Alex Ovechkin moved into 10th place on the NHL’s all-time points list thanks to his 33rd career hat trick and first four-point outing in nearly three years.
* Nathan MacKinnon and Jack Eichel, who have both been named to preliminary rosters for the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026, each recorded three points Thursday, with the former bolstering his lead atop the League’s scoring race.
* Friday’s four-game slate features a doubleheader on Sportsnet as well as Pittsburgh’s first game since the 2025 NHL Global Series Sweden.
OVECHKIN CLIMBS MORE NHL LISTS WITH 33RD CAREER HAT TRICK, FIRST AT AGE 40
Alex Ovechkin (3-1—4) extended his lead as the NHL’s all-time goals leader with career tallies No. 905, 906 and 907 en route to his 33rd career hat trick and first four-point outing in nearly three years (Dec. 13, 2022). Ovechkin (907-736—1,643) also passed Joe Sakic (625-1,016—1,641) for 10th place on the NHL’s all-time points list.
* Ovechkin became the sixth player in NHL history with a hat trick at age 40 or older, following Gordie Howe (3x; last: Nov. 2, 1969), Johnny Bucyk (2x; last: March 3, 1976), Jaromir Jagr (Jan. 3, 2015), Teemu Selanne (March 28, 2011) and Nicklas Lidstrom (Dec. 15, 2010).
* The Capitals captain also extended his goal streak to four games and matched the longest run by a player age 40 or older in NHL history. Jagr (4 GP from March 20-25 & Feb. 28 – March 9, 2013) and Dean Prentice (4 GP from Dec. 7-13 & Nov. 25 – Dec. 2, 1972) both achieved the feat with the Stars/North Stars.
* Washington scored seven or more goals on consecutive days for the third time in franchise history, following Feb. 22-23, 2025, as well as April 6-7, 1985.
OLYMPIC-BOUND EICHEL AND MACKINNON PUT ON THREE-POINT SHOWINGS
Jack Eichel (Team USA) and Nathan MacKinnon (Team Canada), who have both been named to preliminary rosters for the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026, each recorded three points to help their respective team to victory Thursday:
* Eichel (2-1—3) scored his 110th career goal with Vegas and tied Mark Stone for fourth most in franchise history, while his 16th multi-goal game with the Golden Knights also matched William Karlsson for fourth most. Eichel (28-45—73 in 60 GP; 1.22 P/GP) ranks sixth among all skaters in points per game this calendar year and first among all American players.
* MacKinnon (2-1—3) factored on three of his team’s six tallies to bolster his lead in the 2025-26 goals and points race (16-20—36 in 20 GP) as the Avalanche defeated the Rangers to extend their win streak to seven games. MacKinnon, who boosted his career totals to 383-668—1,051 (890 GP) and surpassed Peter Stastny (380-668—1,048 in 737 GP) for the second-most points in Avalanche/Nordiques history, became the fifth Canadian player in the past decade to score 16 goals through 20 games in a season. The others: Brayden Point (16 in 2024-25), Bo Horvat (16 in 2022-23), Connor McDavid (16 in 2022-23) and Sidney Crosby (17 in 2016-17). Point, McDavid and Crosby have been named to Team Canada alongside MacKinnon.
PAIR OF EASTERN CONFERENCE CLUBS PICK UP SHUTOUT WINS
The Islanders (12-7-2, 26 points) and Panthers (11-8-1, 23 points) both shut out their opponents to skate to victory on Thursday:
* Ilya Sorokin stopped all 29 shots he faced and Bo Horvat had his team-leading 14th goal of the season as the Islanders concluded their seven-game road trip with a 6-1-0 record. Sorokin secured his 24th career shutout and needs one to tie Glenn Resch (25) for the most in franchise history.
* Sergei Bobrovsky turned aside all 31 shots he faced and became the third goaltender to reach a double-digit win total this season as the Panthers skated to victory at Amerant Bank Arena. Bobrovsky tied Tomas Vokoun (51) for the seventh-most shutouts by a goaltender born outside of North America behind Dominik Hasek (81), Henrik Lundqvist (64), Pekka Rinne (60), Evgeni Nabokov (59), Jaroslav Halak (53) and Tuukka Rask (52).
WERENSKI, FANTILLI SPOTLIGHTED IN #NHLSTATS: LIVE UPDATES
The latest edition of #NHLStats: Live Updates spotlighted several stars from across the 12-game slate, including Columbus’ Zach Werenski (0-3—3) and Adam Fantilli (2-1—3), who each posted three-point games to help the Blue Jackets earn two points.
* After Werenski and Fantilli gave the Blue Jackets a 2-0 lead, the Maple Leafs battled back to force overtime, but the Columbus duo connected again to end Toronto’s rally and secure the victory at Scotiabank Arena. Werenski recorded his ninth career three-assist game and surpassed Artemi Panarin (8 GP) for the most in franchise history. He also registered his 17th career three-point outing and tied Panarin and Cam Atkinson for the second most with the club behind Rick Nash (32 GP).
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FOUR-GAME FRIDAY HAS PENGUINS BACK IN ACTION AFTER GLOBAL SERIES
A four-game Friday will feature a doubleheader on Sportsnet, Nikolaj Ehlers’ return to Winnipeg as well as the Penguins on NHL Network in their first game back in North America since skating at the 2025 NHL Global Series Sweden.
* Evgeni Malkin (2-0—2 in 2 GP) and Sidney Crosby (1-0—1 in 2 GP) both found the score sheet during their two-game set at the 2025 NHL Global Series Sweden and are back in Pittsburgh for their 20th game of 2025-26. The Penguins (10-5-4, 24 points) can record at least 25 points through the 20-game mark of a campaign for the first time since 2016-17 (12-5-3, 27 points) – when they last won the Stanley Cup.
* Crosby (12-9—21 in 19 GP) can become the sixth active player to score 13-plus goals through 20 games in a season at least four times (2023-24, 2016-17 & 2010-11) and would join Alex Ovechkin (10x), David Pastrnak (6x), Leon Draisaitl (4x), Auston Matthews (4x) and Steven Stamkos (4x). Meanwhile, Malkin (5-18—23 in 19 GP) can become the fourth player this season to hit 20 assists and could also end up as the fourth player age 39 or older in NHL history to have at least 25 points through the 20-game mark of a campaign, following Gordie Howe (31 in 1968-69), Ovechkin (27 in 2024-25) and Jean Ratelle (26 in 1979-80).
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