Lane Hutson and Jacob Fowler both found their names on lists among their countrymen as Hutson became the fourth-fastest American defenseman to record 100 points, while Fowler became the sixth-youngest American goaltender at the time of their first career shutout.
* The Lightning and Rangers added to the NHL’s comeback totals as Tampa Bay recorded its first three-goal come-from-behind victory in four years and New York became the fifth team this season with multiple third-period, multi-goal comeback wins.
* The first day of winter features 18 teams in action to conclude the NHL’s final week before its holiday break.
HUTSON HITS 100 CAREER POINTS, FOWLER COLLECTS SHUTOUT
Lane Hutson (0-1—1) became the 11th-fastest defenseman in NHL history to 100 career points and Jacob Fowler made 31 saves for his first career shutout to help the Canadiens (19-12-4, 42 points) keep pace with the Red Wings (20-13-3, 43 points), who sit atop the Atlantic Division standings.
* Hutson (11-89—100 in 119 GP) required the second-fewest games among active defensemen to reach 100 NHL points, behind Cale Makar (108 GP). He became the youngest blueliner in Canadiens history to reach the milestone, the fastest defenseman in franchise history and the 11th-fastest Montreal player overall.
* Fowler (21 years, 26 days) became the youngest Canadiens goaltender to record a shutout since Carey Price (20 years, 229 days) on April 1, 2008. He also became the fourth-youngest active netminder at the time of their first career shutout, behind Andrei Vasilevskiy (20 years, 221 days), John Gibson (20 years, 267 days) and Spencer Knight (20 years, 333 days).
* Fowler, who is the first Florida-born goaltender to play in an NHL game after his debut earlier this month, became the sixth-youngest American goaltender at the time of their first career shutout. He trails Tom Barrasso (18 years, 293 days), Pete Lopresti (20 years, 261 days), John Gibson (20 years, 267 days), Jim Carey (20 years, 286 days) and Spencer Knight (20 years, 333 days).
LIGHTNING, RANGERS COMPLETE MULTI-GOAL RALLYS
The Lightning and Rangers both overcame multi-goal deficits to find the win column Saturday:
* After the Hurricanes scored three goals in the opening frame, the Lightning rallied back thanks to 13 Tampa Bay skaters who found the score sheet, including Nikita Kucherov (0-1—1). The Lightning recorded their first three-goal comeback victory since Oct. 14, 2021 and just their third win in franchise history when trailing 3-0 in the first period (also Nov. 6, 2011 & March 7, 2003).
* Kucherov recorded his fourth calendar year with at least 110 regular-season points, which tied Jari Kurri and Peter Stastny for the second-highest total by a player born outside North America. The only players with more: Leon Draisaitl and Jaromir Jagr (both w/ 5).
* Mika Zibanejad (1-1—2) tied the game with less than three minutes in regulation to allow New York to erase its 4-2 deficit and become the fifth team in 2025-26 with multiple third-period, multi-goal comeback wins (also TOR, EDM, ANA, FLA). They’ve had more in only three other seasons: 2014-15, 2006-07 and 1941-42 (all w/ 3).
* Zibanejad’s goal was his 262nd in a New York sweater, which tied Vic Hadfield for sixth on the franchise’s all-time list. Of those 262 goals, 50 were game-tying tallies – tied for the fourth most in Rangers history.
PLENTY OF #NHLSTATS FROM SATURDAY’S 13-GAME SLATE
Saturday’s edition of #NHLStats: Live Updates featured plenty of notes from the 13-game slate. Some highlights include:
* John Leonard and James van Riemsdyk recorded the first two goals during Detroit’s Moms Trip while John Gibson (24 saves) tied his career high for longest winning streak (7 GP) as the Atlantic Division-leading Red Wings (20-13-3, 43 points) leapfrogged the Capitals (19-12-4, 42 points) for second place in the Eastern Conference. Leonard and van Riemsdyk are the brothers of sidelined Washington players Ryan and Trevor, respectively.
* Matt Boldy (2-0—2) extended his goal streak to four games while the Wild stretched the NHL’s longest active win streak to seven, which matched the fourth-longest run in franchise history. Boldy recorded his sixth career multi-goal period, which tied Kevin Fiala and Jared Spurgeon for the fifth most in Wild history. Marian Gaborik (20) paces the list.
* Despite the Islanders scoring with less than 30 seconds remaining in regulation to force overtime, the Sabres outlasted New York in a shootout to win their fifth straight game. The contest featured Rasmus Dahlin become the third defenseman in Sabres history to score 30 power-play goals – he joined Phil Housley (61) and Doug Bodger (33).
* Morgan Geekie (1-1—2) netted his League-leading 50th goal of 2025 and became the third Bruins player in the past four decades to reach that milestone in a calendar year, following David Pastrnak (58 in 2023 & 57 in 2022) and Cam Neely (52 in 1990 & 51 in 1989). Geekie also became the third skater in franchise history to score 25 goals before the holiday break (since 1972-73), joining Phil Esposito (2x; most: 35 in 1973-74) and Pastrnak (28 in 2019-20).
* A back-and-forth affair in Anaheim, which saw the Blue Jackets erase a 2-0 and 3-2 deficit, ended when Pavel Mintyukov scored the game winner with 3:29 remaining in regulation – it marked Anaheim’s fourth go-ahead goal in the final five minutes of regulation, which is tied for the most among all teams this season (also NYI & DET). The contest also featured Zach Werenski tying the fewest games to 40 points in a campaign in Blue Jackets history, a benchmark set by Artemi Panarin in 2018-19 (35 GP). Werenski also tied Cale Makar for the League lead in points by defensemen.
* Steven Stamkos (1-1—2) recorded his 1,209th career point to tie Bernie Nicholls for 50th place on the NHL’s all-time list while Luke Evangelista (1-0—1) scored a highlight-reel goal against his hometown team to help the Predators skate to victory.
QUICK CLICKS
* Mason Marchment traded to Blue Jackets by Kraken
* Phillip Danault traded to Canadiens by Kings
* Tyler Seguin has ACL surgery, status for Stars to be determined after Olympic break
* Frank Vatrano fined maximum for unsportsmanlike conduct in Ducks game
* Denver Barkey, Memorial Cup winner and two-time OHL champion, has two assists in NHL debut
Winter solstice set to feature nearly 10 HOURS OF HOCKEY
The shortest day of the year features a long list of games including two star-studded matchups on Sportsnet programming as well as the Capitals–Red Wings and Canadiens–Penguins concluding their back-to-back, home-and-home sets.
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