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Dylan Larkin - Detroit Red Wings vs Buffalo Sabres November 2 2024 - In Play! magazine
Dylan Larkin captained his club to a OT win Wednesday. Larkin head s to the Olympic Winter Games in Milano Cortina in less than three weeks. File Photo: Tim Jarrold - In Play! magazine
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NHL JANUARY 21, 2026 – Milano Cortina-bound NHL Captains catapult clubs

Wednesday’s six-game slate featured a collection of Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026-bound NHL captains leading their teams to victories.

  • Sidney Crosby (0-1—1) factored on one of his team’s four goals as the Penguins (24-14-11, 59 points) skated to victory and leapfrogged the Islanders (27-17-5, 59 points) for second place in the Metropolitan Division standings. Crosby recorded his 785th career road point (301-484—785 in 701 GP) and surpassed Mario Lemieux (315-469—784 in 443 GP) for the eighth most in NHL history.
  • Clayton Keller (59:25) scored the latest tying goal in franchise history and overtime winner as the Mammoth became the first team with points in each game during a homestand of at least seven contests since the Kings (7 GP from March 11-26, 2023). Keller, who ushered Utah to its second three-goal comeback win in club history (also Dec. 14, 2025), is a Missouri native and is set to reunite with his former St. Louis Jr. Blues teammates Matthew and Brady Tkachuk in Italy.
  • Dylan Larkin (1-1—2) logged his 12th career overtime goal to tie Sergei Fedorov for the franchise record and help the Red Wings (31-16-4, 66 points) match the idle Lightning (31-13-4, 66 points) for the most points in the Atlantic Division. Detroit swept a season series against Toronto for the second time in franchise history (min. 4 GP) – the first instance was during the Red Wings’ 62-win season in 1995-96 (5-0-0).

THURSDAY HAS RED WINGS-WILD AND BLACKHAWKS-HURRICANES

Thursday’s eight-game slate is headlined by Patrick Kane and the Detroit Red Wings visiting the Wild as well as Sebastian Aho and the Hurricanes hosting the Blackhawks.

  • Kane needs three points to pass Mike Modano (1,374) for the most by a U.S.-born player in League history and can do so in Minnesota, where Modano played each of his first four seasons after being selected by the North Stars with the No. 1 pick in the 1988 NHL Draft. Modano will be in attendance at Grand Casino Arena to watch Kane, who has 55 career points versus the Wild and needs one to pass longtime teammate Jonathan Toews for the sixth most against the franchise in League history.
  • Aho extended his multi-assist streak to a career high-tying three games during the Hurricanes’ win Monday (also 3 GP from Dec. 27-30, 2023), which also featured Brandon Bussi robbing Sabres star Tage Thompson of an open net during the second period. Ray Ferraro of ESPN, who played parts of his first seven seasons with the Hartford Whalers before the franchise relocated to Raleigh, has praised the play of Bussi and the Hurricanes’ offensive zone time this season.
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Guest Writer