NHL MOURNS THE PASSING OF JIM GREGORY

The NHL and the entire hockey family have lost one of the most beloved men ever to have served the game. Jim Gregory, Hockey Hall of Famer, former Maple Leafs general manager and a League executive for four decades, passed away on Wednesday. He was 83.

* NHL Mourns the Passing of Jim Gregory

* Statement from Commissioner Gary Bettman

* Statement from Maple Leafs’ Brendan Shanahan

LIGHTNING RALLY PAST DEVILS IN HIGHEST-SCORING GAME OF 2019-20
The Lightning scored three consecutive times in the third period to erase a 5-3 deficit and take a 6-5 lead, but Kyle Palmieri notched his third marker – the game’s fifth tying goal – with 7.4 seconds remaining in regulation to send the contest to overtime. Tyler Johnson (1-2—3) then scored 1:16 into the extra frame as Tampa Bay rallied past New Jersey in the highest-scoring game of the season so far.



* The Lightning, who matched a season high with seven goals (also 7-3 W on Oct. 10 at TOR), recorded the 12th multi-goal third-period comeback win of 2019-20 – with the Panthers also achieving the feat Wednesday. The 13 multi-goal third-period comeback wins so far in 2019-20 are the most through the first 193 games in a season in NHL history.

* Wednesday marked the eighth regular-season game to feature at least five tying goals since the start of 2018-19, including the second of 2019-20 (also EDM vs. LAK on Oct. 5). There were nine such contests from 2011-12 to 2017-18 – a span of seven seasons.

DRAISAITL, NEAL JOIN RARE COMPANY WITH 23 COMBINED GOALS IN OCTOBER
Leon Draisaitl (2-1—3) and James Neal (1-0—1) each scored at least once to help the Oilers defeat the Blue Jackets in their final game of October and improve to 9-4-1 (19 points) this season. Draisaitl (12-13—25 in 14 GP) and Neal (11-2—13 in 14 GP) became the fourth and fifth different players in franchise history to score 11 or more goals in a single month of October and first since Wayne Gretzky in 1986 (11-22—33 in 12 GP).



* Draisaitl and Neal became the fourth set of teammates in NHL history to each score 11 or more goals in an October. Aside from Edmonton’s Gretzky (13-14—27 in 13 GP) and Mark Messier (11-6—17 in 13 GP) in 1981 noted above, the only others are Quebec’s Peter Stastny (13-8—21 in 11 GP) and Michel Goulet (11-7—18 in 11 GP) in 1982 as well as Pittsburgh’s Mario Lemieux (16-20—36 in 11 GP) and Kevin Stevens (12-17—29 in 11 GP) in 1992.

* Draisaitl and Neal became the first set of Oilers teammates with 11 or more goals in any calendar month since March 1988, when the trio of Craig Simpson (12-9—21 in 14 GP), Glenn Anderson (11-8—19 in 14 GP) and Jari Kurri (11-4—15 in 14 GP) combined for the feat.

* The Oilers will conclude the month occupying first place in the Pacific Division standings. Edmonton is set to lead its division through games played Oct. 31 for the fourth time in the last 20 years (since 1999-00); the three other instances in that span were when the Oilers sat atop the Northwest Division in 2001-02 (9-4-1, 19 points) and 2011-12 (7-2-2, 16 points) and paced the Pacific Division in 2016-17 (7-2-0, 14 points).

22-YEAR-OLD BOESER SCORES THIRD CAREER HAT TRICK . . .
Brock Boeser (3-1—4) and Elias Pettersson (1-3—4) each registered four points as the Canucks extended their point streak to five games (4-0-1), outscoring opponents 25-15 in those contests. Boeser, 22, scored the third hat trick of his NHL career (also 3-1—4 on Nov. 4, 2017 vs. PIT and 3-0—3 on Dec. 9, 2018 at STL) and became the fifth player in franchise history with three or more three-goal performances prior to turning 23.



. . . AS 32-YEAR-OLD KOPITAR ECLIPSES 900-POINT MILESTONE
Skating across from Boeser was 32-year-old Kings captain Anze Kopitar, who collected two assists to record his 900th and 901st career regular-season points (316-585—901 in 1,016 GP). He became the fifth player in franchise history to reach the 900-point milestone.



CANADIENS SCORE EARLY GOALS TO OPEN ALL THREE PERIODS
Brendan Gallagher opened the scoring 22 seconds into the 500th regular-season game of his NHL career, Shea Weber (1-1—2) tallied 24 seconds into the second period and Nick Cousins struck 77 seconds into the final frame as the Canadiens improved to 3-1-2 (8 points) as visitors this season.

* Wednesday marked the fourth time in franchise history in which Montreal scored at least one goal in the opening 90 seconds of all three regulation periods in a game. The other instances were Dec. 24, 1919 (12-5 W at QBD), March 10, 1962 (5-2 W vs. BOS) and March 20, 2011 (8-1 W at MIN).

MacKINNON EXTENDS SEASON-OPENING POINT STREAK TO 12 GAMES
Avalanche forward Nathan MacKinnon collected 1-1—2 to extend his season-opening point streak to 12 games (7-10—17). He became the fifth player in the last 20 years and second in as many campaigns to record a season-opening point streak of 12 or more games.



* MacKinnon matched the fourth-longest season-opening point streak in Avalanche/Nordiques franchise history, a mark held by Quebec’s Joe Sakic from Oct. 6-29, 1988 (10-7—17 in 12 GP).

* MacKinnon’s run is two games shy of his longest career point streak at any point in a season, set from Feb. 24 – March 22, 2018 (13-14—27 in 14 GP).

ICYMI: The NHL and NHLPA have partnered with Bauer Hockey’s First Shift. The new partnership aims to continue growing hockey at the grassroots level.

QUICK CLICKS

* Jim Gregory was like a second father to Borje Salming

* Jim Gregory made an impression on Dave Keon from a young age

* Jim Gregory lauded, remembered by Gary Bettman, NHL luminaries

* Jackie Redmond’s Puck Culture podcast to take fans on and off the ice
* Ryan O'Reilly takes out teeth while 'doing that hockey' with Lazlo Holmes

PREVIEW OF TODAY’S ACTION

thanks to the NHL PR department for the information above