NHL Recap December 15 2019
STAAL REACHES 1,000-POINT MILESTONE
Wild forward Eric Staal scored to record the 1,000th regular-season point of his NHL career (429-571—1,000 in 1,208 GP). Staal, who extended his goal streak to three games (4-1—5), became the sixth active NHL player to reach the 1,000-point milestone (also Joe Thornton, Alex Ovechkin, Sidney Crosby, Patrick Marleau and Evgeni Malkin).
Staal and his brothers Jordan (220-300—520 in 926 GP), Marc (42-138—180 in 856 GP) and Jared (2 GP) have combined for exactly 1,700 regular-season points. That’s the 14th-highest combined total by a set of brothers in NHL history – a list topped by Brent (363-466—829 in 1,111 GP), Brian (303-333—636 in 779 GP), Ron (205-330—535 in 1,093 GP), Duane (139-203—342 in 731 GP), Rich (149-166—315 in 874 GP) and Darryl Sutter (161-118—279 in 406 GP), who had 2,936.
GOLDEN KNIGHTS EARN WIN IN 200TH ALL-TIME REGULAR-SEASON GAME
Max Pacioretty (2-2—4) factored on four of six goals to help the Golden Knights earn a win over the Canucks in their 200th all-time regular-season game. Vegas, which improved to 112-69-19 (243 points), owns the second-best record in NHL history by a franchise through its first 200 games in terms of wins, points and point percentage – with the latter statistic outlined in the graphic below.
The Golden Knights also contested their 100th all-time regular-season home game, improving to 62-28-10 (134 points) at T-Mobile Arena. Vegas owns the fourth-best record in League history by a franchise through its first 100 home games, behind the original Ottawa Senators (78-19-3, 159 points), Montreal Canadiens (71-28-1, 143 points) and Toronto Arenas/St. Patricks (69-29-2, 140 points).
William Karlsson (0-1—1), the only player to have appeared in each of the 200 all-time regular-season games contested by the Golden Knights, leads the team with 162 points since their inaugural campaign (77-85—162). That’s the 13th-highest total by a player through a modern-era franchise’s first 200 all-time regular-season games and highest since Brian Bradley with Tampa Bay (75-104—179 in 188 GP), which contested its first NHL season in 1992-93.
JETS ERUPT FOR FOUR SECOND-PERIOD GOALS IN SPAN OF 4:17
The Jets erupted for four of their season-high seven goals in a span of 4:17 during the second period to defeat the Flyers and extend their home win streak to five games.
Winnipeg’s four goals in 4:17 were its second-fastest scored in a game in franchise history, trailing the mark of 3:50 set on Nov. 18, 2017 (5-2 W vs. NJD).
The fastest four goals scored in a game by the original Winnipeg Jets was in a span of 2:16, a mark set on Nov. 9, 1984 (7-5 W vs. VAN).
KOPITAR PASSES ELITE NAME ON FRANCHISE’S ALL-TIME POINTS LIST
Kings captain Anze Kopitar (325-594—919 in 1,038 GP) scored twice to leapfrog Wayne Gretzky (246-672—918 in 539 GP) for sole possession of fourth place on the franchise’s all-time regular-season points list.
PREVIEW OF TODAY’S ACTION – TOP TWO TEAMS IN WESTERN CONFERENCE SQUARE OFF IN ST. LOUIS
The top two teams in the Western Conference standings square off when the Blues (20-8-6, 46 points) welcome the Avalanche (21-8-3, 45 points) to Enterprise Center. Colorado enters Monday with a season-high nine-game point streak (8-0-1), while St. Louis is coming off a 4-3 win in its last outing where they overcame a 3-0 third-period deficit to stun the Blackhawks.
ZIBANEJAD CAN JOIN RARE RANGERS COMPANY WITH ANOTHER MULTI-GOAL GAME
Mika Zibanejad, who has posted 2-0—2 in each of his last two outings, can become the fifth different player in franchise history with multiple goals in three straight games should he tally twice when the Rangers host the Predators at Madison Square Garden.
Pacioretty, Duclair and Eichel Named NHL ‘Three Stars’ of the Week
Vegas Golden Knights left wing Max Pacioretty, Ottawa Senators left wing Anthony Duclair and Buffalo Sabres center Jack Eichel have been named the NHL’s “Three Stars” for the week ending Dec 15, 2019.
FIRST STAR – MAX PACIORETTY, LW, VEGAS GOLDEN KNIGHTS
Pacioretty led all skaters with 5-3—8 in four contests to help the Golden Knights (18-13-5, 41 points) win three of four contests to move into second place in the Pacific Division and one point back of the Arizona Coyotes (19-12-4, 42 points) for first. Pacioretty, who has scored a goal in each of his last four appearances, opened the week with one goal in a 5-1 win over the Chicago Blackhawks Dec. 10 and then scored another goal in a 4-2 loss to the St. Louis Blues Dec. 12. He then registered back-to-back multi-point performances with 1-1—2, including the overtime winner, in a 3-2 victory over the Dallas Stars Dec. 13 and a season-high four points (2-2—4) in a 6-3 triumph over the Vancouver Canucks Dec. 15. The 31-year-old New Canaan, Conn., native is in his second campaign with the Golden Knights and leads all Vegas skaters in goals (15), assists (19) and points (34) in 2019-20.
SECOND STAR – ANTHONY DUCLAIR, LW, OTTAWA SENATORS
Duclair tied for the League lead with five goals, including a pair of multi-goal outings, totaling 5-1—6 across three games to help the Senators (14-17-2, 30 points) capture five of a possible six standings points. Duclair opened the week with 2-1—3 in a 5-2 victory over the Atlantic Division-leading Boston Bruins Dec. 9 and then was held without a point in a 3-2 overtime loss to the Montreal Canadiens Dec. 11. He closed the week by capping his third career hat trick with the overtime winner in a 4-3 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets Dec. 14. A 24-year-old native of Pointe-Claire, Que., Duclair leads all Senators skaters and ranks tied for ninth in the NHL with 18 goals this season (33 GP) – two shy of his career high set in 2015-16 (20 G in 81 GP). Since being acquired by Ottawa in a trade on Feb. 23, Duclair has registered 26-13—39 in 55 games – only nine players in the League have scored more regular-season goals over that timeframe.
THIRD STAR – JACK EICHEL, C, BUFFALO SABRES
Eichel recorded multiple points in each of his three appearances last week and tied for the League lead with five goals (5-1—6 in 3 GP) to help the Sabres (16-11-7, 39 points) gain five of a possible six standings points and move into second place in the Atlantic Division. Eichel opened the week with consecutive two-goal games, netting 2-0—2 including the game-winning tally in a 5-2 victory over the Western Conference-leading St. Louis Blues Dec. 10 and then another pair of goals in a 4-3 triumph over the Nashville Predators Dec. 12. He capped the week with 1-1—2 in a 3-2 overtime loss to the New York Islanders Dec. 14 to extend his point streak to 16 games (15-14—29 in 16 GP) – the longest by any player this season and longest by a Sabres skater since Tim Connolly in 2009-10 (16 GP). A 23-year-old native of North Chelmsford, Mass., Eichel ranks among the top ten this season in goals (2nd; 23), assists (9th; 25) and points (t-5th; 48).