* Jesper Bratt factored on four of five Devils goals, including three in the second period, to move into fifth in the League’s scoring race as New Jersey jumped back into first in the Metropolitan Division.
* Mitch Marner collected two assists in his 600th game to help the Maple Leafs soar back into top spot in the Atlantic Division. Marner’s assist total through that milestone contest is the third most among active players on a list that includes Connor McDavid and Sidney Crosby.
* Tuesday’s 10-game schedule will feature a doubleheader on ESPN+, Hulu and Sportsnet programming when the Red Wings visit the Bruins, before the Golden Knights welcome the Oilers.
BRATT, HUGHES POWER DEVILS TO VICTORY IN HUDSON RIVER RVALRY
Jesper Bratt (1-3—4) scored the opening goal and later, along with Jack Hughes (2-1—3), factored on all three of New Jersey’s tallies in the second period to help the Devils (17-9-2, 36 points) pick up two points at Madison Square Garden and earn their League-leading 11th road win of the season.
* Hughes collected all his points in the middle frame and tied Kirk Muller (6) for the second-most three-point periods in franchise history, trailing only John MacLean (12). In the process, the forward also extended his multi-point streak to at least three three games for the sixth time – the only players with as many for the club are Patrik Elias (12x), John MacLean (8x) and Scott Gomez (7x).
* Bratt, a candidate to make Sweden’s team at the 4 Nations Face-Off in February, became the first Devils player – and the only Swedish-born player – to post four points in a game this season as he boosted his totals to 12-23—35 (28 GP) and climbed from 12th (tied) to fifth in the scoring race.
MARNER COLLECTS MULTI-ASSIST OUTING IN GAME NO. 600
Mitch Marner tallied 0-2—2 in his 600th NHL game to help the Maple Leafs (15-7-2, 32 points) earn their fourth straight win at Scotiabank Arena and leap past the Panthers (15-9-1, 31 points) for first place in the Atlantic Division – a position the club has held in the month of December or later for only three days in the past 20 years (Dec. 1 & Dec. 14-15, 2021). Of note, this excludes Toronto’s time atop the Scotia North Division during the 2020-21 season.
* Marner, who moved into a tie for fifth in assists among all players this season, joined Maple Leafs legend Borje Salming (400) as the second player to register at least 400 assists at the time of their 600th contest. Monday also marked his 115th career multi-assist game, which trails only Salming (122) for the most in franchise history.
DADONOV SCORES AGAINST 33RD DIFFERENT CLUB IN #NHLSTATS: LIVE UPDATES.
Monday’s edition of #NHLStats: Live updates featured notes on all six teams, including Dallas which earned a win in its first game against Utah thanks in part to goals from Jamie Benn and Evgenii Dadonov – the latter became the 11th player in NHL history to score against 33 different franchises.
DUCKS GOALIE COACH MAHARAJ SHARES HIS JOURNEY TO BEING CANCER FREE
Ducks goalie coach Sudarshan “Sudsie” Maharaj has inspired many through his courageous battle with pancreatic cancer. In the latest feature presented by AstraZeneca, his family and friends share his incredible journey to being cancer-free. Click here to watch on YouTube.
QUICK CLICKS
* Flames donate benches made from sticks left at Gaudreau memorial
* Alex Ovechkin of Capitals skates 2 weeks after fracturing leg
* Macklin Celebrini, Will Smith giving Sharks good look at promising future
* Twenty One Pilots to perform at 2025 NHL Stadium Series
* Macklin Celebrini, Quinn Hughes, Jakob Chychrun are “Three Stars” for week ending Dec. 1.
TEN-GAME SLATE FEATURES PLETHORA OF PLAYERS NAMED TO 4 NATIONS FACE-OFF
Four players named to initial rosters for the 4 Nations Face-Off in February will take the ice Tuesday during a doubleheader on ESPN+, Hulu and Sportsnet programming, including Brad Marchand (CAN), Charlie McAvoy (USA), Jack Eichel (USA) and Connor McDavid (CAN). Final rosters for the tournament have been submitted and will be announced on Dec. 4.
* Marchand (18-24—42 in 42 GP) enters Tuesday’s contest with the most goals, assists and points against the Red Wings among current Bruins players while McAvoy (4-10—14 in 18 GP) leads all defensemen on the team in those three categories against Detroit. Marchand needs one game-winning goal to tie former teammate Patrice Bergeron (81) for the second most in franchise history behind Johnny Bucyk (88).
* The top two picks from the 2015 NHL Draft are set for their 16th all-time regular-season meeting as McDavid (5-13—18) clashes with Eichel (7-12—19). The Oilers captain owns a better record through those 15 previous meetings (McDavid: 8-3-4; Eichel: 7-5-3) but the Vegas forward holds the edge in goals and points.
* ICYMI: Oilers forward Mattias Janmark, who will also be in action tonight, reached the League’s top skating speed of the season at 24.36 miles per hour in Edmonton’s victory against Colorado on Saturday, according to NHL EDGE. It also marked the second-fastest max skating speed of any skater in the puck and player tracking era (since 2021-22), behind only Denis Gurianov, who hit 24.60 miles per hour on Oct. 16, 2021.
MORE PLAYERS NAMED TO 4 NATIONS FACE-OFF IN ACTION ACROSS 10-GAME SLATE
Tuesday’s 10-game slate will also feature 10 other players set to skate in the 4 Nations Face-Off, including three on the Avalanche and five that will take the ice when the Penguins visit the Panthers.
* Nathan MacKinnon (CAN), Cale Makar (CAN) and Mikko Rantanen (FIN), who are all set to represent their respective countries at the 4 Nations Face-Off, will be in action when Colorado clashes with Buffalo. MacKinnon has 39-79—118 through 70 games in 2024 – the most among all players – and can become just the second active player to reach the 120-point mark in multiple calendar years (also 2023: 53-82—135 in 84 GP). The other: Connor McDavid (5x, last; 2023: 45-84—129 in 76 GP).
* Matthew Tkachuk (USA), Aleksander Barkov (FIN), Gustav Forsling (SWE), Sidney Crosby (CAN) and Erik Karlsson (SWE) are all in action at PPG Paints Arena. Tkachuk and Crosby can both join elite company with two points Tuesday; the Florida forward can become the third-fastest active U.S. player to reach 600 career points, following Auston Matthews (527 GP) and Patrick Kane (604 GP) while the Penguins captain can tie Steve Yzerman (477 GP) for the seventh-most multi-point games in NHL history.
