NHL October 15 2019 Recap
RIELLY COLLECTS FOUR ASSISTS IN SECOND PERIOD TO TIE FRANCHISE RECORD
Morgan Rielly collected four assists in the middle frame to help the Maple Leafs defeat the Wild and tie the franchise record for most in a regular-season period, a mark set by Rick Vaive on March 12, 1984 (8-7 OT L vs. WIN). His four assists were one shy of the franchise record for most points in a period, achieved by three players – most recently Darryl Sittler when he had his historic 10-point game.
Rielly became the 16th player in League history listed a defenseman to record four assists in a regular-season period, a feat last achieved by Phoenix blueliner Rostislav Klesla on March 28, 2013 (7-4 W at NSH). No NHL defenseman has ever recorded more than four points in a period (regular season or playoffs).
Rielly recorded the 198th, 199th, 200th and 201st regular-season assists of his NHL career (51-201—252 in 477 GP). Among defensemen to debut with the Maple Leafs franchise, he required the fifth-fewest games to reach the 200-assist mark (all w/ TOR) – trailing only Borje Salming on Jan. 26, 1978 (337 GP), Ian Turnbull on Dec. 27, 1978 (371 GP), Jim McKenny on Oct. 25, 1975 (465 GP) and Tomas Kaberle on Nov. 25, 2005 (466 GP).
KUEMPER ALLOWS TWO GOALS OR LESS IN 11TH CONSECUTIVE START
Darcy Kuemper turned aside 38 of 40 shots to backstop the Coyotes to their first road win against the Jets/Thrashers franchise since March 14, 2010 in Atlanta (3-2 SO W), snapping a 10-game slide (0-8-2). Kuemper has allowed two goals against or less in each of his last 11 starts dating to March 23 and matched the longest such run in franchise history, a mark set by Nikolai Khabibulin from Oct. 15 – Nov. 28, 1998.
HURRICANES BLANK KINGS FOR SIXTH WIN OF THE SEASON
Petr Mrazek turned aside all 31 shots he faced as Carolina defeated Los Angeles and improved to 6-1-0 (12 points) in 2019-20, the best seven-game start to a season in franchise history. Mrazek became the fourth Hurricanes/Whalers goaltender to record a shutout against the Kings and first since Kevin Weekes in a 0-0 tie over 16 years ago.
CANUCKS EXTEND SEASON-OPENING HOME WIN STREAK TO THREE GAMES
Elias Pettersson (1-2—3), Alexander Edler (1-2—3) and Brock Boeser (0-3—3) each registered three points as the Canucks improved to 3-0-0 with a win over the Detroit Red Wings at Rogers Arena. Vancouver earned wins in each of its first three or more home games in a season for the first time since 2016-17 (4-0-0).
Pettersson boosted his career totals to 30-41—71 in 76 games; among players to debut with the Canucks, he required the second-fewest contests to reach the 70-point mark (all w/ VAN) behind only Pavel Bure on Oct. 22, 1992 (73 GP). Pettersson recorded his 70th career regular-season point in eight fewer games than teammate Boeser, who reached the milestone in his 84th outing on Nov. 2, 2018.
STAMKOS INCHES CLOSER TO 400-GOAL MARK
Steven Stamkos (1-1—2) connected with a man advantage to score the 397th regular-season goal of his NHL career (397-377—774 in 752 GP) and help the Lightning improve to 3-2-1 this season. Over a third of his career tallies have been power-play goals (37.0%: 147 of 397), the second-highest such percentage among active players with at least 300 markers behind only Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin (37.6%; 249 of 663).
PREVIEW OF TODAY’S ACTION – AVALANCHE, SABRES PUT SEASON-OPENING STREAKS ON THE LINE
The Avalanche (5-0-0) and Sabres (5-0-1) are set to put their season-opening streaks on the line when they visit the Penguins (4-2-0) and Ducks (4-2-0), respectively.
Colorado, the only team without a loss of any kind this season, has recorded a season-opening win streak of six or more games two times in franchise history (and just one since relocating to Denver), doing so in 1985-86 (7-0-0) and 2013-14 (6-0-0). The Penguins, meanwhile, are coming off back-to-back seven-goal outings (7-4 W at MIN on Oct. 12 and 7-2 W at WPG on Oct. 13); Pittsburgh has scored as many goals in three consecutive games on two prior occasions (Feb. 6-10, 1990 and Nov. 4-10, 1995).
Buffalo aims to record at least one point in each of its first seven games in a season for the fifth time in franchise history, following 1972-73 (6-0-4), 1975-76 (8-0-0), 2006-07 (11-0-1) and 2008-09 (6-0-2). The Sabres’ opponent, Anaheim, owns a 2-0-0 record at Honda Center in 2019-20 and can win each of its first three or more home games in a season for the first time since 2014-15 (4-0-0).