* Macklin Celebrini extended his goal streak to three games and was one of three rookies to score for the Sharks in an eight-goal outburst against the Kraken.
* Marc-Andre Fleury celebrated his 40th birthday a day late by extending his winning streak to five games and joining Martin Brodeur with a unique achievement.
* Friday marked the second day this week to feature 10 comeback wins – only seven other days in NHL history have featured as many.
* Auston Matthews is expected to return to the lineup for the first time since Nov. 3 when the Maple Leafs visit the Lightning before a four-game Hockey Night in Canada slate closes with a showdown between future 4 Nations Face-Off teammates Connor McDavid and Nathan MacKinnon as the Oilers visit the Avalanche.
YOUTH VAULTS SHARKS PAST KRAKEN IN 13-GOAL, BACK-AND-FORTH AFFAIR
In a campaign in San Jose that was prefaced with a slogan “The Future is Teal,” Macklin Celebrini (1-1—2), Will Smith (1-1—2), William Eklund (0-2—2) and Ethan Cardwell (1-0—1) spearheaded a Sharks offense that outlasted the Kraken in a 13-goal affair that featured multiple tallies scored in a span of 65 seconds or fewer on four occasions.
* Celebrini, who found the back of the net for the third straight contest, finished with his third game-winning goal and second in three outings. The No. 1 pick in the 2024 NHL Draft became the first 18-year-old in franchise history with three winning goals in a single season and the League’s sixth in the past decade, following Patrik Laine (5 in 2016-17), Rasmus Dahlin (4 in 2018-19), Cole Sillinger (3 in 2021-22), Andrei Svechnikov (3 in 2018-19) and David Pastrnak (3 in 2014-15).
* Celebrini andSmith helped the Sharks score eight or more goals in a game for just the second time in the past decade as they recorded multiple points in the same game for the second time this season (also Nov. 25). Only two other games in franchise history have featured multiple teenagers each register multiple points: Nov. 18, 1997 (Patrick Marleau: 2-0—2 & Marco Sturm: 0-2—2) and April 16, 1992 (Pat Falloon: 1-1—2 & Ray Whitney: 0-2—2).
* Cardwell (No. 121 in 2021) scored his first NHL goal in his fourth career game. Saturday marked the first time the Sharks have witnessed three rookies score in the same contest since March 7, 1993 (Doug Zmolek, Rob Gaudreau & Edward Courtenay) and the first by any team since the Devils on April 29, 2022 (Dawson Mercer, Nolan Foote & Fabian Zetterlund).
FLEURY EXTENDS THE NHL’S LONGEST ACTIVE WINNING STREAK
Marc-Andre Fleury made 20 saves a day after turning 40 while Jared Spurgeon became the second Wild player to score twice on their birthday, helping Fleury extend the League’s longest active winning streak to five games and his season-opening point streak to six. Fleury earned his first NHL win as an 18-year-old on Oct. 18, 2003 and went on to earn wins in his 20s, 30s and now 40s.
* Fleury’s season-opening point streak of six games (5-0-1) is his longest since his time in Pittsburgh (8 GP in 2009-10 and 7 GP in 2013-14) and is tied for the second longest in Wild history (also 6 GP for Niklas Backstrom in 2007-08 & Manny Fernandez in 2002-03). Backstrom’s seven-game run in 2008-09 tops the list (6-0-1).
STARS, PENGUINS SKATE TO WINS DURING THANKSGIVING SHOWDOWN
Familiar names found the score sheet for Dallas and Pittsburgh as the Stars (14-8-0, 28 points) and Penguins (9-12-4, 22 points) both earned wins during Thanksgiving Showdown:
* Jake Oettinger (29 saves) earned the victory in his 200th career start while Mason Marchment (2-1—3), Tyler Seguin (1-1—2) and Matt Duchene (0-1—1) combined on Dallas’ opening tally, marking the ninth goal that all three have factored on this season – the most by any trio of teammates. Washington’s trio of Alex Ovechkin, Dylan Strome and Aliaksei Protas rank second (8x).
* Sidney Crosby assisted on the tying goal with 0.8 seconds remaining in the middle frame and Philip Tomasino tallied the winner to record his first goal with Pittsburgh. Crosby factored on a goal at 19:59 in a regulation period for the seventh time in his career and became the 10th player in NHL history to do so as many times, following Wayne Gretzky (11x), Rod Brind’Amour (8x), Mario Lemieux (8x), Brayden Point (8x), Marcel Dionne (7x), Ron Francis (7x), Bernie Nicholls (7x), Doug Weight (7x) and Steve Yzerman (7x).
SEVERAL OTHER clubs collect closely-contested VICTORIES Friday
The Sharks, Wild, Stars and Penguins were not the only teams with a comeback victory during Friday’s 14-game slate, where 10 games featured the winning team overcoming a deficit:
* Shortly after the Lightning overcame a 1-0 deficit and pulled ahead with the help of captain Victor Hedman (0-1—1), Predators captain Roman Josi (2-0—2) evened the score, but Brayden Point found the back of the net in overtime to lift Tampa Bay to victory. Hedman secured his 588th career assist and moved into a tie with Martin St. Louis for the franchise record while Point became the fourth player in Lightning history to record at least 20 overtime points (12-8—20), behind Steven Stamkos (29) and Hedman (23) and St. Louis (21).
* Kevin Lankinen made 31 saves and Conor Garland (2-1—3) topped off his three-point game with the overtime winner to help the Canucks survive the Sabres’ third-period comeback. Both Lankinen and Garland extended lengthy road streaks, with the former improving to 9-0-0 as a visitor to start the season and the latter extending his run to nine straight contests with a point (5-9—14) – the longest by a Canucks player since Quinn Hughes (11 GP) in 2023-24.
* Jack Hughes (1-1—2) had the game winner on a power play to cap the Devils’ multi-goal comeback victory and tie Petr Sykora on a pair of franchise lists. Hughes scored his 32nd career power-play goal to pass Wilf Paiement (31) and match Sykora for the fourth most in franchise history among players age 23 or younger behind Kirk Muller (58), Pat Verbeek (45) and Paul Gardner (38). Hughes’ 18 career game-winning goals also moved him past Patrik Elias (17) and into a tie with Sykora for the second most under those criteria behind only Zach Parise (20).
* Dylan Strome (1-2—3) helped the Capitals (16-6-1, 33 points) overcome 1-0 and 4-2 deficits in regulation, and then collected the primary assist on Jakub Chychrun’s winner 1:20 into overtime to move into third for the most assists among all players in 2024-25. Chychrunbecame the fifth Washington defenseman in the past 30 years to score seven or more goals in their first season with the franchise alongside Erik Gustafsson (7 in 2022-23), Bryan Muir (8 in 2005-06), Jamie Heward (7 in 2005-06) and Phil Housley (11 in 1996-97).
* Jack Eichel (0-2—2) notched his League-leading eighth multi-assist game (tied w/ Strome & Cale Makar) and 12th multi-point game (tied w/ Kirill Kaprizov & Martin Necas) as the Pacific Division-leading Golden Knights (15-6-3, 33 points) took down the NHL-leading Jets. Vegas earned its seventh straight win against Winnipeg dating to Oct. 20, 2022 and tied their longest active run versus one opponent (also 7 GP vs. MTL).
* Friday marked the second day this week to feature 10 comeback wins after 10 of 11 games on Monday also saw teams rally from behind to win. This is just the second season in NHL history to feature multiple days with at least 10 comeback wins, following 2005-06 (11 on Oct. 29, 2005 & 10 on Dec. 23, 2005).
BLUE JACKETS EARN EMOTIONAL WIN IN #NHLSTATS: LIVE UPDATES
#NHLStats from all 14 games are available in Friday’s Live Updates, including notes from the Blue Jackets who earned an emotional win against the Flames in the first contest between the two teams since the passing of Johnny Gaudreau, a teammate to both sides. Columbus extended its point streak to five games dating to Nov. 18 (4-0-1), marking their longest run 2020-21.
QUICK CLICKS
* Cam Talbot’s kids make homemade signs in honor of their dad’s 500th NHL game
* Unmasked: Dustin Wolf of Flames impressing as undersized goalie
* Lionel Hitchman, 2nd captain in Bruins history, was ‘cornerstone of the franchise’
* Auston Matthews likely to return for Maple Leafs against Lightning
*Dan Vladar pays tribute to Gaudreau brothers on Flames goalie mask
HOCKEY NIGHT IN CANADA HIGHLIGHTS 41 GAMES IN FOUR DAYS TO CAP NOVEMBER
Four games on Hockey Night in Canada are just a few of the NHL’s 41 contests in the past four days as November comes to an end with a 12-game Saturday – a slate that includes a matchup between the Maple Leafs (13-7-2, 28 points) and Lightning (12-8-2, 26 points), Flames (12-8-4, 28 points) and Penguins (9-12-4, 22 points), Senators (10-11-1, 21 points) and Kings (13-8-3, 29 points) as well as the Oilers (12-9-2, 26 points) and Avalanche (13-11-0, 26 points).
*Connor McDavid (12-18—30 in 20 GP) and Nathan MacKinnon (7-29—36 in 24 GP) lead the Oilers and Avalanche into the second game of a back-to-back with their 20th all-time meeting (EDM: 10-4-5; COL: 9-8-2). The Richmond Hill, Ont., native and Halifax, N.S., native, who will collaborate for Canada during the 4 Nations Face-Off, have produced the most (347-665—1,012 in 665 GP) and third-most points (304-530—834 in 669 GP) among all skaters since the Edmonton captain debuted in 2015-16.
* William Nylander (14-10—24 in 22 GP) and Lightning captain Victor Hedman (4-16—20 in 22 GP), going head-to-head for the second time this season (also Oct. 21), are two of the six players already named to Sweden’s initial roster for the 4 Nations Face-Off in February. Just as Toronto (12-12-2) and Tampa Bay (14-8-4) have produced similar records in the 26 all-time meetings between the stars, Nylander (12-12—24 in 26 GP) and Hedman (6-16—22 in 26 GP) have nearly produced at the same pace through that span.
