Kukla's Korner Hockey

Kukla's Korner Hockey

NHL Short Notes

12/01/2019 at 2:34am EST

THREE HARD LAPS


* Alex Ovechkin added to his career hat trick total as the Capitals joined a rare list of teams to score 100 or more goals before Dec. 1.

* Nathan MacKinnon became the fifth player to reach the 40-point mark this season and fourth age 24 or younger. The 2019-20 campaign marked the sixth in NHL history with five or more 40-point scorers before Dec. 1 and first since 1992-93 (Mario Lemieux, Pat LaFontaine, Jari Kurri, Mark Recchi and Joe Sakic).

* Wild captain Mikko Koivu is set to skate in the 1,000th regular-season game of his NHL career when the Wild host the Stars at Xcel Energy Center.

OVECHKIN SCORES HAT TRICK AS CAPITALS ECLIPSE 100 GOALS ON THE SEASON
Alex Ovechkin (3-1—4) scored his first hat trick of the season to help the Capitals (19-4-5, 43 points) move back into top spot in the NHL standings and become the first team to eclipse 100 goals for in 2019-20 (104). Washington became the seventh team in the last 25 years to reach triple-digits in goals before the beginning of December (including shootout-deciding goals).



* The Capitals reached the 100-goal mark through games played Nov. 30 for the second time in franchise history, following 1991-92 (120).


* Ovechkin (20-11—31 in 28 GP) reached the 20-goal mark for the 15th time in as many NHL campaigns and has scored 75% of his tallies this season in road games (15-5—20 in 14 GP). He has recorded 345 career regular-season road goals overall (345-258—603 in 555 GP) and moved within one of tying Marcel Dionne (346) for the sixth-highest total in League history.

* Ovechkin scored his 24th career regular-season hat trick and passed Jari Kurri (23) for the most in League history by a player born outside Canada. He recorded his 13th career regular-season hat trick on the road to pass Phil Esposito (12) and tie Brett Hull for the fifth-most in NHL history, trailing Wayne Gretzky (19), Mario Lemieux (19), Dionne (17) and Mike Bossy (14).

NOVEMBERS TO REMEMBER
Several players and teams capped memorable Novembers:

* Oilers captain Connor McDavid (1-1—2) moved within one point of becoming the first player to reach 50 this season (19-30—49 in 28 GP). McDavid recorded a League-leading 26 of his 49 points since Nov. 1 (13-13—26 in 14 GP), the most by an Oilers player in a November since Jari Kurri in 1988 (10-16—26 in 15 GP).

* Mikko Rantanen (1-3—4), Joonas Donskoi (2-2—4) and Nathan MacKinnon (1-2—3) each collected at least three points – with Rantanen doing so in his return to the Avalanche lineup – as Colorado erupted for seven goals to defeat Chicago. MacKinnon capped the month with 25 points (10-15—25 in 14 GP) and established an Avalanche/Nordiques franchise record for most in a November, eclipsing the previous high of 24 last achieved by Quebec’s Walt Poddubny in 1988 (11-13—24 in 14 GP). His 25 points were the most by a Colorado player in any month since Joe Sakic in March 2000 (15-11—26 in 13 GP).

* Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane (1-0—1) extended his point streak to 15 contests (11-13—24) and found the score sheet in every team game during a calendar month for the second time in his NHL career (min. 10 GP), following November 2015 (8-15—23 in 13 GP). Only one other player in franchise history has recorded at least one point in each of Chicago’s games during multiple months under the above criteria: Denis Savard in November 1982 (4-15—19 in 12 GP) and October 1987 (9-13—22 in 11 GP).

* Five different Blues players found the back of the net – including Australian Nathan Walker scoring his first goal with the team (1-0—1 in 2 GP) – as Central Division-leading St. Louis concluded the month with 10 wins (10-2-3, 23 points). The Blues recorded a double-digit win total in a November for the third time in franchise history, following 2013 (11-3-1, 23 points) and 2014 (11-3-1, 23 points).

* The Sharks scored four unanswered goals to erase a 2-0 deficit and conclude November with 11 wins (11-4-0, 22 points), tied for the franchise's second-most in any calendar month. San Jose nearly tripled its 13-game win total from October (4-8-1, 9 points).

* Ivan Provorov scored a highlight-reel goal 31 seconds into overtime as the Flyers extended their point streak to six games (5-0-1), including four straight wins. Philadelphia (10-2-4, 24 points) recorded a double-digit win total in a November for the first time in 16 years and sixth in franchise history overall.



PANTHERS GOALTENDER DRIEDGER RECORDS A FRANCHISE-FIRST
Panthers goaltender Chris Driedger turned aside all 27 shots he faced to become the first goaltender in franchise history to record a shutout in the first start of his NHL career. Driedger, a third-round pick (76th overall) by Ottawa in the 2012 NHL Draft, had made three career appearances prior to Saturday (all w/ OTT) – which were all in a relief effort.



OTHER METROPOLITAN DIVISION TEAMS SECURE WINS
In addition to the Capitals and Flyers, three other Metropolitan Division teams secured wins Saturday including the Islanders and Rangers doing so in shutout fashion:

* Thomas Greiss (9 saves) and Semyon Varlamov (30 saves) combined for a team shutout as the Islanders extended their home point streak to 11 games (10-0-1), tied for the seventh-longest in franchise history.



* Greiss and Varlamov combined for the third team shutout in franchise history, following Nov. 1, 1977 (Billy Smith and Goran Hogosta) and April 4, 1998 (Tommy Salo and Wade Flaherty).

* Adam Fox scored the game-winning goal and Alexandar Georgiev turned aside all 33 shots he faced as the Rangers blanked the Devils and extended their point streak to five contests (4-0-1).

* Fox scored the second game-winning goal of his NHL career (also Nov. 27 vs. CAR). He became the third rookie defenseman in franchise history to score multiple winning goals over a span of three team games, joining Stan Brown (Jan. 1-6, 1927) and Ron Greschner (Jan. 1-5, 1975).

* Did You Know? Fox (5-9—14 in 25 GP) owns the third-most points among rookie defensemen this season behind Colorado’s Cale Makar (8-18—26 in 26 GP) and Vancouver’s Quinn Hughes (2-20—22 in 26 GP). The 2019-20 season marked the third in NHL history to feature three or more rookie defensemen each with at least 14 points before the beginning of December.

QUICK CLICKS

* 2020 NHL All-Star Fan Vote presented by adidas now open at NHL.com/Vote
* NHL.com makes its picks for All-Star rosters
* Brady Tkachuk dances off against young Senators fan again
* Mikko Koivu model of consistency with Wild on way to 1,000 games played in NHL
* Statement from Ron Francis

PREVIEW OF TODAY’S ACTION

the information above was peovided by the NHL PR department

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About Kukla's Korner Hockey

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.

From breaking news to in-depth stories around the league, KK Hockey is updated with fresh stories all day long and will bring you the latest news as quickly as possible.

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