* Nathan MacKinnon matched a single-game career high with four goals and established a franchise record by extending his home point streak to 24 contests, while Cale Makar took sole possession of the most goals by a defenseman in club history.
* Pius Suter also scored a hat trick Wednesday. With every hat trick this season, AstraZeneca will donate $5,000 to the Hockey Fights Cancer Fund of the V Foundation up to $500,000. Click here for more information.
* The Oilers can extend their franchise-record winning streak to 15 games when they host the Blackhawks on Sportsnet ONE and TVA Sports tonight.
MacKINNON MAKES MORE MAGIC WITH SECOND FOUR-GOAL OUTING OF 2023-24
Cale Makar (1-2—3) opened the scoring with his 76th career goal, but Nathan MacKinnon (4-1—5) and Mikko Rantanen (1-4—5) then erupted for five points apiece to propel the Avalanche to their NHL-leading 19th home win of the season. MacKinnon, who found the back of the net three times in a span of 6:37 during the second period, joined Michel Goulet (2x in 1985-86) as the second player in franchise history with multiple four-goal games in a single season.
* MacKinnon (30-52—82 in 48 GP), who established a franchise record with a 24-game home point streak and joined Joe Sakic (March 13, 2003) as just the second player in Avalanche team history with a natural hat trick, once again overtook Nikita Kucherov (31-49—80 in 47 GP) for the League lead in scoring. The 2023-24 season marked the first since 1995-96 (Mario Lemieux: 31 GP, Jaromir Jagr: 37 GP & Ron Francis: 44 GP) to feature multiple players reaching the 80-point mark in 48 games or fewer.
* Makar became the eight defensemen in NHL history with 28 career three-point games at age 25 or younger. The others are Paul Coffey (86), Bobby Orr (86), Denis Potvin (53), Ray Bourque (46), Phil Housley (35), Brian Leetch (28) and Paul Reinhart (28).
PANTHERS SCORE EARLY AND OFTEN IN MAURICE’S MILESTONE GAME
Matthew Tkachuk (2-1—3), Carter Verhaeghe (0-3—3) and Sam Reinhart (1-1—2) propelled the Panthers (29-14-4, 62 points) to victory on the night Paul Maurice (1,813 GC) passed Barry Trotz (1,812 GC) for sole possession of the second-most games coached in NHL history. The win moved Florida within five points of the Atlantic Division-leading Bruins (29-9-9, 67 points).
Photo via @FlaPanthers
* Tkachuk (10-11—21 in 11 GP) has produced 21 points since Jan. 1, a stretch that comes on the heels of 4-16—20 in 28 contests from Nov. 1 to Dec. 31, 2023. His 10 goals this month are the tied for the fourth most among all skaters behind only Reinhart (12 in 11 GP), Elias Pettersson (12 in 12 GP) and Nathan MacKinnon (11 in 11 GP).
* Reinhart (35-25—60 in 47 GP) extended his point streak to 11 games via his 50th career power-play goal with the Panthers and 18th of the season. He became the fifth player in franchise history to reach the 60-point mark in 50 games or fewer, joining Pavel Bure (44 GP in 1999-00), Jonathan Huberdeau (45 GP in 2021-22 & 2019-20), Tkachuk (46 GP in 2022-23) and Aleksander Barkov (46 GP in 2021-22).
MORE HAT TRICKS, 2024 NHL ALL-STARS FEATURED IN #NHLSTATS: LIVE UPDATES
Wednesday’s edition of #NHLStats: Live Updates featured more notes from the seven-game slate, including another hat trick and several involving 2024 NHL All-Star Weekend-bound players:
* Pius Suter scored three third-period goals to tie the franchise record for most in a single frame and help the Canucks force overtime, while Quinn Hughes had two assists and became the eighth-fastest defenseman in NHL history to reach the 300-point mark.
* Sebastian Aho (0-2—2) factored on two of Carolina’s three goals to help the Hurricanes (7-0-1 in 8 GP) extend their road point streak to eight games, which trails only the Kings (11-0-1 in 12 GP), Oilers (9-0-0 in 9 GP; active) and Flyers (6-0-3 in 9 GP) for the longest in the NHL this season. Aho recorded his 133rd career multi-point game and surpassed Kevin Dineen (132) for sole possession of third place on the Hurricanes/Whalers franchise’s all-time list.
* Auston Matthews scored at 4:13 of overtime to move one goal shy of 40 on the season and Ilya Samsonov stopped all 32 shots he faced as the Maple Leafs (24-14-8, 56 points) blanked the Jets to move back into third place in the Atlantic Division. Samsonov, who secured his second shutout of the second (also Dec. 9), made two of his saves in highlight-reel fashion by denying Adam Lowry and Morgan Barron on a 2-on-0 during the second period.
QUICK CLICKS
* NHL statement on the Smith Entertainment Group
* Salt Lake City group formally requests NHL to initiate expansion process
* Ninth NHL Mascot Showdown presented by Upper Deck coming to 2024 NHL All-Star Game
* Auston Matthews, William Nylander have Toronto teammates divided over All-Star Skills
* Tate McRae to headline 2024 NHL All-Star Game entertainment
THURSDAY HAS OILERS LOOKING TO STRETCH STREAK, ROY BACK IN MONTREAL
Thursday’s nine-game slate is highlighted by Stuart Skinner and the Oilers looking to extend their lengthy winning streaks on Sportsnet ONE and TVA Sports as well as Patrick Roy returning to Montreal for the first time since being named head coach of the Islanders.
* Skinner, who received praise from former Edmonton goaltender Grant Fuhr after breaking his franchise record for longest winning streak, can improve to 12-0-0 in his last 12 appearances should he get the nod Thursday. The Oilers can become the fifth team in NHL history with a 15-game winning streak.
* Roy was selected by the Canadiens with the No. 51 pick in the 1984 NHL Draft and spent parts of his first 12 NHL seasons with Montreal, with included backstopping the club to a Stanley Cup as a rookie in 1986 and capturing another championship in 1993 while winning the Conn Smythe Trophy in each year. Roy went 3-3-0 including 1-2-0 on the road against the Canadiens as head coach of the Avalanche from 2013-14 to 2015-16.
