NHL RECAP OCTOBER 31 2024 – DRAISAITL CONTINUES STRONG PLAY AGAINST PREDATORS

Leon Draisaitl (2-1—3) boosted his career numbers against Nashville and helped the Oilers extend their point streak versus the Predators to nine games (7-0-2 dating to Oct. 27, 2018) – their second-longest active run against an opponent behind the Ducks (10 GP; 8-0-2 dating to Feb. 25, 2018).

• Draisaitl, who passed Glenn Anderson (92) for sole possession of the fifth-most three-point games in Oilers history, has collected 25-16—41 in his last 16 games against Nashville dating to Oct. 27, 2018. Through that span, he has posted three five-point games, a four-goal performance, a hat trick, nine three-plus point outings and 10 multi-goal contests.

CROSBY, OVECHKIN TREAT FANS TO MULTI-POINT PERFORMANCES ON HALLOWEEN

Sidney Crosby (2-0—2) scored a pair of goals including the overtime winner to propel the Penguins to victory while Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin (1-2—3) notched his first three-point performance since Feb. 20 and is off to his best start to a season since his 90-point effort in 2021-22.

• Crosby tied the game in the third period and scored a highlight-reel overtime goal – the 22nd of his career, which is the second-most all-time behind Ovechkin (26) – to help Pittsburgh find the win column. The Penguins captain climbed into eighth on two all-time NHL lists as he passed Wayne Gretzky and tied Marcel Dionne (215) for go-ahead goals and broke a tie with Joe Sakic (473) on the multi-point games list.
• Ovechkin moved another step closer to tying Gretzky’s all-time goals record as he became the first Washington skater to post three points on Halloween since Peter Bondra (0-3—3) and Richard Zednik (3-0—3) on Oct. 31, 2000. In doing so, the Capitals captain boosted his season totals to 5-5—10 (9 GP) and hit the 10-point mark in fewer than 10 games for the first time since 2021-22 (5 GP), when he went on to tally 50-40—90 (77 GP).

HURRICANES ERUPT FOR EIGHT GOALS IN FIFTH SRAIGHT WIN

Andrei Svechnikov (2-1—3) and Martin Necas (1-3—4) led the way during Carolina’s eight-goal outburst as the pair each factored on the first of three tallies in a span of 52 seconds – the fastest three by a team this season – and helped the Hurricanes skate to a fifth straight victory, the League’s longest active winning streak.

• Necas (5-10—15 in 9 GP) tied the franchise benchmark for fewest games to 10 assists in a season and became the third player in Hurricanes/Whalers history with 15 points before his 10th game of a campaign, joining John Anderson (18 in 1985-86) and Eric Staal (15 in 2005-06).
• Carolina, which scored eight goals in a game for the first time since Nov. 11, 2019, became the sixth different team this season to net as many in a contest (7th instance overall). The last campaign to feature as many eight-goal outbursts at this stage of a season (166 GP) was 2006-07 (7), while the last to feature more was 1992-93 (14).

SMITH’S FIRST TWO CAREER TALLIES FEATURED
Halloween saw teams and players provide plenty of treats, including Sharks rookie Will Smith, who notched his first two career goals and became the youngest U.S.-born skater to score for the franchise. The 19-year-old, who’s living with Patrick Marleau this season, also put his name next to the Sharks legend with his multi-goal performance.

FINNISH TALENT AT FOREFRONT TODAY IN TAMPERE

The 2024 NHL Global Series Finland presented by Fastenal begins today at 2 p.m. ET on NHL Network and Sportsnet with the first of two back-to-back games at Nokia Arena in Tampere between the reigning Stanley Cup champion Panthers, captained by hometown hero Aleksander Barkov, and the Stars, who also boast a Finnish-born star at forward in Roope Hintz (Nokia, Finland), with three straight 30-goal campaigns to his name.

• Barkov and Hintz are two of seven players from Finland available for the game, along with Stars defensemen Miro Heiskanen (Espoo, Finland) and Esa Lindell (Vantaa, Finland), as well as a trio of Panthers skaters who contributed to their 2024 Stanley Cup championship in Anton Lundell (Espoo, Finland), Eetu Luostarinen (Siilinjarvi, Finland) and Niko Mikkola (Kiiminki, Finland).
• The Panthers and Stars have each had deep playoff runs in the two previous seasons, with Dallas falling in the Western Conference Final in 2023 and 2024, and Florida reaching the Stanley Cup Final in those two seasons while capturing the franchise’s first championship in 2024. They are both off to quick starts in 2024-25, with the Panthers (7-3-1, 15 points) sitting atop the Atlantic Division and the Stars (7-2-0, 14 points) boasting one of the League’s top points percentages early in the campaign.
• The two-game set on Friday and Saturday (12 p.m. ET on NHLN, SN1) will be the 10th and 11th NHL regular-season games played in Finland, the second most of any country outside North America behind Sweden (17). Tampere will host its third and fourth such contests to tie Tokyo (4) for the fourth most of any city outside North America. Nokia Arena will have hosted all four games in Tampere.
• Hintz and Sam Reinhart donned a gold helmet at practice. In many European leagues, the top scorer on each team wears a golden dome to signify his place on the team. While Hintz (4-4—8 in 9 GP) is not the leading scorer for Dallas (Matt Duchene: 6-5—11 in 9 GP), he was given the honor to wear the special helmet by teammates as the hometown member of the Stars – Hintz grew up in a suburb of Tampere.

FIVE-GAME FRIDAY NIGHT CLOSES WITH DEVILS-FLAMES

After the Stars and Panthers complete their first of two games in Tampere, Friday night in North America includes a five-game slate with the League-leading Jets (9-1-0, 18 points) in action against the Blue Jackets (5-3-1, 11 points) and closes with Jack Hughes and the Devils (7-4-2, 16 points) continuing their Western Canadian swing against Nazem Kadri and the Flames nationally in Canada on Sportsnet One, Sportsnet West and TVA Sports.

Avalanche’s Stienburg Suspended Two Games for Charging

Colorado Avalanche forward Matt Stienburg has been suspended for two games, without pay, for charging Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Erik Cernak during NHL Game No. 157 in Colorado on Wednesday, Oct. 30.

The incident occurred at 17:12 of the second period. Stienburg was assessed a major penalty and game misconduct for charging.

Under the terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement and, based on his average annual salary, Stienburg will forfeit $9.361.98. The money goes to the Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund.

Flyers’ Michkov Named NHL ‘Rookie of the Month’ for October

Philadelphia Flyers right wing Matvei Michkov, who led all rookies in goals (4), points (t-9), power-play goals (3), power-play assists (t-3), power-play points (6) and shooting percentage (minimum: 1 SOG/GP; t-20.0%) across 11 games, has been named the NHL’s “Rookie of the Month” for October.

Michkov edged Dallas Stars center Logan Stankoven (1-8—9 in 9 GP), Montreal Canadiens defenseman Lane Hutson (0-7—7 in 11 GP), Carolina Hurricanes right wing Jackson Blake (3-2—5 in 9 GP), New York Islanders right wing Maxim Tsyplakov (1-4—5 in 10 GP) and Colorado Avalanche goaltender Justus Annunen (4-1-0, 2.48 GAA, .905 SV%) for the honor.

Michkov, who made his NHL debut on Oct. 11 at VAN, also ranked among the top October rookies in assists (3rd; 5) and shots on goal (3rd; 20) while pacing rookie forwards in both total (202:43) and average (18:26) time on ice – behind only Hutson overall (250:53 TOI, 22:48 TOI/GP).

Michkov recorded a trio of multi-point performances, highlighted by his first two NHL goals (both on the power play) on Oct. 15 at EDM (2-0—2). He became the first Philadelphia player to score his first two career goals in the same contest since Vinny Prospal on March 8, 1997 at PIT (2-0—2) and – at 19 years, 311 days – the youngest Flyers player with a multi-goal game since Nolan Patrick (19 years, 196 days) on April 3, 2018 at NYI (2-1—3).

Michkov, the seventh overall pick from the 2023 NHL Draft, is the first Philadelphia skater who has been selected as a “Rookie of the Month” since left wing James van Riemsdyk in November 2009 (4-5—9 in 12 GP).