* Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar both pushed their season-opening point streak to nine games and combined for a rare feat as the Avalanche earned their fifth straight win.
* Leon Draisaitl celebrated his 29th birthday by spearheading an Oilers comeback victory and climbing a franchise list with a three-point performance that included a game-tying tally and overtime winner.
* The undefeated Jets will look to join rare company when they host the Maple Leafs on Prime Monday Night Hockey while Steven Stamkos and the Predators face off against Victor Hedman and the Lightning on ESPN+, TVA Sports and Hulu.
MacKINNON, MAKAR EXTEND POINT STREAKS AS AVALANCHE WIN FIFTH STRAIGHT
Nathan MacKinnon (1-1—2)and Cale Makar (0-1—1) each extended their season-opening point streak to nine games and helped the Avalanche (5-4-0, 10 points) withstand a third-period comeback attempt by the Senators en route to their fifth straight win. Colorado bounced back from a four-game losing streak with five straight wins for just the fourth time in franchise history, with the other instances occurring in 2010-11 (4 L, 6 W), 1985-86 (4 L, 6 W) and 1982-83 (5 L, 5 W).
* Makar became the sixth defenseman in NHL history to start a season with points in nine consecutive games, joining Bobby Orr (15 GP in 1973-74), Doug Wilson (10 GP in 1981-82), Guy Lapointe (10 GP in 1974-75), John-Michael Liles (9 GP in 2010-11) and Randy Carlyle (9 GP in 1979-80).
* Meanwhile, MacKinnon became the fourth player in NHL history to post at least three season-opening point streaks of nine-plus games (also 18 GP in 2019-20 & 15 GP in 2018-19). The others: Wayne Gretzky (5x; longest 51 GP in 1983-84), Mario Lemieux (3x; longest 14 GP in 1986-87) and Ron Francis (3x; longest 13 GP in 1994-95).
NO. 29 CELEBRATES HIS 29TH BIRTHDAY WITH THREE-POINT OUTING IN OILERS WIN
Leon Draisaitl (2-1—3) celebrated his birthday by factoring on two game-tying tallies and netting the overtime winner to lift the Oilers to a comeback victory against the Red Wings. He recorded his 92nd career three-point game and tied Glenn Anderson for the fifth most in franchise history.
*Draisaitl, who turned 29, scored his 60th career game-tying goal and tied Mark Messier for the fourth most in Oilers history. The only players with more: Jari Kurri (82), Wayne Gretzky (78) and Connor McDavid (62).
HISCHIER, SUZUKI SPOTLIGHTED IN #NHLSTATS: LIVE UPDATES
The Sunday edition of #NHLStats: Live Updates featured a number of notes from the four-game slate, including Nico Hischier taking the League lead in goals and Nick Suzuki extending his point streak to seven games with another multi-point performance.
* The Devils skated to victory with the help of Hischier, who scored his League-leading ninth tally of the season. He became the second skater in Devils/Rockies/Scouts history to lead the NHL outright in goals (min. 5 goals), following Paul Gardner from Nov. 2-9, 1977 (w/ CLR).
* Suzuki (1-1—2) factored on two of the Canadiens’ four goals as they fended off a late Flyers comeback attempt and extended his point streak to seven games in the process (3-8—11). He became the fifth player in franchise history to record a streak of at least that length four times at age 25 or younger, following Steve Shutt (6x), Guy Lafleur (6x), Shayne Corson (4x) and Bernie Geoffrion (4x).
QUICK CLICKS
* Jets showing ‘no complacency’ amidst 8-game win streak
* Flyers’ Garnet Hathaway fined for elbowing
* NHL Buzz: Aleksander Barkov expected to return for Panthers on Monday
* Sweden projected roster for 2025 4 Nations Face-Off
UNDEFEATED JETS FACE MAPLE LEAFS IN PRIME MONDAY NIGHT HOCKEY DEBUT
The third installment of Prime Monday Night Hockey will see the undefeated Jets (8-0-0, 16 points) host the Maple Leafs (4-4-1, 9 points) in the first all-Canadian matchup on Prime Video Canada. The Jets, who will appear on Prime Monday Night Hockey for the first time, would be in rarified air with another victory as only the 1993-94 Maple Leafs (10-0-0), 2006-07 Sabres (10-0-0), 2015-16 Canadiens (9-0-0) and 2021-22 Hurricanes (9-0-0) have started a season with nine or more consecutive victories.
* Jets forward Kyle Connor (6-4—10 in 8 GP) has recorded a point in every game this season, tying Blake Wheeler (8 GP in 2015-16) for the longest season-opening point streak in franchise history. The longest point streak of Connor’s career is 10 games, which he achieved in 2022-23 and 2021-22.
* The Jets’ strong start to the season has included a 4-0-0 mark at Canada Life Centre where they have outscored their opponents by an 18-8 mark. Winnipeg can win each of its first five home games of a season for the first time in franchise history (also 4-0-0 in 2021-22).
* The Maple Leafs have won five consecutive games against the Jets dating to March 31, 2022, with the Golden Knights (6-0-0 dating to Oct. 20, 2022) the only franchise with a longer active win steak versus Winnipeg. Auston Matthews has led all Maple Leafs skaters across those five games against the Jets with 5-4—9.
STAMKOS MAKES HIS RETURN TO TAMPA BAY ON ESPN+, HULU
After being selected with the first overall pick by the Lightning in 2008 and playing his first 16 seasons in Tampa Bay that included captaining the franchise to two Stanley Cup championships and a pair of Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophies (2009-10 & 2011-12), Steven Stamkos will enter Amalie Arena as a visitor for the first time when the Predators visit the Lightning exclusively on ESPN+ and Hulu in the U.S. as well as on TVA Sports in Canada.
* Stamkos, who captained the Lightning from 2014-15 to 2023-24, returns still holding a multitude of franchise records including all-time regular-season games played (1,082), goals (555), points (1,137), power-play goals (214) and hat tricks (13).
* Click here for an NHL.com story ahead of Stamkos’ return, in which he states: “That’s going to be probably the toughest part, emotionally, is just the relationships that my family has had with everyone. The workers in the rink, the staff, everyone within the organization, the friends we’ve made away from the game. That’s the part that gets you, I think.” The story also includes quotes from long-time teammates Victor Hedman and Tyler Johnson.
