NHL NEWS OCTOBER 29, 2022 – JETS STAGE MULTI-GOAL RALLY TO WIN FIRST NHL GAME AT MULLETT ARENA

Coyotes forward Christian Fischer scored each of the first two NHL goals at Mullett Arena, but the Jets rallied to force overtime where Blake Wheeler netted the 3-2 winner to give the Jets their second multi-goal comeback win in as many days. It was the 21st multi-goal comeback victory in the NHL this season (16.7% of 126 GP).

• Wheeler scored his 36th game-winning goal with the franchise to help the Jets claim a multi-goal comeback win on consecutive days for the first time since relocating to Winnipeg in 2011-12. The only other such instance for the franchise came when the club was based in Atlanta (Oct. 15-16, 2010).
• Fischer became the first Coyotes player to score twice in the first period of their home opener. His achievement was preceded by franchise icon Shane Doan dropping the ceremonial puck alongside his son and Coyotes draft pick Josh Doan (37th overall in 2021). The younger Doan scored the first-ever goal at Mullett Arena while playing for the Arizona State University Sun Devils on Oct. 14.

BAILEY NETS WINNING GOAL IN 1,000TH NHL GAME

Josh Bailey scored the go-ahead goal while skating in his 1,000th game – just 51 seconds after Brent Burns tied the game with his first in a Hurricanes uniform – to help the Islanders claim their second straight win. Bailey became the third player to skate at least 1,000 games with the franchise, following Islanders legends Bryan Trottier (1,123 GP) and Denis Potvin (1,060 GP).

• Bailey became the third active player to score a game-winning goal in his 1,000th NHL game, following in the footsteps of Burns, the man who scored before him Friday, and Jeff Carter.

THOMPSON POSTS ANOTHER SHUTOUT, SMITH CASHES 100TH WITH VEGAS

Logan Thompson made 29 saves for his League-leading second shutout of 2022-23 and Reilly Smith scored his 100th goal in a Golden Knights uniform – the third to hit the benchmark for the club – as Vegas earned a win on Nevada Day.

• Thompson (4-2-0 in 6 GP) required the fewest appearances in Golden Knights history to record two shutouts in a season, besting the previous mark set by Marc-Andre Fleury (8 GP in 2020-21). Prior to this season, Thompson had one career shutout in 20 NHL games.
• Four years ago, Thompson was playing Canadian university hockey for the Brock University Badgers and pursuing a degree in sports management. At that point, making the NHL was a mere dream more than a trajectory. Thompson, who went undrafted in both the WHL and NHL, played one year of university hockey where he was named USports Ontario Goaltender of the Year and Rookie of the Year before signing an ECHL contract. Thompson credits a no-quit attitude and unrelenting personality for his success – he signed with the Golden Knights on July 13, 2020, and won the ldege “Baz” Bastien Award awarded to the AHL’s most outstanding goaltender that season.

SATURDAY’S SLATE: TWELVE GAMES, OVER 12 HOURS OF HOCKEY

A busy day begins with an NHL Saturday presented by SAP broadcast of a Rangers-Stars matchup that will see Dallas vie for a fourth straight win at American Airlines Center to begin the season. The Stars can open their home slate with a 4-0-0 record for the third time in the past 20 years – they posted a 4-0-0 home record to begin the 2011-12 and 2020-21 campaigns.

PANTHERS, SENATORS MATCHUP FULL OF BROTHERLY LOVE

Matthew and Brady Tkachuk are division rivals once again, after meeting nine times in the 2020-21 Scotia North Division, and will reignite their brotherly rivalry for the first time with Matthew wearing a Panthers jersey. If Marc and Eric Staal join the elder Tkachuk in the Panthers lineup, it will mark the first NHL game with two sets of brothers since Dec. 4, 2021, when Rangers forward Ryan Strome opposed a Blackhawks squad that included his brother Dylan along with Seth and Caleb Jones.

• Matthew leads the Panthers in scoring after posting 4-6—10 through his first eight games with the club , while Brady (the reigning First Star of the Week) shares the Senators lead in both goals (5) and points (10) through seven contests.

DRAISAITL, KADRI LEAD OILERS, FLAMES INTO SECOND “BATTLE OF ALBERTA”

The stage is set for 2022-23’s second rendition of the “Battle of Alberta” with Calgary owning a 1-0-0 record so far in their four-game season series. In 2021-22, the teams split the series winning two games apiece (CGY: 2-2-0, EDM: 2-2-0) before their playoff matchup.

• Leon Draisaitl, who leads the current Oilers roster in regular-season points against the Flames with 10-41—51 (39 GP), has recorded multiple points in each of Edmonton’s past seven contests against Calgary spanning regular season and playoffs (5-18—23). Draisaitl is the second active player with a streak of seven-plus multi-point outings versus an opponent (also Patrick Kane w/ 7 GP vs. OTT) and only the second to do so in the “Battle of Alberta” after Wayne Gretzky (11-17—28 in 9 GP from 1982-83 to 1983-84).
• Nazem Kadri (4-5—9 in 6 GP) currently leads his new club in scoring, including tallying 1-1—2 in his first instalment of the “Battle of Alberta” on Oct. 15, and has a point in each of his first six games in a Flames uniform. Only two players began their tenure with the Flames with a longer run: Phil Housley (7 GP in 1994-95) and Sergei Makarov (7 GP in 1989-90).

RED WINGS RECALL GIVANI SMITH FROM GRIFFINS

The Detroit Red Wings today recalled right wing Givani Smith from the American Hockey League’s Grand Rapids Griffins.

Smith, 24, has recorded one assist and four penalty minutes in three games with the Griffins to begin the 2022-23 campaign. The 6-foot-2, 214-pound forward spent the entire 2021-22 season with the Red Wings, logging seven points (4-3-7) and a team-high 108 penalty minutes in 46 games. Smith became the first Detroit skater to compile more than 100 penalty minutes in a single season since Justin Abdelkader accumulated 120 penalty minutes in 2015-16. In total, Smith has registered 14 points (7-7-14) and 138 penalty minutes in 83 NHL games with Detroit and 48 points (24-24-48) and 221 penalty minutes in 132 AHL contests for Grand Rapids.