* Jonathan Quick, Auston Matthews and Brock Faber helped their teams tally wins during a three-game slate Wednesday, which was highlighted by the NHL announcing that the 2025 Discover NHL Winter Classic will feature the Blackhawks hosting the Blues at Wrigley Field.
* Elias Lindholm can join Greg Adams (4 in 1987-88), Thomas Gradin (4 in 1978-79) and Elias Pettersson (3 in 2018-19) as the fourth player to score three or more goals through his first two games with the Canucks when the top two teams in the NHL standings tangle on TVA Sports and Sportsnet programming tonight.
* The two other national broadcasts set for Thursday involve the Islanders hosting the Lightning on ESPN and the Golden Knights visiting the Coyotes on Sportsnet 360 and TVA Sports.
NHL ANNOUNCES PLANS FOR 2025 DISCOVER NHL WINTER CLASSIC…
The NHL, with the help of Connor Bedard on the NHL on TNT broadcast, announced that the 2025 Discover NHL Winter Classic will feature the Blackhawks hosting the Blues at Wrigley Field, home of the Chicago Cubs. The game will be televised exclusively on TNT in the U.S. and on Sportsnet and TVA Sports in Canada. Click here for full details.
… WHILE DEVILS CHECK OUT STADIUM SERIES SET UP AT METLIFE STADIUM
Devils players Nico Hischier, Jesper Bratt and Timo Meier visited MetLife Stadium on Wednesday as preparations continue for the 2024 Navy Federal Credit Union NHL Stadium Series, which will see 130,000+ fans gather within a 24-hour period at the home of the NFL’s Jets and Giants to watch outdoor games between the Devils and Flyers (Saturday, Feb. 17 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC, ESPN+, SN360, TVAS2) and the Rangers and Islanders (Sunday, Feb. 18 at 3 p.m. ET on ABC, ESPN+, SN, TVAS). Click herefor ticket information.
RANGERS, MAPLE LEAFS AND WILD EARN WINS WEDNESDAY
The Rangers (32-16-3, 67 points), Maple Leafs (26-15-8, 60 points) and Wild (22-23-5, 49 points) secured victories Wednesday:
* Jimmy Vesey potted a pair of goals and Jonathan Quick (18 saves) picked up his third straight win as New York strengthened its lead atop the Metropolitan Division and moved within four points of Eastern Conference-leading Boston (31-10-9, 71 points).
* Quick, who has started in each of the Rangers’ last three games, earned the 387th win of his NHL career and moved within four of tying Ryan Miller (391) for the most by a U.S.-born goaltender in League history. Quick (38 years, 17 days) became the second active netminder with a three-game winning streak at age 38 or older, joining Marc-Andre Fleury (2x in 2022-23).
* Mitchell Marner and William Nylander (2-1—3) each scored within 52 seconds after Evgenii Dadonov (2-0—2) pulled the Stars even via the third penalty-shot goal of his NHL career as Toronto defeated Dallas. The Maple Leafs, who scored the second-fastest two tallies by a team after allowing a penalty-shot goal in League history behind the Blues on April 3, 2015 (0:43), moved ahead of the Lightning (27-19-5, 59 points) for third place in the Atlantic Division.
* Auston Matthews (41-20—61 in 48 GP) notched his NHL-leading 41st goal of the season to move four ahead of Sam Reinhart (37-25—62 in 50 GP) in the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy race. Matthews ensured that he will conclude the campaign with a goals-per-game rate of 0.50 or higher for a seventh straight season.
* Marcus Foligno scored the winning goal against his brother, Nick, and Brock Faber assisted on the marker as Minnesota clipped Chicago to move within five points of the “playoff line” in the Western Conference. Faber (4-26—30 in 50 GP) tied the franchise record for most points in a season by a rookie defenseman, set by Filip Kuba in 2000-01 (9-21—30 in 75 GP).
* Wednesday’s edition of #NHLStats: Live Updates featured more notes from the three-game slate, including the Wild earning their 11th consecutive victory versus the Blackhawks dating to Feb. 4, 2020. That marks Minnesota’s second-longest winning streak against one opponent in franchise history behind a 13-game run versus Anaheim from Jan. 20, 2021 to Dec. 21, 2022.
QUICK CLICKS
* Nikita Kucherov, Nathan MacKinnon scoring race ‘going to go down to the wire’
* Mathew Barzal‘s game at another level for Islanders, ‘everybody around the League knows it’
* Brenden Dillon suspended three games for illegal check to the head
* Anthony Duclair helps bring synthetic outdoor ice rink to South Florida
* Oilers moving on after winning streak ends at 16
THURSDAY’S SEVEN-GAME SLATE FEATURES TRIO OF NATIONAL TELECASTS
Thursday’s seven-game slate will feature three national broadcasts. In Canada, the Canucks (34-11-5, 73 points) visit the Bruins (31-10-9, 71 points) on TVA Sports and Sportsnet programming followed by the Golden Knights (30-15-6, 66 points) and Coyotes (23-22-3, 49 points) closing out the night on TVA Sports and Sportsnet 360. In the U.S., the Lightning (27-19-5, 59 points) conclude the New York metropolitan area portion of their road trip against the Islanders (21-17-12, 54 points) on ESPN.
