HOCKEY NIGHT IN CANADA FEATURES HOCKEY FIGHTS CANCER NIGHT IN TORONTO

The busiest Hockey Night in Canada of the season so far will include five games, including a showdown in Toronto between the Sabres and Maple Leafs during one of two Hockey Fights Cancer in-game awareness nights slated for Saturday (the Islanders also are hosting theirs).

* Drafted No. 1 overall two years apart, Maple Leafs forward Auston Matthews (2016) and Sabres defenseman Rasmus Dahlin (2018) will go head-to-head for the 14th time. Matthews has the edge in goals (8), points (15) and wins (8-5-0), though Dahlin has averaged nearly a point-per-game from the blueline (3-9—12; BUF: 5-7-1).

* Sabres forward Tage Thompson enters the game with 4-4—8 in his past five contests. Thompson has a close connection with the Hockey Fights Cancer initiative as his wife, Rachel, remains cancer-free after being diagnosed with chondrosarcoma, a rare type of bone cancer, in 2018. Click here to watch an ESPN feature telling Tage and Rachel’s story.

* Maple Leafs forward William Nylander (6-8—14 in 10 GP) will have another shot at continuing his season-opening point streak, as will Rangers forward Artemi Panarin (5-11—16 in 10 GP) when New York visits Minnesota at 8 p.m. ET. The last time two players had a season-opening point streak of 11-plus games in the same campaign was 2017-18 when Lightning teammates Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov both had 11-game runs. However, it has been more than 30 years since players on different teams each did so.

* Senators forward Josh Norris (58-41—99 in 139 GP) is averaging a point-per-game since returning from a 270-day absence Oct. 18 (4-2—6 in 6 GP) and now sits one point shy of 100 in his NHL career as Ottawa hosts Steven Stamkos and Tampa Bay. A point in his next six games would make Norris the fifth-fastest in franchise history to reach 100 career NHL points; the current top five are Alexei Yashin (107 GP), Daniel Alfredsson (123 GP), Jason Spezza (124 GP), Mark Stone (132 GP) and Tim Stützle (146 GP).

* Canadiens goaltender Jake Allen recently played in his 400th career game, with 289 of those coming as a member of the Blues over the course of his first seven NHL seasons. Allen posted a 148-94-26 record with the Blues and ranks second in franchise history in wins, shutouts and games played among goaltenders. Selected 34th overall by St. Louis in 2008, Allen became the third goaltender from his draft class to reach the milestone, joining Braden Holtby (No. 93 by WSH) and Jacob Markstrom (No. 31 by FLA).

* Selections from the 2017 NHL Draft have paid dividends for both the Canucks and Stars in EliasPettersson (No. 5 by VAN) and Jason Robertson (No. 39 by DAL). Pettersson stands as the draft class leader in goals (141), assists (201) and points (342), while Robertson tops all players picked in 2017 with an average of 1.11 points-per-game.

* Canucks captain Quinn Hughes (1-4—5) had a career-high five points as Vancouver erupted for 10 goals against San Jose on Thursday. Hughes (4-12—16 in 10 GP) can become one of the fastest defensemen in NHL history to reach the 20-point mark in a season.

* Kraken forward Jared McCann has scored in five of his past seven games (5-3—8) and takes a three-game goal streak into Saturday’s contest against the Flames, who will look to halt a 0-6-0 stretch. McCann can match the longest goal streak of his career – he had a four-game run last season, one of five goal streaks of at least that length by a Kraken player.

CROSBY TO PLAY 1,200TH GAME AS KARLSSON RETURNS TO SAN JOSE

Erik Karlsson will return to San Jose for his first game against the Sharks since skating the past five campaigns with the club – capped by a 2022-23 season that saw him become the oldest defenseman in NHL history to record a 100-point season. Karlsson became the sixth different defenseman to record a triple-digit point total in one season, leading to his third Norris Trophy.

* Karlsson led Sharks defensemen in goals (52), assists (191) and points (243) over the course of his 293 regular-season games with the club, including 29-100—129 in 146 games played at SAP Center – a venue that holds memorable moments for now-teammate Sidney Crosby.

* Crosby is set to play in his 1,200th regular-season game at an arena in which he has claimed the Stanley Cup and Conn Smythe Trophy (both in 2016) along with NHL All-Star Game MVP (2019). Crosby (555-957—1,512 in 1,119 GP) will have the seventh-most assists through 1,200 (or fewer) games in NHL history – behind Wayne Gretzky (1,722), Paul Coffey (1,059), Mario Lemieux (1,033 in 915 GP), Adam Oates (1,023), Ron Francis (970) and Marcel Dionne (967) – while his point total will rank even higher.

QUICK CLICKS

* Joe Pavelski turning back clock for Stars with hot start
* Ducks head coach Greg Cronin fined $25,000 for unprofessional conduct

* Flyers' aggressive approach on penalty kill paying off on scoreboard
* Unmasked: Evolution of leg pads has increased performance
* Fantasy spin: NHL EDGE stats this week

PODCAST ROUND UP

* NHL Fantasy on Ice (10/30): Fantasy waiver wire pickups: Week 4

* NHL Fantasy on Ice (10/30): Action Network collab: Ducks, Red Wings early surprises

* NHL Draft Class (11/1): Player to Watch List; Top prospect Artyom Levshunov joins

* La Tasse de Café LNH (11/1): Pierre Dorion relevé de ses fonctions par les Sénateurs

* NHL @TheRink (11/2): Dorion's departure, Rangers surging, Bruins' start, neck guard protection

* The Chirp (11/2): Nick Kypreos joins; Senators fallout, neck protection, B's & Golden Knights

* NHL Fantasy on Ice (11/2): Fantasy mailbag: Week 4; Guest: VSiN's Jonny Lazarus

FRIDAY HIGHLIGHTED BY BELPEDIO BURYING FIRST CAREER NHL GOAL
Friday’s two-game slate was highlighted by Flyers defenseman Louie Belpedio scoring the first goal of his NHL career and Blues forward Kevin Hayes (2-1—3) recording his first two tallies since being traded by Philadelphia to St. Louis on June 27.

* Belpedio (1-2—3 in 9 GP) made his League debut with the Wild on April 7, 2018, and was called up by the Flyers on Oct. 26 after spending most of the last six seasons with the AHL’s Iowa Wild (2018-19–2020-21), Laval Rocket (2021-22) and Lehigh Valley Phantoms (2022-23–2023-24). He became the second player this season to score the first goal of his NHL career over 2,000 days after debuting, following Kings defenseman Andreas Englund (2,523 days between Dec. 3, 2016 & Oct. 31).

* Hayes became the fourth Blues player in the last 10 years to score his first two goals with the franchise in the same contest, following Calle Rosen (2-1—3 on April 17, 2022), Marco Scandella (2-1—3 on Feb. 27, 2021) and Colton Parayko (2-0—2 on Oct. 13, 2015). Click here to read Friday’s edition of #NHLStats: Live Updates, which featured more notes from the two-game slate.

Thanks to the NHL PR department for the information above.