* Brady Tkachuk followed up his must-see NHL Frozen Frenzy performance with another natural hat trick as he helped the Panthers rally late and became the third player in League history with consecutive natural hat tricks.
* Matt Boldy, Kirill Marchenko and Mark Stone also scored hat tricks, while Patrick Kane had two assists and passed Phil Housley for the most by a U.S.-born player in NHL history.
* Nova Scotians and longtime friends Sidney Crosby and Nathan MacKinnon go head-to-head for the 21st time when the Penguins visit the Avalanche on Sportsnet+ tonight.
BRADY JOINS RARE NHL HISTORY WITH ANOTHER BUNCH OF GOALS
The Panthers were trailing 2-0 in the latter half of the third period before Brady Tkachuk (3-0—3) scored twice in the final frame – including a tying tally with 13 seconds remaining in regulation – and again in overtime to complete his second straight natural hat trick. Fresh off stealing the NHL Frozen Frenzy spotlight Tuesday, Tkachuk joined Petri Skriko (Nov. 18-21, 1986 w/ VAN) and Cy Denneny (Feb. 21-24, 1923 w/ SEN) as the third player in League history with consecutive natural hat tricks.
* Tkachuk, the third player in franchise history and the NHL’s first with consecutive hat tricks since Auston Matthews (2 GP from Feb. 15-17, 2024), became the second Panthers player to complete a hat trick with an overtime winner (also Aleksander Barkov: April 19, 2022 & Dec. 15, 2018).
* Matthew Tkachuk (0-1—1), who combined for nine points with Brady on Frozen Frenzy after assisting on each of his three goals in that contest, collected a secondary assist on his brother’s first goal Thursday night. The last time a player factored on four consecutive goals by his brother was Luke and Jack Hughes from March 1-21, 2024 (4); Daniel and Henrik Sedin hold the longest streak in NHL history (18 from March 3, 2015 – Oct. 22, 2016).
BOLDY BOLSTERS MINNESOTA WITH FIFTH CAREER HAT TRICK
Matt Boldy (3-1—4), Kirill Kaprizov (1-2—3) and Quinn Hughes (0-2—2) each posted multiple points and achieved notable feats in a Wild win. Boldy, who recorded his fifth career three-goal game, joined Kaprizov (Oct. 10) as the second Minnesota player with a hat trick this season – the only team with multiple players in 2026-27.
* Boldy’s hat trick goal was his fourth point of the night. He passed Kaprizov and Mats Zuccarello (both w/ 5 GP) for the second-most four-point outings in Wild history, behind only Marian Gaborik (7 GP).
* Kaprizov became the first player in franchise history to record 50 career three-point games. He reached the mark in his 405th career contest; only three active players did so faster: Connor McDavid (332 GP), Sidney Crosby (340 GP) and Alex Ovechkin (366 GP).
* Hughes became the first defenseman with 10 assists this season and tied Kaprizov (8 GP in 2024-25) for the second-fewest games to the mark in franchise history, behind only Mikko Koivu (7 GP in 2008-09). He also extended his season-opening point streak to eight games and passed Andrew Brunette (7 GP in 2009-10) for the longest in Wild history.
KANE SETS U.S.-BORN ASSISTS RECORD; HUGHES HAs two goals IN HIGH-SCORING WIN
Patrick Kane and Luke Hughes were two other American players who left their mark on games Thursday:
* Kane assisted on Connor Bedard’s first goal since being named Blackhawks captain on Sept. 15 to reach 895 helpers in his career and pass Phil Housley (894) for the most by a U.S.-born player in NHL history. Kane and Bedard, who also assisted on the overtime winner by Artyom Levshunov, became the NHL’s second pair of No. 1 picks selected 15-plus years apart by the same franchise to factor on at least one goal together after Mario Lemieux and Sidney Crosby did so eight times with the Penguins during the 2005-06 season.
* Hughes (2-0—2) was the only player to score multiple goals in the Devils’ 7-1 win over the Rangers. New Jersey scored six unanswered goals in the “Hudson River Rivalry” for the first time since Nov. 18, 1984 (also 6). Four of New Jersey’s six straight goals last night came in a span of 5:09, the fastest by any team this season.
LIVE UPDATES HAS MATTHEWS, MARCHENKO GOING AIRBORNE, BETWEEN-THE-Legs
Thursday’s edition of #NHLStats: Live Updates featured more notes from the 11-game slate including several involving other No. 1 picks and hat tricks. Some highlights include:
* Mark Stone (3-0—3) matched the franchise record for goals in a period and became the fourth active player to score three goals in a frame at age 34 or older, joining Brad Marchand (Dec. 3, 2023), David Perron (March 28, 2023) and Alex Ovechkin (Feb. 4, 2020). Stone and Brady Tkachuk helped mark the fourth day in the past decade to feature multiple players score a natural hat trick, after Jan. 14, 2025 (Pavel Dorofeyev & Kyle Connor), Feb. 11, 2023 (Adrian Kempe & Artemi Panarin) and Nov. 4, 2021 (Jordan Eberle & Patrice Bergeron).
* Steven Stamkos pulled the Predators even in the final second of regulation, but Macklin Celebrini collected the shootout winner to quell Nashville’s comeback attempt. Stamkos became the first player in NHL history with multiple game-tying goals in the final second of regulation (also Nov. 4, 2025).
* Auston Matthews went airborne to catch the puck at the blueline and keep it in the Sabres’ zone before scoring his 67th career game-opening goal, which tied Mats Sundin for the most in franchise history. The puck was 8.76 feet off the ice when Matthews caught it according to NHL EDGE.
* Kirill Marchenko scored the NHL’s first between-the-legs goal this season and added two more tallies to record a hat trick in just his eighth career game with the Maple Leafs. Marchenko accounts for both of the League’s hat tricks on record that included a between-the-legs goal (since 2022-23 when the shot type was officially tracked), with his first also taking place against Buffalo (Dec. 19, 2023).
QUICK CLICKS
* Goal of the Season? Kirill Marchenko scores with amazing between-the-legs finish
* Rising NHL salaries have teams adjusting fiscal planning on the fly
* Unmasked: New EBUG rules helping regular goalies with load management
* Georges Laraque, Andrew Ference to represent NHL in Heroes Cup Hockey Tournament
* NHL Frozen Frenzy delivered double-digit year-over-year increases
CROSBY VS. MACKINNON HEADLINES FRIDAY’S SLATE
The NHL gets the weekend started with a two-pack of Friday night games spotlighted by friends, Team Canada teammates and Nova Scotia natives Sidney Crosby and Nathan MacKinnon facing off for the first time this season and 21st time overall. MacKinnon (9-17—26; 11-6-3 record) has an edge over Crosby (9-8—17; 9-10-1 record) in terms of points and team record across the previous 20 head-to-head matchups.
* MacKinnon has recorded a point in each of his last five appearances against the Penguins (4-8—12 in 5 GP dating to March 24, 2024), while Crosby has found the scoresheet in six of his last seven games played against the Avalanche (3-6—9 in 7 GP since Feb. 7, 2023).
