Steven Stamkos scored two of his three goals on the power play to register his 16th career hat trick, climb an NHL all-time list and propel the Predators to their first three-goal comeback win of the season.
* Quinn Hughes factored on the overtime goal to cap his fourth three-assist night since joining the Wild and recorded the second-most assists by a defenseman in NHL history through 20 games with a franchise.
* Mitch Marner makes his return to Toronto against former teammate Auston Matthews and the Maple Leafs during a Sportsnet doubleheader, while the streaking Lightning visit the Blackhawks on ESPN.
STAMKOS’ HAT TRICK HELPS PREDATORS STORM BACK FROM THREE-GOAL DEFICIT
On a night when the team honored Roman Josi’s 1,000th career game, Steven Stamkos (3-0—3) gave Bridgestone Arena even more reason to celebrate as he led Nashville to a three-goal comeback win with his 16th career hat trick and second of the season (also 4-0—4 on Dec. 11, 2025). Stamkos joined Filip Forsberg (2 in 2023-24, 2016-17 & 2015-16) as the second player in Predators history to score multiple hat tricks in one campaign.
* Stamkos, who scored two of his three tallies on the power play, recorded his 39th career multi-goal period and tied Auston Matthews (39) for the second most among active skaters behind Alex Ovechkin (84). His hat trick tally also finished as his 99th career game-winning goal, which overtook Bobby Hull and Guy Lafleur (both w/ 98) for 11th place on the NHL’s all-time list.
* The Predators recorded their first three-goal comeback win in almost exactly one year (Jan. 21, 2025 vs. SJS). Overall, the NHL’s 15 three-goal comeback wins are tied with 2008-09 and 2006-07 for the second most at this stage of a season in the past 30 years (801 GP), behind only 2019-20 (18).
HUGHES CONTINUES TO PILE UP ASSISTS TO START TENURE WITH WILD
The Wild tied the game three times in regulation before Kirill Kaprizov (2-1—3) and Quinn Hughes (0-3—3) combined on the game-winning goal 45 seconds into overtime to help Minnesota (29-14-9, 67 points) outlast Detroit in a back-and-forth affair on ESPN.
* Hughes (Team USA) has collected an NHL-best 22 assists (tied) since debuting with the Wild on Dec. 14 (2-22—24 in 20 GP) – a stretch that includes four three-assist games (tied for the most in a single season in franchise history, Mats Zuccarello: 4 in 2023-24 & Kaprizov: 4 in 2021-22). Bound for the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026, Hughes also tied the most three-assist games by a player through his first 20 games with a franchise in NHL history, alongside Dan Daoust (4 GP w/ TOR).
PENGUINS AND BRUINS COMBINE FOR RARE FEAT WITH QUICK GOALS
Pittsburgh (3 in 0:37) and Boston (3 in 0:54) each scored a trio of quick goals en route to wins against Edmonton and Vegas, respectively. Pittsburgh (25-14-11, 61 points) opened up a two-point cushion on the idle Islanders (27-18-5, 59 points) for second in the Metropolitan Division, while the Bruins (29-20-2, 60 points) extended their lead on the idle Maple Leafs (24-17-9, 57 points) for the second Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference.
* Pittsburgh’s quick three goals began with a pair of tallies from Anthony Mantha in 22 seconds – the second-fastest two goals by a Penguins player in the past 25 years behind Jake Guentzel (0:12 on Dec. 27, 2023). The third goal in that sequence was netted by Sidney Crosby, who found the back of the net for the first time against former longtime teammate Tristan Jarry – the 170th different goaltender the Penguins captain has scored against.
* David Pastrnak (1-2—3) assisted on two Bruins power-play goals in a 30-second span – the franchise’s fastest pair of power-play goals since Dec. 29, 2019 (2 in 0:18) – en route to his 255th career multi-point game. Pastrnak (Team Czechia) finished with the game-winning goal after Jack Eichel (1-1—2) and Mark Stone (0-1—1) each extended their point streaks in a four-goal comeback attempt; his 81 career three-point games are the second most by a Czech player in NHL history, behind Jaromir Jagr (195).
* The Bruins have four games remaining before meeting the Lightning at Raymond James Stadium for the 2026 Navy Federal Credit Union NHL Stadium Series. Boston (4-1-0), set to tie the second-most outdoor games played by one franchise, is no stranger to scoring in quick succession in outdoor games as well and owns the fourth-fastest two goals in that scenario (0:33 at 2021 LT).
QUICK CLICKS
* #NHLStats: Live Updates
* NHL in ASL: Countdown to Olympic Winter Games and Stadium Series
* Stadium Series in Tampa getting ’real now’
* Predators, teammates honor captain Roman Josi for 1,000th NHL game
* Blue Jackets wear No. 3 jerseys during warmups for Charlie Coyle’s 1,000th NHL game
* Celebrate women in hockey with the Hurricanes’ team operations assistant Mallory Wilmoth
MARNER RETURNS TO TORONTO (SPORTSNET), LIGHTNING STREAK TO CHICAGO (ESPN)
Friday’s eight-game slate will see Mitch Marner play at Scotiabank Arena as a visitor for the first time when the Golden Knights visit the Maple Leafs on Sportsnet and TVA Sports. South of the border, the Blackhawks host the streaking Lightning on ESPN – with Tampa Bay having only four more games before they host an outdoor contest for the first time (Feb. 1 vs. BOS, also on ESPN).
* Marner, who helped the Maple Leafs reach the playoffs in each of his first nine NHL seasons, is set to face his former club for the second time in nine days. Marner notched two assists in Vegas’ 6-5 overtime win against Toronto last week and can become the first former Maple Leafs player to post multiple points in each of his first two games versus the franchise since Mike Johnson (2 GP from 1999-00 to 2000-01).
* Marner departed Toronto ranking among the top 10 on the Original Six franchise’s all-time list for assists (4th; 520), points (6th; 741), power-play assists (4th; 178), power-play points (5th; 228), shorthanded goals (t-9th; 10) and shorthanded points (t-10th; 18). He earned NHL First All-Star Team honors in consecutive seasons during his time in Toronto (2020-21 & 2021-22) and represented the franchise at the NHL All-Star Game three times, including alongside Auston Matthews, William Nylander and Morgan Rielly on “Team Matthews” when the event was held in Toronto in 2024.
* The Lightning take a 14-game point streak (13-0-1) into United Center, tied for the third longest in franchise history. If they maintain the streak through their next four contests, Tampa Bay would have a chance to set a new franchise record for longest point streak when they host the Bruins on Feb. 1 in the 2026 Navy Federal Credit Union NHL Stadium Series.
#NHLSTATS MEMOS TO MILAN: LIGHTNING TO BE WELL REPRESENTED
After Team USA’s roster update Wednesday, the Lightning now stand alone atop the list for the most players from one NHL team heading to the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026. With 10 players named to rosters, Tampa Bay could join tonight’s opponent, Chicago, on the list of NHL teams to send a double-digit contingent to a single Olympics. The Lightning also lead all NHL teams for country representation (7 – CAN, SWE, DNK, LAT, SVK, SUI & USA).
* A total of 23 NHL players on 2026 rosters have Olympic experience, with the Lightning also tied for the lead in that category (w/ ANA, NJD & PIT). Pontus Holmberg played for Team Sweden in 2022, while Zemgus Girgensons skated for Team Latvia in 2014 during his NHL rookie season.
* Girgensons tallied 1-1—2 at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games, including an assist on the opening goal in Team Latvia’s victory against Roman Josi (NSH) and Team Switzerland during the Qualification Playoffs. Latvia then stayed within a goal of Team Canada during their entire quarterfinal contest on the back of a standout performance by Kristers Gudlevskis, who made 55 saves – the most ever in one game at Olympics with NHL players – before making his NHL debut with the Lightning during the 2013-14 season. Gudlevskis was later traded to the Islanders for then-prospect Carter Verhaeghe, who now has three Stanley Cup wins including one with Tampa Bay.
* Did You Know? The youngest player named to a 2026 Olympic roster is Team Latvia defenseman Alberts Smits, while the oldest is former Lightning forward Pierre-Edouard Bellemare (Team France). The #NHLStats Pack for the Olympics contains details on this, plus charts for all categories mentioned above.
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