* Tage Thompson stole the show Wednesday after a five-goal and six-point performance – all of which were tallied in the first 40 minutes – landing him on a number of noteworthy lists.
* Connor McDavid posted a four-point performance and became the first player to reach the 50-point mark in 2022-23, requiring the fewest games in his career to do so.
* Artemi Panarin posted a three-assist outing to surpass the 600-point milestone and owns a point total that only trails Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Patrick Kane since he entered the NHL in 2015-16.
* Alex Ovechkin’s “Road to 800” continued Wednesday as he found the back of the net twice and moved within 99 goals of the legendary No. 99 on the NHL’s all-time list.
LAST NIGHT IN TWO WORDS: TAGE THOMPSON
Tage Thompson (5-1—6) accounted for over half of Buffalo’s nine goals Wednesday and factored on six of them – creating a plethora of #NHLStats along the way, enough for a period-by-period breakdown of the highest-scoring game of the night.
First Period:
* The Sabres scored four times in the opening 7:50 – they have tallied four faster goals to begin a contest just twice before: March 27, 1990 (7:24) and Dec. 26, 2006 (7:30).
* Thompson, who concluded the opening frame with 4-1—5, became the fourth player in NHL history to score four goals in the first period of a regular-season game, joining Peter Bondra (Feb. 5, 1994), Grant Mulvey (Feb. 3, 1982) and Joe Malone (Feb. 23, 1921).
* Thompsonbecame the sixth player in the past 40 years to record four goals in any period, joining Patrick Marleau (Jan. 23, 2017), Mario Lemieux (Jan. 26, 1997), Bondra(Feb. 5, 1994), Joe Nieuwendyk (Jan. 11, 1989) and Al Secord (Jan. 7, 1987).
* With his fourth goal, Thompson recorded his 20th of 2022-23 (26 GP). Only three players in Sabres history have required fewer games in a season to reach the 20-goal mark: Alexander Mogilny (23 GP in 1992-93), Pat LaFontaine (24 GP in 1991-92) and Richard Martin (24 GP in 1972-73).
Second Period:
* After Columbus scored the first two goals of the second frame, Thompson notched goal No. 5 of the evening and matched the franchise record for the most in a single game, joining Dave Andreychuk (5-1—6 on Feb. 6, 1986) atop the record books.
* A Phoenix, Ariz., native, Thompson became the second U.S.-born player to score five goals in a game, joining Mark Pavelich (Eveleth, Minn.) on Feb. 23, 1983 (5-0—5).
* Thompson improved his season totals to 21-19—40 (26 GP) and became the fourth player this season to record 40 points. OnlyLaFontaine(18 GP in 1992-93 & 24 GP in 1991-92) required fewer games among Sabres skaters to reach the mark in a season.
Third Period
* Despite being held off the scoreboard in the third period, the Sabres matched the Kraken (9 on Nov. 29) for the most goals in a game by a team this season. It was also the first time Buffalo scored nine times in a contest since Nov. 3, 2018 (9-2 W vs. OTT).
* Thompson (5-1—6) concluded the contest one point shy of the Sabres record for the most points in a single game, trailing only Gilbert Perreault on Feb. 1, 1976 (2-5—7), and moved into third place in the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy race, behind Connor McDavid (24) and Jason Robertson (23).
* Rasmus Dahlin finished Wednesday with 1-2—3 and surpassed 30 points in 2022-23 (9-23—32 in 25 GP), tying Phil Housley (25 GP in 1988-89 and 1983-84) for the fewest games to 30 points in a campaign by a Sabres blueliner. He also moved within three points of Erik Karlsson (11-24—35 in 29 GP) for the most among defensemen.
ANOTHER NIGHT OF McDAVID DOING McDAVID THINGS
Maintaining his place atop the Art Ross Trophy race with a four-point performance Wednesday, Connor McDavid (2-2—4) became the first player to hit the 50-point mark this season (24-28—52 in 27 GP) while also overtaking Jason Robertson (23-218—41 in 26 GP) as the frontrunner for the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy.
* McDavid became the first player to reach the 50-point mark in a season for the fifth time in his career (outright or tied), requiring two fewer games to do so than his previous best (29 GP in 2020-21 & 2019-20). Only three players in NHL history have been the first to hit 50 points in more campaigns: Wayne Gretzky (11x), Gordie Howe (6x) and Mario Lemieux (6x).
* The Oilers captain also extended his goal streak to six games for the second time in his career (6 GP from March 28-April 7) and became the fourth player in Oilers history to record multiple runs of at least as many contests, joining Gretzky (7x), Jari Kurri (4x) and Glenn Anderson (4x).
* Wednesday marked the 28th four-point performance of McDavid’s career, moving him past Mark Messier (27) for the third most in Oilers history. The only players with more are Gretzky (158) and Kurri(45).
OVECHKIN 99 GOALS FROM NO. 99, AND MORE FROM WEDNESDAY
While the Sabres’ offensive outburst took “center sTage” on Wednesday, there were plenty of other notable moments highlighted in #NHLStats: Live Updates, including Alex Ovechkin moving within double digits of catching Wayne Gretzky on the NHL’s all-time goal list, Kirill Kaprizov establishing new Wild streak records, Elias Pettersson scoring his second straight overtime winner and Artemi Panarin surpassing the 600-point milestone.
* Ovechkinscored twice to record his 405th multi-point game – surpassing Ray Bourque (404) for the 13th most in NHL history – and moved within five goals of becoming the third member of the 800-club (795-642—1,437 in 1,302 GP). The Capitals captain is now just 99 goals shy of Gretzky (894-1,963—2,857 in 1,487 GP) for the most in NHL history.
* In just one season, Kaprizovhas rewritten the streak section of the Wild record book. He scored Minnesota’s opening tally to extend his goal streak to seven games, the longest by any player this season, and his point streak to 13 contests – both stand alone as the longest such streaks in franchise history. On Dec. 1, he established a new franchise record for longest assist streak (9 GP).
* After a back-and-forth 60 minutes that saw both teams erase deficits, Pettersson netted the decisive goal in overtime to lift Vancouver to victory. He became the second player in Canucks history to score the overtime winner in consecutive games (also Dec. 5 vs. MTL), joining Mike Santorelli (Oct. 6 & 8, 2013).
QUICK CLICKS
* Preparation, coaching key to success on power play, penalty kill
* Mets’ Pete Alonso takes in Lightning game in hometown of Tampa
* Alex Pietrangelo out indefinitely for Golden Knights because of family illness
* Nathan MacKinnon out 4 weeks for Avalanche with upper-body injury
*Jack Roslovic is giving back to his community through his foundation Rosie’s Gear for Goals
HRONEK EYES ELITE COMPANY WITH ANOTHER ROAD POINT
Filip Hronek will put his season-opening road point streak (11 GP) on the line when the Red Wings (13-7-5, 31 points) travel to Florida to take on the Panthers (12-10-4, 28 points) in an Atlantic Division showdown on Hulu, ESPN+ and Sportsnet 360. Hronek, with 4-11—15 as a visitor in 2022-23, can join Edmonton’s Paul Coffey (4-16—20 in 12 GP; 1986-87) as the second defenseman in NHL history to post a 12-game road point streak from the start of a season.
