ANDERSON EARNS 300TH WIN AHEAD OF 2022 TIM HORTONS NHL HERITAGE CLASSIC
Craig Anderson (30 saves) celebrated his 300th career victory in front of an emotional crowd at KeyBank Center while Peyton Krebs (1-0—1) and Alex Tuch (1-0—1) – both acquired in the Jack Eichel trade earlier this season – each scored against their former team to help the Sabres skate into Sunday’s 2022 Tim Hortons NHL Heritage Classic on a winning note.

* Anderson (300-260-69) became the fifth active goaltender to reach the 300-win milestone, joining Marc-Andre Fleury (510), Carey Price (360), Jonathan Quick (351) and Sergei Bobrovsky (327).



* Anderson, who won the 2014 Heritage Classic at BC Place (29 saves w/ OTT) and NHL100 Classic at Lansdowne Park (28 saves w/ OTT), will look to improve to 3-0-0 in outdoor games should he suit up for the Sabres on Sunday – only Henrik Lundqvist (4-0-0) has more career outdoor wins among all goaltenders.

* Tuch, who scored in his first contest against the Golden Knights since the trade, boosted his totals to 8-16—24 (27 GP) since making his Sabres debut on Dec. 29, 2021 – tied for the team lead in points over that span with Jeff Skinner (14-10—24 in 27 GP) and Tage Thompson (13-11—24 in 25 GP). Tuch is the only current Buffalo skater to have scored outdoors (1-0—1 w/ VGK; NHL Outdoors Game on Lake Tahoe) and is poised to become the first player to skate in an outdoor game for different teams in consecutive seasons.

DIVISION LEADERS LEAVE THEIR MARK ON THURSDAY SLATE
The Pacific Division-leading Flames (35-15-7, 77 points), Metropolitan Division-leading Hurricanes (40-12-5, 85 points) and Atlantic Division-leading Panthers (40-13-5, 85 points) each picked up victories Thursday, with Carolina and Florida securing their 40th win of the season.

* Johnny Gaudreau (3-0—3) became the second Flames player to record a hat trick this season – the sixth of his career – to help Calgary open a five-point lead on Los Angeles (32-19-8, 72 points) for top spot in the Pacific Division. Gaudreau (26-51—77 in 57 GP) moved past Auston Matthews (44-32—76 in 55 GP) for fourth place in NHL scoring. The 2021-22 campaign could finish as the second in as many seasons and sixth in the expansion era (since 1967-68) to feature at least four of the top five point scorers from a Canadian team (also 2001-02, 1987-88, 1984-85 & 1983-84).

* The Hurricanes, who stayed true to form as the NHL’s best defensive team in 2021-22 (2.35 goals against per game), became the first club to shut out the NHL-leading Avalanche (41-13-5, 87 points) in over a year thanks to a 36-save performance from goaltender Antti Raanta. Colorado was last held scoreless on Feb. 22, 2021 by Vegas. With the victory, Carolina extended its home point streak to 12 games (11-0-1) – the second-longest run in franchise history behind a 15-game point streak in 2005-06 (14-0-1).

* Sam Reinhart recorded his second career hat trick, while Jonathan Huberdeau and Aaron Ekblad had four assists apiece, with Huberdeau (18-64—82 in 58 GP) reaching 82 points on the campaign to leapfrog Oilers captain Connor McDavid (30-51—81 in 57 GP) for the lead in the tightly-contested Art Ross Trophy race. Huberdeau also established a franchise record for most assists in a season, eclipsing the mark he set in 2018-19 (30-62—92 in 82 GP).



HIGH-SCORING COYOTES WITHSTAND MAPLE LEAFS RALLY
After the Maple Leafs tallied three third-period goals to erase a 4-1 deficit, Jakob Chychrun (2-0—2) scored in overtime to lift the Coyotes to their fourth straight win. After an eight- and nine-goal showing in its past two outings, Arizona became the first team since the Avalanche (22 from Dec. 5-9, 1995) to score at least 22 times over a three-game span.

* The Coyotes, 9-0-2 in their past 11 road games against the Maple Leafs, saw their streak of consecutive periods with multiple goals end in the final frame. They became the fourth team in the past 30 years to have a stretch of at least eight consecutive multi-goal periods, joining the Sabres (10 from Feb. 17-24, 1989), Penguins (9 from March 14-21, 1993) and Red Wings (8 from Nov. 20-25, 1992).

* Chychrun, who spent his U16 season playing with the Toronto Jr. Canadiens of the Greater Toronto Hockey League in 2013-14 (16-27—43 in 29 GP), became the fourth defenseman in Coyotes/Jets history to score multiple overtime tallies for the franchise. The others: Oliver Ekman-Larsson (7), Jyrki Lumme (2) and Zbynek Michalek (2).

TEAMS KEEP PACE IN TIGHTLY-CONTESTED CENTRAL DIVISION
The second-place Blues (33-17-7, 73 points), third-place Wild (34-19-3, 71 points) and fourth-place Predators (33-20-4, 70 points) each earned wins Thursday to keep pace in the Central Division with the three clubs separated by only three points. Each team plays the other at least two more times in 2021-22.

* Jordan Kyrou (0-2—2) factored on two of six Blues goals and leads the team with 55 points this season (22-33—55). Only three St. Louis skaters in the past 30 years have had more points in a single campaign at age 23 or younger: Vladimir Tarasenko (73 in 2014-15), Jaden Schwartz (63 in 2014-15 & 56 in 2013-14) and Brendan Shanahan (69 in 1991-92).

* Matt Boldy scored twice, including a third-period game-tying goal, to help the Wild erase a multi-goal deficit to win. Boldy now has 11 goals since being called up from the American Hockey League’s Iowa Wild and making his debut on Jan. 6, which trails only Kirill Kaprizov (16) and Kevin Fiala (13) for the most by any Wild player over that span. Only one rookie has more since Boldy’s first NHL game: Michael Bunting (13).



* Filip Forsberg (1-2—3) was one of two players with three points as Nashville earned its fifth win in seven contests. Forsberg’s tally marked his 40th career game-winning goal (all w/ NSH) and sits one shy of David Legwand (41) for the most in Predators history.

#NHLSTATS: LIVE UPDATES: FIRST AUSTRALIAN-BORN PLAYER IN NHL HISTORY
Kings defenseman Jordan Spence made his NHL debut. Spence, who was born in Manly, Australia, has taken an unconventional path to the NHL. He was born in Australia before his family moved to Osaka, Japan soon after where he learned the game of hockey from his Canadian father. When Spence was 13, the family moved to Cornwall, P.E.I., where he flourished in the minor hockey system before joining the QMJHL's Moncton Wildcats. The Kings selected Spence in the fourth round of the 2019 NHL Draft (95th overall).

* This note and more can be found in Thursday’s edition of #NHLStats: Live Updates.

QUICK CLICKS

* Heritage Classic preparation speeds up for Sabres-Maple Leafs on Sunday

* Alex Ovechkin bid to pass Jaromir Jagr on NHL goals list fun for teammates, opponents

* Devils honor Travis Zajac in pregame puck drop ceremony

* Rasmus Ristolainen signs five-year, $25.5 million contract with Flyers

OVECHKIN, CROSBY LOOK TO HIT NOTABLE GOAL-SCORING BENCHMARKS

A four-game Friday could see longtime producers Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby reach notable scoring benchmarks. Ovechkin (766) sits one goal from breaking a tie with Jaromir Jagr (766) to stand alone in third on the NHL’s all-time list, while Crosby sits one tally away from his 14th career 20-goal season – he already has the most in Penguins history and only Ovechkin (17) has more among active skaters.