* John Tavares joined Tim Horton on a rare franchise list by recording two points in his 1,000th career NHL game.

* Brent Burns also skated in a milestone contest and assisted on the winning goal as the Metropolitan Division-leading Hurricanes picked up a fifth straight victory.
 

* Mark Scheifele can reach the 30-goal mark when the Jets host the Blues on Monday.

MAPLE LEAFS, HURRICANES EARN WINS IN MILESTONE GAMES FOR TAVARES, BURNS

Toronto (31-12-8, 70 points) and Carolina (32-9-8, 72 points) collected wins as Maple Leafs captain John Tavares (0-2—2) and Hurricanes defenseman Brent Burns (0-1—1) reached the 1,000- and 1,300-game milestone, respectively:

* Tavares became the second player in franchise history to record multiple points while skating in his 1,000th career NHL game, joining Tim Horton (0-2—2 on Nov. 19, 1967). Toronto moved five points ahead of idle Tampa Bay (32-15-1, 65 points), which occupies third place in the Atlantic Division.  

* Burns became the fifth player in franchise history to skate in his 1,300th career NHL game with the Hurricanes/Whalers, following Rod Brind’Amour (0-1—1 on Dec. 20, 2007), Glen Wesley (March 27, 2006), Paul Coffey (0-1—1 on Feb. 18, 1999) and Ron Francis (2-3—5 on Feb. 10, 1999). Carolina now trails League-leading Boston (38-7-5, 81 points) by a single-digit point total.
 

GOALS BY RIELLY, STAAL FEATURED IN #NHLSTATS: LIVE UPDATES
Sunday’s edition of #NHLStats: Live Updates featured more notes from the two-game slate, including Maple Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly recording his first goal of the season and Hurricanes captain Jordan Staal scoring the 18th shorthanded goal of his NHL career.

* Rielly’s 21 assists were the second most by a Toronto defenseman before his first goal in a season, behind Jimmy Thomson in 1953-54 (24 before first goal on March 11, 1954).

* Staal’s 18 shorthanded goals rank tied for seventh among active players. His brother, Eric, is tied for fourth place on that list with 19.
 

QUICK CLICKS

* All of Sunday’s goals
* NHL Buzz: Matt Murray out until after All-Star break for Maple Leafs
* Maple Leafs celebrate John Tavares‘ 1,000th NHL game
* Maple Leafs hold moment of celebration for Hazel McCallion during first-period stoppage

Photo via@Zeisberger

SCHEIFELE CAN REACH 30-GOAL MARK IN LONE NHL GAME MONDAY

Mark Scheifele (29-16—45 in 51 GP) can become the League’s ninth 30-goal scorer this season when the Jets (31-19-1, 63 points) host the Blues (23-24-3, 49 points) at Canada Life Centre in each club’s final contest before the 2023 Honda NHL All-Star Weekend.

* Scheifele can become the fourth player in Jets/Thrashers franchise history to reach the 30-goal mark in 52 or fewer games, following Ilya Kovalchuk (38 GP in 2007-08, 39 GP in 2005-06 & 43 GP in 2009-10), Marian Hossa (50 GP in 2006-07) and Kyle Connor (52 GP in 2021-22). Four skaters achieved the feat with the original Winnipeg Jets: Dale Hawerchuk (45 GP in 1985-86, 47 GP in 1984-85, 47 GP in 1986-87 & 50 GP in 1987-88), Teemu Selanne (38 GP in 1992-93), Keith Tkachuk (45 GP in 1995-96) and Alexei Zhamnov (47 GP in 1994-95).
 

COURTESY NHLmedia.com