* Chris Kreider and Auston Matthews both added to the Hockey Fights Cancer Fund of the V Foundation where AstraZeneca donates $5,000 when a player scores a hat trick this season (up to $500,000).
* The Panthers extended their franchise-record road winning streak to eight games and climbed over the Bruins for the No. 1 spot in the Atlantic Division – the first time they topped their division since May 1, 2022, the day they won the Presidents’ Trophy.
* Only one night remains until the 2024 Navy Federal Credit Union NHL Stadium Series and it will feature the Hurricanes visiting the Coyotes on NHL Network, Sportsnet and TVA Sports as Friday’s lone contest.
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TWO HAT TRICKS THURSDAY INCLUDING KREIDER AHEAD OF STADIUM SERIES
Chris Kreider (3-0—3) and Auston Matthews (3-0—3) both collected hat tricks Thursday, with Kreider helping his club skate to a 7-4 win in the Rangers’ final contest before the 2024 Navy Federal Credit Union NHL Stadium Series. Only two players in NHL history have scored a hat trick in an outdoor game: David Pastrnak (2021 LT) and Tyler Toffoli (2020 SS), who is expected to be in the lineup for New Jersey on Saturday.
* Kreider recorded his sixth career hat trick, which trails only Bill Cook (9), Mika Zibanejad (7) and Rod Gilbert (7) for the most in franchise history as the Rangers (35-16-3, 73 points) padded their lead atop the Metropolitan Division.
* The contest also featured Adam Fox (0-4—4) establish the third instance since the turn of the millennia of a Rangers defenseman recording four-plus assists in a game, with him accounting for two of those (also 0-5—5 on March 25, 2021). Fox (8-35—43 in 44 GP) will head into the 2024 Navy Federal Credit Union NHL Stadium Series as the fourth U.S.-born defenseman to record at least 40 points in each of his first five seasons, joining Phil Housley (1982-83 to 1992-93), Mark Howe (1979-80 to 1987-88) and Gary Suter (1985-86 to 1992-93).
* Matthews recorded his League-leading fifth hat trick of 2023-24, tying Darryl Sittler (1980-81), Babe Dye (1924-25) and Reg Noble (1917-18) for the most in a single season in franchise history, as the Maple Leafs (28-16-8, 64 points) defeated the Flyers (29-19-7, 65 points) and tightened their grip on the first Wild Card position. In the process, Matthews also became just the third skater in the past 30 years to record at least five hat tricks in a campaign, joining Jonathan Cheechoo (5 in 2005-06) and Mario Lemieux (6 in 1995-96).
ISLANDERS FIRST TO SKATE ON METLIFE STADIUM ICE
The Islanders held a practice at MetLife Stadium on Thursday ahead of their outdoor game rematch with the Rangers on Sunday in the back half of the 2024 Navy Federal Credit Union NHL Stadium Series (3 p.m. ET on ABC, ESPN+, SN, TVAS). The Flyers, Rangers and Devils are all scheduled to hold their outdoor practices Friday.
* Did You Know: Islanders captain Anders Lee chose hockey for a career but also excelled at football while growing up. As a high school quarterback, he was named 2008-09 Gatorade Minnesota Football Player of the Year. He looked at home tossing the football around prior to the practice.
PANTHERS, LIGHTNING EXTEND WIN STREAKS AHEAD OF HEAD-TO-HEAD BATTLE
The Panthers won their 10th straight game on the road,while the Lightning extended their home winning streak to eight contests to set the stage for Saturday when the clubs put their respective runs on the line as they go head-to-head at Amalie Arena (5 p.m. ET on BSSUN, BSFL).
* Aleksander Barkov collected two helpers to surpass Jonathan Huberdeau (5) for sole possession of the most 40-assist seasons in Panthers history, while Anthony Stolarz recorded his sixth career shutout to help Florida extend its franchise-record road winning streak to 10 games. Stolarz’s 45 saves marked the third most in a shutout in club history, behind Craig Anderson (53 on March 2, 2008) and James Reimer (46 on March 15, 2018).
* Nikita Kucherov (2-1—3) outdid Nathan MacKinnon (0-2—2) to extend his lead in the Art Ross Trophy race to four points and help the Lightning match the longest home winning streak by any team in the NHL this season (also EDM w/ 8 GP from Nov. 13 – Dec. 12 & 8 GP from Jan. 2 – present). Kucherov also lengthened his home multi-point streak to six games and matched captain Steven Stamkos (6 GP in 2021-22) for the longest run in franchise history.
DALLAS SCORES EARLY AND OFTEN TO DEFEAT NASHVILLE
The Stars gave their moms a lot to cheer about Thursday, with Wyatt Johnston (2-2—4) leading the charge in a nine-goal showing against the Predators at Bridgestone Arena. It marked Dallas’ highest-scoring game of the season and the first time the Stars tallied as many since March 9, 2023 (10-4 W at. BUF).
* Johnstonbecame the seventh player in Stars/North Stars history to record a four-point game at age 20 or younger, joining Mike Modano (2x), Brian Bellows (2x), Valeri Nichushkin, Brian Lawton, Brad Palmer and Craig Hartsburg.
* The Stars, who scored 35 seconds into the contest and tied the Bruins (4) for the second-most opening-minute goals this season behind the Oilers (6), found the back of the net four times in the first period alone. The club has only scored more goals in the opening frame once since it relocated to Dallas in 1993-94 (5 vs. TOR on Jan. 31, 2017).
DEMKO REACHES 30 WINS AS CANUCKS EXTEND LEAD ATOP LEAGUE STANDINGS
Thatcher Demko (27 saves) became the first goaltender to reach the 30-win mark this season and helped the Canucks (37-12-6, 80 points) strengthen their lead atop the League standings. Vancouver has now held first place in the NHL for 29 straight days dating to Jan. 18, surpassing Vegas (28 days from Oct. 12 – Nov. 8) for the longest consecutive stretch by a team this season.
* The Canucks reached the 80-point plateau in 55 games to establish a new franchise pace, besting 2010-11 (56 GP) – a season Vancouver went on to play in the Stanley Cup Final.
* Demko (30-9-1 in 40 GP) became the fifth active goaltender to reach the 30-win mark in a season in 40 games or fewer. He joined Linus Ullmark (37 GP in 2022-23), Andrei Vasilevskiy (39 GP in 2020-21), Frederik Andersen (40 GP in 2021-22) and Philipp Grubauer (40 GP in 2020-21).
CROSBY CLAIMS A PAIR OF FRANCHISE RECORDS FROM A PENGUINS LEGEND
Sidney Crosby scored twice – with his first coming in the opening 15 seconds of the contest – to record his 12th career 30-goal season and surpass franchise-legend Mario Lemieux for the most in Penguins history as Pittsburgh (24-20-7, 55 points) kept pace in the race for a Wild Card position.
* Crosby became just the second active player to record 12 30-goal seasons, joining longtime rival Alex Ovechkin (17). He also tied Luc Robitaille, Jarome Iginla and Brendan Shanahan (all w/ 12) for the 11th most in NHL history.
* Crosby, who surpassed Bob Gainey (8) for the most goals within the opening 30 seconds of a game in NHL history, also recorded his 406th and 407th career even-strength markers to eclipse Lemieux (405) for the most in franchise history.
* Meanwhile, another Penguins icon has plenty to toast to this week – Jaromir Jagr, who celebrated his 52nd birthday Thursday, will have his No. 68 retired by Pittsburgh during a pre-game ceremony at PPG Paints Arena on Sunday, Feb. 18 (6 p.m. ET on SN360, TVAS, SN-PIT, BSW). Click here to read the latest document from #NHLStats, which features several notes about Jagr, including how he can be linked to the first day in League history through just five sets of teammates.
WILD CARD SPOTS ARE UP FOR GRABS
With six teams within five points of a Wild Card position in the Western Conference, it was the Kings (25-16-10, 60 points), Blues (29-22-2, 60 points) and Kraken (23-21-10, 56 points) who each collected wins Thursday to make their case that they should claim a spot in the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
* Anze Kopitar (1-0—1) scored his 200th career road goal and became the third player in Kings history to reach the milestone, joining Marcel Dionne (262) and Luc Robitaille (235). Los Angeles maintained its position as the top Wild Card team by virtue of holding two games in hand over St. Louis.
* Jake Neighbours (1-2—3) recorded his first career three-point game to help St. Louis double up Edmonton and maintain its positioning as the second Wild Card seed. The Blues are now 16-8-1 since Drew Bannister took over as head coach on Dec. 14 – the only teams with more wins over that span are the Oilers (18), Panthers (18), Stars (18), Canucks (18) and Lightning (17).
* Matty Beniers (1-2—3) collected his first three-point game of the season by factoring on three of four straight Seattle goals to help the Kraken earn their eighth comeback win of 2023-24.
QUICK CLICKS
* #NHLStats: Live Updates – Feb. 15
* Cam Fowler, Frank Vatrano power Ducks past Senators
* Stadium Series brings back outdoor memories for Devils coach Lindy Ruff
* Outdoor memories featuring Stadium Series teams shared by NHL.com writers
* Women in Hockey: Ann Rina
COYOTES HOST HURRICANES ON SPORTSNET, TVA SPORTS, NHL NETWORK FRIDAY
The lone contest Friday features Clayton Keller and Arizona (23-25-4, 50 points) looking to snap a seven-game slide against Sebastian Aho and Carolina (30-17-5, 65 points) on Sportsnet, TVA Sports and NHL Network.
