* Alex Ovechkin’s pursuit of Gordie Howe will have to wait, but he was still able to pass another player who skated with a New England-based team during the 1979-80 season on an all-time NHL list Thursday.
* The Maple Leafs edged the Flyers in another Next Gen game at Scotiabank Arena, while Boston also extended a lengthy home point streak to restore its six-point lead on Toronto atop the Atlantic Division standings.
* Ovechkin will have one more chance to reach Howeon the NHL’s all-time goals list before the League’s three-day Holiday Break when the Capitals host the Jets on Christmas Eve Eve. Washington and Winnipeg are two of 22 NHL teams in action.
OVECHKIN OVERTAKES BOURQUE ON NHL’S ALL-TIME SHOTS LIST . . .
Alex Ovechkin logged six shots on goal during the Capitals’ 3-2 overtime win Thursday to boost his career total to 6,211 and pass Ray Bourque (6,209) for sole possession of the most by an NHL player on record. Ovechkin also had two assists to register the 408th multi-point game of his NHL career and tie Paul Coffey for 12th place on the League’s all-time list.
. . . AND NEARLY CONVERTS ON ONE-TIMER IN FRONT OF FRIENDS’ KING OF ONE-LINERS
The 17,231 people in attendance at Canadian Tire Centre almost witnessed Alex Ovechkin tying Gordie Howe for second place on the NHL’s all-time goals list when a one-timer by the Capitals captain trickled into the Senators’ crease before Sonny Milano put it home. One of the attendees was actor and Ottawa native Matthew Perry, who portrayed the character Chandler Bing on the sitcom Friends.
BRUINS, MAPLE LEAFS ENJOY SOME MORE HOME COOKING AHEAD OF HOLIDAY BREAK
In their final home games prior to the Holiday Break, the top two teams in the Atlantic Division skated to yet another victory as the Bruins (26-4-2, 54 points) and Maple Leafs (21-7-6, 48 points) edged their opponents in one-goal affairs Thursday:
* David Pastrnak (1-1—2) helped the Bruins erase a 2-0 deficit en route to registering his sixth career double-digit point streak, eclipsing the 100-point mark this calendar year and guiding Boston to its 20th consecutive home game with a point this season. He became the fourth Bruins player with as many 10-game point streaks with the franchise, joining Phil Esposito (10x), Bobby Orr (7x) and Ray Bourque (6x).
* Boston, which has one more home game (Dec. 31 vs. BUF) before hosting Pittsburgh in the 2023 Discover NHL Winter Classic at Fenway Park, collected its 37th regular-season home win of 2022 – eclipsing Washington (36 in 2017) and Florida (36 in 2021) for the most in a calendar year in League history. The Bruins also contest road games against the Devils (Dec. 23 & Dec. 28) and Senators (Dec. 27) before their outdoor showdown with the Penguins.
* The Maple Leafs extended their home winning streak to six games and stretched their home point streak to double digits (8-0-2 in 10 GP dating to Nov. 12), with the latter marking the franchise’s longest such run since 2018-19 (9-0-1 in 10 GP). After setting a club record for the longest point streak by a Toronto player earlier this season, Mitchell Marner (1-1—2) extended his home point streak to 14 games to move within four of tying Darryl Sittler (18 GP in 1977-78) for the lengthiest in franchise history.
* Ilya Samsonov (16 saves) improved to 10-3-0 in 13 appearances this season, including a 9-0-0 mark in nine at Scotiabank Arena. He became the second goaltender in franchise history to win each of his first nine home games in a campaign, joining Bruce Gamble (9-0-0 in 9 GP from Oct. 25, 1967–Jan. 20, 1968).
SWEDISH-BORN SKATERS SHINE IN #NHLSTATS: LIVE UPDATES
Thursday’s edition of #NHLStats: Live Updates featured more notes from the eight-game slate, including several involving countrymen Erik Karlsson (1-3—4) and Elias Pettersson (2-3—5):
* Karlsson opened the scoring just 44 seconds into the contest and collected a primary assist on each of the Sharks’ next three goals to record his third four-point game of the campaign and eighth of his NHL career, surpassing Roman Josi (7) for the most among all defensemen since his debut season in 2009-10. Karlsson also extended his point streak to nine games and matched his NHL career high, a mark set with the Senators in 2015-16.
* Pettersson posted the fourth five-point game of his NHL career and scored the shootout winner as the Canucks rallied from a 5-3 third-period deficit to improve to 6-0-0 in six all-time games against the Kraken (SEA: 0-5-1). Pettersson became the first player in franchise history to record four five-point games with the Canucks – he was tied with Alexander Mogilny (3) for the most in club history entering Thursday.
QUICK CLICKS
* Friday’s Red Wings-Senators game postponed, rescheduled for Feb. 27
* Artem Zub signs 4-year, $18.4 million contract with Senators
* Tuukka Rask an interested spectator when Bruins play Penguins at Winter Classic
* Connor Bedard impressing NHL stars before World Junior Championship
* Women in Hockey: Lisa McDowell
TWENTY-TWO TEAMS IN ACTION ON CHRISTMAS EVE EVE
A total of 22 teams will be in action on the final day before the NHL takes a three-day Holiday Break. Connor McDavid enters Friday with the NHL’s longest active point streak at 14 games (13-17—30) and sits one goal shy of becoming the first to reach 30 goals in 2022-23.
* McDavid (29-36—65 in 34 GP) is leading all players in goals after skating in 41% of his season (has yet to miss a game) and is on pace for 69. No Oilers player has won the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy, first awarded in 1998-99, however six seasons in NHL history have finished with an Edmonton skater as the top goal scorer: 1986-87 (Wayne Gretzky), 1985-86 (Jari Kurri), 1984-85 (Gretzky), 1983-84 (Gretzky), 1982-83 (Gretzky) and 1981-82 (Gretzky).
* Friday will also see the two defensemen with the most regular-season points in the 2022 calendar year face off when Cale Makar (22-67—89 in 85 GP) and the Avalanche visit Roman Josi (20-72—92 in 81 GP) and the Predators. Josi is already the first defenseman since Paul Coffey in 1995 to reach 90 points in a calendar year, while Josi and Makar can combine to mark the first time multiple blueliners reached the benchmark in the same year since 1991 (Ray Bourque, Brian Leetch & Phil Housley).
