2021-22 “ROCKET” RACE HIGHLIGHTED THURSDAY SLATE

Edmonton’s Leon Draisaitl (2-0—2), Toronto’s Auston Matthews (1-1—2) and Chicago’s Alex DeBrincat (1-0—1) each found the back of the net Thursday to continue their pursuit of the NHL’s 2021-22 Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy.



* Draisaitl scored two of Edmonton’s seven goals to help Jay Woodcroft improve to 4-0-0 as a head coach to start his career and retook sole possession of the goals lead after Matthews moved into a tie earlier in the evening. Draisaitl, who can become the first Oilers player to claim the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy since its inception in 1998-99, can also become the first Edmonton skater to lead the NHL in goals since Wayne Gretzky in 1986-87.

* Matthews scored one of four Toronto goals to lift the Maple Leafs (32-12-3, 67 point) to their seventh straight home win. After claiming the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy in 2020-21, Matthews can become the first Maple Leafs player to lead the League in goals in consecutive seasons (tied/outright) since Charlie Conacher (3 from 1933-34 – 1935-36).

* DeBrincat, with goals in two of his past three games, can become the first Chicago skater to secure the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy. Only one Blackhawks player in the NHL’s expansion era (since 1967-68) has concluded a campaign with the most goals among all skaters: Bobby Hull (1967-68 & 1968-69).

LAINE CONTINUES TORRID PACE AND SCORES FIRST HAT TRICK WITH BLUE JACKETS
Patrik Laine (3-0—3) scored three of seven Blue Jackets goals – including one tally nine seconds into the second period – and recorded his first hat trick in a Columbus uniform. Laine, who owns an eight-game point streak for the third time in his career (15 GP in 2017-18 & 8 GP in 2017-18), has collected an NHL-best 10 goals since his streak began on Jan. 27.



* Thursday marked Laine’s ninth career hat trick and first since Feb. 8, 2020. Since he entered the League in 2016-17, only three players have notched more performances of three-plus goals: Alex Ovechkin (13), David Pastrnak (11) and Connor McDavid (10).

CAUFIELD’S LATE GAME-TYING GOAL FEATURED IN #NHLSTATS: LIVE UPDATES
Cole Caufield scored with 10 seconds remaining in regulation to pull the Canadiens even – Montreal’s latest game-tying goal since David Desharnais (59:59) on March 15, 2014 – before tallying the overtime winner to help Martin St. Louis earn his first win as head coach.

* Click here to read more #NHLStats: Live Updates from a busy 10-game Thursday.



BLACK HOCKEY HISTORY SPOTLIGHT: KEVIN WEEKES

Kevin Weekes was selected 41st overall by the Panthers in the 1993 NHL Draft and appeared in over 300 games as an NHL goaltender with stops in Florida, Vancouver, NY Islanders, Tampa Bay, Carolina, NY Rangers and New Jersey.

* Soon after his retirement, Weekes became the first-ever Black hockey broadcaster when he appeared on Hockey Night in Canada in 2009, marking the beginning of his remarkable broadcasting career. Today, Weekes can be found on ESPN, NHL Network and is also a weekly contributor to NHL.com.

QUICK CLICKS

* VIDEO: Willie O’Ree on The Daily Show with Trevor Noah

* #NHLStats Pack: 2022 Navy Federal Credit Union NHL Stadium Series

* NHL announces free fan festival before Stadium Series

* Predators’ John Hynes fined $25,000
* Sabres, Maple Leafs unveil Heritage Classic jerseys

PANTHERS EYE 200TH GOAL OF 2021-22
The Panthers (33-10-5, 71 points) eye their 200th goal of the 2021-22 campaign (197 GF in 48 GP, including shootout-deciding goals) when they clash with the Wild (30-12-3, 63 points) on HULU and ESPN+. Only one team in the past 25 years has reached the mark in a single season in 49 or fewer games: Ottawa (48 in 2005-06).