Posted on by Guest Writer
Beckett Sennecke
Anaheim rookie Beckett Sennecke and Colorado forward Brock Nelson boosted the NHL’s hat trick total in January to 25, which is tied for the second most in a calendar month in the past four decades.
26
Jan

NHL JANUARY 25, 2026 – SENNECKE, NELSON NET HAT TRICKS, BOOST JANUARY TOTAL TO 25

Anaheim’s Beckett Sennecke and Colorado’s Brock Nelson both scored a hat trick to boost the NHL’s total this month to 25 and guide their respective clubs into the win column Sunday.

  • Sennecke completed his first career hat trick with the overtime winner to allow the Ducks (28-21-3, 59 points) to extend the NHL’s longest active winning streak to seven games and move within one point of the Oilers (26-19-8, 60 points) for second in the Pacific Division. Anaheim has now recorded multiple seven-game winning streaks in a campaign for the third time in franchise history (also 3x in 2013-14 & 2x in 2014-15).
  • Sennecke (19 years, 362 days) became the fourth rookie in Ducks history to record a hat trick and the second youngest behind Leo Carlsson (18 years, 319 days on Nov. 10, 2023). He improved his season totals to 18-23—41 (52 GP) and became the third-fastest Anaheim rookie to 40 points in a campaign trailing Bobby Ryan (46 GP in 2008-09) and Trevor Zegras (50 GP in 2021-22). Sennecke also required the second-fewest games in franchise history to 40 NHL points, trailing Paul Kariya (48 GP).
  • Nelson scored his fifth career hat trick – and first since joining Colorado – as he helped his club improve to 35-6-9 (79 points) this season. The Avalanche became the fourth team in NHL history with six or fewer regulation losses through 50 games in a season, joining the 1979-80 Flyers (35-3-12), 1943-44 Canadiens (38-5-7) and 1975-76 Canadiens (36-6-8).
  • Nelson’s third goal of the game was factored on by Nathan MacKinnon, who recorded his 50th assist of the season and moved two back of 700 helpers in his career. MacKinnon became the third player in franchise history to record five consecutive 50-assist campaigns, joining Peter Stastny (9 from 1980-81 to 1988-89) and Joe Sakic (5 from 1989-90 to 1993-94). MacKinnon also became the third active player to achieve the feat following Connor McDavid (10 from 2016-17 to 2025-26) and Leon Draisaitl (7 from 2018-19 to 2024-25).

KINDEL SCORES TWICE IN HOMETOWN, KEEPS PENGUINS STREAKING

Ben Kindel (2-0—2), who scored two goals while playing in front of his friends and family during his Vancouver homecoming, and Evgeni Malkin (1-0—1) accounted for all of their team’s goals as Pittsburgh extended its point streak to seven games (5-0-2) with its fourth straight win.

  • Kindel recorded his second career multi-goal game and became the fourth player in Penguins history to do so as an 18-year-old, following Sidney Crosby (6x), Jaromir Jagr (4x) and Jordan Staal (2x). Kindel achieved the feat in front of 180 friends and family in attendance, including his parents, Steve Kindel and Sara Maglio, who both played professional soccer for the Vancouver Whitecaps.
  • Malkin, who was skating in his 1,000th career game (including playoffs) with Crosby and Kris Letang, became the first 39-year-old in Penguins history to register a three-game road goal streak. Malkin also combined with Kindel (20 years, 262 days) to set the fourth-largest age gap between a Penguins duo to each score in the same contest, trailing Gary Roberts and Staal (22 years, 110 days), Mario Lemieux and Crosby (21 years, 306 days) as well as Roberts and Crosby (21 years, 76 days).

SENATORS SCORE SEVEN

Sunday the Senators scored seven goals thanks to three-point performances by captain Brady Tkachuk and rookie Stephen Halliday, with the former climbing into fourth on the franchise’s all-time list for three-assist games and tying for fifth in three-point outings.

  • Halliday became the first Senators rookie with three points in a contest since Tim Stützle (3-0—3) on May 8, 2021. He also helped Ottawa score seven goals in a game without any coming on the power play for the sixth time in franchise history.

NATIONAL GAMES ON THE RADAR THIS WEEK

Five storylines you need to know about national broadcasts this week, beginning with Prime’s Ducks-Oilers matchup as part of Monday’s five-game slate.

  1. Prime Monday Night Hockey: A matchup between the Pacific Division’s second and third seeds pits the Oilers and Ducks against one another in Edmonton’s first game following Evan Bouchard’s six-point performance. Bouchard can become the first Oilers defenseman with at least eight points through a two-game span since Paul Coffey (8 from Oct. 29-31, 1986). Meanwhile, the Ducks are looking to win their eighth straight and match the third-longest winning streak in franchise history.
  2. ESPN+ doubleheader (Thursday): An ESPN+ and Hulu doubleheader begins with the Capitals visiting the Red Wings. The game will feature two of the League’s six active 500-goal scorers in Alex Ovechkin and Patrick Kane, the latter of whom enters the week just one back of tying Mike Modano (1,374) for the most points by a U.S.-born player in NHL history.
  3. Hockey Night in Canada on Sportsnet (Saturday): The Maple Leafs will visit the Canucks in one of five Hockey Night in Canada contests on Sportsnet programming. Auston Matthews (10) enters the final week of January tied for second in goals since the new year began. The Toronto captain can lead a calendar month in goals for the ninth time in his career (tied or outright). The only American to do so as many times is Brett Hull (12x) and the only active players to do so are Alex Ovechkin (14x) and Steven Stamkos (10x).
  4. ABC Hockey Saturday doubleheader: Sidney Crosby (652-1,092—1,774) can continue his ascent among the NHL’s all-time goals, assists and points lists when he faces the Rangers, who he has amassed 40-69—109 against – one of three franchises he has 100 career points against (also NYI & PHI), which is the most among active players. The doubleheader concludes with a duel between the Avalanche and Red Wings. Nathan MacKinnon enters the week two back of the 700-assist milestone and can become the third-fastest active player to reach the mark, behind Connor McDavid (699 GP) and Crosby (856 GP).
  5. 2026 Navy Federal Credit Union NHL Stadium Series on ESPN, Sportsnet (Sunday): Raymond James Stadium will play host to the Lightning and Bruins in the 45th regular-season outdoor game in NHL history. Tampa Bay (1-0-0) will host an outdoor game for the first time and appear in their second, following the 2022 Stadium Series in Nashville. Boston will make its sixth outdoor appearance (4-1-0) and first in a Stadium Series (4 Winter Classic & 1 NHL Outdoors at Lake Tahoe).

TEAM CZECHIA EYES ANOTHER GOLD

Team Czechia won the first gold medal at Olympic Winter Games with NHL players and could be represented in four of five games on tonight’s slate:

  • Mammoth goaltender Karel Vejmelka leads the NHL with 25 wins this season, just ahead of his potential counterpart Monday (Andrei Vasilevskiy: 22). Four Olympic-bound goaltenders have been the NHL wins leader entering the break: Martin Brodeur (NJD) for Team Canada in 1997-98, Dominik Hasek (DET) for Team Czechia in 2001-02, Marty Turco (DAL) for Team Canada in 2005-06 (tied) and Jonathan Quick (LAK) for Team USA in 2009-10.
  • Ducks netminder Lukas Dostal (19 wins) and Flyers goaltender Dan Vladar (16 wins), who has missed games recently due to injury, round out a Team Czechia goaltending trio that has 60 NHL wins this season – tops of any combo heading for Milan (USA: 51; SWE: 43; CAN: 39; FIN: 38).
  • Bruins forwards David Pastrnak and Pavel Zacha, set to play outdoors in Tampa on Sunday, will be the third set of Bruins teammates to represent the same country at the Olympic Winter Games. In 2010, Zdeno Chara and Miroslav Satan skated for Team Slovakia; in 2002, Bill Guerin and Brian Rolston played on home soil for Team USA.
  • Ducks captain Radko Gudas is one of seven players on Team Czechia with Olympic experience and one of three who played in 2014 when NHL players last competed, along with Devils forward Ondrej Palat and 40-year-old Roman Cervenka.

Kaprizov, Kucherov and Dostal Named NHL ‘Three Stars’ of the Week

Minnesota Wild left wing Kirill Kaprizov, Tampa Bay Lightning right wing Nikita Kucherov and Anaheim Ducks goaltender Lukas Dostal have been named the NHL’s “Three Stars” for the week ending Jan. 25.

FIRST STAR – KIRILL KAPRIZOV, LW, MINNESOTA WILD

Kaprizov recorded multiple points in all four of his contests to top the NHL with 3-6—9 overall and lift the Wild (29-14-10, 68 points) into second place in the Central Division via a 2-1-1 week. He collected a pair of assists in both a 6-3 win versus the Toronto Maple Leafs Jan. 19 and a 4-3 loss to the Montreal Canadiens Jan. 20. Kaprizov then posted 2-1—3, including his 13th career overtime goal, in a 4-3 victory against the Detroit Red Wings Jan. 22. He added 1-1—2, his fifth straight multi-point performance dating to Jan. 17 (3-9—12), in a 4-3 overtime loss to the Florida Panthers Jan. 24. The 28-year-old Kaprizov ranks sixth in the NHL with 28-36—64 through 53 total appearances this season. He also sits among the top 10 in the League in power-play goals (t-3rd; 11), shots on goal (t-4th; 190), goals (t-5th; 28), even-strength points (t-7th; 42) and power-play points (t-9th; 22).

SECOND STAR – NIKITA KUCHEROV, RW, TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING

Kucherov, who will lead Tampa Bay into this Sunday’s 2026 Navy Federal Credit Union NHL Stadium Series at Raymond James Stadium (6:30 p.m. ET, ESPN, SN, TVAS), compiled 2-6—8 in three games to guide the Lightning (32-14-4, 68 points) to a 2-1-0 week. He produced a trio of assists in a 4-1 victory over the San Jose Sharks Jan. 20 before scoring once in regulation and once in the shootout in a 2-1 triumph versus the Chicago Blackhawks Jan. 23. Kucherov then notched 1-3—4, his fourth four-point effort of 2025-26, in an 8-5 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets Jan. 24 as Tampa Bay’s team point streak ended at 15 contests, three shy of the franchise record. The 32-year-old Kucherov, who has points in each of his past five games dating to Jan. 16 (3-8—11), sits third in the NHL with 26-52—78 overall this season (46 GP) – highlighted by a League-best 8-19—27 in January (11 GP).

THIRD STAR – LUKAS DOSTAL, G, ANAHEIM DUCKS

Dostal, who will represent Czechia at the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026, went 4-0-0 with a 2.18 goals-against average and .925 save percentage as the Ducks (28-21-3, 59 points) extended their winning streak to seven games dating to Jan. 13. He turned aside 19 shots in a 5-3 triumph over the New York Rangers Jan. 19. Dostal then backstopped Anaheim to three straight road victories, making a season-high 40 saves (plus another two in the shootout) in a 2-1 decision versus the League-leading Colorado Avalanche Jan. 21, 20 stops in a 4-2 win over the Seattle Kraken Jan. 23 and 32 saves in a 4-3 overtime victory against the Calgary Flames Jan. 25. The 25-year-old Dostal, boosted by victories in each of his last six starts dating to Jan. 13 (1.93 GAA, .931 SV%), shares eighth place in the NHL with 19 wins in 35 total games this season (19-12-2, 3.00 GAA, .895 SV%).

Tonight’s Los Angeles Kings at Columbus Blue Jackets Game Postponed

Tonight’s game between the Los Angeles Kings and Columbus Blue Jackets (NHL Game No. 828) at Nationwide Arena has been postponed due to severe winter weather in Columbus. The game is rescheduled for March 9 in Columbus and its start time will be announced when available.

blank
Guest Writer