* Bryan Rust joined a rare list of NHL players with 11 or more points through their first three games in a calendar year as Pittsburgh picked up its 10th straight win.
* Nathan MacKinnon, Gabriel Landeskog and Mikko Rantanen combined for 12 points, with Landeskog accounting for one of two NHL hat tricks Thursday.
* Matt Boldy, who made his League debut with the Wild alongside Marco Rossi, scored the game-winning goal against his hometown team at TD Garden.
RUST ROUNDUP: TWO GOALS, THREE POINTS AND 7-4—11 IN LAST THREE GAMES
Bryan Rust (2-1—3) recorded his third consecutive game with at least three points, Jake Guentzel (2-0—2) found the score sheet in his 13th straight road appearance and Sidney Crosby (0-2—2) padded his career totals against the Flyers to power the Penguins (20-8-5, 45 points) to their 10th straight win – the longest run by any team this season.
* Rust, who leads all players since Jan. 1 with 7-4—11 (3 GP), became the third different player in the NHL’s modern era (since 1943-44) with 11 or more points through his first three games in a calendar year. He joined Wayne Gretzky in 1982 (4-7—11) and 1984 (8-7—15) as well as Mario Lemieux in 1997 (2-10—12).
* Crosby has 49-68—117 in 78 career games against the Flyers and tied Bryan Trottier (44-73—117 in 110 GP) for the third-most points versus Philadelphia by any player in NHL history. He now trails only Lemieux (51-73—124 in 71 GP) and Jaromir Jagr (47-73—120 in 101 GP).
* Crosby, who leads the Penguins with 3-13—16 over their run, appeared in 10 or more consecutive wins for the third time in his NHL career (also 15 GP in 2012-13 & 12 GP in 2010-11), which trails only former teammate Matt Cooke for the most double-digit runs by a skater in League history (4x; 15 GP in 2012-13, 12 GP in 2010-11, 11 GP in 2011-12 & 10 GP in 2002-03).
MacKINNON TALLIES FIVE-POINT OUTING, LANDESKOG NETS HAT TRICK
Colorado forwards Nathan MacKinnon (1-4—5), Gabriel Landeskog (3-1—4) and Mikko Rantanen (1-2—3) each recorded three-plus points in a game for the sixth time, which trails only Boston’s David Pastrnak, Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron (7x) for the highest such total by an active NHL trio. Only one trio in Avalanche/Nordiques franchise history has recorded more such instances: Peter Stastny, Anton Stastny and Michel Goulet (11x).
* The Avalanche scored seven goals in a game for the seventh time in 2021-22. Colorado has recorded more such instances in a single season just once since the team relocated to Denver (11x in 1995-96).
BOLDY SCORES WINNER IN NHL DEBUT AGAINST HOMETOWN TEAM
Matt Boldy, who hails from Milford, Mass., scored the game-winning goal in his NHL debut with friends and family in attendance at TD Garden as the Wild (20-10-2, 42 points) edged the Bruins and strengthened their grip on the first Wild Card spot in the Western Conference.
* Boldy became just the third Massachusetts-born player in NHL history to score a goal in his League debut during a game which took place in Boston (and first to do so while playing for a visiting team). He joined Ryan Donato (March 19, 2018 w/ BOS) and Shawn Bates (Oct. 2, 1997 w/ BOS).
HUGHES REMAINING HOT, JUMBO JOE’S MILESTONE GAME FEATURED IN LIVE UPDATES
The Jan. 6 edition of #NHLStats: Live Updates features a number of additional notes from the 10-game slate Thursday. Some highlights include:
* Devils forward Jack Hughes (1-2—3) extended his career-high point streak to five games and leads all players with 4-8—12 since the Holiday Break. Hughes became the first New Jersey player with 12 points over a five-game span since Zach Parise nearly 15 years ago (6-6—12 in 5 GP from Nov. 24–Dec. 5, 2007).
* Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov collected two assists in his first game since Oct. 16, 2021 as League-leading Tampa Bay (23-8-5, 51 points) extended its home point streak to nine games (8-0-1). The Lightning became the first team to hit 50 standings points this season.
* Coyotes forward Johan Larsson scored the first hat trick of his NHL career. He became the fourth player in Coyotes/Jets franchise history with a hat trick in a game against Chicago, joining Shane Doan (Dec. 29, 2015), Keith Tkachuk (March 20, 1997) and Morris Lukowich (Oct. 17, 1980).
* Stars forward Jason Robertson scored to extend his home point streak to nine games (5-7—12) as Dallas fended off a late Florida rally to earn a win. Panthers forward Joe Thornton became the sixth player in NHL history to skate in 1,700 career games, joining Patrick Marleau (1,779 GP), Gordie Howe (1,767 GP), Mark Messier (1,756 GP), Jaromir Jagr (1,733 GP) and Ron Francis (1,731 GP).
QUICK CLICKS
* Willie O’Ree to participate virtually in Jan. 18 number retirement ceremony
* Alex Ovechkin leading all players in final week of NHL All-Star fan vote
* Blake Coleman, now with Flames, finally gets second Lightning Stanley Cup ring
* Dylan Strome, Alex DeBrincat combine for highlight-reel goal
* Reilly Smith, Vegas hosts PRIDE Knight in conjunction with the NHL’s You Can Play initiative
BLUES TO PUT HOME STREAK ON THE LINE AGAINST CAPITALS
Alex Ovechkin and the Capitals (20-6-8, 48 points) travel to Enterprise Center to take on Ivan Barbashev and the Blues (19-10-5, 43 points), where St. Louis has gone 9-0-1 dating to Nov. 18, 2021. Barbashev, with a team-leading six goals over that span, looks to help the Blues record a home point streak of 11-plus games for the fifth time in 25 years and first since 2019-20 (10-0-1 from Dec. 12, 2019–Feb. 4, 2020).
