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Vancouver Canucks #43 Quinn Hughes - In Play! magazine
Two days after the blockbuster trade between the Wild and Canucks, #43 Quinn Hughes found the back of the net in their debut for his new team. File photo: Tim Jarrold - In Play! magazine.
15
Dec

NHL DECEMBER 14, 2025 – KAPRIZOV, HUGHES BOTH SCORE IN LATTER’S MINNESOTA DEBUT

Quinn Hughes made his much-anticipated Minnesota debut and gave his new fans plenty to cheer for by scoring in his first game in a Wild sweater. Hughes accounted for one of six Minnesota goals Sunday while his new teammate, Kirill Kaprizov, accounted for two other tallies and climbed multiple franchise lists in the process.

  • Hughes, the first-ever Norris Trophy winner to skate for the Minnesota, became the sixth Wild defenseman to score in his team debut, joining Declan Chisholm (Feb. 17, 2024), Matt Bartkowski (Dec. 29, 2018), Cam Barker (Feb. 14, 2010), Marc-Andre Bergeron (Oct. 11, 2008) and Kurtis Foster (Nov. 19, 2005). Of note, Foster is the only one among that group to score twice in his debut.
  • Kaprizov’s second goal of the night was the 205th of his career, which moved him into a tie with Mikko Koivu for second on the franchise’s all-time goals list – he now trails only Marian Gaborik (219). That goal also marked his sixth 20-goal season, passing Gaborik and Zach Parise (both w/ 5) for the most in Minnesota history.

BUIUM MAKES IMMEDIATE IMPACT IN CANUCKS DEBUT

Two days after a blockbuster trade saw the Canucks acquire four first-round picks – three active players and one in the upcoming draft – in exchange for their captain and franchise scoring leader among defensemen, one of those players made an immediate impact as Zeev Buium tallied two points in the opening seven minutes of his Vancouver debut to help his new club secure a victory.

  • Buium recorded a point 61 seconds into his team debut, marking the fastest a player has tallied his first Canucks point in nearly 28 years. Buium, who celebrated his 20th birthday last Sunday, also became the youngest defenseman to record a point in his Canucks debut since Quinn Hughes – the player who went the other way in Friday’s trade.
  • Buium (1-1—2) became the first defenseman in franchise history with multiple points in the first period of his Canucks debut and just the third defenseman with multiple points at any point during his first game with the Canucks.

MAMMOTH MOUNT A THREE-GOAL, THIRD-PERIOD COMEBACK VICTORY

The Mammoth found themselves trailing 3-0 to begin the third period, but four goals in a span of 5:59 put them on top for the first time all day. After Pittsburgh tied the contest, Utah responded with the final goal of the game in the form of Dylan Guenther’s overtime winner to cap its largest comeback win in franchise history.

  • Utah’s four-goal rally to take the lead featured a couple of fast franchise feats: it started with the fastest two goals in club history (0:15) and ended with the franchise’s fastest four goals (5:59). Guenther also netted the winner 42 seconds into the extra frame, marking the second-fastest overtime goal in Mammoth history, behind his own benchmark of 0:33 set on Oct. 21, 2025.

SENATORS VISIT JETS FOR PRIME’S FIRST ALL-CANADIAN MATCHUP OF SEASON

An #NHLStats primer before tonight’s Senators-Jets game on Prime Monday Night Hockey:

  • Kyle Connor will enter the week with the League’s longest active point streak at eight games (4-8—12), with teammate Gabriel Vilardi (6 GP) right behind him. Connor needs one goal for 300 in his NHL career and is set to become the second-fastest active U.S.-born player to reach the milestone – behind Auston Matthews (482 GP) and ahead of Patrick Kane (775 GP). Keith Tkachuk, the father of Senators captain Brady Tkachuk and a former captain of the original Jets, is among the fastest U.S.-born players to the milestone.
  • Four players across the two rosters will represent their country in Milan in less than two months: the Senators trio of Tkachuk (Team USA), Tim Stützle (Team Germany) and Lars Eller (Team Denmark), as well as Jets forward Nino Niederreiter (Team Switzerland) who on Saturday became the first Swiss in history to skate 1,000 NHL games.
  • Connor and Mark Scheifele have factored on the same goal 259 times, including an NHL-best 26 instances this season, and share the team lead in points. Each forward is also a shots by location standout: entering Sunday, Scheifele has 10 mid-range goals (tied for second in the NHL), while Connor ranks among the forward leaders for shots on goal from both the mid-range (38; 97th percentile) and long-range zones (13; 96th percentile).

NATIONAL GAMES ON THE RADAR THIS WEEK

Storylines you need to know about other national broadcasts this week:

  1. NHL on TNT Doubleheader, Part 1 (Tuesday): Less than two months away from joining forces with Team Canada once again after claiming a championship together at the 4 Nations Face-Off last February, the high-scoring trio of Connor McDavid (championship-clinching OT goal), Sidney Crosby (captain) and Nathan MacKinnon (tournament MVP) will take the national spotlight in the U.S. – where they won their first championship as teammates last winter. All three rank among the top six in scoring since 2015-16 when McDavid entered the League. McDavid (9-21—30) has three times as many points as Crosby (4-6—10) in their 15 meetings to date, with Edmonton also holding the edge in those contests (EDM: 8-4-3; PIT: 7-7-1). The Penguins and Oilers will clash five days after swapping goaltenders Tristan Jarry (to EDM) and Stuart Skinner (to PIT) – there are no instances on record of goaltenders going head-to-head as starters within a week of being traded for one another.
  2. NHL on TNT Doubleheader, Part 2 (Wednesday): The highest-scoring active U.S.-born player is nine points from removing the “active” designation from that moniker as Patrick Kane is set to claim the title held by Mike Modano for the past 18-plus years. Three of the four clubs on the telecast are led in scoring by a U.S.-born player: Alex DeBrincat for the Red Wings, Nick Schmaltz for the Mammoth and Jack Eichel for the Golden Knights (Swedish forward Jesper Bratt paces the Devils). Kane and DeBrincat have teamed up on the same goal 197 times; Kane and Schmaltz played 161 regular-season games together with Chicago (factoring on the same goal 41 times) and Eichel started his NHL career in Kane’s hometown of Buffalo.
  3. Jets at Blues on Sportsnet (Wednesday): The international ties run deep this week, as Sportsnet’s Wednesday Night Hockey could feature the first regular-season head-to-head showdown between Jordan Binnington (STL) and Connor Hellebuyck (WPG) since the 4 Nations Face-Off final – they also met in the 2025 First Round. While Binnington helped Canada claim the championship against Hellebuyck and USA, the League’s reigning MVP and three-time Vezina Trophy winner has the upper hand across 11 head-to-head battles in the regular season (Hellebuyck: 8-1-2, .918 SV%, 2.43 GAA; Binnington: 3-7-1, .903 SV%, 3.09 GAA). Both are vying for another international roster spot after attending Olympic orientation camps in August.
  4. Flyers at Sabres on ESPN+ and Hulu (Thursday): Two players traded during the offseason will clash, now on pace for career years: Trevor Zegras (PHI) has already passed his 57-game goal total from last season while Josh Doan (BUF) needs two goals to equal the number he had through his first 62 NHL games.
  5. Hockey Night in Canada on Sportsnet (Saturday): The focus of the four-game slate will be in Montreal, where Sidney Crosby could become the Penguins’ all-time leader in points – he enters the week only three points from overtaking Montreal native Mario Lemieux for that distinction (as well as for eighth place on the NHL’s all-time scoring list). Crosby grew up as a Canadiens fan – a natural connection as his father, Troy, was selected by Montreal in the 1984 NHL Draft – and has had many memorable moments in La Belle Province and against his childhood team. Among the highlights: a goal and shootout winner in his first game against Montreal, one of three times Crosby and Lemieux scored a goal in the same game (Nov. 10, 2005); two goals in his first visit to the Bell Centre (Jan. 3, 2006); a hat trick in his first game against Montreal as a Stanley Cup champion (Oct. 28, 2009); his 700th NHL assist and a highlight-reel juggling act against Carey Price (March 21, 2018); and tying former teammate/Canadiens forward Mark Recchi for 13th place on the NHL’s all-time scoring list (Dec. 13, 2023). Last February, Crosby and Lemieux were part of a pre-game ceremony to open the 4 Nations Face-Off in Montreal.

BATTLE OF FLORIDA, KREIDER’S RETURN TO NEW YORK ALSO ON MONDAY’S SLATE

Elsewhere on Monday, Chris Kreider will return to Madison Square Garden for the first time since being traded to the Ducks and the Battle of Florida will reignite for the first of two meetings over the next 12 days between the Panthers and Lightning (also Dec. 27 when there will be a total of 11 divisional matchups, including five intrastate/province rivalries when the NHL returns from its Holiday Break)

McDavid, Gibson and Eriksson Ek Named NHL ‘Three Stars’ of the Week

Edmonton Oilers center Connor McDavid, Detroit Red Wings goaltender John Gibson and Minnesota Wild center Joel Eriksson Ek have been named the NHL’s “Three Stars” for the week ending Dec. 14.

FIRST STAR – CONNOR McDAVID, C, EDMONTON OILERS

McDavid led the NHL with 4-6—10 in four appearances to propel the Oilers (15-12-6, 36 points) to a 2-1-1 week. He scored twice, including the tying goal with two seconds remaining in regulation, as Edmonton overcame a three-goal third-period deficit in an eventual 4-3 overtime loss to the Buffalo Sabres Dec. 9. McDavid then recorded his 12th career four-assist performance – tied for the eighth-most in League history – in a 4-1 triumph over the Detroit Red Wings Dec. 11. He followed that with 2-1—3, including a highlight-reel goal 3:25 after the opening face-off, in a 6-3 victory against the Toronto Maple Leafs Dec. 13 before closing the week with an assist on the Oilers’ lone goal in a 4-1 loss to the Montreal Canadiens Dec. 14. The 28-year-old McDavid, a three-time Hart Memorial Trophy winner and five-time Art Ross Trophy recipient, sits second in the NHL with 18-34—52 through 33 total contests this season – aided by 7-9—16 during a six-game point streak dating to Dec. 4. McDavid also tops the League in assists (34) while ranking third in both power-play assists (15) and power-play points (20).

SECOND STAR – JOHN GIBSON, G, DETROIT RED WINGS

Gibson posted a pair of shutouts in his three starts, going 3-0-0 with a 1.00 goals-against average and .971 save percentage to lift the Red Wings (18-12-3, 39 points) into second place in the Atlantic Division. He earned his first clean sheet with Detroit by making 39 saves in a 4-0 win over the Vancouver Canucks Dec. 8. Gibson then turned aside 34 of 37 shots, including each of the first 28 he faced, in a 4-3 triumph versus the Calgary Flames Dec. 10. He capped the week with 26 saves for his 26th career shutout in a 4-0 win against the Chicago Blackhawks Dec. 13. The 32-year-old Gibson owns a 9-7-1 record, 3.13 goals-against average, .890 save percentage and two shutouts through 18 total appearances this season – his first with the Red Wings after spending his first 12 NHL campaigns with the Anaheim Ducks.

THIRD STAR – JOEL ERIKSSON EK, C, MINNESOTA WILD

Eriksson Ek collected 3-4—7 in four contests to help the Wild (19-9-5, 43 points) register a perfect week as they moved into fourth place in the overall League standings. He notched multiple points in each of his first two outings, picking up 1-2—3 in a 4-1 win over the Seattle Kraken Dec. 8 and 1-1—2 in a 5-2 triumph against the Dallas Stars Dec. 11. Eriksson Ek then scored the tiebreaking goal with 24 seconds remaining in regulation for a 3-2 victory over the Ottawa Senators Dec. 13 before posting one assist in a 6-2 win versus the Boston Bruins Dec. 14. The 28-year-old Eriksson Ek, who has played all 10 of his NHL seasons with Minnesota, has compiled 7-16—23 through 33 total games in 2025-26.

Guest Writer