* The reigning Stanley Cup-champion Golden Knights halted the Oilers’ winning streak at 16 games, becoming the first team to earn a victory against Edmonton in 2024.
* Two pieces of a blockbuster trade that kicked off 2024 NHL All-Star Weekend both made impacts Tuesday as Elias Lindholm tallied twice to help the Canucks extend their point streak to a dozen games and Andrei Kuzmenko scored the fifth-fastest goal by a player in their debut with the Flames as his new club inched closer to a Wild Card spot.
* Three national broadcasts make up Wednesday’s slate, starting with a doubleheader on TNT and Max in the U.S. with the Lightning visiting the Rangers and the Blackhawks welcoming the Wild, as well as the Maple Leafs and Stars going head-to-head across Canada on Sportsnet and TVA Sports.
Kukla's Korner Hockey
NHL Short Notes
THE STREAK STOPS ON THE STRIP
Connor McDavid opened the scoring shorthanded to give the Oilers an early lead in their pursuit of a record-tying victory, but it was Nicolas Roy, Chandler Stephenson and William Karlsson who scored the next three goals to help the reigning Stanley Cup champions snap Edmonton’s winning streak at 16 games. The Golden Knights became the first team to earn a win against the Oilers since the Islanders on Dec. 19, 2023 – 49 days ago.
* Stephenson’s goal in the third period gave Vegas the lead and proved to be the decisive marker. His 19 career game winners with Vegas are now tied for the third most in franchise history, behind only Jonathan Marchessault (29) and Max Pacioretty (20).
LINDHOLM MAKES IMMEDIATE IMPACT AS CANUCKS KEEP STREAKING
Elias Lindholm made an immediate impact in his Vancouver debut after being acquired by the club a day before 2024 NHL All-Star Weekend and produced a multi-goal outing to help the League-leading Canucks (34-11-5, 73 points) extend their point streak to 12 games (10-0-2 dating to Jan. 6). Thatcher Demko (22 saves), who also stopped all 12 shots he faced in the third period to preserve a one-goal lead, extended his winning streak to nine games and tied Dan Cloutier (9-0-0 in 2002-03) for the longest run in franchise history.
* Lindholm, who recorded 17 multi-goal outings as a member of the Flames, became the fifth player in Canucks history to score multiple times in his debut with the Canucks, joining Greg Adams (4 on Oct. 8, 1987), Esa Tikkanen (2 on Jan. 3, 1996), Thomas Gradin (2 on Oct. 11, 1978) and Claire Alexander (2 on Jan. 28, 1978).
* Quinn Hughes (0-2—2) factored on two goals to improve his season totals to 12-52—64 (50 GP) – he currently sits third across the League in assists, behind Nathan MacKinnon and Nikita Kucherov (both w/ 53). He also extended his multi-assist streak to three games, which trails Henrik Sedin (6 GP in 2009-10) for the longest run by a Canucks player in franchise history.
PENGUINS, FLAMES CONTINUE THEIR PUSH FOR A WILD CARD SEED
The Penguins (23-17-7, 53 points) and Flames (23-22-5, 51 points) both continued their push for a Wild Card spot with wins. Pittsburgh now sits five points shy of Detroit (26-18-6, 58 points), which holds the second Wild Card seed in the Eastern Conference, with three games in hand while Calgary moved within three points of St. Louis (26-21-2, 54 points) – but has played one more contest – for that positioning in the West.
* Kris Letang scored the game-winning goal and Tristan Jarry made 23 saves in a perfect performance to help Pittsburgh improve its home point streak to five games (3-0-2 dating to Jan. 11). Jarry recorded his 19th career shutout, the third most in franchise, and the sixth of 2023-24, the most among all goaltenders. His six shutouts this season now lead the NHL and tied Johan Hedberg (6 in 2001-02) and Les Binkley (6 in 1967-68) for the third most in a campaign in Penguins history, trailing Marc-Andre Fleury (10 in 2014-15) and Tom Barrasso (7 in 1997-98).
* Andrei Kuzmenko needed just 4:20 to open the scoring in his first game in a Flames sweater, while Jonathan Huberdeau (1-2—3) and Nazem Kadri (0-3—3) led the contest in points to help Calgary collect two crucial points. Huberdeau and Kadri became the third pair of Flames players to record three points in the same game this season after Andrew Mangiapane and Elias Lindholm on Oct. 11, 2023 as well as Yegor Sharangovich and Blake Coleman on Jan. 11.
ROOKIES CONTINUE TO SHINE IN ROLES FOR STADIUM SERIES ADVERSARIES
Flyers rookie Samuel Ersson (20 saves) and Devils rookie defenseman Simon Nemec (0-1—1) each played a part in guiding Philadelphia (26-19-6, 58 points) and New Jersey (25-20-3, 53 points) to tightly-contested victories ahead of going head-to-head at MetLife Stadium on Feb. 17 for the 2024 Navy Federal Credit Union NHL Stadium Series (8 p.m. ET on ABC, ESPN+, SN360, TVAS2).
* Ersson improved to 13-9-3 in 2023-24 (2.53 GAA, .900 SV%, 3 SO), two more wins than the next closest rookie goaltender (Pyotr Kochetkov: 11 w/ CAR). The 24-year-old netminder, who also sits atop the rookie lead (min. 5 GP) in goals-against average (1st) and save percentage (5th), currently holds the fifth-lowest goals against average by a Flyers rookie in a single season (min. 25 GP) and lowest since Brian Boucher (1.91 in 1999-00).
* Nemec assisted on one of five Devils goals to boost his career totals 2-12—14 (27 GP). He is one of five teenage defensemen in franchise history with at least a dozen career helpers joining Scott Niedermayer (30), Craig Wolanin (22), Adam Larsson (16) and Joe Cirella (13). Nemec’s 12 assists since debuting on Dec. 1, 2023 are the second most among all rookies and trails only Minnesota’s Brock Faber (3-18—21 in 3 GP).
PAVELSKI REACHING 1,300-GAME MILESTONE FEATURED IN LIVE UPDATES
The Tuesday edition of #NHLStats: Live Updates featured more notes from the eight-game slate, including Joe Pavelski helping the Stars defeat the Sabres while appearing in his 1,300th game. Dallas (31-13-6, 68 points), which skated to its fourth straight victory, moved ahead of Colorado (32-15-4, 68 points) for first place in the Central Division.
QUICK CLICKS
* Bruins sport PWHL Boston apparel during arrivals for Women in Sports Night
* Pierre-Olivier Joseph honored to be part of Penguins Black Hockey History game
* Nick Suzuki, Juraj Slafkovsky each score twice in Canadiens win
* Jack Hughes could be back for Devils this week after returning to practice
* Women in Hockey: Barbara Underhill
THREE-GAME SLATE SET FOR WEDNESDAY
A doubleheader broadcast nationally on TNT and Max in the U.S. and TVA Sports in Canada begins with the Lightning (27-18-5, 59 points) battling the Rangers (31-16-3, 65 points) before closing with the Blackhawks (14-34-2, 30 points) hosting the Wild (21-23-5, 47 points) at United Center. Meanwhile, the Maple Leafs (25-15-8, points) will go head-to-head with the Stars (30-13-6, 66 points) on Sportsnet.
* The Rangers (6-0-1) enter Wednesday with a seven-game point streak against the Lightning dating to Dec. 31, 2021 – their third-longest active run versus a single opponent behind an 11-game stretch against the Sharks (9-0-2) and nine-game run against the Flyers (8-0-1). Mika Zibanejad (7-4—11 in 7 GP) leads all New York players in points against Tampa Bay over that span.
* The Wild have won each of their past 10 games against the Blackhawks dating to Feb. 4, 2020 and will look to extend their streak Wednesday. Minnesota is one of six teams with an active double-digit win streak versus a single opponent. The others: Boston (13-0-0 vs. SJS), Nashville (10-0-0 vs. NYI), Florida (10-0-0 vs. SJS), Colorado (10-0-0 vs. DET) and Chicago (10-0-0 vs. OTT).
Thanks to the NHL PR department for the information above.
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