* Evan Bouchard matched the longest point streak by a defenseman this season and helped Edmonton skate to its seventh straight win.
* Jonathan Quick extended his personal point streak to nine games while handing the Kings their first regulation loss on the road this season in his first-ever meeting against his former club.
* John Tavares enters Monday two points shy of joining the 1,000-point club and will look to reach the milestone against the Islanders – the team he collected his first 621 points with.
OILERS EXTEND WIN STREAK TO SEVEN GAMES The Oilers and their players extended streaks aplenty Sunday, with the team pushing the NHL’s longest active win streak to seven games, Evan Bouchard extending the NHL’s longest active point streak (tied) to 11 contests and Connor McDavid stretching his personal point streak to nine games.
* McDavid (1-1—2) extended his point streak to nine games (6-17—23 in 9 GP), a stretch that includes seven multi-point outings including three in a row. When he started his point streak Nov. 20, McDavid was tied for 91st in League scoring with 4-9—13 in 14 GP. Entering play on Monday, McDavid ranks eighth in the Art Ross Trophy race.
* Bouchard’s 11-game point streak (5-11—16 in 11 GP) is tied for the second longest by a defenseman in Oilers history, trailing only Paul Coffey’s 28-game run in 1985-86. It also matched the Vancouver duo of Quinn Hughes (11 GP) and Filip Hronek (11 GP) for the longest by a blueliner in 2023-24.
QUICK DEFEATS FORMER TEAM AS RANGERS CLIMB ATOP EAST STANDINGS After appearing in 743 regular-season games for Los Angeles, Jonathan Quick stood in the opposing net for the first time in his career as he stopped 25 of 26 shots to hand the Kings their first regulation loss as the visitors this season and snap their season-opening road point streak at 12 games. Quick also helped the Rangers (19-6-1, 39 points) overtake the Bruins (18-5-3, 39 points) for top spot in the Eastern Conference and stay within four points of the Golden Knights (19-5-5, 43 points) for first place in the League standings.
* Quick extended his point streak to nine games (8-0-1) and became the sixth Rangers goaltender in the past 40 years to post a run of that length, joining Mike Richter (3x; longest: 16 GP in 1996-97), Henrik Lundqvist (9 GP in 2015-16), Cam Talbot (9 GP in 2014-15), Glenn Healy (9 GP in 1995-96) and John Vanbiesbrouck (9 GP in 1991-92).
FIVE MORE THINGS TO KNOW FROM SUNDAY
* The Jets (16-8-2, 34 points) earned a win after trailing by multiple goals in the third period for the first time this season to claim their fourth consecutive victory. Winnipeg, which became the 12th different team to rally from two down in the third to win this season, moved into first place in the Central Division.
* Connor Bedard (0-2—2) had a pair of assists to push his season totals to 11-12—23 in 27 games and surpass Patrick Kane (7-15—22 in 20 GP) for the second-most points by a Blackhawks player before turning 19 years of age, trailing only Eddie Olczyk (20-30—50 in 70 GP).
* Mikael Granlund collected two assists to help the Sharks overcome a multi-goal deficit for the third straight game before eventually falling to the Golden Knights in a shootout. Granlund has amassed 2-9—11 (5 GP) since Dec. 1 to lead all skaters in points over that span.
* Jonathan Marchessault scored twice in regulation and added the shootout winner to help Vegas withstand San Jose’s multi-goal, third-period rally and extend its point streak to eight games (5-0-3 dating to Nov. 27) – the longest active run in the League. The Golden Knights (19-5-5, 43 points) maintained a four-point lead over the Rangers and Bruins atop the NHL’s overall standings.
* Sam Reinhart (0-4—4) set a career high with his first four-assist outing and tied the second most in a game in franchise history to help the Panthers, who sit second in the Atlantic Division, improve to 17-8-2 (36 points).
SPORTSNET, TVA SPORTS OPEN BUSY WEEK OF NATIONAL BROADCASTS
Monday’s double bill on Sportsnet and TVA Sports will drop the puck on a packed week of action with 27 games slated for national broadcast in Canada and the U.S. Tonight's set opens with John Tavares (434-564—998 in 1,053 GP) continuing his pursuit of the 1,000-point milestone on the road against his former team, the Islanders, with whom he racked up the first 621 points of his career (SN, TVAS). Monday will close with Nathan MacKinnon (5-12—17 in 11 GP) looking to extend the NHL’s longest active point streak (tied) to 12 games when the Avalanche host the Flames (SN1, SNW, TVAS).
STAR-STUDDED DOUBLEHEADERS ON ESPN, TNT ALSO ON TAP THIS WEEK The stars will be out in back-to-back doubleheaders this week with ESPN featuring Patrick Kane and the much-anticipated Connor vs. Connor matchup on Tuesday, followed by an NHL on TNT broadcast Wednesday set to include David Pastrnak, Jack Hughes and Nathan MacKinnon.
Tuesday, Dec. 12: Red Wings at Blues (7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN)
Patrick Kane will continue his first road trip of the season, which opens tonight in Dallas, when the Red Wings visit the Blues on St. Louis’ Hockey Fights Cancer Awareness Night after the club announced a new collaboration with the V Foundation for Cancer Research. Kane has 69 career points against the Blues (27-42—69 in 72 GP), with the 27 goals his second-highest total versus a single franchise (32 vs. DAL).
Tuesday, Dec. 12: Blackhawks at Oilers (10 p.m. ET on ESPN, TVAS, SNW)
Connor vs. Connor. This contest is tracking to become the highly-anticipated first meeting between Connor McDavid and Connor Bedard. McDavid, who enters with multiple points in seven of his last nine contests, and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins are the 10th and 11th fellow No. 1 picks Bedard will face. Bedard leads rookies with 11-12—23 in 27 games – McDavid (10-19—29 in 2015-16) and Nugent Hopkins (12-17—29 in 2011-12) had 29 points through as many games to start their career.
Wednesday, Dec. 13: Bruins at Devils (7:30 p.m. ET on TNT, MAX)
A showdown of two dynamic scorers in Boston’s David Pastrnak and New Jersey’s Jack Hughes leads off Wednesday’s TNT doubleheader. Pastrnak (6th; 317) is fast approaching the top five in NHL history for goals among Czechia-born players, with former Devils such as Petr Sykora, Bobby Holik, Patrik Elias and Jaromir Jagr among those ahead of him on the list. Hughes (97 G in 265 GP), meanwhile, sits three tallies shy of the 100-goal benchmark and is tracking towards the second fastest in franchise history to the milestone (behind Wilf Paiement: 228 GP w/ CLR) and fastest for the Devils (since 1982-83; Brian Gionta: 284 GP).
Wednesday, Dec. 13: Sabres at Avalanche (10 p.m. ET on TNT, MAX, SN) The Avalanche will close out back-to-back games on home ice to begin the week when Tage Thompson and the Sabres visit Ball Arena on Wednesday. Entering play on Monday, MacKinnon is tied for the League lead in production on home ice in 2023-24 with 8-16—24 in 13 GP – he has a point in every game he has contested at Ball Arena this season.
Thanks to the NHL PR department for the information above.
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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