* Connor McDavid tallied twice to eclipse 200 career NHL goals and help the Oilers improve to 4-0-0 on the season. * Sergei Bobrovsky also reached a noteworthy milestone Thursday as the Panthers pushed their season-opening winning streak to four games.
* Friday’s four-game slate is highlighted by the Sabres looking to remain undefeated.
McDAVID, BOBROVSKY REACH MILESTONES AS OILERS, PANTHERS MOVE TO 4-0-0
Connor McDavid (2-1—3) scored the 200th goal of his NHL career and Sergei Bobrovsky (30 saves) earned career win No. 300 as Edmonton and Florida both improved to 4-0-0 this season. The Oilers posted a season-opening winning streak of four games for the fifth time since joining the NHL in 1979-80, while the Panthers did so for the first time in franchise history.
* Among players to make their League debut with Edmonton, only three required fewer games than McDavid (411 GP) to reach the 200-goal mark with the franchise: Wayne Gretzky (242 GP), Jari Kurri (328 GP) and Glenn Anderson (348 GP).
* Bobrovsky became just the second Russian-born goaltender in NHL history to reach the 300-win mark, joining Nikolai Khabibulin (333). Evgeni Nabokov, who was born in Kamenogorsk, Kazakhstan when it was part of the Soviet Union, also had 353 career wins.
HURRICANES, SHARKS ALSO EARN WINS TO REMAIN UNDEFEATED
Carolina (3-0-0, 6 points) and San Jose (3-0-0, 6 points) also earned victories Thursday to extend season-opening winning streaks:
* Sebastian Aho had 2-1—3 and Andrei Svechnikov extended his season-opening goal streak to three games (4-1—5) as the Hurricanes defeated the Canadiens. Jesperi Kotkaniemi also tallied in his return to Montreal.
* Brent Burns collected an assist while skating in his 600th consecutive game dating to Nov. 21, 2013. Burns has at least one point in each of his last 14 regular-season contests against Ottawa (6-15—21), the League’s longest active run by a player versus one franchise.
MORE NOTES FEATURED IN ANOTHER EDITION OF #NHLSTATS: LIVE UPDATES
Click here to read the Oct. 21 edition of #NHLStats: Live Updates, which features more notes from Thursday including Cole Sillinger scoring the first goal of his NHL career and Patrik Laine potting his League-leading second overtime winner of the season (also Oct. 16 vs. SEA) as Columbus improved to 3-0-0 at Nationwide Arena.
SABRES SET SIGHTS ON STRETCHING SEASON-OPENING WINNING STREAK
Three undefeated teams are in action Friday including Buffalo (3-0-0, 6 points), which looks to earn wins in each of its first four games in a season for the fourth time in franchise history.
