* For the first time in NHL history, four teams are simultaneously riding an active win streak of eight-plus games after the Panthers, Oilers, Jets and Kraken all earned wins Thursday.
* Elias Pettersson and Mathew Barzal both scored a game winner after posting four-point outings. The Canucks and Islanders were two of six teams to record an overtime win Thursday, marking the third day in NHL history to feature six games decided in overtime (also 6 on April 13, 2023 & Feb. 7, 2019).
* Jordan Kyrou and Yegor Sharangovich each scored a hat trick to add to the Hockey Fights Cancer Fund of the V Foundation, helping both the Blues (21-18-1, 43 points) and Flames (19-18-5, 43 points) move within two points of a Wild Card spot in the Western Conference.
* NHL Central Scouting will release its mid-season rankings for the 2024 Upper Deck NHL Draft today at 11 a.m. ET. Full rankings will be available on NHL.com.
OH, THE STREAKS LIVE ON!
Thursday produced an NHL-first – there are four teams with simultaneous winning streaks of at least eight games after the Panthers (9-0-0 dating to Dec. 23), Oilers (9-0-0 dating to Dec. 21), Jets (8-0-0 dating to Dec. 30) and Kraken (8-0-0 dating to Dec. 20) all earned victories.
* Sam Reinhart scored the overtime winner with one second left on the clock to hit the 30-goal mark and help the Panthers establish the third-longest winning streak in franchise history. Reinhart, who became the second-fastest Florida player to reach the 30-goal mark in a season (41 GP) behind only Pavel Bure (34 GP in 1999-00), netted the latest overtime goal in Panthers history. Dave Lowry previously held the mark (4:56 on Oct. 30, 1993 vs. TBL).
* Connor McDavid (1-0—1) sparked an Oilers third-period comeback by erasing a 1-0 deficit and Darnell Nurse scored the winner 1:20 into overtime to help Edmonton match its franchise record for longest winning streak (also 9 GP in 2022-23 & 2000-01). Nurse (5) moved into a tie for the fourth-most overtime goals in Oilers history, a list topped by McDavid, who was skating in his final game before turning 27 on Jan. 13.
* Nikolaj Ehlers helped Winnipeg complete a third-period comeback by scoring the go-ahead goal with 65 seconds remaining in regulation and helped the League-leading Jets (28-9-4, 60 points) establish the longest win streak in franchise history, surpassing their 7-0-0 run in 2016-17. Thursday was just the second game during their streak that came via a third-period comeback (also Dec. 31).
* Joey Daccord (25 saves) extended his personal point streak to 11 games (9-0-2) and backstopped the Kraken (18-14-9, 45 points) to their eighth straight win, matching the longest run in franchise history (also 8 GP in 2022-23). Daccord’s 11-game streak trails only Connor Hellebuyck (13 GP from Dec. 2 – present) for the longest point streak by a goaltender this season.
CANUCKS, ISLANDERS PICK UP OT WINS COURTESY OF FOUR-POINT PERFORMANCES
Despite taking place nearly 400 miles apart, Vancouver and New York’s overtime victories mirrored each other as Elias Pettersson (2-2—4) and Mathew Barzal (1-3—4) both posted four-point nights capped by game-winning tallies, to help the Canucks and Islanders overcome multi-goal performances from Sidney Crosby and Auston Matthews, respectively.
* Pettersson became the sixth player in Canucks history with 10 career four-point outings – only Pavel Bure (11) and Trevor Linden (11) have more – and boosted his totals through his past four contests to 7-5—12. His seven goals are the most by a Canucks player over a four-game span since Mikael Samuelsson in 2009-10 (7-3—10).
^ Of note: Clark Gillies also did so in the postseason with the Islanders in 1976-77.
* Barzal scored his fifth career overtime goal and tied Thomas Hickey and Anthony Beauvillier for fifth place on the Islanders’ all-time list. He also added three assists for his third four-point game of the season, tied with Nikita Kucherov, Connor McDavid, Mitchell Marner and Pettersson for the most among all players.
* Barzal wasn’t the only Islanders player with a four-point performance Thursday – Noah Dobson factored on all four of his team’s goals to record his first career four-assist game and improved his season totals to 6-36—42 (41 GP). Dobson joined Denis Potvin (9x; fewest: 28 GP in 1979-80) as the second defenseman in Islanders history to reach the 40-point mark in 41 or fewer games.
HAT TRICKS HEADLINE #NHLSTATS: LIVE UPDATES
Jordan Kyrou (3-0—3) and Yegor Sharangovich (3-0—3) scored their third and second career hat tricks, respectively, to help the Blues (21-18-1, 43 points) and Flames (19-18-5, 43 points) move within striking distance of the idle Predators (22-18-1, 45 points) for the final Wild Card spot in the Western Conference.
* Kyrou’s three-goal performance marked the 50th hat trick in the NHL this season, which helped AstraZeneca officially reach the halfway mark of its $500,000 donation goal – a campaign that has watched the organization donate $5,000 to the Hockey Fights Cancer Fund of the V Foundation for every hat trick in 2023-24.
* Click here for everything you need to know from the Thursday edition of #NHLStats: Live Updates.
QUICK CLICKS
* Commissioner Gary Bettman joins The Jackie Redmond Show
* NHL EDGE stats: Tippett reaches top skating speed of season
* Fans flock to arena for Capitals Sonny Milano Chia Planter giveaway
* Flames dads help lace up their sons’ skates before practice
* PWHL New York players wear Islanders jerseys to UBS Arena home opener
TWO GAMES ON TAP FOR FRIDAY
A two-game Friday in the NHL will see 2024 All-Star Travis Konecny go head-to-head with
Mats Zuccarello when the Flyers visit the Wild at Xcel Energy Center in a showdown broadcast nationally in Canada on Sportsnet and TVA Sports.
