Break. The club plays four more games before the new year with two of those contests against Chicago over a nine-day span. The Blue Jackets are in part of a stretch of six-of-eight contests away from Nationwide Arena from December 13-29.

FROM THE BLUELINE
CBJ blueliners combined for 1-1-2 on Tuesday and have collected 3-9-12 in the last 11 games and 14-35-49 in 32 games this season. Vladislav Gavrikov, who has 0-5-5 in his last 12 games, notched his second career overtime winner and fifth career game-winning goal on Nov. 15 vs. the Flyers, finishing with 1-1-2, while also skating in a career-high 28:40 TOI (previous 28:20 on Apr. 22, 2022 vs. OTT). He became the fifth different defenseman in NHL history to score each of his first two or more goals of a season in overtime and is also one off the franchise record for overtime goals by a defenseman in a single season (3; Seth Jones, 2016-17 & 2018-19). Erik Gudbranson ranks second on the Blue Jackets in blocked shots (65) and fourth in hits (61) and has collected 1-7-8 and 19 penalty minutes in his first 31 contests with Columbus this season. He set a career-high and a CBJ season high in blocked shots with eight on Monday vs. Dallas.

ROOKIE REPORT
The club currently has 10 rookies on the roster with forwards Josh Dunne, Liam Foudy, Kent Johnson, Kirill Marchenko and Carson Meyer along with defensemen Tim Berni, Nick Blankenburg (injured), Marcus Bjork and Jake Christiansen as well as goaltender Daniil Tarasov. They picked up 2-1-3 at Philadelphia on Tuesday and have now combined for 15-19-34 in 32 games in 2022-23. CBJ lead NHL team rookies in goals and rank fourth-T in points. Johnson, who has recorded goals in each of the last two games, ranks fourth among NHL rookies in goals, sixth in points and points-per-game (.55; min. 15 GP) with 8-8-16 in 29 games. He has registered 5-5-10 in his last 18 outings. Bjork has posted 2-5-7 in his first 19 NHL games to rank third among NHL rookie defensemen in points-per-game (.39; min. 15 GP). The blueliner tallied points in his first two NHL games after scoring his first career goal in his NHL debut on Nov. 12 at NY Islanders and picking up his first career assist on Nov. 15 vs. Philadelphia. He is the first blueliner and seventh player overall in franchise history to score in his debut.

HERE’S JOHNNY!
Left wing Johnny Gaudreau picked up an assist at Philadelphia on Tuesday and has posted points in nine of his last 13 outings (3-13-16). He ranks fifth in the NHL in assists and 15th-T in points since November 10 with 5-20-25 in 20 contests. He is three assists shy of tying the franchise record for most assists in the month of December (Panarin, 13 in Dec. 2017). The six-time NHL All-Star ranks third in the League in assists and points (tied) for the 2022 calendar year with 38-78-116 in 85 contests with Calgary and Columbus. He also leads the club in assists and points and ranks second in goals with 10-24-34 in 32 games while recording points in 21 of his contests. He played in his 326th consecutive game on Tuesday, the third-longest active iron man streak in the NHL and trailing only Phil Kessel (1,017) and Brent Burns (712).

LAINE IT UP
Winger Patrik Laine recorded an assist on Tuesday at Philadelphia to give him 1-2-3 in the last three games. The forward, who has missed two separate stretches due to elbow and ankle injuries, ranks eighth-T in the NHL in goals in the month of December, and is two goals from tying the franchise record for the most goals in the month (Cam Atkinson, 9 in Dec. 2016), with 7-5-12 in 11 outings. A season after finishing at a point-per-game pace for the first time in his career at 26-30-56 in 56 contests, the 24-year-old has registered 9-7-16 in his first 19 contests of the 2022-23 campaign.

CAPTAIN BOONE JENNER
Boone Jenner, who scored his team-leading 11th goal of the season on Saturday, will undergo thumb surgery today and will miss approximately four weeks. He 3-5-8 in his last 10 contests and 10-8-18 in his past 20 contests since Nov. 4. He finished the month of November with 8-3-11 in 11 contests, which was the third-most goals in the month in franchise history (tied). The forward ranks fifth in the NHL in faceoff wins (355-of-635 faceoffs; 55.9 pct.). The 29-year-old, who was selected 37th overall at the 2011 NHL Draft, is the longest-tenured Blue Jacket in his 10th season with the club, including his second as the team’s captain. The forward skated in his 600th career game on Nov. 4 vs. Colorado, becoming just the third player to reach the milestone with the franchise. With his second goal on Nov.15 vs. Philadelphia, Jenner notched his 150th career goal with the Blue Jackets and became the third player to reach the milestone with the franchise, joining Rick Nash (289) and Cam Atkinson (213). He also ranks fifth on the franchise’s all-time list in points (306).

RK PLAYER TOTAL GP SEASONS WITH CBJ

  1. Rick Nash 674 2002-12 (9 seasons)
  2. Cam Atkinson 627 2011-21 (10 seasons)
  3. Boone Jenner 619 2013-current (10 seasons)
  4. Nick Foligno 599 2012-21 (9 seasons)
  5. David Savard 597 2011-21 (10 seasons)

THINGS ARE LOOKING ROSIE
Jack Roslovic picked up an assist for his second consecutive game on Tuesday (0-2-2) and is now one assist from notching 100 for his NHL career. He has collected 2-8-10 in his last 11 games, including recording his third career four-point game on Dec. 11 vs. Los Angeles (2-2-4). He tallied 2-1-3 in the second period, matching the franchise record for most points in a period (47th time; MR: Sean Kuraly with 2-1-3 on 11/17/22 vs. MTL). The forward also recorded both a power play goal and shorthanded goal in the second frame, which is the ninth time in franchise history a player has scored a PPG/SHG in the same game (MR: Kristian Huselius, 11/19/09 at DAL) and fourth time it has been accomplished in a single period (MR: Rick Nash: second period on 1/27/09 vs. DET). He is also the first Blue Jacket since Artemi Panerin (3, 2018) with multiple four-point games in a calendar year (3-1-4 at Detroit on Apr. 9).

TOUGH TO REPLACE Z
Defenseman Zach Werenski recorded his first multi-point game of the season with 1-1-2 in a win over Philadelphia on Nov. 10 to extend his points-streak to three-straight games (1-3-4) before leaving the with an upper body injury. Unfortunately, that was the last CBJ will likely see the club’s top defenseman this regular season as it was announced Friday that he suffered a separated shoulder and torn labrum and likely to miss six months. He led the club’s blueliners in goals, assists and points at the time of the injury with 3-5-8 in 13 games. The two-time NHL All-Star blueliner set single-season career highs in assists, points and time on ice and posted the third-most assists (tied) and points by a defenseman in a single season in franchise history with 11-37-48 and 25:40 TOI in 68 games in 2021-22.

2022-23 TEAM QUICK HITS
• CBJ have won each of their Friday games in December, 4-1 at Winnipeg (Dec. 2) and 3-1 vs. Calgary (Dec. 9)

• CBJ have won their last 5 games played – and 3 on the road – played on December 23, most recently winning at New Jersey (3-0 in 2018) and the NY Islanders (3-2 in 2019)

• CBJ have averaged 29.5 hits in the last 4 games, including a season-high 37 on Dec. 15 at TBL

• CBJ are 12-of-54 on the power play since Nov. 5 (22.2 pct.) after scoring on just one of their first 32 power play chances through the first 11 games (3.1 pct.).

• CBJ finished with a season-high 12 skaters recording a point on Nov. 17 vs. MTL

• CBJ’s 22 different players with a goal this season is tied for the League lead with Detroit and Florida

• CBJ have had 35 different players play in a game this season (32 skaters, 3 goaltenders), the 2nd-highest total in the NHL and trailing COL by one (34 skaters, 2 goaltenders)

• CBJ have recorded 24 multi-goal periods this season, including scoring 2 goals in the 2nd period on Tue.

• CBJ were tied for third-youngest team in the NHL (ARI and NJD) to start the season at 25.9, trailing only BUF (25.0) and OTT (25.7) 2022-23

PLAYER QUICK HITS
•Dunne made his CBJ season debut on Mon. vs. DAL

•Kuraly registered 6 (5-1-6) of his 9 points (6-3-9) in the month of November and finished 2nd on the club in goals in the month

•Marchenko has recorded goals in 3 of his last 6 games (3-0-3)

•Nyquist has registered assists in each of the last 2 contests and has totaled 3-2-5 in 11 December games

•Peeke, who scored his 3rd goal of the season on Tue., leads the club in blocked shots (65, tied) and has registered at least one in 29 of his 32 contests this season

•Tarasov has turned aside 30+ shots in each of the last 3 games and owns a 2.69 GAA and .926 SV% in his last 7 games since Oct. 28

CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS NOTES:

TONIGHT’S BROADCAST INFORMATION
TV: NBCSCH+ – Chris Vosters (PxP), Troy Murray (analyst) and Colby Cohen (analyst)
RADIO: WGN-AM 720 – John Wiedeman (PxP) and Caley Chelios (analyst)
SPANISH RADIO: Univision Sports Radio 1200 AM – Miguel Esparza (PxP) and Jorge Moreno (analyst) 

UPCOMING SCHEDULE
Tuesday, Dec. 27 at CAR, 6:00 p.m. CT (NBCSCH, WGN Radio)
Thursday, Dec. 29 at STL, 7:00 p.m. CT (NBCSCH, WGN Radio)
Saturday, Dec. 31 at CBJ, 12:00 p.m. CT (NBCSCH, WGN Radio)
Sunday, Jan. 1 vs. SJS, 6:00 p.m. CT (NBCSCH, WGN Radio, Univision (Spanish))
Tuesday, Jan. 3 vs. TBL, 7:30 p.m. CT (NBCSCH, WGN Radio, Univision (Spanish))

RECENT TRANSACTIONS
Dec. 19 – Activated Alex Stalock off IR and assigned Arvid Soderblom to Rockford … Placed Jarred
Tinordi on IR and recalled Isaak Phillips from Rockford … Dec. 13 – Activated Tyler Johnson off IR and
assigned Filip Roos to Rockford … Dec. 12 – Activated Petr Mrazek off injured reserve and assigned
Jaxson Stauber to Rockford … Dec. 7 – Assigned Lukas Reichel to Rockford … Dec. 6 – Recalled Lukas
Reichel and placed Petr Mrazek on IR … Dec. 1 – Recalled Ian Mitchell from Rockford and placed Jarred
Tinordi on IR.

LAST TIME OUT
Score: Chicago (2) vs. Nashville (4) – Wed., Dec. 21 – United Center
CHI Goals: Murphy (3), Entwistle (2)
NSH Goals: Niederreiter (11), Duchene (9), Josi (7), Novak (1; PP)
Goalies: CHI – Mrazek (33/37, 58:28) NSH – Saros (37/39, 60:00) 
CHI PP: 0/4; PK: 1/2
NSH PP: 1/2; PK: 4/4
Recap: The Blackhawks dropped a 4-2 decision to the Nashville Predators on Wednesday at the United Center … Connor Murphy notched his first multi-point game of the season, scoring the first goal for the Blackhawks and adding an assist on the second … MacKenzie Entwistle scored just 37 seconds after Murphy, his second goal of the season … Patrick Kane posted a season-best nine shots on goal … Murphy also registered a season-high six blocked shots … Isaak Phillips posted a career-high five hits in his first game of the season.

TONIGHT’S OPPONENT – COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS
The Blackhawks will play the Blue Jackets twice before closing out the year, tonight at the United Center and again on New Years’ Eve in Columbus … Chicago is 6-4-0 in their last 10 home games against the Blue Jackets … Chicago is 9-3-0 in their last 12 games against the club, including six straight from Feb. 21, 2021 – Jan. 11, 2022 … Philipp Kurashev registered two points (1G, 1A) in Chicago’s last game against the Blue Jackets on Feb. 17, 2022 and has points in three straight against them (2G, 2A) … Patrick Kane notched an assist in that game and has points in 10-straight games against Columbus (4G, 14) … Seth Jones played for the Blue Jackets from 2015-21, notching 223 points (50G, 173A) in 381 games … Max Domi played two seasons in Columbus, posting 56 points (18G, 38A) in 107 games.
2022-23 Schedule/Results: HOME: Dec. 23 | AWAY: Dec. 31
All-Time Record: 58-30-9 | Home: 29-16-3 | Road: 29-14-6
Last Home Win: Feb. 13, 2021 (3-2 OT) | Last Road Win: Jan. 11, 2022 (4-2) | Last Home Loss: Feb. 17,
2022 (4-7) | Last Road Loss: Feb. 24, 2018 (2-3)

ACTIVE BLACKHAWKS VS. CBJ ALL-TIME
GOALS: Patrick Kane, 23; Jonathan Toews, 19; Tyler Johnson, 4
ASSISTS: Patrick Kane, 50; Jonathan Toews, 25; Tyler Johnson, 10
POINTS: Patrick Kane, 73; Jonathan Toews, 44; Tyler Johnson, 14

TEAM NOTES
TWO FOR THE SHOW: Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane played in their 1,000th career regular-season game together on Sunday … They became the 11th pair of teammates in NHL history to have skated in at least 1,000 regular-season games together and the second pair of Blackhawks players to have done so, joining defensemen Brent Seabrook and Duncan Keith who skated in 1,069 career games together … In the 1,001 games Toews and Kane have played in together, the Blackhawks own a record of 530-348- 123 … The two have also both combined to factor into 298 total goals in their careers, with Toews having scored 116 goals that Kane has assisted on, Kane having scored 101 goals that Toews has assisted on and both earning an assist on 81 goals.

O CAPTAIN! MY CAPTAIN!: Jonathan Toews was held off the scoresheet on Sunday, snapping his three-game point streak (2G, 1A) … It was the third time this season he’s registered points in at least three-straight games … The captain currently paces the NHL with a 65.3% faceoff win percentage this season … He is tied for first on the Blackhawks with 10 goals and shares 20th in the League and first on the team with six power-play goals in 2022-23 … Toews also ranks third on the team with 17 points (10G, 7A) … Toews skated in his 1,037th career game on Dec. 3, moving him past Bobby Hull and into sole possession of fifth place in franchise history … The 34-year-old recorded an assist on Nov. 23 at Dallas for the 500th of his career … His 502 career assists are good for eighth in franchise history … Toews logged a seven-game point streak (5G, 2A) from Oct. 23 – Nov. 3 … His seven-game point streak is tied for the third-longest of his career while it marks his longest point streak since the 2018-19 season when he also tallied points (4G, 6A) in seven-straight games from Feb. 14 – 27 … Toews scored the overtime goal on Nov. 3 for the 16th of his career, which is tied for sixth in NHL history.

ROCK YOU LIKE A HURRI-KANE: Patrick Kane led all skaters on Wednesday night with nine shots on goal … That’s tied for the sixth-most in his career, while it’s the 13th time he’s posted at least nine shots and the first since April 20, 2022 at Arizona … Kane enters Friday’s contest having registered six points (1G, 5A) over his last 10 games and nine points (2G, 7A) in his last 14 … The forward paces the Blackhawks with 18 assists and 22 points (4G, 18A) this season … Kane posted three points (1G, 2A), including the 1,200th point of his career, on Dec. 3 … He is the third active player to reach the mark, joining Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin, while he’s just the second Blackhawks player to accomplish the feat (Stan Mikita – 1,467 points) … Kane posted three-straight multi-point efforts from Oct. 23-27 (2G, 5A) … The 34-year-old logged two assists and three points (1G, 2A) against Edmonton on Oct. 27, moving him past Doug Weight (755) into fifth place on the League’s all-time assist list among U.S.-born players.

MURPH’S UP: Connor Murphy matched a career high with two points (1G, 1A) in Wednesday’s contest against Nashville … It marked the 12th time in his career that Murphy has registered multiple points in a game and the first time since Dec. 11 at Toronto (1G, 1A) … The native of Dublin, Ohio also posted a team-high six blocked shots and shared the team lead with five hits on Wednesday … Murphy ranks second on Chicago with 65 blocked shots in 2022-23 and is tied for second on the team with 62 hits on the season … He also leads club blueliners with three goals and is tied for fifth among team defensemen with five points (3G, 2A).

MR. JONES AND ME: Seth Jones posted two hits, two blocked shots and a game-high 27:25 of ice time on Wednesday against the Predators … It marked his second-highest TOI total of the campaign, having logged 28:08 of ice time on Nov. 30 vs. Edmonton … Jones has now earned helpers in two of his last four games (2A) and has four assists over his last nine games … The defenseman currently ranks 14th in the NHL and paces the Blackhawks with 24:39 TOI/G … Jones is now tied for fourth on Chicago and shares first among club blueliners with eight assists this season … He also shares first among Blackhawks defensemen with nine points (1G, 8A) in 2022-23 … Friday’s contest will mark Jones’ 100th as a member of the Blackhawks … The 28-year-old has recorded 60 points (6G, 54A) in his 99-game Blackhawks career.

TO THE MAX: Max Domi tallied an assist against the Predators on Wednesday for his second point (1G, 1A) over the last five games … Domi has now logged five goals and seven points (5G, 2A) in his last 10 games … He notched three points (2G, 1A) against the Rangers on Dec. 3 for his second three-point outing of the campaign … Domi comes into Friday’s matchup having earned six goals and nine points (6G, 2A) over his last 11 games … The Winnipeg, Man. native is tied for first on the team with 10 goals, while he ranks second in assists (11) and points (21) so far this season … He also shares 20th in the NHL and first the Blackhawks with six power play goals in 2022-23 … The forward scored two power play goals on Nov. 30, marking the second time he’s notched two power play goals in a game … Domi registered a four-game point streak from Oct. 21-27 (3G, 3A) … It marked his first streak of at least four games since the 2020-21 campaign when he also logged points in four-straight games (2G, 3A) from April 6 – 12.

TAYLOR MADE: Taylor Raddysh was held off the scoresheet on Friday, snapping his three-game point streak (2G, 1A) … It was the second time this season and the third time in his career Raddysh has earned points in at least three-straight games … The forward has now recorded six points (5G, 1A) in his last 12 games … Raddysh ranks third on Chicago with nine goals and four power play goals this season … The native of Caledon, Ont. also ranks fourth on the team with 13 points (9G, 4A) in 30 games … Raddysh skated in his 100th career NHL game and scored a goal on Dec. 9 … He also scored goals in back-to-back games from Nov. 25 – 27 (2G) … It’s the fourth time in Raddysh’s career that he’s scored goals in consecutive games and the first since April 12 – 14, 2022 (2G, 1A).

TYLER, THE CREATOR: Tyler Johnson lit the lamp against Washington on Tuesday night in his return to the lineup … Johnson missed the previous 20 games due to a right ankle injury … The 32-year-old has recorded seven points (3G, 4A) in 2022-23, having notched at least one point in five of his nine games played on the season.

COMEBACK KIDS: The Blackhawks overcame a two-goal deficit on Nov. 12 en route to a 3-2 win at Anaheim … The win marked Chicago’s fourth multi-goal comeback win this season which is good for first in the League … The club recorded each of the previous three this season over a three-game span from Oct. 15 – 23 for the team’s first three wins of 2022-23 … Chicago became the ninth team in NHL history to post three or more consecutive multi-goal comeback wins, and the first since Detroit did so during the 2018-19 season … Additionally, the Blackhawks are the fourth team in NHL history to overcome a multi-goal deficit in each of their first three wins of a season, joining St. Louis (3 GP in 2006-07), Detroit (3 GP in 1990-91) and the New York Islanders (3 GP in 1985-86).

LONG STORY SHORTHANDED: The Blackhawks have scored four shorthanded goals this season, all of which came in a three-game span from Oct. 15 – 23 … Chicago’s four shorthanded tallies in 2022-23 are tied for third in the NHL … The team’s three-game streak of scoring a shorthanded goal tied the longest in franchise history, which has happened six times previously, most recently from Feb. 5 – 11, 2009 … Chicago is the first club to score a shorthanded goal in three-straight games since the Ottawa Senators accomplished the feat during the 2019-20 campaign … Sam Lafferty scored two shorthanded goals against the Sharks on Oct. 15 … He is just the seventh Blackhawks player since 1933-34 (when goals by type officially began being tracked) to score two shorthanded goals in a single period, joining Rene Bourque (Feb. 28, 2008), Patrick Sharp (Nov. 3, 2007), Steve Sullivan (Jan. 26, 2001), Rick Paterson (Jan. 16, 1985), Chico Maki (Dec. 9, 1970) and Pep Kelly (Dec. 26, 1940).

NHL Preview: Montreal Canadiens (15-15-3) at Dallas Stars (19-9-6)

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MONTREAL CANADIENS NOTES:

À SURVEILLER CE SOIR / KEEP AN EYE ON…

  • Les Canadiens et les Stars s’affrontent ce soir pour la 141e fois en saison régulière. En incluant les matchs de séries, il s’agira de la 154e confrontation entre ces deux clubs.
  • The Canadiens and Stars are facing each other for the 141st time in regular season. Including playoff contests, this will be the 154th match-up between those two opponents.

DERNIER MATCH / LAST GAME – COL 2 VS. MTL 1 (P/OT) (@ BALL ARENA)
Buts MTL Goals – Richard
Buts COL Goals – Lehkonen, Rantanen (P/OT)
Gardien MTL Goalie – Allen (34-36)
Gardien COL Goalie – Georgiev (19-20)
Avantage numérique MTL Powerplay – 0/1
Avantage numérique COL Powerplay – 1/2
Meneurs MTL Leaders – TOI (Guhle – 25:23) ; S (Caufield, Dach, Xhekaj – 3) ; HT (Edmundson – 7) ; BS (Wideman – 4)

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

RAPPORT MÉDICAL DE LA SAISON / SEASON INJURY REPORT
Joueur
Player
Date Blessure
Injury
Matchs ratés
Games lost
Retour
Return
C. Price – Genou / Knee 33 –
P. Byron – Hanche / Hip 33 –
M. Matheson – Haut du corps / Upper-body 17 19/11/2022
B. Gallagher – Bas du corps / Lower-body 11 –
D. Savard – Haut du corps / Upper-body 9 –
S. Monahan – Bas du corps / Lower-body 8 –
Canadiens de Montréal: Notes de presse/Media
Notes
RÉAFFECTATIONS, SIGNATURES ET TRANSACTIONS / ROSTER MOVES, SIGNINGS AND TRANSACTIONS
Les Canadiens ont cédé l’attaquant Rem Pitlick au Rocket de Laval et ont rappelé l’attaquant Anthony Richard (18/12)
The Canadiens have loaned forward Rem Pitlick to the Laval Rocket and recalled forward Anthony Richard (12/18)
Les Canadiens ont rappelé l’attaquant Rem Pitlick du Rocket de Laval (01/12)
The Canadiens have recalled forward Rem Pitlick from the Laval Rocket (12/01)
Les Canadiens ont cédé l’attaquant Rem Pitlick au Rocket de Laval (18/11)
The Canadiens have loaned forward Rem Pitlick to the Laval Rocket (11/18)
Les Canadiens ont rappelé l’attaquant Rem Pitlick du Rocket de Laval (16/11)
The Canadiens have recalled forward Rem Pitlick from the Laval Rocket (11/16)
Les Canadiens ont placé l’attaquant Rem Pitlick au ballottage (07/11)
The Canadiens have placed forward Rem Pitlick on waivers (11/07)

NOTES DES CANADIENS / CANADIENS NOTES
STATISTIQUES D’ÉQUIPE / TEAM STATISTICS – AVANT LES MATCHS DU 22/12 – BEFORE GAMES ON 12/22
PTS (33 – 23e/23rd)
V/W (15 – 22e/22nd)
BP/GF (89 – 26e/26th)
BC/GA (114 – 22e/22nd)
Tirs-PM/Shots-PG (28.5 – 30e/30th)
Tirs accordés-PM/Shots allowed-PG (33.1 – 26e/26th)
MÉ/Hits (582 – 30e/30th)
MP/PIM (391 – 4e/4th)
AN/PP (13.6% – 32e/32nd)
DN/PK (78.8% – 16e/16th)

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

LES CANADIENS CONTRE CHAQUE DIVISION CETTE SAISON / THE HABS VS. EVERY DIVISION THIS SEASON
Division Fiche
Record
PTS Buts pour
Goals for
Buts contre
Goals against
Atlantique 3-4-0 6 15 25
Centrale 4-3-2 10 26 27
Métropolitaine 4-3-0 8 22 25
Pacifique 4-5-1 9 30 37
Total 15-15-3 33 93 114
*Inclut les buts en fusillade / Includes the shootout goals

MARTIN ST-LOUIS EN CHIFFRES / MARTIN ST. LOUIS’ NUMBERS…
Matchs/Games : 70
Victoires/Wins : 29
Fiche : 29-34-7
Points de classement/Standing points : 65

CANADIENS VS. DALLAS
À vie / All-Time

CANADIENS vs. DAL 79-38-22-1 (140 PJ / GP)
Dom. / Home 44-15-10-1 (70 PJ / GP)
Étr. / Away 35-23-12-0 (70 PJ / GP)
Dern. Match / Last game:
D 5-2 L @ MTL (22/10/22)
J. Allen 5-30 | J. Oettinger 2-34
BG / WG: J. Robertson

10 DERNIERS MATCHS CONTRE DALLAS / LAST 10 GAMES VS. DALLAS:
22/10/22 – DAL 5 @ MTL 2
17/03/22 – DAL 4 @ MTL 3 (P/OT)
18/01/22 – MTL 5 @ DAL 3
15/02/20 – DAL 4 @ MTL (P/OT)
02/11/19 – MTL 1 @ DAL 4
31/12/18 – MTL 3 @ DAL 2 (P/OT)
30/10/18 – DAL 4 @ MTL 1
13/03/18 – DAL 2 @ MTL 4
21/11/17 – MTL 1 @ DAL 3
28/03/17 – DAL 1 @ MTL 4

CETTE SAISON CONTRE DALLAS / THIS SEASON VS. DALLAS
Match #1: 22/10/2022 @ MTL – D/L 5-2
Match #2: 23/12/2022 @ DAL

MEILLEURS BUTEURS CONTRE DALLAS / LEADING GOAL SCORERS VS. DALLAS:
1) Brendan Gallagher (6-1-7, 14 pj/gp)
2) Sean Monahan (6-10-16, 24 pj/gp)
3) Mike Hoffman (6-3-9, 15 pj/gp)

MEILLEURS POINTEURS CONTRE DALLAS / LEADING SCORERS VS. DALLAS:
1) Sean Monahan (6-9-16, 24 pj/gp)
2) Joel Armia (5-4-9, 16 pj/gp)
3) Mike Hoffman (6-3-9, 15 pj/gp)

MENEURS MINUTES DE PÉNALITÉ CONTRE DALLAS / MOST PENALTY MINUTES VS. DALLAS:
1) Joel Edmundson (36, 15 pj/gp)
2) Josh Anderson (19, 8 pj/gp)
3) Jonathan Drouin (17, 12 pj/gp)

DALLAS STARS NOTES:

LAST DALLAS STARS GAME
Dec. 21, 2022 – STARS 3 vs. OILERS 6
Despite jumping out to two separate one-goal leads, the Stars couldn’t hold off the Edmonton Oilers, losing 6-3 at American Airlines Center on Wednesday. Forward Roope Hintz (1-0—1) opened the scoring with his 14th goal of the season at the 14:49 mark of the opening frame. It represented the Stars’ 22nd game-opening goal of the season, placing them in a tie with Florida and Vegas for the most among all teams. Rookie forward Wyatt Johnston (1-0—1) potted his ninth goal of the season just 27 seconds into the second period to give him goals in two consecutive games. The only rookies with more are Seattle’s Matty Beniers (11) and Ottawa’s Shane Pinto (10). Captain Jamie Benn (0-1—1) picked up career point No. 800 (342-458—800) with an assist to become the third player in franchise history (1967-present) to reach the mark, joining Mike Modano (557-802—1,359) and Neal Broten (274-593—867). Forward Tyler Seguin (1-0—1) tallied his seventh goal of the season and his second goal in the past three games in the closing minutes of the second stanza. Forward Mason Marchment’s two-assist night (0-2—2) gave him six multi-point games on the season. Also earning assists in the game were forwards Jason Robertson (0-1—1) and Joe Pavelski (0-1—1) and defenseman Nils Lundkvist (0-1—1).
PP: 1-4 | PK: 1-2 | SF: 27 | SA: 34 | DAL TOI: Heiskanen (22:45) | Attendance: 18.532 (sellout)
Three Stars: 1. EDM – M. Janmark 2. EDM – R. Nugent-Hopkins 3. DAL – T. Seguin

UPCOMING GAME SCHEDULE
Date Opponent Time (CT) Location TV/Radio
Fri., Dec. 23, 2022 Montreal Canadiens 7 p.m. American Airlines Center BSSWX/KTCK
Tue., Dec. 27, 2022 Nashville Predators 7 p.m. Bridgestone Arena BSSWX/KTCK
Thu., Dec. 29, 2022 Minnesota Wild 7 p.m. Xcel Energy Center BSSWX/KTCK
Sat., Dec. 31, 2022 San Jose Sharks 7 p.m. American Airlines Center BSSWX/KTCK
Tue., Jan. 3, 2023 Los Angeles Kings 9 p.m. Crypto.com Arena ESPN/KTCK

RECENT TRANSACTIONS
Nov. 22 – Recalled forward Fredrik Karlstrom from Texas (AHL)
Nov. 29 – Loaned forward Fredrik Karlstrom to Texas (AHL)
Dec. 12 – Recalled forward Riley Tufte from Texas (AHL)
Dec. 15 – Acquired defenseman Oskari Laaksonen from the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for defenseman Joseph Cecconi

INJURIES
Man-games lost, 2022-23: 14
NAME INJURY # OF GAMES DATES
D Miro Heiskanen Upper body 3 Oct. 25-29
G Jake Oettinger Lower body 4 Nov. 1-8
F Denis Gurianov Upper body 6 Nov. 11-21
F Roope Hintz Lower body 1 Nov. 19

DALLAS STARS NOTES
TONIGHT’S GAME: The Stars close out a two-game homestand with a date against the Montreal Canadiens at American Airlines Center. (7 p.m. CT, TV: Bally Sports Southwest Extra, Radio: The Ticket 96.7-FM/1310-AM). This is the second and final meeting of the regular season between the Stars and Canadiens, which opened with a 5-2 Dallas victory at Bell Centre on Oct. 22. The Stars enter tonight’s game with a 19-9-6 record (44 points), good for first place in the Central Division. Following tonight’s game, the Stars will enter the holiday break and then resume action beginning Tuesday, Dec. 27 at Nashville.

I KNOW I’VE DONE THIS BEFORE

  • Dallas is 1-0-0 against Montreal this season, winning 5-2 at Bell Centre on Oct. 22.
  • Forward Joe Pavelski (3-1—4) recorded his sixth career regular-season hat trick (his first with Dallas) in the win.
  • Pavelski has points (4-5—9) in four of his past five games vs. the Habs and 21 points (10-11—21) in the past 13 against them. Pavelski ranks second among active Stars in goals (12), assists (13) and points (12-13—25) in 22 career games against Montreal. Pavelski also paces active Stars in power-play goals (4).
  • Forward Jason Robertson (1-1—2) registered a multi-point effort in the game on Oct. 22. Robertson enters tonight’s game with two points (1-1—2) in three career games vs. Montreal.
  • Captain Jamie Benn (0-2—2) tallied two assists against Montreal on Oct. 22. Benn enters tonight’s matchup with the third-most points among active Stars against the Canadiens with 18 points (8-10—18) in 18 games.
  • Forward Tyler Seguin leads active Stars in goals (13), assists (16) and points (13-16—29) in a team-high 32 games vs. Montreal. He also shares second in power-play goals (3) and co-leads in game winners (2).
  • Forward Mason Marchment has three goals (3-0—3) in four career contests vs. Montreal.
  • Goaltender Jake Oettinger is 2-1-0 with a 3.55 goals-against average and .881 save percentage in three career appearances vs. the Habs.
  • Netminder Scott Wedgewood has yet to appear in a game against Montreal in his career.

2022-23 REGULAR SEASON SCHEDULE
Oct. 22: Stars 5 at Canadiens 2 (Bell Centre)
Dec. 23 vs. Montreal

LIKE HANDPRINTS IN WET CEMENT

  • With an assist in the second period against Edmonton, captain Jamie Benn recorded career point No. 800 (342-458—800). He became the third player in franchise history (1967-present) to reach the mark, joining Mike Modano (557-802—1,359) and Neal Broten (274-593—867).
  • It gave Benn points in four consecutive games (2-2—4) and 31 overall (13-18—31) in 34 games this season.
  • Two nights prior, Benn reached the 30-point mark in his 33rd game of the season on Dec. 19 at Columbus. He required the third fewest games of his career to reach the 30-point mark in a campaign, trailing 2015-16 (22 GP) and 2014-15 (32 GP). Benn finished those two seasons among the top two in points at season’s end, including an Art Ross Trophy win in 2014-15.
  • With 342 career goals, Benn is tied with Brian Bellows for second place on the franchise’s all-time goals list. Mike Modano is the franchise leader with 557.
  • With the most points in a single month in his career (10-13—23), Benn trailed only Jason Robertson (15-11—26) for the most points by any player in the NHL during the month of November. He also ranked fifth during that time in goals (10).
  • Benn registered his 10th multi-point game of the season with a two-assist night (0-2—2) against St. Louis on Nov. 28.
  • Benn recorded the 45th multi-goal game of his NHL career on Nov. 11 vs. San Jose and moved within two of tying Bill Goldsworthy (47) for fourth place on the Stars/North Stars franchise’s all-time list.
  • Benn (7) trails only Dino Ciccarelli (14) and Bill Goldsworthy (8) for the most three-goal outings in franchise history (1967-present).
    Note: Tyler Seguin and Mike Modano also have seven hat tricks with the Stars/North Stars franchise.
  • Among team leaders, the 33-year-old ranks third in goals (13), fourth in points (13-18—31) and fifth in assists (18). He also leads the Stars in power-play goals (7) and ranks second in power-play points (14).

I WATCHED A MOVIE SCENE, GOT DÉJÀ VU

  • Rookie forward Wyatt Johnston (1-0—1) scored his ninth goal of the season on Dec. 21 vs. Edmonton.
  • The only NHL rookies with more are Seattle’s Matty Beniers (11) and Ottawa’s Shane Pinto (10).
  • Johnston has goals in two consecutive games (2-0—2), seven points (4-3—7) in his past 12 and 14 points (9-5—14) in 34 games overall.
  • If Johnston (19 years and 223 days) scores tonight, he’ll become the youngest player in Dallas Stars history (1993-present) with a goal streak of three consecutive games. He’ll also become the youngest player since Ottawa’s Tim Stutzle in 2020-21 to score in three consecutive games. Stutzle was 19 years and 20 days at the end of his streak.
  • At 19 years, 173 days, Johnston became the first teenager in franchise history (1967-present) to record a three-game goal streak on the road with his goal on Nov. 3 at Arizona. The last teenager to have a longer road run was Carolina’s Andrei Svechnikov (4 GP in 2019-20).
  • With a goal (1-0—1) on Oct. 25 against Boston, Johnston became the third youngest player in Dallas Stars history (1993-present) to score in consecutive games. Johnston followed Valeri Nichushkin (2 GP in 2013-14) and Miro Heiskanen (2x in 2018-10, both 2 GP).
  • With a goal (1-0—1) in the season opener on Oct. 13, Johnston became the youngest player in Dallas Stars history to score a goal in his NHL debut (19 years, 151 days) and second youngest in franchise history with at least one goal in his NHL debut, behind Dave Archibald (18 years, 179 days on Oct. 10, 1987). Mike Modano (19 years, 120 days on Oct. 5, 1989) scored in his first regular-season NHL game but had debuted during the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

HEY, YOU, SAME TIME AND THE SAME PLACE

  • In his 100th career NHL game, goaltender Jake Oettinger improved to 54-27-11 (2.44 GAA, .915 SV% and 4 SO) with a 27-save performance in Dallas’ victory over Columbus on Dec. 19.
  • Only one goaltender in franchise history has recorded more wins in their first 100 games as a member of the Stars/North Stars franchise: Ed Belfour (60-21-16).
  • Oettinger’s 54 wins are the second most by a goaltender in franchise history prior to their 25th birthday, trailing only Don Beaupre (99 in 224 GP with the Minnesota North Stars). Oettinger celebrated his 24th birthday on Dec. 18.
  • Oettinger’s 45-save performance against Washington on Dec. 15 was one shy of tying his career mark for saves in a regular-season game (46) set Feb. 15 at Colorado (4-1 W).
  • Oettinger improved to 3-0-0 when making 40+ saves in a regular-season game (also: 41 saves on April 3 at Carolina).
  • Among goalies who have made 10 starts or more this season, Oettinger shares eighth in wins (13), ranks 11th in goals-against average (2.47) and shares 10th in save percentage (.919). He also shares fifth in shutouts (2).

LET ME OCCUPY YOUR MIND, WENT A MILLION MILES AN HOUR

  • Forward Jason Robertson (24) ranks third behind Connor McDavid (29) and Tage Thompson (26) in goals and ranks fifth in points (24-24—48).
  • He recorded his sixth three-point game (0-3—3) and 15th multi-point effort of the season on Dec. 17 at Carolina and followed it up with his team-leading 24th goal of the season on Dec. 19 at Columbus.
  • With 55 goals dating to Jan. 1, Robertson trails only Auston Matthews (57) for the most goals in the 2022 calendar year so far.
  • Robertson has recorded three hat tricks since his debut season in 2019-20, surpassing Jamie Benn (2) for the most by a Stars player of that span.
  • Robertson recorded his third career hat trick (3-0—3) in a 5-0 victory vs. Anaheim on Dec. 1 at American Airlines Center. He joined Kirill Kaprizov, Auston Matthews, Alex Ovechkin, Paul Kariya, Teemu Selanne, Eric Lindros, Pavel Bure, Joe Nieuwendyk and Mario Lemieux as players to score at least 80 goals in the first 152 career NHL games.
  • Robertson had goals in six consecutive games from Oct. 27-Nov. 8, becoming the fifth player in franchise history to have a goal streak of six games or more before turning 24, and the second player in Dallas Stars history (1993-present) to do so. Robertson followed Neal Broten from Jan. 23-Feb. 4, 1982 (7-12—19 in 7 GP), Jamie Benn from March 1-11, 2011 (6-1—7 in 6 GP), Mike Modano from Feb. 29-March 10, 1992 (7-2—9 in 6 GP) and Danny Grant from Oct. 16-29, 1969 (6-1—7 in 6 GP).
  • Robertson has been named the NHL’s First Star of the Week twice already this season for the weeks ending Nov. 6 and Nov. 27.
  • The Arcadia, California native is averaging better than a point-per-game pace through his four NHL seasons (82-91—173 in 162 GP).

PEDAL TO THE FLOOR, YEAH, I CAN’T BRAKE

  • Forward Roope Hintz ranks second on the club in goals (14) and points (14-22—36) in 33 games. He also ranks second in assists (22) and game-winning goals (3).
  • His goal against New Jersey on Dec. 13 represented his 19th career game-winning tally, the most by a Stars player since he entered the NHL in 2018-19.
  • Hintz has six points (3-3—6) in his past eight games and 12 points (6-6—12) in his past 11.
  • Hintz recorded his second career hat trick (3-1—4) and tied his career high for points in a game on Dec. 4 vs. Minnesota.
  • Hintz’ three-goal effort gave the Stars two consecutive games with hat tricks (Jason Robertson, Dec. 1 vs. ANA).
  • He had a 10-game point streak from Oct. 27-Nov. 17, tallying 15 points (6-9—15) over that span including four multi-point efforts.
  • With two goals on his 26th birthday on Nov. 17 at Florida, Hintz became just the second player in franchise history to score multiple goals on his birthday (also Dave Gagner, Dec. 11, 1990).
  • Hintz ranks third on the team in multi-point games (9) behind Jason Robertson (15) and Jamie Benn (10).
  • Hintz is one of four players on the Stars to have a shorthanded goal this season (also Radek Faksa, Luke Glendening and Joel Kiviranta).
  • Hintz and Robertson became the third pair of Stars/North Stars teammates with simultaneous 10-game point streaks, joining Brian Bellows and Neal Broten (10 GP from Jan. 23-Feb. 13, 1986) as well as Steve Payne and Bobby Smith (10 GP from Feb. 10-28, 1980).
  • On Nov. 29 the Stars signed Hintz to an eight-year contract extension, which begins in the 2023-24 season and runs through the 2030-31 campaign. The eight-year contract extension is worth $67.6 million and has an average annual value (AAV) of $8.45 million.
  • In five NHL seasons, Hintz has earned 206 points (94-112—206) in 272 career NHL games. He’s tied for sixth in Dallas Stars history (1993-present) with six career shorthanded goals and ranks 12th with 19 career game-winning goals.

DROP ME OFF AT AAC ON VICTORY

  • Defenseman Miro Heiskanen skated in his 300th career NHL game on Dec. 10 vs. Detroit.
  • Heiskanen ranks 13th among Dallas Stars (1993-present) defensemen in games played (306) and is 27 away from tying Nicklas Grossmann (333) for 12th.
  • Heiskanen enters tonight’s game with points in four of his past eight games (2-4—6) and has nine points (2-7—9) over his past 11.
  • He potted the first two goals of the game in the first period on Dec. 8 vs. Ottawa to become the seventh defenseman in franchise history (1967-present) to record two goals in an opening frame.
  • Heiskanen’s two-goal night represented his third career multi-goal game. Among blueliners in franchise history, only Craig Hartsburg (6) and Brad Maxwell (3) had as many before age 24.
  • Heiskanen’s two goals were scored in a span of 1:48 – the fifth-fastest two tallies by a defenseman in franchise history. Sergei Zubov holds the franchise mark (0:57 on Nov. 25, 2001).
  • Heiskanen had a season-high three points (0-3—3) in the Stars’ win over Anaheim on Dec. 1.
  • The 23-year-old ranks fifth on the Stars and shares 11 th among NHL defensemen in points (5-20—25). He also paces the Stars and ranks sixth in the league in TOI/GP (25:17).
  • Heiskanen has 38 goals, 118 assists and 156 points in 306 career NHL games while averaging 24:13 TOI over that span.

THERE’S A LOT THAT I WANNA SAY

  • On Dec. 10 vs. Detroit, rookie defenseman Nils Lundkvist (1-0—1) became the 10th rookie in franchise history (1967-present) to score an overtime goal and just the fourth rookie defenseman to do so, joining Julius Honka (April 4, 2017), Esa Lindell (Dec. 23, 2016) and John Klingberg (March 28, 2015).
  • Lundkvist became the third rookie to score an overtime goal this season, joining New Jersey’s Fabian Zetterlund (Nov. 5 at CGY) and Seattle’s Matty Beniers (Dec. 1 vs. WSH).
  • Lundkvist had a career-best three-game point streak (2-2—4) from Dec. 8-12 and has 10 points (3-7—10) in 31 games with the Stars.
  • Selected by the Rangers in the first round (28th overall) of the 2018 NHL Draft, Lundkvist was acquired by the Stars for a conditional first-round selection in the 2023 NHL Draft and a conditional fourth-round selection in the 2025 NHL Draft on Sept. 19.
  • Lundkvist shares second among Dallas d-men in assists (7) and points (3-7—10), shares third in goals (3) and ranks second among club blueliners in shots on goal (53).

LET’S GET BACK IN THE CAR, IT’S TIME TO DO IT AGAIN

  • With the game-winning goal in sudden death on Dec. 8 vs. Ottawa, forward Tyler Seguin (1-0—1) scored his 10th career overtime goal to surpass Mike Modano for sole possession of second place in franchise history behind only Jamie Benn (11).
  • The OT tally marked Seguin’s 47th game-winning goal with Dallas. Only two players in franchise history have more: Modano (92) and Benn (52).
  • Seguin (1-0—1) potted his seventh goal of the season on Dec. 21 vs. Edmonton to give him goals in two of his past three games (2- 0—2).
  • The Brampton, Ontario native enters Friday’s matchup against Montreal with nine points (3-6—9) in his past 15 games and 24 points (7-17—24) in 34 games overall this season.
  • With his first of two assists (0-2—2) on Nov. 19 against the New York Islanders, Seguin recorded career point No. 700, becoming the first player from the 2010 NHL Draft to reach the 700-point mark.
  • Seguin leads the 2010 draft class in points (312-398—710), ranks second in goals (312) and shares fifth with a +64 rating. He also leads the class with 56 game-winning goals and shares second with 10 overtime markers.