January 28, 2023

* Martin Necas joined rare company in NHL history as he helped the Hurricanes win by scoring the tying goal in the final minute of regulation and the winner within the opening minute of overtime.

* Jack Hughes recorded a multi-goal game, including scoring the overtime winner, and moved into a tie with Jason Robertson for fifth place in the 2022-23 Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy race.

* The League announced that Aleksander Barkov, captain of the host Panthers, will replace the injured Auston Matthews on the Atlantic Division roster for the 2023 Honda NHL All-Star Game.

* One week from today, All-Stars will go head-to-head in South Florida for the 67th NHL All-Star Game. But first, 19 more regular-season contests are to be played including more than half as part of an 11-game Saturday that begins with a matinee between the Blues and Avalanche on HULU, ESPN+, Sportsnet and TVA Sports.

NECAS, AHO COMPLETE CAROLINA’S LATE COMEBACK WIN
After the Hurricanes surrendered an empty-netter at 58:08 to face a two-goal deficit, it was Sebastian Aho (58:23) and Martin Necas (59:48) who immediately responded to send it to overtime where Necas completed the comeback just 55 seconds into the extra frame with his League-leading third overtime goal of 2022-23.

* Necas (2-0—2), who became the first player in Hurricanes/Whalers history to score an overtime goal in consecutive games (also on Jan. 25), became the fifth player in NHL history to net a tying tally in the final minute of regulation and the winner within the first minute of the extra frame. The others: Mikko Rantanen (Dec. 11, 2022), Alex Ovechkin (Dec. 15, 2006), Jeff Hamilton (Dec. 2, 2006) and Benoit Hogue (Nov. 16, 1995).

* Friday marked just the second time in Hurricanes/Whalers history that the club has won a contest after trailing by multiple goals in the final two minutes of regulation (also on Dec. 18, 2007 vs. TOR).

HUGHES HEADS TO SOUTH FLORIDA ON A HIGH NOTE
Jack Hughes (2-0—2) initiated New Jersey’s multi-goal comeback with a second-period goal and capped it off by scoring 20 seconds into overtime to lift the Devils (32-13-4, 68 points) to victory and help the club keep pace with the Hurricanes (31-9-8, 70 points) in the Metropolitan Division.

* Hughes (Orlando, Fla.), set to become the first Florida-born player to skate in multiple NHL All-Star games (also 2022), has found the back of the net 59 times in 98 games dating to 2021-22 after doing so just 18 times through his first 117 NHL contests.



* The Devils forward (33-31—64 in 49 GP) notched his seventh multi-goal outing of the season to move into a tie with Jason Roberton (33 in 51 GP) for fifth place in the 2022-23 Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy race. Hughes’ 33 goals and 64 points are the most by a Devils/Rockies/Scouts player prior to the team’s 50th game of a season.

* Hughes, who netted the third-fastest goal to start an overtime period in Devils franchise history, recorded his 10th career game-winning goal and tied John MacLean for the most by a player in franchise history at age 21 or younger.

PACIFIC DIVISION RACE CONTINUES TO HEAT UP
A pair of Pacific Division teams climbed in the standings as Los Angeles (28-17-6, 62 points) overtook Seattle (28-15-5, 61 points) and Vegas (29-18-3, 61 points) for first place in the division and third in the Western Conference, while Calgary (24-17-9, 57 points) moved into the final Wild Card spot with its win over the Kraken:

* Anze Kopitar (15-25—40) opened the scoring and recorded his 17th straight season with 40-plus points – joining Alex Ovechkin (17) as the only active players to achieve the feat – while Adrian Kempe (20-14—34) became the fifth Kings player in the past 10 years to record consecutive 20-goal campaigns. Kempe joined Jeff Carter (2012-13 – 2016-17), Kopitar (2017-18 – 2019-20), Dustin Brown (2017-18 – 2018-19) and Tyler Toffoli (2014-15 – 2015-16).

* Elias Lindholm (1-2—3) recorded all three of his points in the first frame and fell one point shy of the franchise record for most in a single period. Since joining Calgary in 2018-19, Lindholm is one of three Flames players to have recorded three or more points in a period at least three different times (also 0-3—3 in P3 on April 16, 2022 & 1-2—3 in P2 on Jan. 2, 2019). The others: Johnny Gaudreau (6x) and Matthew Tkachuk (4x).

HORVAT, HUGHES HELP CANUCKS BEST BLUE JACKETS
Two-time NHL All-Star Bo Horvat (0-4—4) factored on four of five Canucks goals while Quinn Hughes (1-1—2) posted a multi-point performance as Vancouver defeated Columbus at Rogers Arena on Friday.

* Hughes recorded his 40th assist of 2022-23 and became the only active defenseman to reach the mark in a season three times before age 24. He also became the first Canucks player, regardless of position, to accomplish the feat.

KREIDER ONE OF SIX 20-GOAL SCORERS FEATURED IN #NHLSTATS: LIVE UPDATES
The Friday edition of #NHLStats: Live Updates featured six players reach the 20-goal mark across the eight-game slate, including Chris Kreider who did so in the Rangers’ victory against the Golden Knights at Madison Square Garden.

* Kreider became the eighth player in Rangers history to record at least eight 20-goal seasons with the club, joining Rod Gilbert (12x), Jean Ratelle (9x), Adam Graves (8x), Andy Bathgate (8x) and Camille Henry (8x).

NHL PODCASTS WEEKLY ROUNDUP

* NHL Fantasy (Jan. 23): Fantasy waiver wire pickups: Week 16; Canucks’ coaching change

* NHL Fantasy (Jan. 23): Action Network Collab: Week 16

* NHL @ The Rink (Jan. 25): Oilers rolling, Tocchet’s impact, Devils trade targets, Top All-Star lines

* La Tasse de café LNH (Jan. 25): Renvoi de Boudreau à Vancouver et Match des meilleurs espoirs

* The Chirp with Daren Millard (Jan. 26): Bruce Cassidy discusses Eichel, All-Star dynamics

* NHL Fantasy (Jan. 26): Bruins’ dominance, Trade Deadline rumblings; Week 16 fantasy mailbag

* Draft Class (Jan. 27): Connor Bedard joins; CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game analysis

QUICK CLICKS

* Brandon Montour (8 GP) sets Panthers record for longest point streak by a defenseman

* Auston Matthews out at least 3 weeks for Maple Leafs with knee sprain

* NHL Buzz: Matty Beniers out 2 games for Kraken

* Jim Montgomery thriving with Bruins in 2nd chance as NHL coach

* Senators captain Brady Tkachuk finds doppelganger in crowd

RECENT CHAMPIONS SET TO CLASH IN NATIONAL BROADCAST IN CANADA AND THE U.S.
Two of the past four Stanley Cup champions will go head-to-head on ESPN+ and HULU in the United States as well as Sportsnet and TVA Sports in Canada when the Blues (23-23-3, 49 points) travel to Colorado to take on the Avalanche (26-18-3, 55 points).
 

* Jordan Kyrou (23-23—46 in 46 GP) leads the Blues with 46 points in 2022-23 and sits one assist shy of 100 in his five-season career (69-99—168 in 219 GP). Among skaters to debut with the Blues, Kyrou can become the seventh to reach the milestone in 220 games or fewer; Joe Mullen (163 GP), Mike Zuke (175 GP), Wayne Babych (175 GP), Bernie Federko (179 GP), Jorgen Pettersson (196 GP) and Robert Thomas (220 GP) have done so.

* Mikko Rantanen (34-26—60 in 47 GP) sits tied for third in the NHL’s 2022-23 Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy race thanks to a double-digit goal total since Jan. 1 (10-5—15 in 12 GP). Rantanen (199-269—468 in 455 GP) sits one tally shy of becoming the ninth player to score 200 goals with the Avalanche/Nordiques franchise – a feat teammates Nathan MacKinnon (255) and Gabriel Landeskog (248) have both accomplished.

McDAVID, OILERS READY FOR FINAL OUTING BEFORE ALL-STAR BREAK

Connor McDavid and the Oilers (27-18-4, 58 points) will partake in their 50th game of the season against Patrick Kane and the Blackhawks (15-28-4, 34 points) in their last outing before 2023 Honda NHL All-Star Weekend. McDavid can collect his 90th point of a season in 50 games or fewer for the second time in as many campaigns (50 GP in 2020-21) – a feat Mario Lemieux last accomplished in 1991-92 (48 GP) and 1992-93 (34 GP).

* McDavid leads the NHL with 40-49—89 this season (49 GP), tied for the most points by any player before the All-Star/Olympic break over the past 26 years. Alex Ovechkin (42-47—89 in 54 GP) also had 89 points in 2009-10 before the League paused for the Olympics in Vancouver. The last time a player had at least 90 points before either the All-Star or Olympic break was 1995-96, when Mario Lemieux (40-60—100 in 38 GP) hit the 100-point mark with a goal in his final contest before the 1996 All-Star Game in Boston.

STREAKS LOOK TO SURVIVE SATURDAY SLATE
The Lightning (31-15-1, 63 points) and Sabres defenseman Owen Power (3-16—19 in 45 GP) enter the weekend with the hopes of maintaining their recent strings of success against the Kings (27-17-6, 60 points) and Wild (26-17-4, 56 points), respectively.

* Tampa Bay looks to become the second team to capture 12 consecutive home wins during the 2022-23 campaign after Boston went 14-0-0 at TD Garden from Oct. 15 to Dec. 3, 2022. In doing so, the Lightning would establish the longest home win streak in franchise history.
 

* Power has found the back of the net in each of his past three games. Should he do so against Minnesota, the 20-year-old can become just the fourth rookie defenseman in NHL history with a four-game goal streak. Barry Beck (6 GP in 1977-78 w/ CLR), Brian Benning (4 GP in 1986-87 w/ STL) and Stan Brown (4 GP in 1926-27 w/ NYR) are the only three to do so to date.

COURTESY NHLmedia.com