By Myrtle Davies

Mikko Rantanen scored a hat trick and Nathan MacKinnon reached the 600-assist milestone as the pair potted five points apiece in an Avalanche victory.

* Leon Draisaitl became the first 20-goal scorer this season, joined three other Oilers players with nine consecutive 20-goal campaigns and did so with his NHL-leading sixth game-winning tally of 2024-25.

* A two-game Wednesday will feature the Rangers visiting the Sabres on TNT and Max, as well as the Senators hosting the Ducks on Sportsnet and TVA Sports.

MacKINNON, RANTANEN POT FIVE POINTS APIECE IN MILESTONE NIGHTS
In a contest that began with Mikko Rantanen (3-2—5) celebrating his 600th career game and ended with Nathan MacKinnon (1-4—5) reaching the 600-assist milestone, the Avalanche duo recorded five points in the same game for the second time (also Jan. 24, 2024) and became the third set of teammates to do so multiple times with the franchise, following Peter Stastny and Marian Stastny (3x) as well as Anton Stastny and Peter Stastny (2x).

* Rantanen became the fourth Avalanche/Nordiques player with 10 career hat tricks and the fourth Finnish-born player in NHL history to reach a double-digit total following Jari Kurri (23), Teemu Selanne (22) and Patrik Laine (10). With every hat trick this season, AstraZeneca will donate $3,000 to the Hockey Fights Cancer Fund of the V Foundation up to $300,000.

* MacKinnon became the third player in franchise history to reach 600 career assists, following Joe Sakic (1,016) and Peter Stastny (668), and moved back into top spot of the League’s scoring race after he boosted his totals to 10-36—46 (30 GP); only Peter Forsberg (39 in 1995-96), Rantanen (36 in 2018-19) and Nazem Kadri (35 in 2021-22) had as many assists through 30 contests of a campaign for the club.

DRAISAITL BECOMES NHL’S FIRST 20-GOAL SCORER THIS SEASON
Leon Draisaitl (1-1—2) factored on both Edmonton goals, which included a go-ahead marker in the second period, and became the first player to hit the 20-goal mark in 2024-25 – a distinction he also held in 2021-22. The Oilers forward became the fifth skater in the past 30 years to accomplish the feat multiple times and joined Jaromir Jagr (4x), Steven Stamkos (3x), Auston Matthews (2x) and Alex Ovechkin (2x).

* Draisaitl’s nine consecutive 20-goal seasons are tied with Wayne Gretzky for the third-longest stretch in franchise history. In fact, he is one of eight active players to reach the mark in nine or more consecutive campaigns – a list led by Ovechkin (19 from 2005-06 – 2023-24).

* His 20th tally also marked his NHL-leading sixth game-winning goal of 2024-25 and 10th in the regular season this calendar year. Draisaitl is one of nine players in NHL history to hit the plateau in three or more calendar years (14 in 2021 & 13 in 2022). The others: Ovechkin (5x), Mike Bossy (5x), Brett Hull (4x), Jeff Carter (3x), Bobby Hull (3x), Nathan MacKinnon (3x), Guy Lafleur (3x) and Phil Esposito (3x).

HIGH-FLYING JETS SCORE EIGHT GOALS FOR SECOND TIME THIS SEASON

Kyle Connor (1-2—3) and Mark Scheifele (2-1—3) each contributed three points apiece – with the former climbing into a tie for the fourth-most points in franchise history – as the Jets (21-9-0, 42 points) skated to an eight-goal outburst and matched the franchise mark for fewest games to hit 10 home wins in a season (also 13 GP in 2017-18 & 2022-23).

* Scheifele extended his franchise-record home point streak to 13 games and tied Ilya Kovalchuk (46) for the most multi-goal games in Jets/Thrashers history.

* The Jets scored at least six goals in a game for a League-leading ninth time this season, which already equaled their total through all 82 games in 2023-24. Their five tallies in the final frame were also one shy of the franchise record for goals in a period (6 in P1, Feb. 2, 2019).

ICYMI: Mason Appleton and Nikita Chibrikov scored 10 seconds apart and matched the second-fastest two goals in franchise history. The only faster goals came on Dec. 2, 2008 when Ron Hainsey and Chris Thorburn scored seven seconds apart.

MORE NOTES FROM AN 11-GAME TUESDAY IN #NHLSTATS: LIVE UPDATES

Nearly 100 #NHLStats are available in the Tuesday edition of Live Updates, with notable performances from Adrian Kempe, Matvei Michkov, Marco Rossi and Auston Matthews.
* Kempe (1-1—2) helped the Kings (17-8-3, 37 points) move within two points of top spot in the Pacific Division and extend the League’s longest active winning streak to six games. Kempe now has recorded 30 goals in a calendar year for the third straight time (39 in 2023 & 36 in 2022) and became the first Kings player to accomplish the feat since Luc Robitaille (7 from 1987-93).

* Michkov (0-2—2) pushed his point streak to five games with a pair of assists as the Flyers extended their road point streak to seven contests, the NHL’s second-longest active run behind the Capitals (9 GP). His ninth multi-point game of 2024-25 tied Noah Cates (9 in 2022-23) for the third most in a season by a Flyers rookie in the past 30 years, behind Simon Gagne (11 in 1999-00) and Matt Read (10 in 2011-12).

* Rossi (1-0—1) tied the game with 46 seconds remaining in the third period and Matt Boldy scored the only goal in the shootout as the NHL-leading Wild (19-5-4, 42 points) captured their sixth win in seventh contests. Minnesota, which also benefited a late tying goal from Rossi on Nov. 23, joined St. Louis (Oct. 10 & Nov. 30) as the second team to register multiple tying tallies within the final minute of regulation this season. Rossi became the second player in Wild history to accomplish the feat twice in a single campaign (also Joel Eriksson Ek: 2 in 2021-22) and now sits one shy of the most in a career by any player in franchise history (Mikko Koivu: 3x).

* Matthews (1-0—1) scored in overtime to help the Maple Leafs (17-9-2, 36 points) complete a third-period comeback and keep pace with the Panthers (18-9-2, 38 points), who sit atop the Atlantic Division and also earned a win Tuesday. Matthews moved within one overtime goal of tying Mats Sundin (14) for most in franchise history.

QUICK CLICKS

* Connor McDavid speeds past Lightning defense for 14th goal of the season
* NHL EDGE: A closer look at Mackenzie Blackwood after trade to Colorado
* Kevin Shattenkirk retires from NHL after 14 seasons
* Brandon Montour, Josh Mahura receive Stanley Cup rings before matchup with Panthers
* NHL salary cap projected to jump to at least $92.4 million next season, Gary Bettman says

TWO-GAME SLATE FEATURES A PAIR OF NATIONAL BROADCASTS
A two-game Wednesday features a pair of national broadcasts as NHL on TNT and Max host the Rangers (14-12-1, 29 points) and state-rival Sabres (11-13-4, 26 points) in the U.S., while the Senators (12-13-2, 26 points) welcome the Ducks (10-12-4, 24 points) on Sportsnet and TVA Sports in Canada.

* Zach Benson, with 1-4—5 in Buffalo’s past five homes games, has 15-24—39 in 93 career contests and can surpass Hannu Virta (12-24—36 in 72 GP) and Tyler Myers (7-24—31 in 53 GP) for the fifth-most assists by a teenager in franchise history. He can also become the fifth player to record 40 or more points with Buffalo before age 20 – he would join Phil Housley (46-86—132 in 141 GP), Pierre Turgeon (48-82—130 in 156 GP), Rasmus Dahlin (13-71—84 in 141 GP) and Jack Eichel (24-32—56 in 81 GP).

* Artemi Panarin (280-535—815 in 699 GP) is set to skate in his 700th NHL game. His 815 career points are already the sixth most through as many contests among undrafted players to debut since 1963-64. He trails only Wayne Gretzky (589-1,092—1,681), Peter Stastny (369-648—1,017), Phil Esposito (411-509—920), Bobby Orr (270-645—915) and Adam Oates (221-636—857).

* Tim Stützle has collected at least a point in all but two of Ottawa’s 15 home games this season (7-16—23), including multiple in each of his past two. His 23 home points are tied for the fourth most among all players in 2024-25 behind Mitch Marner (6-19—25 in 16 GP), Nathan MacKinnon (5-20—25 in 14 GP) and Martin Necas (8-17—25 in 14 GP).

* The Ducks enter Wednesday with points in each of their past six road games (4-0-2) – their longest such streak since they posted a run of equal length nearly five years ago (Feb. 1-16, 2020). Alex Killorn has posted at least a point in all six of those road contests (3-5—8) and will look to become the first Anaheim player to extend such a streak to seven games since Adam Henrique in 2022-23 (6-2—8 in 7 GP).

COURTESY NHL PUBLIC RELATIONS