* The Panthers and Wild each scored seven goals for the third time this season en route to wins on home ice. Only the Avalanche (7), who extended a trio of streaks Friday, have more seven-goal performances in 2021-22.* Saturday is lining up to be the busiest day so far in 2022, with 13 games scheduled over 13 hours, beginning with two contests at 1 p.m. ET and featuring a Hockey Night in Canada doubleheader.
PANTHERS NET SEVEN AT HOME, RECLAIM FIRST PLACE IN NHL
Sam Bennett (3-1—4) and Jonathan Huberdeau (1-3—4) each posted four points while linemate Anthony Duclair added 1-2—3 to help Florida score seven goals en route to extending their home winning streak to six games. The Panthers (25-7-5, 55 points) moved back into first place in the NHL standings.
* Huberdeau (14-37—51 in 37 GP) overtook Nazem Kadri (13-35—48 in 31 GP) into sole possession of fourth place in NHL scoring and became the second-fastest in franchise history to reach 50 points in a season.
* Friday marked the fourth consecutive day that a hat trick was scored, with Bennett netting the 11th such performance since the calendar turned on Jan. 1. This marks the second time in NHL history that at least 11 hat tricks have been scored within the first two weeks of a calendar year (also 2006: 13).
WILD USE FAST GOALS TO CONTINUE HOME SUCCESS
With the Wild leading 3-1 to start the third period, Matt Boldy (1-1—2) and Mats Zuccarello (2-1—3) scored four seconds apart – the fastest two goals both scored on a goaltender in franchise history – as the Wild (22-10-2, 46 points) improved to 8-1-1 in their last 10 home dates. Minnesota’s only home defeat in that span came in the 2022 Discover NHL Winter Classic at Target Field, giving them an 8-0-1 mark in their past nine games at Xcel Energy Center.
* NHL All-Star Kirill Kaprziov (0-2—2) notched two points in his return to the Wild lineup, while Ryan Hartman (1-1—2) also had a multi-point showing that included his team-leading 16th goal. Hartman is the club’s representative on the NHL All-Star Last Men In ballot (with voting opening through Monday, Jan. 17).
COLORADO RALLIES TO EXTEND TRIO OF STREAKS
After Colorado’s 2-0 lead turned into a 3-2 deficit, Andre Burakovsky scored 29 seconds later to even the score and set the stage for teammate Nazem Kadri to net the shootout winner and push the club’s franchise-record home winning streak to 13 games – the longest by any NHL team since Toronto (13-0-0) in 2017-18 (a run Kadri was also part of).
* Kadri, Colorado’s representative on the NHL All-Star Last Men In ballot, was held off the score sheet in regulation/overtime for the first time since Nov. 26 (a span of 13 consecutive games played with a point). He enters Saturday with a chance to become the fourth Avalanche player since 1995-96 to reach 50 points in 32 games or less (13-35—48 in 31 GP).
* The Avalanche (23-8-3, 49 points) also extended their overall point streak to seven games (6-0-1) and home point streak to 15 contests (14-0-1) – two shy of matching the club benchmark last achieved in 2020-21.
NHL PODCAST WEEKLY ROUNDUP
* Fantasy on Ice (1/10): Best pickups of the week w/ “Waiver Wire” James Harding
* The Chirp (1/11): Guest Elliotte Friedman behind the scenes at HNIC
* NHL @TheRink (1/12): Guest Derek Stepan on his “Senior” role with the Hurricanes
* Fantasy on Ice (1/13): Guest James Hahn joins to talk NHL futures and fantasy trends
QUICK CLICKS
* Aisha Visram makes history for Kings, first woman to serve behind NHL bench
* Blackhawks’ Calvin de Haan fined for dangerous trip
* Ross Johnston suspended three games for actions in Islanders game
* Willie O’Ree Congressional Gold Medal bill to be voted on next week
* The Carnegie Initiative Inaugural Summit set for Jan. 17–18
13 GAMES ACROSS 13 HOURS SCHEDULED FOR SATURDAY
A total of 13 games are scheduled to be contested over a 13-hour span Saturday, including Auston Matthews and the Maple Leafs (23-9-3, 49 points) visiting the Blues (22-10-5, 49 points) with both Matthews and St. Louis aiming to extend lengthy streaks. It all gets started with two contests at 1 p.m. ET – Brad Marchand will aim to post a multi-point outing in his fifth straight game when the Bruins (21-11-2, 44 points) welcome the Predators (24-12-2, 50 points), while the Hurricanes (24-8-2, 50 points) host the Canucks (16-17-3, 35 points).
WILL STREAKS EXTEND WHEN THE MAPLE LEAFS VISIT THE BLUES?
Auston Matthews will aim to extend his road goal streak to double digits when the Maple Leafs visit the Blues for the first time since Dec. 7, 2019. St. Louis enters Saturday with points in each of its last 13 games at Enterprise Center.
* The Blues boast a 12-0-1 record at Enterprise Center dating to Nov. 18. St. Louis has posted a run longer than 13 games just twice in franchise history: 2011-12 (21 GP; 18-0-3) and 2016-17 (14 GP; 11-0-3).
* Matthews established a Maple Leafs franchise record for the longest road goal streak Wednesday in Arizona in front of his family and friends, including relatives from Mexico – some of whom are picking up hockey themselves. Should Matthews find the back of the net Saturday, he would become the third player in NHL history to post a road goal streak of 10 or more games in a single season.
MARCHAND LOOKS TO KEEP MARCHING ON
Brad Marchand (19-22—41 in 29 GP) enters Saturday with multiple points in each of his last four outings (7-3—10) and is averaging 1.75 points-per-game in January, which has helped the Bruins post a 7-1-0 record so far this month – the most wins among all teams.
* After Marchand (3-0—3 on Jan. 12) and David Pastrnak (3-0—3 on Jan. 13) each made it rain hats in Boston’s last two contests, the Bruins can have a player record a hat trick in three straight games for the first time in franchise history. Only three teams in the last 30 years have featured a hat trick in three-plus consecutive games: Calgary in 1992-93 (4 from Oct. 31 – Nov. 5, 1992), Washington in 2009-10 (3 from Feb 7-11, 2010) and Chicago in 1991-92 (3 from Dec. 5-8, 1991).
* Marchand can become the fourth player this season to record at least five consecutive multi-point games; he would join Connor McDavid (6 GP), Sebastian Aho (5 GP) and Nazem Kadri (5 GP).
