* Evan Bouchard factored on each of the Oilers’ goals to become the third defenseman in franchise history with a six-point game and help Edmonton stun Washington. Bouchard, Mason Marchment and Cole Caufield scored the NHL’s 21st, 22nd and 23rd hat tricks this month, which mark the most during a single January in League history (previous: 21 in 1988 & 1984).
* Patrick Kane had an assist against longtime teammate Jonathan Toews and needs one point to tie Mike Modano for the most by a U.S.-born player in NHL history.
* Alex Lyon extended his career-high winning streak to a franchise record-tying nine games as the surging Sabres improved to 18-3-1 in their last 22 contests. Lyon has the League’s longest active winning streak and remained one ahead of John Gibson and Karel Vejmelka, who kept pace by pushing theirs to eight.
* Sunday’s six-game slate starts with Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026-bound stars Nathan MacKinnon and Auston Matthews meeting during a matinee in Toronto.
BOUCHARD CAPS HISTORIC NIGHT WITH SIXTH POINT AND AN OILERS OVERTIME WIN
Evan Bouchard put his name in the record books on a night that saw him register six points and score his first career hat trick en route to a late comeback win that featured pivotal assists from the defenseman. Bouchard factored on the game-tying tally with 32 seconds left in regulation and then delivered the primary assist on Connor McDavid’s overtime winner – the captain’s fifth point of the night and League-leading 90th of the season.
* Bouchard became the fourth defenseman in NHL history to factor on each of his team’s goals in a game (min. 6). The others are Doug Crossman (3-3—6 w/ TBL on Nov. 7, 1992), Al MacInnis (1-5—6 w/ CGY on March 20, 1994) and Bobby Orr (2-4—6 w/ BOS on April 7, 1974).
* Bouchard became the fourth defenseman in Oilers history to score a hat trick, following Paul Coffey (4x; last: Dec. 20, 1985), Marc-Andre Bergeron (Jan. 14, 2006) and Risto Siltanen (April 4, 1981). He also joined Coffey (March 14, 1986 & March 29, 1985) and Kevin Lowe (Feb. 19, 1983) as the only Edmonton blueliners to post at least six points in a game.
* McDavid (2-3—5) climbed into second on the Oilers’ all-time four-point games list before his overtime goal secured his 13th career five-point game – the 12th most in NHL history. McDavid’s totals in 2025-26 jumped to 32-58—90 as he passed Alex Ovechkin (89 in 2009-10) for the most points in a season by a player before an Olympic break.
Kane moves to brink of tying Modano for LEAGUE’s U.S.-born points record
Patrick Kane had an assist against longtime teammate Jonathan Toews to reach 1,373 career points and move within one of tying Mike Modano (1,374) as the NHL’s all-time scoring leader among U.S.-born players, a title Modano has held since tallying twice versus San Jose more than 18 years ago on Nov. 7, 2007.
* Kane and Toewswon three Stanley Cups together over a six-season span and both factored on the same goal 301 times, marking the third-highest total by a pair of teammates in Blackhawks history behind Steve Larmer and Denis Savard (396x) as well as Stan Mikita and Kenny Wharram (339x). Kane and Alex DeBrincat have both done so 200 times (including 65x since reuniting in Detroit), the second-highest total by a U.S.-born duo in League history behind Clayton Keller and Nick Schmaltz (201x).
MARCHMENT’S HAT TRICK HELPS COLUMBUS SNAP TAMPA BAY’S POINT STREAK
Mason Marchment (3-1—4) factored on half of Columbus’ eight goals Saturday and scored his first hat trick with the Blue Jackets en route to snapping the Lightning’s 15-game point streak – the longest run the franchise has ever halted. Columbus (24-20-7, 55 points) scored eight goals in a game for the first time this season and moved seven points back of the “playoff line” in the Eastern Conference.
* Marchment became the fourth player in NHL history with a hat trick during a win that snapped an opponent’s point streak of 15-plus games, joining Logan Cooley (March 26, 2024; 18 GP by NSH), Kevin Fiala (April 5, 2021; 15 GP by COL) and Paul Kariya (April 17, 2006; 20 GP by DET).
* Marchment boosted his totals with Columbus to 8-3—11 in nine games. His eight goals are the most by a player before his 10th game with the franchise. Meanwhile, he also tied Zach Werenski and Artemi Panarin for the second-fewest games to 10 points with the club, behind only Scott Hartnell (8 GP).
LYON MATCHES FRANCHISE RECORD AS SABRES CLIMB ATLANTIC STANDINGS
Alex Lyon matched a nearly 50-year-old franchise record by extending his winning streak to nine games and the Sabres received goals from Tage Thompson, Rasmus Dahlin and Alex Tuch to overtake the Canadiens (28-16-7, 63 points) for third place in the Atlantic Division. This marks the first time since the Wild Card format was introduced in 2013-14 that the Sabres rank among the top three in their division at this stage of an NHL season (818 GP or more).
* The Sabres claimed their third straight win and improved to 18-3-1 since Dec. 9 (the day they started a franchise record-tying 10-game winning streak) – topping the NHL for both wins and points (37) in that span. Each of the top three teams – and four of the top five – for standings points since that date are from the Atlantic Division. Buffalo also moved to 9-2-1 all-time when Thompson, Dahlin and Tuch all score a goal in the same game.
#NHLSTATS: LIVE UPDATES HAS BUSSI’s 19th win, BRUINS’ COMEBACK VICTORY
Saturday’s edition of #NHLStats: Live Updates featured more notes from the nine-game slate. Some highlights include:
* Brandon Bussi (35 saves) helped the Hurricanes (32-15-5, 69 points) defeat the Senators and maintain their hold on first place in the Eastern Conference. Bussi earned his 19th win in his 23rd career appearance and can become the fastest goaltender in NHL history to reach 20 victories – the current mark is shared by Bill Durnan (25 GP on Jan. 9, 1944) and Andrew Hammond (25 GP on April 11, 2015), the latter of whom achieved the feat with Ottawa.
* After Cole Caufield put the Canadiens (28-17-7, 63 points) up 3-2 with his hat trick, the Bruins (30-20-2, 62 points) battled back with two goals in a span of 12 seconds to take the lead and hold it as they moved within a point of their Original Six rival for the first Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference. The Bruins earned a comeback win Saturday just like they have in each of their four outdoor victories as they get closer to meeting the Lightning during the 2026 Navy Federal Credit Union NHL Stadium Series on Feb. 1 (6:30 p.m. ET; ESPN, SN, TVAS). Check out the #NHLStats Pack for more on the event.
* ICYMI: The climate-controlled tent at the center of the NHL’s most complex, ambitious and potentially warmest outdoor game has been constructed at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa.
QUICK CLICKS
* Leon Draisaitl thankful for support from Oilers during personal leave
* Bruins sport Drake Maye T-shirts in support of Patriots in AFC Championship
* Rasmus Andersson glad to join ‘real contender’ following trade to Golden Knights
* Predators honor Roman Josi’s 1,000th NHL game with ceremony
STAR-STUDDED SUNDAY TO FEATURE 9 HOURS OF CONTINUOUS NHL ACTION
NHL Network and Sportsnet will carry much of the action on the last Sunday of January, starting with a star-studded clash in Toronto where Nathan MacKinnon (COL; Team Canada) and Auston Matthews (TOR; Team USA) will go toe-to-toe for the 18th time. Other notables on Sunday’s slate include Mark Stone (Team Canada) aiming to set a new Golden Knights benchmark (and extend another) when he visits Brady Tkachuk (Team USA) and the Senators; Sidney Crosby (Team Canada) heading back to the site of his “Golden Goal” in 2010; Jackson LaCombe, the newest member of Team USA, will try to help the Ducks to their second seven-game winning streak of the season.
* Check out the Jan. 25 edition of #NHLStats: Live Updates for more on each matchup.
#NHLSTATS MEMOS TO MILAN: 4 NATIONS FOES MEET WITH VISIONS OF GOLD IN 4 WEEKS
With exactly four weeks to go until the gold medal game in Milan, the Avalanche duo of Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar will face off today against Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews. Less than one year ago, MacKinnon and Makar helped Team Canada defeat Matthews and Team USA in the championship game at the 4 Nations Face-Off.
* Team Canada has played in the gold medal game three times at Olympics with NHL players, winning all three including two victories against Team USA (their only appearances) – Mario Lemieux captained the team in 2002 (5-2 W vs. USA), Scott Niedermayer wore the “C” in 2010 (3-2 OT W vs. USA) and Sidney Crosby led them in 2014 (3-0 W vs. SWE).
* Longtime Maple Leafs captain Mats Sundin, whose franchise goals record was recently broken by Matthews, assisted on the gold medal-clinching goal for Team Sweden in 2006.
* A player representing either the Maple Leafs (4) or Avalanche (4) has won Olympic gold at four of the five tournaments to date: Matt Duchene (COL) with Team Canada in 2014; Mats Sundin (TOR) and Mikael Tellqvist (TOR) with Team Sweden in 2006; Curtis Joseph (TOR) along with Rob Blake (COL), Adam Foote (COL) and Joe Sakic (COL) with Team Canada in 2002; as well as Martin Prochazka (TOR) with Team Czechia in 1998. Prochazka assisted on the gold medal clinching goal in 1998 and played 29 of his 32 career NHL games with Toronto that season.
