* Saturday was a night of lacrosse-style goals, with Connor Bedard hitting “The Michigan” in front of Wayne Gretzky and another young star, Trevor Zegras, zipping one of his own into the Kraken net during his return to the Ducks’ lineup.
* The final slate of games before the League’s three-day holiday break featured a little bit of everything in addition to lacrosse-style goals, including Craig Smith and Jani Hakanpää powering the Stars to a first-of-its-kind win as well as Sebastian Aho and Sebastian Aho each finding the back of the net at PNC Arena.
* The NHL will return with another 14-game slate on Dec. 27. The next edition of the NHL Morning Skate will be released on Dec. 28 at the conclusion of Wednesday’s action.
FANS GIFTED WITH TWO LACROSSE-STYLE GOALS BEFORE HOLIDAY BREAK
Blackhawks forward Connor Bedard and Ducks forward Trevor Zegras both hit “The Michigan” on Saturday. The No. 1 pick from the 2023 NHL Draft did so with Wayne Gretzky watching in-person, while Zegras scored his after returning to the Anaheim lineup.
* Bedard’s highlight-reel goal marked his 30th point of the 2023-24 season (13-17—30 in 33 GP). He became the ninth 18-year-old rookie in NHL history and third active player among that group (also Ryan Nugent-Hopkins: 28 GP & Sidney Crosby: 29 GP) to require 33 or fewer games to collect 30 career points.
* Zegras and Bedard scored the second and third lacrosse-style goals since the League began tracking the “cradle” shot type in 2022-23, following Blue Jackets forward Kent Johnson (March 24). Zegras had two in the NHL before they were officially tracked (April 1, 2022 & Jan. 27, 2022).
STARS STUN PREDATORS WITH FIRST-OF-ITS-KIND WIN
Entering the third period trailing by two goals, Evgenii Dadonov got the Stars within one near the mid-point of the frame to set the stage for a dramatic, first-of-its kind victory. Craig Smith tied the game with 15 seconds remaining in regulation, followed by Jani Hakanpää’s stunning game winner just 11 seconds later.
* Smith (59:45) became the 13th player in franchise history to score a tying goal in the final 15 seconds of regulation in a regular-season game, while Hakanpää (59:56) scored the fifth-latest regulation go-ahead goal in franchise history behind Brian MacLellan (59:59 on Jan. 27, 1988), Tyler Seguin (59:57 on Oct. 16, 2014), Shawn Chambers (59:57 on Jan. 6, 1990) and Dave Gagner (59:57 on Nov. 14, 1988).
* The Stars earned their League-leading fifth multi-goal comeback win of the season and first in 2023-24 when trailing by two or more in the third period.
MORE HIGHLIGHTS FROM SATURDAY FEATURED IN #NHLSTATS: LIVE UPDATES
Saturday’s edition of #NHLStats: Live Updates featured notes from the 14-game slate. Some highlights include:
* Marc-Andre Fleury (19 saves) backstopped the Wild to their sixth straight home victory and earned the 550th win of his NHL career to move within one of tying Patrick Roy (551) for second place on the League’s all-time list. Fleury also made his 998th career appearance to climb within two of becoming the fourth goaltender in NHL history with 1,000.
* Quinn Hughes (10-34—44 in 35 GP) recorded the 68th multi-point game of his career to tie Alexander Edler for the most by a defenseman in franchise history and help the Canucks (23-9-3, 49 points) open a two-point lead atop the NHL standings, while Trevor Moore scored the game-winning goal as the Kings (19-7-4, 42 points) kept pace.
* Nathan MacKinnon (0-1—1) collected an assist to extend both his overall and season-opening home point streak to 18 contests. MacKinnon tied Peter Stastny (18 GP in 1981-82) for the fourth-longest point streak in Avalanche/Nordiques history and established a franchise record for longest season-opening home point streak, surpassing Mats Sundin (17 GP in 1992-93) and Stastny (17 GP in 1980-81).
* Auston Matthews (2-1—3) continued his red-hot goal-scoring stretch, notching his 13th and 14th goals since Dec. 1 to become just the fifth different player in franchise history to score as many in a single calendar month alongside Rick Vaive (4x; most: 17 in Jan. 1983), Babe Dye (4x; most: 15 in Feb. 1921). Frank Mahovlich (15 in Dec. 1960) and Wendel Clark (14 in Nov. 1993).
QUICK CLICKS
* Lacrosse-style goals in the NHL from before this season
* NHL teams deck out in festive outfits to celebrate holiday season
* Kelly Chase receives support from Wayne Gretzky, standing ovation at Enterprise Center
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* #NHLStats Pack: 2024 Discover NHL Winter Classic
NHL RETURNS WEDNESDAY WITH ANOTHER 14-GAME SLATE
The NHL will now take a three-day holiday break before returning with another 14-game day on Wednesday, Dec. 27, including national broadcasts in Canada (Senators at Maple Leafs on Sportsnet & TVA Sports) and in the U.S. (Bruins at Sabres on TNT & Max).
