NHL Review October 25, 2021

ROOKIE RAYMOND JOINS RARE RED WINGS COMPANY WITH HAT TRICK

Skating opposite of Blackhawks veterans Jonathan Toews and Marc-Andre Fleury, Lucas Raymond (3-1—4) factored on four of the Detroit Red Wings’ six goals to help them earn a win at United Center and become the first rookie to score a hat trick this season.

• Raymond joined teammate Tyler Bertuzzi (Oct. 14) as the second Red Wings player to record a hat trick this season and became the franchise’s first rookie to notch three or more goals in a game since Johan Garpenlov (4-0—4) accomplished the feat on Nov. 23, 1990.
• Raymond (19 years, 210 days) is only the third teenager in Red Wings history to record at least four points in a game, joining Steve Yzerman (3-1—4 on Dec. 23, 1983; 18 years, 228 days) and Gordie Howe (0-4—4 on Dec. 17, 1947; 19 years, 261 days). He also became the NHL’s first player age 19 or younger to register as many points in a single contest since Vancouver’s Elias Pettersson (19 years, 355 days) posted 2-3—5 on Nov. 2, 2018.

BRUINS, PREDATORS HAND SHARKS, WILD FIRST LOSS OF SEASON

The Bruins (3-1-0) and the Predators (2-4-0) had their stars play pivotal roles on Sunday en route to handing their opponents their first loss of the 2021-22 campaign:

• Brad Marchand (1-1—2) scored 28 seconds after the opening face-off, while David Pastrnak (1-1—2) and Patrice Bergeron (0-2—2) also registered multi-point outings. Sunday marked the 30th regular-season game in which all three players had multiple points – tied for the highest such total among any three current teammates.
• Predators captain Roman Josi (1-3—4) factored on four of Nashville’s five goals and fell one point shy of the Predators record for most by any player in a road game, a mark he holds a share of and matched on Feb. 27, 2018 (0-5—5).

HURRICANES, MAPLE LEAFS SET FOR HOMETOWN HOCKEY SHOWDOWN

The undefeated Hurricanes (4-0-0) host the Toronto Maple Leafs (2-3-1) at PNC Arena in what could be Frederik Andersen’s first game against Toronto since signing with Carolina as a free agent in the offseason. Andersen also sports a 4-0-0 record in 2021-22 (1.75 GAA, .944 SV%).

BLUES AND PANTHERS ALSO LOOK TO REMAIN PERFECT IN 2021-22

The Blues (4-0-0) and Panthers (5-0-0) host the Kings (1-3-1) and Coyotes (0-4-1), respectively, with the hopes of completing another game without a regulation loss.

• Should both the Blues and Hurricanes improve to 5-0-0, the 2021-22 campaign would mark the first in NHL history to feature four teams each win their first five games to start a season. Only three campaigns in League history have featured three teams: 2019-20 (CAR: 5 GP, COL: 5 GP & EDM: 5 GP), 2006-07 (BUF: 10 GP, MIN: 6 GP & DAL: 5 GP) and 1983-84 (EDM: 7 GP, NYR: 5 GP & PHI: 5 GP).
• St. Louis has scored at least three goals in each of its first four games to start the season, including two seven-goal outputs. Should the team tally at least three times Monday, the Blues would become just the third team in 26 years to score 25 or more goals through their first five contests of a season. Toronto (25 in 2018-19 & 26 in 2017-18) and Vancouver (25 in 1995-96) both achieved the feat over that span.

Connor, McDavid and Sorokin Named NHL ‘Three Stars’ Of The Week

Winnipeg Jets left wing Kyle Connor, Edmonton Oilers center Connor McDavid and New York Islanders goaltender Ilya Sorokin have been named the NHL’s “Three Stars” for the week ending Oct. 24, 2021.

FIRST STAR – KYLE CONNOR, LW, WINNIPEG JETS

Connor led all scorers with 5-3—8 in three games, tallying multiple points in each contest, as the Jets earned five of a possible six standings points. He began the week notching a pair of first-period goals plus an assist in a 6-5 overtime loss to the Minnesota Wild Tuesday. He paced the Jets’ attack in a winning home opener with another two-goal, one-assist effort in a 5-1 victory over the Anaheim Ducks at Canada Life Centre Thursday. It marked Connor’s 24th career multi-goal game; the only players in Jets/Thrashers history with more are Ilya Kovalchuk (46), Bryan Little (27) and Blake Wheeler (27). Connor finished the week with a goal and an assist in a 6-4 home win over the Nashville Predators Saturday.

The 24-year-old Shelby Township, Mich., native has tallied six goals in his first five games of the season, part of a five-way tie for the early NHL goal-scoring lead with McDavid, Anze Kopitar (LAK), Tyler Bertuzzi (DET) and Elias Lindholm (CGY). Connor recorded 30+ goals in each of his first three full NHL seasons from 2017-18 through 2019-20 and scored 26 in the shortened 56-game campaign in 2020-21, a 38-goal pace for an 82-game schedule.

SECOND STAR – CONNOR McDAVID, C, EDMONTON OILERS

McDavid recorded 3-5—8 in three multi-point performances, helping the Oilers improve to 5-0-0 and first place in the Pacific Division. He began the week with a goal and two assists in a 6-5 win over the Anaheim Ducks Tuesday, including an assist on Leon Draisaitl’s 200th career goal. McDavid matched his teammate two nights later, reaching the 200-goal milestone as part of a two-goal, one-assist effort in a 5-1 win against the Arizona Coyotes Thursday. Among players to make their League debut with Edmonton, only three required fewer games than McDavid (411 GP) to reach the 200-goal mark with the franchise: Wayne Gretzky (242), Jari Kurri (328) and Glenn Anderson (348). McDavid later posted two assists in a 5-3 win over the Vegas Golden Knights Friday. The reigning Hart Trophy, Art Ross Trophy and Ted Lindsay Award winner owns the League scoring lead with 13 points (6-7—13) in his first five games, tallying multiple points in each. Only Gretzky has recorded more points through the opening five contests for the Oilers (7-8—15 in 1983-84 and 3-11—14 in 1986-87).

THIRD STAR – ILYA SOROKIN, G, NEW YORK ISLANDERS

Sorokin went 3-0-1 with a 0.99 goals-against average, .971 save percentage and two shutouts, backstopping the Islanders to seven of a possible eight points in four road contests. He notched the first win of his sophomore NHL campaign with 39 saves in 4-1 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday and stopped 29 shots in a 3-2 overtime loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets Thursday before recording back-to-back shutouts over the weekend. Sorokin turned aside all 26 shots in a 3-0 victory over the Arizona Coyotes Saturday and 42 more in a 2-0 win against the Vegas Golden Knights Sunday, becoming the first goaltender in franchise history to record road shutouts on consecutive days. The last NHL goaltender to accomplish the feat was Winnipeg’s Ondrej Pavelec on April 6-7, 2015.