Kukla's Korner Hockey

Kukla's Korner Hockey

NHL Short Notes

10/17/2019 at 7:38am EDT

McDavid joins elite company with 17 points through seven games; Carlson continues historic start with Capitals; Kane shines with first-period hat trick.

NHL MORNING SKATE


THREE HARD LAPS

* The stars came out for Wednesday Night Hockey on both NBCSN and Sportsnet as each of the League’s top four scorers - Connor McDavid (5-12—17 in 7 GP), Leon Draisaitl (6-9—15 in 7 GP), John Carlson (3-11—14 in 8 GP) and Sidney Crosby (4-8—12 in 7 GP) - posted multiple points, while Nathan MacKinnon (3-6—9 in 6 GP) and Mikko Rantanen (4-6—10 in 6 GP) extended their season-opening point streaks.


* With a five-point performance, McDavid became the 15th different player in the NHL’s modern era (since 1943-44) to record at least 17 points through his team’s first seven games of a season. McDavid joined Mario Lemieux (1995-96 w/ PIT) and Wayne Gretzky (1993-94 w/ LAK) as the only players to do so in the past 26 years.

* An eventful evening also saw a first-period hat trick by San Jose’s Evander Kane – the NHL’s sixth three-goal outing of the season – and a between-the-legs, game-winning goal by 23-year-old Blue Jackets forward Sonny Milano.

McDAVID, DRAISAITL AND CARLSON CONTINUE TORRID PACE TO BEGIN 2019-20
Oilers captain Connor McDavid (1-4—5) collected a career-high four assists, while teammate Leon Draisaitl (2-1—3) and Capitals defenseman John Carlson (1-2—3) each notched a three-point outing to continue their torrid scoring pace to begin in 2019-20. McDavid’s five-point showing was the third of his career and first in the NHL this season.


* McDavid boosted his season totals to 5-12—17 and joined Wayne Gretzky (1982-83, 1983-84, 1984-85, 1986-87, 1987-88) as just the second Oilers player to record 17 or more points through the team's first seven games of a season.

* Additionally, the Oilers captain is just the 15th different player in the modern era (1943-44) and third in the last 26 years - joining Mario Lemieux (1995-96) and Gretzky (1993-94) - to accomplish the feat.

* Draisaitl (6-9—15) also joined McDavid and Gretzky as the only Oilers players to ever reach the 15-point mark through seven games to begin a season. Meanwhile, McDavid and Draisaitl are the 10th set of teammates since 1945-46 to each record 15 or more points through their team’s first seven games of a season and first since Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr in 1995-96 (w/ PIT).

* Carlson registered his fifth multi-point game of the season and leads all defensemen with 3-11—14 – the most points by a Capitals blueliner through the first eight games of a season. Only two other Capitals players have accumulated as many points through the team’s first eight games of any campaign: Alex Ovechkin (9-7—16 in 2009-10) and Alex Semin (7-7—14 in 2008-09).

* Coming off a career-high 13-57—70 in 80 games with Washington in 2018-19, the 29-year-old became just the seventh different blueliner in NHL history to record at least 14 points through his team’s first eight games of any campaign and first in 30 years.

KANE NETS FIRST-PERIOD HAT TRICK AS SHARKS WIN THIRD STRAIGHT

Evander Kane (3-1—4) scored three goals in a span of 11:07 to complete his second career hat trick and propel the Sharks to their third straight win, outscoring their opponents 13-7 in that span. Since making his season debut on Oct. 8, Kane has found the score sheet in three of four games (4-2—6).

* Wednesday's contest marked the ninth time in Sharks franchise history that a player scored three or more goals in a period and the first in the opening frame. Two players tallied a first period hat trick in 2018-19: Andreas Johnsson (Nov. 24, 2018 w/ TOR) and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (March 26, 2019 w/ EDM), with only Johnsson (7:35) accomplishing the feat faster than Kane.

TANEV JOINS ELITE COMPANY WITH RARE SHORTHANDED OT GOAL

After Sidney Crosby (1-1—2) helped the Penguins take a one-goal lead into the third period and fellow Cole Harbour, N.S. native Nathan MacKinnon (1-0—1) helped the Avalanche send the game to overtime, Brandon Tanev scored the winner with 1:03 remaining in the extra frame to help Pittsburgh extend the League’s longest active win streak to four contests.

* Tanev, in his first season with the Penguins after spending 2015-16 to 2018-19 with the Jets, scored his first career overtime goal and joined franchise legend Mario Lemieux (Jan. 22, 1996) as the second player in team history to tally a shorthanded marker in overtime.


* Two players scored an overtime goal while their team was shorthanded in 2018-19: Ryan O’Reilly (Dec. 14, 2018 vs. COL) and Joe Pavelski (Feb. 5, 2019 at WPG).

* Crosby (4-8—12) extended his season-opening point streak to seven games, tied with Edmonton’s Leon Draisaitl (6-9—15) for the NHL’s longest active run. The Penguins captain sits one contest shy of matching the longest season-opening point streak of his 15-season career (2013-14: 7-10—17 in 8 GP) - which concluded with his highest single-season point total over the past nine campaigns (36-68—104 in 80 GP).

QUICK CLICKS

* Capitals celebrate Elena Della Donne, champion Mystics at game vs. Maple Leafs
* Jordan Binnington honors Blues legend Joseph with 'Cujo'-inspired mask

* John Tortorella OK after having skin cancer growth removed from forehead

* Adorable Mite of Nite steals show at intermission of Capitals-Maple Leafs
* Blue Jackets win eighth straight game over Stars


PREVIEW OF TODAY’S ACTION

HUGHES, KAKKO TO MEET IN NHL FOR FIRST TIME

A pair of high-profile rookies will go head-to-head in the NHL for the first time when Devils forward Jack Hughes faces Rangers forward Kaapo Kakko at Prudential Center.

* Hughes (No. 1) and Kakko (No. 2) were the top two picks in the 2019 NHL Draft. This will mark the 31st time – and seventh consecutive season – that the top two picks in a draft year will face each other in an NHL regular-season game the season immediately after the draft.

* The two young stars met most recently in the preliminary round of the 2019 World Championship – a 3-2 overtime win for Team USA. While Hughes’ team took the win in the preliminary round, Team Finland would go on to win the tournament with Kakko leading his countrymen with six goals.

* The two players also competed in the gold medal match at the 2019 World Junior Championship – a 3-2 victory for Team Finland. In that game, Hughes assisted on an Alexander Chmelevski goal to kickstart Team USA’s rally from a 2-0 deficit before Kakko scored the game-winning tally with 1:26 remaining in the third period to lead Finland to the gold medal.

the information above was supplied by the HL PR department

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Paul Kukla founded Kukla’s Korner in 2005 and the site has since become the must-read site on the ‘net for all the latest happenings around the NHL.

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