Facts and Figures: Leddy secures spot in Islanders history
Becomes their first defenseman to score on penalty shot in victory at Senators
NHL.com @NHLdotcom
Nick Leddy became the first defenseman in New York Islanders history to score on a penalty shot and finished with two goals and an assist in a 4-2 win against the Ottawa Senators at Canadian Tire Centre. It's the sixth straight win for the Islanders after a 1-3-0 start.
Leddy's second goal in a 4:19 span of the first period came after he was taken down on a breakaway. The penalty-shot goal was the second by a defenseman in the NHL this season; Jeff Petry of the Montreal Canadiens scored against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Oct. 5.
The six-game winning streak by the Islanders is the longest in the NHL this season. New York has had a six-game winning streak in three of the past four seasons. The last time the Islanders have had a streak of more than six wins was when they went 9-0-0 from Dec. 31, 1989-Jan. 19, 1990.
Capitals rally from four goals down, top Canucks in shootout
The Washington Capitals became the second team this season to come back and win after being four goals down when they rallied for a 6-5 shootout victory against the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena. Washington trailed 5-1 before center Evgeny Kuznetsov scored at 19:59 of the second period, then tied the game 5-5 with three goals in the first 7:41 of the third, including goals 2:44 apart by defenseman Michal Kempny. Center Nicklas Backstrom scored the deciding goal in the third round of the shootout.
The Capitals, 5-0-1 in their past six games, joined the Winnipeg Jets (5-4 on Oct. 4 at the New Jersey Devils) as the only teams to win this season after trailing by four goals. Washington won after trailing by four goals for the fifth time since entering the NHL in 1974 and the first since Dec. 23, 2008 (5-4 in overtime against the New York Rangers).
MacKinnon point streak reaches 10 games in Avalanche
Center Nathan MacKinnon extended his season-opening point streak to 10 games with two assists for the Colorado Avalanche in a 6-1 win against the Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena. The Avalanche are 8-1-1, and their 17 points through 10 games are one short of the Colorado/Quebec Nordiques record set in 1994-95 (9-1-0) and matched in 2013-14 (also 9-1-0).
MacKinnon has 14 points (five goals, nine assists) during his 10-game streak. He's the sixth player in Avalanche/Nordiques history to have a season-opening point streak of at least 10 games, and the first since the franchise moved to Denver for the 1995-96 season.
One of MacKinnon's assists came on the first regular-season NHL goal by Cale Makar, who leads all rookie defensemen in scoring (nine points; one goal, eight assists).
Marleau skates in 1,500th NHL game with Sharks
Patrick Marleau became the seventh player in NHL history to skate in 1,500 games with the same franchise when he took the ice for the San Jose Sharks against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena on Friday. The 40-year-old forward, who played his first 19 NHL seasons with San Jose before playing two seasons with Toronto, was signed by San Jose on Oct. 9.
Marleau has appeared in 69.5 percent of all regular-season games in Sharks history (1,500 of 2,159), the highest such percentage by a player with any NHL franchise (minimum 1,000 games played by the team). The second-highest belongs to Mikko Koivu, who has skated in 67.7 percent of all games played by the Minnesota Wild (983 of 1,452).
Blues, Bruins set for Cup Final rematch
The St. Louis Blues and Boston Bruins will face off at TD Garden on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; NBCSN, NHL.TV) for the first time since Game 7 of the 2019 Stanley Cup Final, a 4-1 win that gave the Blues their first championship since entering the NHL in 1967.
There will be a lot of familiarity between the teams: 30 of the 40 players who dressed for Game 7 also suited up in each team's previous game: 14 of 20 for the Bruins (4-2 win against Toronto on Tuesday) and 16 of 20 for the Blues (5-2 win against the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday).
Cup champions are 51-31-1 with five ties in the first regular-season game between finalists since 1927-28 (runners-up are 32-48-3 with five ties), including a 5-1-0 mark since 2013-14, when the schedule was changed to include head-to-head matchups between all teams. The reigning champion has won each of the past four rematches. Defending champions have won five consecutive rematches once in NHL history, going 5-0-0 from 1940-41 to 1944-45.