VASILEVSKIY BLANKS AVALANCHE IN REMATCH OF 2022 STANLEY CUP FINAL
In their first meeting since the 2022 Stanley Cup Final, Brandon Hagel scored two of his team’s five goals while Andrei Vasilevskiy turned aside all 30 shots to help the Lightning (33-16-2, 68 points) blank the reigning-champion Avalanche and move within two points of the idle Maple Leafs (31-13-8, 70 points), who are in action Friday, for second place in the Atlantic Division.

* Tampa Bay extended its home point streak to 14 games and established a franchise record in the process, eclipsing its previous best of 13 contests (Jan. 3 – March 12, 2004 & Dec. 17, 2019 – Feb. 15, 2020).

* The Lightning became the fourth Stanley Cup finalist in NHL history to win their first game of a Final rematch by a margin of five or more goals, joining the Rangers (7-1 W vs. BOS on Oct. 18, 1972), Blackhawks (7-2 W vs. PIT on Nov. 8, 1992) and Maple Leafs (5-0 W vs. BOS on Nov. 4, 1939).

* Vasilevskiy improved to 11-0-0 at AMALIE Arena dating to Dec. 10 and became just the second goaltender in NHL history to post multiple home win streaks of 11 games (also 14 GP in 2020-21), joining Ken Dryden (12 GP in 1978-79 & 11 GP in 1976-77).

A PAIR OF PACIFIC DIVISION TEAMS PICK UP TWO POINTS THURSDAYThe Golden Knights and Canucks each had five different goal scorers in 5-1 and 6-5 victories, respectively, Thursday night:

* Reilly Smith notched Vegas’ second penalty-shot goal of 2022-23 and Jack Eichel (1-1—2) recorded his team-leading 11th multi-point performance of the season to help the Golden Knights skate to their second straight 5-1 win. Vegas improved to 31-18-4 (66 points) to maintain its three-point lead atop the Pacific Division while leapfrogging idle Winnipeg (32-19-1, 65 points) for second place in the Western Conference behind only Dallas (30-13-10, 70 points).

* A back-and-forth affair between Vancouver and New York concluded with the Canucks claiming victory in the first game against the Islanders since their trade on Jan. 30, which saw Bo Horvat (1-1—2) and Anthony Beauvillier (1-0—1) switch teams. Both forwards found the back of the net against their former club – with Horvat joining a rare list of former captains in the process – but it was Elias Pettersson (2-1—3) who scored the game winner with his second goal of the night to secure the comeback win for Vancouver.

DEFENSEMEN LEAD THE WAY FOR THE DEVILSDougie Hamilton (2-0—2) and John Marino (1-0—1) accounted for all of their team’s goals Thursday, helping the Devils (34-13-4, 72 points) move within four points of the idle Hurricanes (34-9-8, 76 points) for top spot in the Metropolitan Division. New Jersey defensemen have accounted for 32 goals this season, tied with Florida for the second most among all teams behind only Carolina (34).

* Hamilton (15-36—51 in 51 GP), who became the first Devils defenseman to record 50 points in a season since Brian Rafalski (55) in 2006-07, recorded his 16th multi-point game of the 2022-23 campaign. The only blueliner in franchise history with more in a season is Scott Stevens (17 GP in 1993-94 & 1991-92).

FLEURY CLIMBS ALL-TIME LIST IN #NHLSTATS: LIVE UPDATESMarc-Andre Fleury earned a spotlight in the latest edition of #NHLStats: Live Updates as he appeared in his 972nd career contest and surpassed Terry Sawchuk for sole possession of fourth place on the NHL's all-time games played list behind a trio of Hall of Famers. The Wild goaltender is just 28 appearances shy of becoming the fourth netminder to skate in 1,000 contests while his 536 wins are also the third most in League history.

TARASENKO HEADS TO BIG APPLE AS TRADE WINDS KICK UP

After parts of 11 seasons with the Blues, Vladimir Tarasenko is now a member of the Rangers following a deal that involved four players and two conditional draft picks. It was the fifth trade since the holiday roster freeze was lifted in December, with details included in the 2022-23 NHL Trade Tracker presented by OFX.

* The weeks leading up to the NHL Trade Deadline have seen plenty of activity in recent years, with 20-plus trades during the four-week window leading up to deadline day in eight of the past 10 years (from 2012-13 to 2021-22).

* One notable member of the 400-plus players traded within that four-week pre-deadline window over the past 10 seasons is Derick Brassard, who was acquired by the Penguins on Feb. 23, 2018 (3 days before the 2017-18 deadline) and then by the Panthers on Feb. 1, 2019 (24 days before the 2018-19 deadline).

* Brassard, who is now nine games shy of 1,000 in his career and back with the Senators, also has been traded on three different deadline days – one of two active players dealt as many times on that day (also Vladislav Namestnikov of TBL, 3x). The most years traded on deadline day is four, by AlanMay.

* The #NHLStats Pack for the 2022-23 NHL Trade Deadline presented by OFX is now available, with exactly three weeks to go before this season’s deadline (3 p.m. ET on March 3).

WARD, WADDELL SHARE EXCITEMENT AHEAD OF STADIUM SERIES
Stanley Cup-winning goaltender Cam Ward and Hurricanes general manager Don Waddell have each toured Carter-Finley Stadium recently as it prepares for the 2023 Navy Federal Credit Union NHL Stadium Series on Saturday, Feb. 18 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC, ESPN+, SN360 and TVA Sports 2.

* The Truly Hard Seltzer NHL PreGame, the event’s official fan festival, will entertain guests of all ages at PNC Arena’s East 1000 Parking Lot in Raleigh with dynamic activities from 2 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. ET. The attractions include the Stanley Cup, United by Hockey Mobile Museum and musical performances from the NC State Marching Band and Justin Trawick & The Common Good.

QUICK CLICKS

* Bruce Boudreau returns as NHL Network analyst

* Blues trade Vladimir Tarasenko to the Rangers

* Dylan Cozens agrees to 7-year, $49.7 million contract with Sabres

* Avalanche 2022 Stanley Cup film now streaming on ESPN+

* Connor McDavid extends road point streak to 16 games

CHYTIL AIMS TO EXTEND GOAL STREAK ON FOUR-GAME FRIDAY

The Kraken (29-17-5, 63 points) will aim to close the gap on the No. 1 team in the Pacific Division, the idle Golden Knights (31-18-4, 66 points), when they visit Filip Chytil and the Rangers (29-14-8, 66 points) at Madison Square Garden. Chytil can become the seventh different Rangers player in the past 30 years to record a goal streak of six-plus games should he find the back of the net Friday.

Thanks to the NHL PR department for the information above.