* Auston Matthews scored to keep his 70-goal pace intact and push the Maple Leafs back into third place in the Atlantic Division, while the Red Wings bested the Lightning to move into the first Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference.
* The Rangers roared back from a two-goal deficit in Anaheim with five straight tallies, including four in the final frame, to strengthen their lead atop the Metropolitan Division.
* The Hockey Fights Cancer fund grew again Sunday as Kirill Kaprizov netted a hat trick to help the Wild gain ground in their pursuit of a playoff position. AstraZeneca’s cumulative contribution to the fund so far in 2023-24 is now $295,000. Click here for more information.
* Monday’s six-game schedule features a doubleheader on Sportsnet and TVA Sports, which opens with the Eastern Conference-leading Bruins hosting the Central Division-leading Jets.
Kukla's Korner Hockey
NHL Short Notes
ATLANTIC DIVISION PLAYOFF RACE SHUFFLES AGAIN SUNDAY
Atlantic Division playoff positions continued to shuffle Sunday as the Maple Leafs (23-14-8, 54 points) reclaimed third place after the Red Wings (24-17-5, 53 points) bested the Lightning (24-18-5, 53 points) to move into the first Wild Card spot.
* Auston Matthewsopened the scoring with his League-leading 38th goal of the season to help the Maple Leafs defeat the Kraken. Matthews, who is set to captain one of four teams in the 2024 NHL All-Star Game, is on pace to conclude 2023-24 with 70 goals and can become the first NHL player to do so since 1992-93, when Teemu Selanne and Alexander Mogilny had 76 with the original Jets and Sabres, respectively.
* Dylan Larkin factored on Detroit’s opening goal to improve his season totals to 18-23—41 (40 GP) and match his personal best for points through his first 40 games of a campaign (also 41 in 2021-22). The last Red Wings player to post more points through their first 40 contests in a season was Henrik Zetterberg a decade ago (44 in 2013-14).
RANGERS ROAR BACK IN THE THIRD TO STRENGTHEN LEAD ATOP METRO
After falling into a two-goal deficit in the first period against the Ducks, the Rangers roared back with five unanswered tallies – including four in the final frame – to earn their seventh third-period comeback win of the season, trailing only the Flames, Avalanche and Red Wings for most in the NHL (all w/ 8). New York (29-15-2, 60 points) built a four-point lead over idle Philadelphia (25-16-6, 56 points) atop the Metropolitan Division.
* Adam Fox (0-2—2) recorded his 45th career multi-assist game and moved within one of Brad Park (46) for the second most by a Rangers defenseman before age 26. The list is topped by Brian Leetch (69).
ISLANDERS, WILD CONTINUE TO PURSUE WILD CARD POSITIONS
The Islanders (20-15-11, 51 points) and Wild (20-21-5, 45 points) both picked up wins Sunday as they continued to pursue Wild Card positions:
* Mathew Barzal, who is set to represent New York in the 2024 NHL All-Star Game, and Noah Dobson both put up multi-assist performances to guide their team to an overtime victory in Patrick Roy’s first game as head coach of the Islanders – he became the eighth head coach to earn a win in his debut with the franchise (see full list here). New York kept pace in the Eastern Conference Wild Card race and remains just two points back of the final spot.
* Kirill Kaprizov, who is set to skate in the 2024 NHL All-Star Game, netted his third career regular-season hat trick and Brock Faber extended his point streak to four games as Minnesota moved within six points of Nashville (25-20-1, 51 points) for the final Wild Card position in the Western Conference standings. Faber tied the franchise record for longest point streak by a rookie defenseman, set by Filip Kuba and matched by Willie Mitchell during the Wild’s inaugural season in 2000-01.
TARASENKO TALLYING TIMELY WINNER FEATURED IN #NHLSTATS: LIVE UPDATES
Sunday’s edition of #NHLStats: Live Updates featured more notes from the six-game slate, including Vladimir Tarasenko tallying the winner with 4:53 remaining in regulation as the Senators opened their “Mom’s Trip” with a multi-goal comeback victory.
QUICK CLICKS
* NHL EDGE stats: Colin Miller reaches hardest shot speed in three seasons
* Islanders take responsibility, say Patrick Roy already making impact as new coach
* Bruins ‘having fun,’ learning lessons while climbing back near the top of NHL standings
* Hurricanes celebrate NASCAR day against Wild
* Winner of All-Star Skills debated by NHL.com writers
MONDAY FEATURES TWO OF THIS WEEK’S 27 NATIONAL BROADCASTS
Monday’s six-game slate is highlighted by a doubleheader on Sportsnet and TVA Sports, which opens with the Eastern Conference-leading Bruins (28-8-9, 65 points) hosting the Central Division-leading Jets (30-10-4, 64 points) and closes with the Blackhawks (14-30-2, 30 points) visiting the League-leading Canucks (31-11-4, 66 points).
The week ahead has 25 other national telecasts, highlighted by an NHL on TNT game featuring Boston and a Hockey Night in Canada contest involving Winnipeg:
Wednesday, Jan. 24: Hurricanes at Bruins (7:30 p.m. ET on TNT, MAX)
* The Bruins and Hurricanes open their three-game season series during an NHL on TNT doubleheader that closes in Seattle when the Blackhawks visit the Kraken at 10 p.m. ET (TNT, MAX & SN1). David Pastrnak enters Monday with a seven-game home goal streak, which matches his NHL career high achieved in 2019-20.
Saturday, Jan. 27: Maple Leafs at Jets (7 p.m. ET on SN)
* Winnipeg and Toronto close out a home-and-home set on Hockey Night in Canada after contesting the first half at Scotiabank Arena on Wednesday (7 p.m. ET on SN, TVAS). The Jets enter the week after allowing three goals against or fewer in each of their last 34 games dating to Nov. 4, which is tied with the 1928-29 New York Americans (34 GP) for the third-longest streak in NHL history behind the 1928-29 Bruins (44 GP) and 2014-15 Wild (35 GP).
Thanks to the NHL PR department for the information above.
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