* Tim Stützle capped off a thrilling opener for the 2023 NHL Global Series – Sweden presented by Fastenal in overtime – a contest whichfeatured high-scoring periods, a dramatic rally and a highlight-reel game winner.
* Shea Theodore was one of four blueliners to impress during a nine-game Thursday after his four-point performance matched a Golden Knights record for points in a game by a defenseman, a feat he has accomplished once before.
* The 2023 NHL Global Series – Sweden presented by Fastenal continues Friday with a matchup between the Maple Leafs and Red Wings at 2 p.m. ET on NHL Network.
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GLOBAL SERIES ROLLERCOASTER ENDS WITH STÜTZLE OT MAGIC
The Senators and Red Wings contested the first of four consecutive days of games in Stockholm, Sweden involving four different teams and opened the series with a whirlwind of a contest. Ottawa jumped out to a 4-0 lead early in the second period, Detroit scored four unanswered goals in the middle frame to tie the game before a scoreless third period and a frantic overtime set the stage for Tim Stützle batting home a highlight-reel goal with two seconds remaining to secure the victory for the Senators.
* The high-scoring contest saw Senators captain Brady Tkachuk tally twice in the opening 9:57 to tie the NHL mark for most goals in a single period in a regular-season game contested outside North America and the Red Wings become the first team to score four goals in a single period in a game contested overseas. Additionally, Ottawa and Detroit’s nine combined goals matched the NHL mark for most in that scenario – tied with Colorado’s 6-3 win versus Columbus last season at the 2022 NHL Global Series in Tampere, Finland.
* The Senators relinquished a four-goal lead and still hung on to win a regular-season game for the second time in franchise history – they previously did so in a 5-4 shootout win versus the Flames on March 8, 2015. -17020236.png)
* ICYMI: A pair of Swedish hockey legends played a part in Thursday’s contest with Daniel Alfredsson helping out behind the Senators bench and nine-time Norris Trophy winner and four-time Stanley Cup champion, Nicklas Lidstrom, dropping the ceremonial first puck. Earlier in the day, Lidstrom was awarded the inaugural Borje Salming Courage Award by the NHL Alumni Association. 
OFFENSE FROM THE DEFENSE HIGHLIGHTS THURSDAY SLATE
Defensemen played an integral part in NHL action during a nine-game Thursday, contributing offensively for the Golden Knights (13-3-1, 27 points), Lightning (7-6-4, 18 points), Devils (8-6-1, 17 points) and Canucks (12-4-1, 25 points), respectively.
* Vegas battled back from multiple deficits to defeat Montreal on Thursday, with defenseman Shea Theodore (1-3—4) spearheading the rally by factoring on four of his team’s six goals to help the Golden Knights extend their point streak against the Canadiens to nine games (6-0-3) – their longest active run versus one franchise. In the process, Theodore matched the club benchmark for most points by a defenseman in a game, which he originally set on Dec. 19, 2017.
* Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman (1-1—2) scored his 147th career goal to tie Fredrik Olausson for fourth place on the League’s all-time list among Swedish-born blueliners. Thursday marked Hedman’s 155th career multi-point game; he is one of four active defensemen with at least 150 (also Erik Karlsson: 194 GP, Brent Burns: 183 GP & Kris Letang: 159 GP).
* Luke Hughes (0-2—2) recorded two helpers during a three-goal third period for the Devils and improved his 2023-24 totals to 1-9—10 (15 GP). He joined Will Butcher (9 GP in 2017-18), Barry Beck (12 GP in 1977-78), Tapio Levo (13 GP in 1981-82), Mark Suzor (13 GP in 1977-78), Scott Niedermayer (14 GP in 1992-93) and Ty Smith (15 GP in 2020-21) as the seventh rookie defensemen in franchise history to hit the 10-point mark in a season in 15 games or fewer.
* Quinn Hughes and J.T. Miller both collected assists while skating in 300-game milestones – Hughes with his 300th NHL contest and Miller with No. 300 as a member of the Canucks. Vancouver’s captain improved his career totals to 32-236—268, surpassing Cale Makar (69-198—267 in 253 GP) for the most points by an active defenseman through their 300th game and for sole possession of the 10th most in NHL history by a blueliner through that contest.
FIVE-GOAL OUTINGS PROPEL FLAMES, SHARKS IN #NHLSTATS: LIVE UPDATES
The Thursday edition of #NHLStats: Live Updates featured the Flames stretch their home point streak against the Canucks to seven games (6-0-1) and improve to 4-1-1 in the past six contests, while the Sharks scored five times, including three in the opening 3:25 of the second period, en route to their highest-scoring output of the season.
* William Eklund scored the first of the three quick goals to begin the second period and finished with his second game-winning goal of the season. He became the first Sharks skater, age 21 or younger, with multiple game-winning tallies in a single season since Timo Meier (4 in 2017-18). Logan Couture (8 in 2010-11) holds the most in that scenario.
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GLOBAL SERIES CONTINUES WITH MAPLE LEAFS AT RED WINGS
After their thrilling four-goal rally came up short in the opening game of the 2023 NHL Global Series – Sweden presented by Fastenal, the Red Wings will look to leave Stockholm with a win when they face William Nylander and the Maple Leafs on NHL Network.
* Nylander (10-12—22 in 15 GP) has recorded a point in every game he has contested this season, with his active 15-game run the longest season-opening point streak in Maple Leafs history and the longest by any player to date in 2023-24. Earlier this week, Nylander told reporters he’s collected 90-100 tickets to fulfill the requests of family and friends, and is most excited that his grandmother will finally be able to see him play an NHL game live.
* Another Maple Leafs player with a special connection to this trip is Max Domi, whose father, Tie, was a longtime teammate of Swedish superstar and all-time Maple Leafs scoring leader Mats Sundin. Among the stories told to NHL.com, when Max started coming to his dad’s games at a young age, he would hang out with Sundin in the dressing room and the two would have impromptu games using rolled up tape balls as pucks and a pair of gloves to mark the goal. They remain close to this day.
