Three Canadian teams – all of whom will be featured on Hockey Night in Canada on Saturday – saw players match franchise records with Mark Scheifele moving up his club’s all-time points list, while Auston Matthews and Cole Caufield both tied their franchise’s overtime goals record.
* The Vegas trio of Jack Eichel, Mark Stone and Pavel Dorofeyev led the Golden Knights to victory and are currently leading the NHL in scoring across all three categories of goals, assists and points (tied or outright).
* The 2025-26 season has featured 25 game-tying goals in the third period, which is the most at this stage of a season since 2020-21 (30).
* A four-game Friday will feature the Canucks visiting the Blackhawks on Sportsnet One in a national broadcast across Canada, before the Sharks and Mammoth clash in the U.S. on ESPN+ and Hulu.
CANADIAN CLUBS FIND NEW NAMES TIED ATOP FRANCHISE RECORDS
The Jets, Maple Leafs and Canadiens all saw their star forwards match franchise records during wins on Thursday.
* Mark Scheifele (2-0—2) found the score sheet in his fourth straight game to begin 2025-26 and boosted his career totals to 341-471—812, tying former teammate Blake Wheeler for the most points in franchise history. Scheifele will have a chance to set the record in Winnipeg’s next game Saturday, when they host Nashville for Hockey Night in Canada on Sportsnet.
* Auston Matthews (1-0—1) and William Nylander (0-2—2) helped the Maple Leafs win their third straight game against the Rangers. Matthews scored his team-leading fourth goal of the season and tied Mats Sundin (14) for the most overtime tallies in Maple Leafs history, while Nylander boosted his point total to a team-leading nine and moved into a tie with George Armstrong (160) for the seventh-most multi-point games in Maple Leafs history.
* Cole Caufield tied the contest with 20 seconds remaining before scoring his second overtime goal in as many games, which matched Howie Morenz and Max Pacioretty (each w/ 10) for the most overtime goals in Canadiens history. Caufield became the first Canadiens player to record overtime tallies in consecutive games multiple times in his career (also 2 GP from May 1-3, 2021).
VEGAS TRIO ADD TO LEAGUE-LEADING TOTALS IN VICTORY
Mark Stone (0-3—3) led a Golden Knights offense to victory in a contest that also saw Pavel Dorofeyev (1-1—2) and Jack Eichel (1-1—2) record multiple points and continue their impressive start to 2025-26. Vegas extended its point streak to five games (3-0-2) and established the second-longest run to begin a campaign, behind a 12-game stretch in 2023-24 (11-0-1).
* Stone matched the franchise record for three-point games (25 GP; also Jonathan Marchessault) and three-assist outings (10 GP; also Shea Theodore). He also set a new Golden Knights benchmark for assists through five games of a campaign, after recording his League-leading ninth.
* Dorofeyev scored his sixth goal of the season and continues to co-lead the League in that category (also Shane Pinto). Dorofeyev’s nine game days as the NHL’s scoring leader (tied or outright) is already the most in a season by a Golden Knights player – Max Pacioretty is the next closest with 7 in 2021-22.
* Eichel, the NHL’s scoring leader in 2025-26 (5-6—11 in 5 GP), set a Golden Knights benchmark for points through five games of a campaign, besting himself (10 in 2024-25). His first point of the night also made him the first player to reach double-digit points this season.
SCHAEFER, MAKAR HELP CLUBS SKATE INTO WIN COLUMN
Matthew Schaefer and Cale Makar both achieved notable achievements in their club’s victory with Schaefer adding his name alongside Makar on a list of just three active defensemen to begin their careers with a four-game point streak.
* Schaefer became the youngest defenseman in NHL history with a season-opening point streak of four or more games and the seventh player (of any position) to do so at age 18 or younger, following forwards Alexandre Daigle (7 GP in 1993-94), Sidney Crosby (6 GP in 2005-06), Wayne Gretzky (6 GP in 1979-80), Sean Monahan (5 GP in 2013-14), Ted Kennedy (5 GP in 1943-44) and Eddie Olczyk (4 GP in 1984-85). Kennedy was 17 years old; the others were 18. Check Live Updates for more on Schaefer’s start.
* Makar (1-1—2) scored the first of four unanswered Avalanche goals to help his club improve to 4-0-1 to start 2025-26, marking their fourth-longest season-opening point streak in the past 24 years. Makar (118-317—435 in 400 GP) surpassed George Boucher (117) for the fifth-most goals by a defenseman through his 400th NHL game. His point total stands as the third most by a blueliner through that milestone contest in League history, behind Bobby Orr (508) and Paul Coffey (475).
HORVAT’S HAT TRICK AND MORE IN THURSDAY’S #NHLSTATS: LIVE UPDATES
Thursday’s edition of #NHLStats Live Updates included notes on Bo Horvat’s natural hat trick; the Devils improving to 7-0-0 when Jack Hughes, Nico Hischier and Timo Meier all score; Seth Jarvis (2-1—3) helping the Hurricanes remain perfect; and Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby finding the back of the net while skating in their 1,070th regular-season game together, which moved them into sixth in NHL history for most by a pair of teammates.
QUICK CLICKS
* Greatest Save Candidate: Anthony Stolarz makes sitting glove stops
* Cam Atkinson takes final lap before Blue Jackets game
* Brady Tkachuk out 6-8 weeks for Senators after thumb surgery
* NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman talks new season on ‘Good Morning America’
* Tuesday’s ESPN doubleheader saw +29% vs comparable window last year
FRIDAY FEATURES INTRACONFERENCE ENGAGEMENTS ON ESPN+ AND SPORTSNET ONE
The latter half of Friday’s four-game schedule has Utah looking to improve to 2-0-0 at home on ESPN+ and Hulu in the U.S. as well as Vancouver aiming to extend a lengthy winning streak on Sportsnet ONE and TVA Sports in Canada.
* JJ Peterka potted a goal in each of the Mammoth’s last two games, including when he logged a 21.31 mph speed burst on a breakaway during their home opener according to NHL EDGE. Peterka was acquired this past summer as Utah looks to clinch a playoff berth in its second season, something the Sharks did during their third campaign before a seven-game upset against the top-seeded Red Wings in the 1994 Conference Quarterfinals.
* Elias Pettersson has helped the Canucks go 10-0-0 in their past 10 games against the Blackhawks dating to Jan. 31, 2022 (CHI: 0-10-0), with Vancouver vying to tie its longest winning streak versus one opponent in franchise history (11-0-0 vs. SJS from Jan. 18, 2020 – Nov. 20, 2023 & TOR from Jan. 10, 2006 – Nov. 2, 2013). Connor Bedard enters the fifth career contest against his hometown team after recording a season-high three points in Chicago’s high-scoring win Wednesday.
* Patrick Kane can inch closer to the 500-goal milestone and the NHL’s all-time points record among U.S.-born players as the Red Wings look to forge four wins through five games in a season for the second time in three years (also 4-1-0 in 2023-24). Nikita Kucherov needs three points to become the League’s fourth-fastest player born outside North America to reach 1,000 behind Peter Stastny (682 GP), Jari Kurri (716 GP) and Jaromir Jagr (763 GP).
* Alex Ovechkin hopes to snap his four-game season-opening goal drought and climb closer to 900 career tallies when the Capitals clash with Kirill Kaprizov and the Wild in their first head-to-head contest since Kaprizov signed an eight-year contract extension. Ovechkin (0-4—4 in 4 GP; 1-3-0 record) has yet to score a goal against Kaprizov (0 points in 4 GP; 3-0-1 record).
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