* Artturi Lehkonen scored a late goal against the Rangers for the second time this season and helped the Avalanche strengthen their grip on the first Wild Card spot in the Western Conference.
* The Senators earned back-to-back wins on Saturday and Sunday for the third consecutive weekend and leapfrogged the idle Bruins for third place in the Atlantic Division. Ottawa occupies a top-three spot in the division at this stage of a season or later for the first time since 2016-17.
* Crucial standings points are on the line when Elias Pettersson and the Canucks battle Brayden Schenn and the Blues during the latest edition of Prime Monday Night Hockey on Prime Video Canada.
LEHKONEN’S LATE-GAME HERIOCS LIFT AVALANCHE PAST RANGERS, AGAIN
Cale Makar (2-1—3) played a part in helping the Avalanche (29-20-2, 60 points) build multiple two-goal leads only to have the Rangers draw even on each occasion, but Artturi Lehkonen (1-0—1) provided late-game heroics against New York for the second time in as many meetings and scored the game winner with 15 seconds remaining in regulation to help Colorado strengthen their grip on the Western Conference’s first Wild Card spot.
* Lehkonen, who netted a game-tying goal with 1:13 remaining in regulation against the Rangers earlier this month on Jan. 14 en route to an Avalanche overtime victory, logged the franchise’s fifth-latest go-ahead goal in regulation behind Daniel Briere (59:59 on Oct. 13, 2014), Jan Hejda (59:52 on April 13, 2013), Dan Hinote (59:48 on April 3, 2006) and Theo Fleury (59:47 on April 18, 1999).
* Lehkonen, set to represent Finland at the 4 Nations Face-Off in 16 days, became the 12th different player in franchise history to score within the final 90 seconds of regulation against the same opponent multiple times in one season. Nathan MacKinnon (Jan. 6, 2016 & Jan. 22, 2016 vs. STL) is the only other player to have each goal scored as a game-tying and/or go-ahead goal.
* Makar (18-38—56 in 51 GP), representing Canada at the NHL’s best-on-best tournament next month, overtook the goals and points lead among defensemen this season and moved within two tallies of his third career 20-goal campaign (28 in 2021-22 & 21 in 2023-24). Sunday marked his 35th career three-point outing since making his regular-season debut in 2019-20 – the most among all blueliners during that span and four more than the next closest (Quinn Hughes: 31).
SENATORS CLIMB INTO THIRD PLACE IN THE ATLANTIC
Claude Giroux (1-1—2) and Brady Tkachuk (1-0—1) scored two of Ottawa’s three goals as the Senators (26-20-4, 56 points) earned back-to-back wins on Saturday and Sunday for the third consecutive weekend and leapfrogged the idle Bruins (25-20-6, 56 points) into third place in the Atlantic Division. The 2024-25 campaign marks the latest into a season Ottawa has occupied a top-three spot in the division since the conclusion of the 2016-17 season (April 9, 2017).
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* Tkachuk’s 19th goal of the season also marked the 181st of his career, which passed Dany Heatley (180) for the fifth most in franchise history. The Senators captain now sits within striking distance of his sixth career 20-goal campaign, which would tie Alexei Yashin for the third most by an Ottawa skater.
* DID YOU KNOW? The Senators, who also defeated the Maple Leafs on Saturday, became the third franchise in the past 46 years to sweep a back-to-back set on at least three consecutive weekends. The others: Boston (4 in 2022-23) and Pittsburgh (3 in 2015-16 & 1992-93).
WILD EXTEND STREAK AGAINST BLACKHAWKS IN #NHLSTATS: LIVE UPDATES
While Connor Bedard hit the 30-assist mark during an attempted third-period Blackhawks rally, Matt Boldy (0-3—3) factored on three of four goals to help the Wild (29-17-4, 62 points) skate to victory and extend their point streak against the Blackhawks to 16 games. Boldy, also set to join the United States at the 4 Nations Face-Off next month, notched his 15th career three-point game and tied Marian Gaborik for the most by a Wild skater before age 24. Find more notes like these in the latest edition of #NHLStats: Live Updates.
QUICK CLICKS
* New York Rangers Quarter-Century Teams unveiled
* Vegas Golden Knights Quarter-Century Teams unveiled
* Alex Pietrangelo withdraws from 4 Nations Face-Off because of ailment
* Flyers joke with Eagles after NFL team clinches Super Bowl berth
* Jesper Bratt says Sweden games vs. Finland ‘bring out a little extra in everyone’
Prime Monday Night Hockey GAME has plenty OF 4 Nations FACE-OFF players
Monday’s five-game slate is highlighted by Elias Pettersson and the Canucks (21-17-10, 52 points) battling Brayden Schenn and the Blues (23-23-4, 50 points) during the latest edition of Prime Monday Night Hockey on Prime Video Canada. Vancouver and St. Louis are separated by just two points and both trail Calgary (24-17-7, 55 points) for the Western Conference’s final Wild Card spot.
* Pettersson is set to skate for Sweden at the 4 Nations Face-Off and is one of six tournament-bound players who could dress at Enterprise Center, with each country represented across the Canucks’ and Blues’ rosters. The others are Jordan Binnington and Colton Parayko (Canada), Kevin Lankinen (Finland) as well as Quinn Hughes and J.T. Miller (United States).
* Hughes had both of Vancouver’s tallies in its victory versus Washington on Saturday and can tie the franchise mark for most consecutive team goals scored by a defenseman, set by Dale Tallon (3 from Dec. 11-14, 1971) and matched by Hughes (3 from April 2-3, 2024). Hughes (5-2—7 in 8 GP) has scored five career goals against Binnington, his highest total versus one goaltender.
* Binnington, Parayko and Canada contest their tournament opener against Pettersson and Sweden at Bell Centre on Feb. 12 (8 p.m. ET on TNT, Max, truTV, SN, TVAS), while Hughes, Miller and the United States do so versus Lankinen and Finland the next day (8 p.m. ET on ESPN, ESPN+, SN, TVAS). Tickets for the tournament are available for purchase via Ticketmaster.com.
* Monday’s schedule features more tournament-bound players with Adrian Kempe and the Kings (26-14-6, 58 points) facing Lucas Raymond and the Red Wings (23-21-5, 51 points); Jack Hughes and the Devils (28-17-6, 62 points) dueling Travis Konecny and the Flyers (22-22-6, 50 points); Kaapo Kakko and the Kraken (22-25-3, 47 points) visiting Connor McDavid and the Oilers (31-15-3, 65 points); as well as Sidney Crosby and the Penguins (20-23-8, 48 points) playing Mikael Granlund and the Sharks (14-32-6, 34 points).
WEEK AHEAD FEATURES MORE NATIONAL GAMES, NHL COAST TO COAST
Other national broadcasts to look forward to during the week ahead:
Tuesday, Jan. 28 – The Gr8 Chase continues with Capitals-Flames on TVA Sports
* Alex Ovechkin and the League-leading Capitals joust Jonathan Huberdeau and the Flames, with Ovechkin entering the week needing 20 goals to complete The Gr8 Chase and pass Wayne Gretzky (894) for the most in NHL history.-26105547.png)
Wednesday, Jan. 29 – NHL on TNT doubleheader and Wild-Maple Leafs on Sportsnet
* Jack Hughes and the Devils conclude their home-and-home set versus Travis Konecny and the Flyers during an NHL on TNT doubleheader, which closes with Sidney Crosby and the Penguins pitted against Clayton Keller and Utah Hockey Club. Kirill Kaprizov and the Wild also visit Auston Matthews and the Maple Leafs on Sportsnet programming during the five-game slate.
Thursday, Jan. 30 – Sharks-Kraken on ESPN and NHL Coast to Coast on Prime Video Canada
* Macklin Celebrini and the Sharks square off with Jared McCann and the Kraken on ESPN to close out a 10-game night which also features the return of NHL Coast to Coast, the live whip-around studio show available to viewers on Prime Video Canada starting at 7 p.m. ET.
Saturday, Feb. 1 – ABC Hockey Saturday doubleheader followed by Hockey Night in Canada
* Connor Bedard and the Blackhawks battle Sam Reinhart and the Panthers to open an ABC Hockey Saturday doubleheader, which closes with Artemi Panarin and the Rangers dueling David Pastrnak and the Bruins. That’s followed by a four-game Hockey Night in Canada highlighted by Mitch Marner and the Maple Leafs visiting Connor McDavid and the Oilers as well as Nazem Kadri and the Flames hosting Dylan Larkin and the Red Wings.
