Week 4 NHL Player Gaming Challenge matchups announced

NEW YORK -Three matchups will be featured in Week 4 of the NHL Player Gaming Challenge™ presented by Honda, the NHL announced today. Each NHL Club is represented by one or two current players and will play in a one-time matchup against another Club in an EA SPORTS™ NHL®20 best-of-three series. Matches will be available on NHL platforms:
Twitch
,
YouTube
,

WEEK 4 SCHEDULE

Thursday, May 21 (5 p.m. ET)
MATCH 10 - PHILADELPHIA FLYERS vs. TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS
James van Riemsdyk (PHI) vs. Zach Hyman (TOR)
MATCH 11 - VANCOUVER CANUCKS vs. VEGAS GOLDEN KNIGHTS
Thatcher Demko & Adam Gaudette (VAN) vs. Ryan Reaves & Alex Tuch (VGK)
Saturday, May 23 (3 p.m. ET)
MATCH 12 - MONTREAL CANADIENS vs. ST. LOUIS BLUES
Victor Mete & Nick Suzuki (MTL) vs. Colton Parayko & Robert Thomas (STL)

ICYMI: WEEK 3 REPLAYS

Match 7: Drake Caggiula & Alex DeBrincat (CHI) defeat Michael Amadio & Blake Lizotte (LAK)
Match 8: Madison Bowey (DET) defeats Devan Dubnyk (MIN)
Match 9: Caleb Jones & Darnell Nurse (EDM) defeat Luke Willson (Seattle Seahawks, NFL)
The NHL Player Gaming Challenge™ presented by Honda is a #HockeyAtHome initiative that reminds fans to stay safe, stay home and play together. As the NHL community continues to practice social distancing and take all necessary precautions during this time, the League will continue to help fans stay connected to players and the game by providing access to unique content and archived games. NHL Pause Binge™ aggregates NHL video, editorial and digital content available on NHL.com, the NHL app and across the NHL's social channels. Fans can follow along using #HockeyAtHome.

PHILADELPHIA FLYERS vs. TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS

Thursday, May 21, 5 p.m. ET
Where to Watch:Twitch, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook Premiere

James van Riemsdyk (PHI) vs. Zach Hyman (TOR)
* van Riemsdyk and Hyman were teammates in Toronto for three seasons from 2015-16 to 2017-18. Hyman is in his second 20-goal campaign in as many seasons, while van Riemsdyk is one goal shy of his sixth 20-goal performance in the past seven years.
* Hyman was in seventh grade when he submitted an entry for a short-story competition. He won and his father helped him explore the idea of self-publishing the book, which he eventually did with the title Hockey Hero. It is one of three
children's books Hyman has written and published to date
- the others are The Bambino and Me (2014) and The Magician's Secret (2018).
* Hyman has scored 21 goals in 2019-20 (51 GP) to match a career high set in 2018-19, doing so in 20 fewer games.
* van Riemsdyk became part of NHL history before playing his first game in the League. When he was selected No. 2 by the Flyers in the 2007 NHL Draft, after Chicago picked Patrick Kane at No. 1, it marked the first time that two U.S.-born players were selected in the top two spots.
* After spending his first three NHL seasons with Philadelphia (2009-10-2011-12), van Riemsdyk played the next six campaigns in Toronto (2012-13-2017-18). After rejoining the Flyers for 2018-19, he scored a hat trick against Toronto on March 15, 2019 - the first former Maple Leafs player ever to do that against the club in his first season with a new team.
Additional facts and head-to-head stats can be found
here
.

VANCOUVER CANUCKS vs. VEGAS GOLDEN KNIGHTS

Thursday, May 21, 5 p.m. ET
Where to Watch:Twitch, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook Premiere

Thatcher Demko & Adam Gaudette (VAN) vs. Ryan Reaves & Alex Tuch (VGK)
* Former teammates Demko and Tuch (Boston College: 2014-15 & 2015-16) have squared off in the NHL only once so far, on March 9, 2019. After Tuch registered 1-2-3 to help the Golden Knights build a 5-1 lead, Demko entered the game with 5:43 remaining in the first period and shut down his former teammate the rest of the way - but Vegas emerged with a 6-2 win.
* Tuch recorded a nine-game point streak in 2018-19, the longest ever by a Golden Knights player (3-8-11 from Dec. 27, 2018 to Jan. 12, 2019).
* Earlier this season, Demko became is the first goaltender in Canucks history to win each of his first two NHL games. Demko is the second Vancouver netminder to win his first two career starts - Frank Caprice won each of his first 3 NHL starts in 1983-84 (after making his debut in relief).
* Gaudette (149th overall in 2015) and Reaves (156th overall in 2005) are both were fifth-round picks in the NHL Draft and come from athletic families. Gaudette's brothers, Brady and Cam, are currently playing hockey for the University of Maine and the North American Hockey League's Northeast Generals, respectively. Reaves' father, Willard, spent time as a running back in the NFL (Miami Dolphins & Washington Redskins) and CFL (Winnipeg Blue Bombers); his brother Jordan was a defensive lineman for the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the CFL.
* Reaves' first goal for Vegas was one for the record books. Acquired Feb. 26, 2018 from Pittsburgh, he played 26 games without scoring a goal (21 regular-season, 5 playoffs) but netted the winning tally in a 2-1 victory in Game 5 of the Western Conference Final. The goal came against his hometown Winnipeg Jets and put the first-year Golden Knights into the Stanley Cup Final.
Additional facts and head-to-head stats can be found
here
.

MONTREAL CANADIENS vs. ST. LOUIS BLUES

Saturday, May 23, 3 p.m. ET
Where to Watch: Twitch, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook Premiere

Victor Mete & Nick Suzuki (MTL) vs. Colton Parayko & Robert Thomas (STL)
* Parayko formed a unique bond with Laila Anderson, a young girl who was one of the inspirational forces behind the Blues' run to their first Stanley Cup in 2019. During his day with the Cup, Parayko, an Alberta native, brought it to West Edmonton Mall for the Brick Invitational Hockey Tournament.
* Mete had a season to remember in 2015-16. In August, he helped Canada win its eighth consecutive gold medal at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup. He then won an OHL championship and Memorial Cup with the London Knights. The cherry on top was being selected in the fourth round (100th overall) by the Canadiens in the 2016 NHL Draft.
* Thomas (10-32-42 in 66 GP) and Suzuki (13-28-41 in 71 GP) both were selected in the 2017 NHL Draft - Thomas at No. 20 and Suzuki at No. 13 - and currently are the third and fourth-highest scorers from that draft class in 2019-20. The only 2017 draftees with more points to date this season are Elias Pettersson (66 points; last year's Calder Memorial Trophy winner) and Cale Makar (50 points).
* Suzuki led the Guelph Storm to an OHL title in 2018-19, earning playoff MVP after topping all players in postseason assists (26) and points (42) across 24 games. On top of that, Suzuki was named the Most Sportsmanlike Player in three straight OHL seasons (2016-17-2018-19) - the only player ever to do so.
* During the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs, Thomas became the sixth teenager in the last 20 years to record at least six points in a single playoff year and first since Nathan MacKinnon in 2014 with the Avalanche.
Additional facts and head-to-head stats can be found
here
.