* Rookie Justin Sourdif scored his first career hat trick and 40-year-old Alex Ovechkin netted his 151st career game-winning goal (including playoffs) in a Capitals victory. The NHL has featured seven hat tricks in 2026 – the most through the first five days of a calendar year in League history.
* Dylan Larkin tied franchise legend Nicklas Lidstrom on an all-time list and helped the Red Wings soar back atop the Eastern Conference standings.
* Auston Matthews eyes rare company with another multi-goal game to start the 2026 calendar year as the Maple Leafs are featured in one of two national broadcasts in the United States on Tuesday (NHL on TNT), alongside Matthew Schaefer and the Islanders on ESPN+ and Hulu.
HATS CONTINUE TO FLY IN 2026 AS SOURDIF HAS CAREER NIGHT FOR CAPITALS
Justin Sourdif (3-2—5), Connor McMichael (0-4—4) and Alex Ovechkin (2-0—2) led Washington’s offensive output against Anaheim as the Capitals improved to 6-0-1 in their past seven games against the Ducks. Sourdif scored the NHL’s 40th hat trick of the season and seventh since Jan. 1 – the most through the first five days of a calendar year in League history (next closest: 5 from Jan. 1-5, 1976).
* Sourdif, who scored his first career hat trick while skating in his 46th career contest and did so in a span of 11:34, collected his fifth point in the third period and matched the franchise record for points in a game by a rookie (Greg Theberge: 2-3—5 on Nov. 21, 1981). Overall, he is the third rookie in as many seasons to register a five-point game, alongside Macklin Celebrini (3-2—5 on April 9, 2025) and Connor Bedard (1-4—5 on March 12, 2024).
* Ovechkin’s first tally Monday marked his 349th career home game with a goal (overtaking Gordie Howe for the most in NHL history) and his NHL record-extending 140th career game-winning goal in the regular season; his 151 (including playoffs) tied Jaromir Jagr for the most in League history.
* Ovechkin – who also moved within seven multi-goal games of tying Wayne Gretzky’s NHL record (189) – continues THE GR8 CHASE for Victory Over Cancer with the Capitals, Hockey Fights Cancer and V Foundation by personally donating to pediatric cancer research for each regular-season goal he scores for the remainder of his career. Click here for details.
KRAKEN, RED WINGS CLIMB STANDINGS IN #NHLSTATS: LIVE UPDATES
The Kraken and Red Wings each skated to road wins and climbed the standings in the process. Find notes on the rest of Monday’s slate in the latest edition of #NHLStats: Live Updates.
* Jacob Melanson, a fifth-round pick in the 2021 NHL Draft (No. 131), scored his first career goal – the first of his team’s five unanswered tallies in Calgary – as the Kraken tied the franchise’s second-longest point streak (7-0-1 in 8 GP). Before their streak, Seattle (19-14-7, 45 points) sat five points back of the playoff line in the Western Conference, but overtook Anaheim (21-18-3, 45 points) on Monday for third place in the Pacific Division standings due to the games played tiebreaker.
* Dylan Larkin netted his 264th career goal and tied Hall of Fame member Nicklas Lidstrom for 11th place on Detroit’s all-time list as the Red Wings (25-15-4, 54 points) leapfrogged the idle Lightning (25-13-3, 53 points) and Hurricanes (25-14-3, 53 points) for first place in the Eastern Conference.
QUICK CLICKS
* Nikita Kucherov, Sidney Crosby, Auston Matthews named the NHL’s “Three Stars” for the week
* Commissioner Gary Bettman Statement on the Passing of David Branch
* Commissioner Gary Bettman Statement on the Passing of Bob Pulford
* NHL’s ‘My World’ YouTube docuseries stars Canadiens’ Juraj Slafkovsky
* Kraft Hockeyville nominations for 20th anniversary now open
MATTHEWS, SCHAEFER CAN ACHIEVE RARE FEATS ON TNT, ESPN+
Tuesday’s action consists of 10 games, including a pair of nationally televised contests in the U.S. featuring first overall picks when Auston Matthews and the Maple Leafs and Panthers square off on TNT and HBO MAX in a rematch from the 2025 Second Round, while the Devils visit Matthew Schaefer and the Islanders on ESPN+ and Hulu.
* Fresh off cementing himself atop Toronto’s all-time goals list, Matthews can continue his strong start to 2026 against a streaking Sam Bennett in the teams’ second meeting this season (TOR: 4-1 W on Dec. 2). Matthews has started the new year with consecutive multi-goal outings and can help the Maple Leafs start 2-0 against a reigning Stanley Cup champion for the third time in the NHL’s modern era (since 1944-45) after doing so against the 2018-19 Capitals and 1998-99 Red Wings.
* Bennett can join Brad Marchand (10 GP) as the second Panthers player with a double-digit point streak in 2025-26 – a feat the franchise has seen in a single season twice before (2022-23 & 2018-19). Florida can become the second team to have two players with a 10-game run this season, following Montreal (Nick Suzuki: 12 GP & Cole Caufield: 11 GP).
* Schaefer helped his club earn their first win of 2026 with a two-goal showing on Jan. 3 which ended with his second career overtime goal. The No. 1 pick has found the back of the net in his past two games and can become the first 18-year-old defenseman in NHL history to record a three-game goal streak. His next goal would also tie him with Bobby Orr (13 in 1966-67) for the second most in a season by an 18-year-old blueliner.
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