* Alex Ovechkin climbed another list Wednesday and now needs just one power-play goal to rewrite the NHL Record Book.* Patrick Kane notched his 700th career assist on the night the Blackhawks became the eighth team in the past 35 years to score three goals in a span of 34 seconds or fewer.
* Max Pacioretty, Mark Stone, Nathan MacKinnon and Drake Batherson will all put their streaks on the line during a 10-game Thursday.
OVECHKIN TIES NHL RECORD WITH 274TH POWER-PLAY GOAL. . .
Alex Ovechkin (1-1—2) opened the scoring Wednesday with his 274th power-play goal and 25th career tally overall against Marc-Andre Fleury – his most against one goaltender and one more than his next closest (24 vs. Henrik Lundqvist).
* Ovechkin (21-25—46), who last led the NHL in points outright on March 20, 2015, leapfrogged idle Leon Draisaitl (23-22—45) and Connor McDavid (16-29—45) for the League lead this season. Only two players in NHL history have concluded a season as the top point getter at age 36 or older (tied or outright): Martin St. Louis in 2012-13 (w/ TBL) and Bill Cook in 1932-33 (w/ NYR).
. . . BUT KANE RECORDS 700TH ASSIST AND HELPS BLACKHAWKS OUTLAST CAPITALS
Conor Sheary (1-1—2) tied the game for Washington (17-5-7, 41 points) with three seconds remaining in regulation, but Patrick Kane (0-2—2) factored on the overtime winner to guide the Blackhawks (11-15-2, 24 points) to victory on the night he reached the 700-assist milestone.
* Kane (411-701—1,112) reached the benchmark after he collected an assist on the first of three Chicago goals in a span of 34 seconds – tied for the third-fastest three tallies in Blackhawks history.
ICYMI: The Blackhawks honored Marc-Andre Fleury (42 saves) in a pre-game ceremony after recently becoming the third goaltender in NHL history to record 500 career wins. Subsequently, he became the 17th goaltender in NHL history to record at least 20 wins with 40 or more saves.
TERRY’S GOAL-SCORING WAYS ALSO FEATURED IN #NHLSTATS: LIVE UPDATES
Troy Terry scored his 18th goal of the season to lead the Pacific Division-leading Ducks (17-9-5, 39 points) to their fourth win in five games. Anaheim’s fifth-round pick in the 2015 NHL Draft trails only Leon Draisaitl (23), Alex Ovechkin (21) and Auston Matthews (20) in goals this season – all of whom were taken in the first round of their respective drafts. Click here to read more notes about the six teams that took the ice Wednesday.
QUICK CLICKS
* NHL postpones Saturday’s Flames–Blue Jackets game
* Episode 3: NHL Road to the Winter Classic
* LeBron James reps Penguins jersey before Lakers-Mavericks game
* Drew Commesso appreciating second chance with United States at World Juniors
* Thomas Rhett to headline entertainment at sold-out Winter Classic
BUSY THURSDAY SLATE HAS STREAKS TO KEEP AN EYE ON
An action-packed Thursday is set to see a number of players put their streaks to the test including Vegas’ Max Pacioretty and Mark Stone, Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon and Ottawa’s Drake Batherson.
* Max Pacioretty (10-6—16 in 9 GP), who has found the back of the net in seven straight games, and Mark Stone (4-11—15 in 9 GP) will aim to extend their respective point streaks to double digits when the Golden Knights (17-11-0, 34 points) visit the Devils (10-12-5, 25 points). The pair can establish a franchise record for the longest point streak if either Pacioretty or Stone find the score sheet Thursday.
* Nathan MacKinnon (2-11—13 in 8 GP) enters Thursday on an eight-game point streak, including multiple points in each of his last two outings. Should MacKinnon stretch the streak to nine games, it would mark the seventh time in his career he has posted a point streak of nine or more contests – only three players in franchise history have recorded more such runs: Peter Stastny (16), Joe Sakic (10) and Michel Goulet (9).
* Drake Batherson has recorded three or more points in each of his last two games and is currently riding a six-game point streak (2-10—12) for the Senators, who have earned wins in five of their past six contests. Batherson, who leads Ottawa in scoring with 9-19—28 (21 GP), can join Erik Karlsson (3 GP in 2011-12) as the second player in franchise history to record three-plus points in three straight games.
NHL-LEADING ROOKIES ALL DON RED WINGS JERSEYS
The Red Wings currently feature the leader in points by a rookie forward, points by a rookie defenseman and wins by a rookie goaltender this season with Lucas Raymond (10-15—25 in 29 GP), Moritz Seider (3-17—20 in 29 GP) and Alex Nedeljkovic (9-6-3) leading the charge. Nedeljkovic could face his former team for the first time Thursday after posting a 15-5-3 record with Carolina last season while leading all goaltenders with a .932 save percentage and 1.90 goals-against average (min. 15 GP).
* Did You Know? Only two seasons in NHL history have concluded where the League leader in points by rookie forwards, points by rookie defensemen and wins by rookie goaltenders (outright or tied) were all on the same team. The Detroit Cougars cohort of Ebbie Goodfellow, Harvey Rockburn and Bill Beveridge combined for the feat in 1929-30, while Maple Leafs teammates Syl Apps, Jimmy Fowler and Turk Broda also did so in 1936-37.
