NHL Short Notes

* Oilers captain Connor McDavid and Penguins defenseman Erik Karlsson each joined elite lists Saturday, with the former skating in his 600th career game and the latter collecting his 600th career assist.

* Artemi Panarin netted three goals to help the Rangers become the first team to reach the 50-point mark in 2023-24. With every hat trick this season, AstraZeneca donates $5,000 to the Hockey Fights Cancer Fund of the V Foundation up to $500,000. Click here for more information.

* The Golden Knights and Kraken are set to practice outdoors on Sunday at T-Mobile Park in Seattle ahead of the 2024 Discover NHL Winter Classic on New Year’s Day.

McDAVID, KARLSSON EACH REACH 600 MILESTONE

Six-hundred was the magic number for a pair of skaters Saturday as Edmonton’s Connor McDavid skated in his 600th career game and Pittsburgh’s Erik Karlsson notched his 600th career assist.

* McDavid (1-1—2) put up a multi-point performance in an Oilers victory to boost his career totals to 316-581—897 and joined several elite lists in his 600th career game. The Edmonton captain surpassed Peter Stastny (580) for sole possession of the fourth-most assists in NHL history through 600 career contests – behind Wayne Gretzky (925), Mario Lemieux (721) and Bobby Orr (591) – and ranks fifth in points through as many outings.

* Karlsson (184-600—784 in 954 GP) became the 10th Swedish-born player in NHL history to reach the 600-assist mark and just the third defenseman among that cohort to achieve the feat, joining Nicklas Lidstrom (264-878—1,142 in 1,564 GP) and Borje Salming (150-637—787 in 1,148 GP). The only other active blueliner that has as many assists as Karlsson is his former teammate Brent Burns (251-606—857 in 1,370 GP).

METROPOLITAN-DIVISION LEADING CLUBS PICK UP WINS
The top two teams in the Metropolitan Division benefited from a pair of three-point performances as the Rangers (25-9-1, 51 points) and Hurricanes (20-13-4, 44 points) skated to road victories thanks to Artemi Panarin (3-0—3) and Sebastian Aho (1-2—3).

* Panarin scored three of his team’s five goals – his third hat trick of 2023 – to help the Rangers defeat the Lightning (17-15-5, 39 points) and become the first team to reach 50 points this season. The 2023-24 campaign marks the fifth time in franchise history the club has reached the mark in 35 or fewer games, following 1971-72 (33 GP), 1970-71 (34 GP), 1993-94 (35 GP) and 1939-40 (35 GP).

* Aho posted his third consecutive game with at least three points following a pair of four-point outings (0-4—4 on Dec. 28 & 1-3—4 on Dec. 27). His stretch, which helped the No. 35 pick in the 2015 NHL Draft reach the 500-point milestone (233-277—510 in 554 GP), also saw him join Eric Staal (3 GP in 2005-06), Andrew Cassels (3 GP in 1992-93) and Mike Rogers (3 GP in 1979-80) as the fourth player in Hurricanes/Whalers history to register three consecutive three-point games.

* Aho has scored a team-leading 40 goals this calendar year – 18 more than the next closest skaters (Martin Necas & Teuvo Teravainen: both w/ 22) – doing so a year after Andrei Svechnikov hit the same mark in 2022 (40-39—79 in 87 GP). The Hurricanes/Whalers franchise has featured consecutive calendar years with a 40-goal scorer just two other times: 1989-90 as well as 1980, 1981, 1982 and 1983.

CROSBY, OVECHKIN SCORE ON THE SAME DAY FOR 116TH TIME
Penguins captain Sidney Crosby (1-0—1) and Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin (1-0—1) both netted third period goals as their clubs collected crucial points to climb the Eastern Conference standings.

* Crosby scored his 20th goal of 2023-24 and became just the second active player to reach the mark in 16 straight seasons as Pittsburgh (17-13-4,38 points) earned a victory Saturday. The Penguins captain also became the fourth player selected first overall in an NHL Draft to record 16 or more campaigns with at least that many goals, joining Ovechkin (18), Mats Sundin (17) and Mike Modano (16).

* Ovechkin helped the Capitals (17-11-6, 40 points) salvage a point by scoring his 143rd career game-tying goal - extending his mark for most in NHL history (four more than Wayne Gretzky). His tally also marked his first against Predators rookie Yaroslav Askarov, who became the 171st goaltender the Capitals captain has scored against in his career; the only players in NHL history with as many are Jaromir Jagr (178) and Patrick Marleau (177).

GOLDEN KNIGHTS, KRAKEN READY FOR OUTDOOR PRACTICES SUNDAY
The Golden Knights and Kraken are set to practice outdoors on Sunday at T-Mobile Park in Seattle ahead of the New Year’s Day tradition that is the 2024 Discover NHL Winter Classic (Jan. 1 at 3 p.m. ET / 12 p.m. PT on TNT, MAX, SN, TVAS). The outdoor practices for both teams will be streamed live on YouTube starting with Vegas at 9 a.m. PT (at this link) followed by Seattle at 11 a.m. PT (at this link).

* The contest that will feature the NHL’s two newest franchises has already sent a buzz around the city of Seattle, with the Kraken set to participate in their first outdoor game and the Golden Knights set for their second after the 2021 NHL Outdoors at Lake Tahoe opener less than three years ago. For more #NHLStats leading into the game, read the #NHLStats Pack: 2024 Discover NHL Winter Classic.

* The Enterprise NHL Fan Village is also set to open on Sunday at the Lumen Field North Parking Lot at the conclusion of the Seattle Seahawks game (approx. 4:30 p.m. PT) until 8 p.m. PT. The free fan festival that includes the United By Hockey Mobile Museum, family-friendly interactives and experiences, giveaways and the Stanley Cup, will also be open before and after the game Jan. 1. Click here for more information.

* As a legacy to the 2024 Discover NHL Winter Classic, the NHL, Kraken, One Roof Foundation and Virginia Mason Franciscan Health donated $225,000 to refurbish an outdoor play space in conjunction with Metro Parks Tacoma. The refurbished outdoor play space will begin with NHL STREET clinics – the League’s new era in street and ball hockey programming focused on increasing opportunities for boys and girls to play hockey. Click here for more information.

QUICK CLICKS

* #NHLStats: Live Updates - Saturday, Dec. 30
* Top NHL.com Short Shift stories for 2023
* Eddie, Nick Olczyk to have ‘dream come true’ at Winter Classic
* Aquaman star Jason Momoa shares his hockey favorites
* Winter Classic blog: Vince Dunn

NHL SAYS SO LONG TO 2023 WITH NINE-GAME SLATE
After a memorable 2023 the NHL will close the calendar year with a bang and a nine-game slate on Sunday ahead of Monday’s 2024 Discover NHL Winter Classic between the Golden Knights and Kraken at T-Mobile Park in Seattle. Sunday’s schedule includes a pair of games broadcast nationally in Canada: Boston at Detroit (Sportsnet, TVA Sports) and Edmonton at Anaheim (Sportsnet).

FIVE THINGS TO KNOW AHEAD OF SUNDAY’S GAMES

* Steven Stamkos (1,037 GP) is set to take sole possession of the most games played in Lightning history, after matching Vincent Lecavalier (1,037 GP) atop the list on Saturday. Stamkos already tops Tampa Bay’s all-time list for goals and points.

* Nathan MacKinnon, who leads all players with 11-16—27 (14 GP) during the month of December, sits one point shy of matching Peter Stastny (February 1981: 12-16—28 in 12 GP) for the most points in a calendar month in Avalanche/Nordiques history. With a three-point outing, MacKinnon could join Connor McDavid (December 2022), Steven Stamkos (April 2022) and Nikita Kucherov (April 2022 & December 2018) as the only active players who have posted a 30-point month.

* The Bruins enter action Sunday with a 10-5-3 road record in 2023-24, but look for just their second win in Detroit since the 2018-19 campaign (1-6-1 in 8 GP). Overall, Boston owns a regular-season road record of 31-9-4 in 2023 and can surpass the Blackhawks (31-9-4 on road in 2013) for the most such victories in a calendar year.

* Marc-Andre Fleury (550-320-75 in 999 GP) is expected to join Martin Brodeur (1,266 GP), Roberto Luongo (1,044 GP) and Patrick Roy (1,029 GP) as the fourth goaltender in NHL history to appear in 1,000 games. Of the four, Fleury would conclude the contest with the second-most wins at the time of the milestone outing (Brodeur: 557, Roy: 529 & Luongo: 471).

* Connor Bedard (15-17—32 in 35 GP) will contest his final game of 2023 and will do so with a point-per-game pace for the second time in as many months (November: 6-6—12 in 12 GP & December: 5-9—14 in 14 GP). Despite having played only 35 outings in his career to date, the No. 1 pick in the 2023 NHL Draft is already one of select 18-year-olds in NHL history with 15 or more goals in a single calendar year.

Thanks to the NHL PR department for the information above.

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