Recap of NHL from 28 January 2026

Wednesday’s three-game slate featured Ondrej Palat picking up a pair of points in his Islanders debut and Travis Konecny tallying the NHL’s record-tying 29th hat trick this month.

* ESPN+ and Hulu will be home to a doubleheader during tonight’s 15-game slate, starting with all-time NHL goals leader Alex Ovechkin visiting the Red Wings in Detroit – with Patrick Kane one point away from breaking the NHL record for points by a U.S.-born player. The broadcast closes with a showdown between the Maple Leafs and Kraken.

* Players heading to Milan next week span the entirety of tonight’s 15-game NHL schedule, from Macklin Celebrini versus Connor McDavid (both Team Canada) in Edmonton; to David Pastrnak (Team Czechia) and Jake Guentzel (Team USA) competing in their final contests before the 2026 Navy Federal Credit Union NHL Stadium Series; to Nico Hischier hosting Roman Josi (both Team Switzerland) in Newark.

#NHLSTATS MEMOS TO MILAN: CELEBRINI VS. MCDAVID HIGHLIGHTS 15-GAME SLATE

In exactly two weeks, Oilers captain Connor McDavid and Sharks forward Macklin Celebrini could share the ice for Team Canada in Milan. Before that, the NHL scoring leader and youngest NHL player heading to Milan each have four games remaining – including their fourth all-time head-to-head tonight in Edmonton (McDavid: 0-8—8, 3-0-0 record; Celebrini: 0-1—1, 0-2-1 record).

* Celebrini, 19, is set to become the youngest player to play for Team Canada at Olympics with NHL players. The only NHL players to represent Team Canada at the Olympics at age 21 or younger are defenseman Drew Doughty in 2010 (age 20), as well as forwards Rick Nash in 2006 (age 21), Jonathan Toews in 2010 (age 21) and Simon Gagne in 2002 (age 21).

* McDavid will be one of 19 Team Canada returnees from the country’s championship squad at the 4 Nations Face-Off last February – where McDavid scored the overtime goal to secure the title. McDavid has added 154 NHL points to his total since scoring that goal (121 regular season, 33 playoffs), a count that features a League-leading 92 points so far in 2025-26. Pursuing his ninth career 100-point season, McDavid will head to Milan with the most points by any player before an Olympic break if he maintains his advantage over second-place Nathan MacKinnon (also part of the Team Canada roster).

* The new pages on Records.NHL.com include more stats from the five prior Olympics with NHL players, while the #NHLStats Pack for the Olympics complements the new site with an abundance of information on the 2026 rosters.

Lightning, Bruins set to play final games before 2026 Stadium Series
The Lightning and Bruins are both set to contest their final games before heading outdoors at Raymond James Stadium on Sunday for the 2026 Navy Federal Credit Union NHL Stadium Series (Feb. 1, 6:30 p.m. ET on ESPN, SN & TVAS) and their star players can achieve notable feats leading up to the event.

* Nikita Kucherov leads the League in points since the calendar flipped to 2026 (8-21—29 in 12 GP) and can record his third career 30-point calendar month (also April 2022 & Dec. 2018). The only other players in NHL history to reach the mark in as many months are Wayne Gretzky (36), Mario Lemieux (14), Bryan Trottier (4), Phil Esposito (4), Steve Yzerman (3), Jaromir Jagr (3) and Connor McDavid (3). Should he get a second point Thursday, Kucherov would also tie Steven Stamkos (307 GP) for the most multi-point games in franchise history.

* David Pastrnak, who is currently riding an eight-game point streak and, along with his upcoming Stadium Series foe Kucherov, is one of two players with 20 assists in January (5-20—25 in 13 GP). He needs three more helpers tonight to tie Bobby Orr (23 in March 1971) for the most in a calendar month in Bruins history as he also looks to establish a new League benchmark for longest assist streak entering an outdoor game.

OTHER OLYMPIC TIES ON FINAL 15-GAME DAY BEFORE BREAK

The final 15-game day before the Olympic break includes several matchups which feature many players facing off against future Olympic teammates and adversaries.

* Four of 10 NHL players from Team Switzerland will compete tonight in New Jersey, including both of that country’s NHL captains: Nashville’s Roman Josi and New Jersey’s Nico Hischier. Josi will make his second Olympics appearance (also 2014), while the Devils will send three players to the same Olympic team for the third time as Hischier is joined by Timo Meier and Jonas Siegenthaler (also Team USA in 2006; Team Czechia in 2014).

* Brad Marchand, Sam Reinhart and the Panthers will face their future Team Canada teammates in the Blues’ Jordan Binnington and Colton Parayko. Marchand (age 37) is one of four players age 35 or older on Team Canada’s 2026 Olympic roster, also: Sidney Crosby (age 38), Drew Doughty (age 36) and Darcy Kuemper (age 35). The 2026 Olympics will mark the second time the country has had at least four players 35-plus on their roster at Olympics involving NHL players (also 4 in 2002).

* Mikko Rantanen and Jack Eichel, opponents tonight when the Stars visit the Golden Knights and potential opponents at the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026, both enter their game one away from their 20th goal of 2025-26. Rantanen can become the fifth Finnish player with at least nine career 20-goal campaigns, while Eichel can become the eighth active American to reach the mark in nine or more seasons.

* Vancouver’s David Kampf and Filip Hronek, who will represent Team Czechia at the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026, will battle two of their future Team Czechia teammates tonight, Anaheim’s Radko Gudas and Lukas Dostal. Kampf, Gudas and Dostal all won a gold medal together on home soil at the 2024 World Championship.

Wednesday featured Palat posting pair of points in Islanders debut

The Islanders, Blue Jackets and Senators earned wins during Wednesday’s three-game slate. More notes in addition to the ones below can be found in yesterday’s edition of #NHLStats: Live Updates.

* After being acquired from the Devils on Tuesday, Ondrej Palat tallied 1-1—2 in his Islanders debut and became the fourth active player to record multiple points in their first game with the franchise, following Marshall Warren (0-2—2 on Oct. 25, 2025), Anthony Duclair (1-1—2 on Oct. 10, 2024) and John Tavares (1-1—2 on Oct. 3, 2009). Palat as well as Jan Rutta and Michal Kempny can become the third, fourth and fifth Czech members of the “Triple Gold Club” if they win a gold medal at the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 – they would join Jaromir Jagr and Jiri Slegr.

* Charlie Coyle, who was honored by Columbus in a pre-game ceremony for skating in his 1,000th career contest on Jan. 22, scored the opening tally just 38 seconds into the game and helped the Blue Jackets outlast the Flyers, who had all three of their goals scored by Travis Konecny. It marked the NHL’s 29th hat trick since Jan. 1, which tied December 1985 for the most during a calendar month in League history.

* Tim Stützle (1-1—2) factored on two of Ottawa’s five goals as the Senators secured a victory versus the League-leading Avalanche. The growth of German hockey will be on full display at the Milano Cortina Games with Stützle, Leon Draisaitl and Moritz Seider all set to make their Olympic debut when Team Germany faces Team Denmark in their tournament opener on Feb. 12.