Recap of NHL from 16 January 2026

Saturday marks the 26th annual Scotiabank Hockey Day in Canada as Sportsnet hosts the day-long celebration from Moncton, N.B., with a cast of special guests and in-depth features. * The 12.5-hour marathon broadcast starts at 1 p.m. ET and is set to feature several players named to Team Canada’s roster for the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 including Connor McDavid, who can extend his road point streak to 13 games during one of three all-Canadian matchups.

* Nikolaj Ehlers and Ryan O’Reilly each had a hat trick as the Hurricanes and Predators picked up high-scoring wins Friday.

All seven Canadian Clubs in action for Scotiabank Hockey Day in Canada
Saturday is set to feature all seven Canadian teams in action during the 26th annual Scotiabank Hockey Day in Canada, with Sportsnet hosting the day-long celebration from Downtown Place in Moncton, N.B. The outdoor event venue is next to Avenir Centre, home of the QMJHL’s Wildcats.

* Matthew Schaefer was the third consecutive Canadian-born No. 1 pick in the NHL Draft following Macklin Celebrini and Connor Bedard, the latter of whom was named MVP of the 2023 World Junior Championship co-hosted by Moncton. That tournament featured sidelined Flames rookie Samuel Honzek, who helped Slovakia go 2-1-1 in round-robin play at Avenir Centre before falling to the Canadians during the quarterfinals.

* Brendan Gallagher, whose last two tallies this season featured an assist by Wildcats alum Phillip Danault, is one of 11 players in NHL history to score at least five career goals during Hockey Day in Canada games – that group includes Leon Draisaitl, who needs one to pass Jarome Iginla for the most. Jordan Spence’s unique path to the NHL featured stops in Australia and Japan as well as Moncton, where he played parts of three seasons with the Wildcats from 2018-19 to 2020-21.

* Mark Scheifele, who can help Winnipeg extend its winning streak to five games, scored 67 of his franchise-record 359 tallies with Moncton-born Rick Bowness as the Jets’ head coach. Philippe Myers was signed by Toronto during the 2024 offseason and was the latest Monctonian to play for the Maple Leafs (also Gordie Drillon, Dick Gamble & current Oilers goaltender Calvin Pickard).

* Zach Hyman’s 13 career points during Hockey Day in Canada games are tied for the second most among active players and five back of the League’s all-time leader, former Canucks forward Daniel Sedin. Conor Garland played parts of four seasons with the Wildcats from 2012-13 to 2015-16 and is the franchise’s all-time scoring leader.

* Several more matinees are featured on Saturday’s 13-game docket, which starts with Matt Boldy, Brock Faber and Quinn Hughes visiting soon-to-be Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 teammate Tage Thompson. Thompson tallied five points Thursday and can help the surging Sabres improve to 16-2-0 in their last 18 games.

* More highlights include Columbus looking to remain perfect under new bench boss Bowness, Vegas and Boston aiming to extend lengthy winning streaks as well as Alex Ovechkin continuing his pursuit of 1,000 total goals. Saturday is one day removed from the 20-year anniversary of Ovechkin scoring “The Goal” against then-Coyotes head coach Wayne Gretzky.

“HUB CITY” PRODUCED PICKARD BROTHERS, milano cortina-BOUND MARCHAND
Philippe Myers and Calvin Pickard are two of several Monctonians that have dressed at least one game in the NHL, with that group including Pickard’s older brother, Chet; 2,700-game coaching veteran Rick Bowness; former World Juniors captain Patrice Cormier; as well as Stanley Cup winners Roland Melanson, Dick Gamble and Gordie Drillon.

* Moncton has consistently been home to professional and major junior teams such as the QMJHL’s Wildcats as well as the AHL’s Hawks, Golden Flames and Alpines. Notable alumni of these clubs include 1,000-game NHL veterans Geoff Courtnall, Kris Draper, Brett Hull and Brad Marchand.

* Sportsnet’s talent is set to be joined by several special guests and will share powerful stories including features on the Wildcats, Marchand, Bowness and Blind Hockey trailblazer Simon Richard. Richard has played alongside former Willie O’Ree Community Hero Award presented by Hyundai winner Mark DeMontis for the Canadian Blind Hockey team, which was founded by DeMontis with the mission of raising awareness about the sport. Nominations are open for this year’s Willie O’Ree Community Hero Award at NHL.com/OReeAward.

FRIDAY’S FIVE-GAME SCHEDULE FEATURED HAT TRICKS, HIGH-SCORING victories
The Predators and Blues snapped lengthy streaks held by the Avalanche and Lightning, respectively, during Friday’s five-game slate, which also featured wins by the Red Wings, Ducks and Hurricanes. More notes in addition to the ones below can be found in yesterday’s edition of #NHLStats: Live Updates.
* Ryan O’Reilly (3-1—4) climbed into a tie for third on Nashville’s all-time hat tricks and four-point games list as he spearheaded a Predators attack that scored seven goals and handed the Avalanche their first regulation loss at home this season. Nashville snapped an opponent’s home point streak of 20 or more contests for the first time in franchise history. The Predators’ previous high was when they earned an 8-3 win to halt the Islanders’ 13-game run on Dec. 17, 2019.

* Dylan Larkin logged the game-winning goal and Lucas Raymond recorded three assists as the Red Wings (29-16-4, 62 points) tied the Lightning (29-13-4, 62 points) for the most points in the Atlantic Division. Larkin reached 266 career tallies to pass John Ogrodnick (265) for 10th place on the franchise’s all-time list.

* Jordan Kyrou (0-1—1) scored the game-deciding goal as the Blues snapped an opponent’s double-digit winning streak for the second time in franchise history. The first instance was a 2-1 victory to halt the Blue Jackets’ 10-game run on March 24, 2018.

* Tim Washe scored his first career goal as Anaheim erased a 2-0 deficit and Mason McTavish tallied the shootout winner as the Ducks recorded their League-leading sixth multi-goal comeback victory this season. Washe captained the Western Michigan Broncos to a national championship last year.

* Nikolaj Ehlers (3-1—4) scored his first hat trick with Carolina and was one of nine Hurricanes players with multiple points en route to the team’s first nine-goal game since April 7, 2009. Carolina benefited from a six-goal third period and four power-play tallies – tied for the most in a contest this season.