* In true Connor McDavid fashion, No. 97 celebrated his 26th birthday by becoming the fastest player to reach the 80-point mark in a season since Mario Lemieux (31 GP), Jaromir Jagr (37 GP) and Ron Francis (44 GP) in 1995-96.
* Rookie Cole Perfetti tallied a three-assist outing en route to a franchise first as the Jets matched the idle Central Division-leading Stars in terms of points.
* Connor Bedard dazzled with a hat trick and five-point night as a follow-up to his career-high six point showing in his last game on the day he was named the No. 1 ranked North American skater for the 2023 Upper Deck NHL Draft as the NHL Central Scouting Bureau released its mid-season rankings presented by BioSteel.
BIRTHDAY-BOY McDAVID BECOMES FIRST PLAYER TO 80 POINTS IN 2022-23
While celebrating his 26th birthday, Connor McDavid (2-1—3) opened the scoring to become the first player this season to reach the 80-point mark and Leon Draisaitl (1-2—3) recorded his 70th career three-point outing while skating in his 600th NHL game as the Oilers scored seven to sink the Sharks at SAP Center.
* McDavid (37-45—82 in 44 GP) became the third player in Oilers history to record 80 points in 44 or fewer games in a season, following Wayne Gretzky (7x; best: 28 GP in 1983-84) and Jari Kurri (2x; best: 38 GP in 1984-85).
* Draisaitl became the seventh player in Oilers history to record at least 70 games with three-plus points. He joined Gretzky (301x), Kurri (137x), Mark Messier (115x), McDavid (95x), Glenn Anderson (92x) and Paul Coffey (86x).
JETS FLY CLOSER TO THE TOP OF THE CENTRAL DIVISION
Blake Wheeler (1-1—2) and Mark Scheifele (2-0—2) each climbed Jets/Thrashers all-time lists, while Cole Perfetti (0-3—3) achieved a franchise first with his second three-assist outing of 2022-23 as Winnipeg (28-14-1, 57 points) matched idle Dallas (25-11-7, 57 points), which sits atop the Central Division standings, in terms of points.
* Wheeler scored his 38th game-opening goal as a member of the Jets/Thrashers and surpassed Bryan Little (37) for sole possession of the third most in franchise history, behind Scheifele (50) and Ilya Kovalchuk (48).
* Scheifele recorded his 156th career multi-point game and surpassed Kovalchuk (155) for the second most in franchise history, behind only Wheeler (194).
* Perfetti fell one shy of Kovalchuk’s Jets/Thrashers rookie record for most assists in a game (1-4—5 on Jan. 19, 2002), but did become the first rookie in franchise history to post multiple outings with three-plus assists in a single campaign (also Nov. 29, 2022). Perfetti (6-19—25) now has 19 helpers on the season and tied Arizona’s Matias Maccelli for the most by a rookie in 2022-23.
HUGHES HITS 50 POINTS ON #NHLSTATS: LIVE UPDATES
The most recent edition of #NHLStats: Live Updates featured Jack Hughes (2-1—3), who became the fifth player in Devils/Scouts/Rockies history to record consecutive 50-point seasons at the age 21 or younger and is now on pace for 100 points.
BEDARD SITS AT TOP OF MID-SEASON DRAFT RANKINGS
Connor Bedard, a center from the WHL’s Regina Pats and the 2023 World Junior Championship MVP, ranked No. 1 among North American skaters for the 2023 Upper Deck NHL Draft when the NHL Central Scouting Bureau released its mid-season rankings presented by BioSteel on Friday. Leo Carlsson, a forward for Orebro in the Swedish Hockey League, topped all international skaters.
* Click herefor #NHLStats: 10 Things to Know About Connor Bedard – a mix of on-ice achievements and off-ice storylines including the time he brought a hockey stick on vacation to Hawaii, set Team Canada records at the World Junior Championship and skated in on a 2-on-1 with Connor McDavid (as told by Patrick Kane).
NHL PODCASTS WEEKLY ROUNDUP
* NHL Fantasy (Jan. 9): Fantasy waiver wire pickups: Week 14
* NHL Fantasy (Jan. 9): Action Network Collab: Week 14; Awards races
* Draft Class (Jan. 10):Jason Bukala, Sportsnet scouting analyst
* NHL @ The Rink (Jan. 11):Tom Gulitti joins; Red-hot Kraken, Trophy Tracker, more
* La Tasse de café LNH (Jan. 11): Déboires des Canadiens et retour sur le Championnat mondial junior
* The Chirp w/ Daren Millard (Jan. 12): John Forslund joins for Kraken talk
* NHL Fantasy (Jan. 12): Mailbag; Frederik Andersen’s value; guest Chris Meaney
QUICK CLICK
* Alex Ovechkin cheered by more than 800 kids for goals mark at Capitals skate
* 2023 NHL Draft: Connor Bedard atop Central Scouting midterm rankings
* Martha’s Vineyard high school hockey team subject of new documentary
* NHL All-Star Game Twitter fan vote underway
* Erie Otters to wear special jerseys for Martin Luther King Day game
HNIC DOUBLEHEADER ON A 14-GAME SLATE
The NHL’s busiest day since the turn of the calendar will feature a doubleheader on Hockey Night in Canada, beginning with the Maple Leafs (26-10-7, 59 points) visiting the Bruins (32-5-4, 68 points) at TD Garden and concluding with a clash between the Oilers (22-18-3, 47 points) and Golden Knights (28-13-2, 58 points).
* The Bruins are one home win shy of 20 on the season (19-1-3, 41 points) – the most among all teams in 2022-23. Boston can reach the 20-win mark at home in 24 or fewer games for the sixth time in franchise history and the first since 1973-74, when they did so in 23 contests. Meanwhile, the Maple Leafs have won each of their past four games against the Bruins dating to Nov. 6, 2021, with Mitchell Marner (2-6—8 in 3 GP) leading his team in assists and points over that span.
* Logan Thompson, a native of Calgary, Alta., leads all rookie goaltenders with 18 wins through 29 appearances this season. Should Thompson tend the net against Edmonton on Saturday, the 2023 NHL All Star can become just the sixth rookie netminder in the past 20 years to record 19-plus wins through 30 appearances in a campaign – he would join Jordan Binnington (22 in 2018-19), Matt Murray (20 in 2016-17), Frederik Andersen (20 in 2013-14), Ray Emery (20 in 2005-06), Ryan Miller (20 in 2005-06) and Sergei Bobrovsky (19 in 2010-11).
SEATTLE SEEKS TO SWEEP SEVEN-GAME ROAD TRIP
The Kraken (25-12-4, 54 points), who sit third in the Pacific Division, enter Saturday’s 14-game slate with the NHL’s longest active winning streak at seven contests (7-0-0 dating to Jan. 1), with six of those victories coming on their current road trip which they will close out in Chicago (11-25-4, 26 points). They can become the seventh team in the past 30 years to begin a calendar year with eight or more consecutive wins, joining the Blackhawks in 2016 (10), Devils in 2006 (9), Avalanche in 2018 (8), Capitals in 2017 (8), Hurricanes in 2006 (8) and Predators in 2005 (8).
* Martin Jones has shutouts in each of his past two games – only five active goaltenders (min. 1 GP in 2022-23) have extended their run to three games: Brian Elliott (3 GP in 2011-12, 2012-13 & 2015-16), Jonathan Quick (3 GP in 2011-12), Sergei Bobrovsky (3 GP in 2016-17), Andrei Vasilevskiy (3 GP in 2020-21) and Semyon Varlamov (3 GP in 2020-21).
* Jones (6-0-0 dating to Jan. 1) can tie the longest winning streak by a goaltender this season (also Brian Elliott w/ TBL, Tristan Jarry w/ PIT & Pheonix Copley w/ LAK). He has posted a run of seven or more consecutive victories three times in his career: 8-0-0 in 2018-19 (w/ SJS), 8-0-0 in 2013-14 (w/ LAK) and 7-0-0 in 2017-18 (w/ SJS).
