Alex Ovechkin scored for the fourth straight contest and owns a goals-per-game rate of 0.68 this season, which puts him on pace to pass Wayne Gretzky’s all-time record at home versus Carolina on April 10.
* Mitch Marner, who hit the 500-assist milestone in a Maple Leafs win, was one of several 4 Nations Face-Off stars that produced notable performances Thursday night.
* Matthew Tkachuk and Dylan Guenther both scored late game-winning goals to help Florida and Utah bolster their positions in their respective playoff races.
* A five-game Friday will see Nathan MacKinnon and the Avalanche square off against Connor McDavid and the Oilers in what will be the final contest for each team before the 4 Nations Face-Off.
OVECHKIN CONTINUES THE GR8 CHASE, EXTENDS GOAL STREAK TO FOUR GAMES
Alex Ovechkin (1-0—1) and The Gr8 Chase highlighted a fourth straight Capitals game as Washington (36-11-7, 79 points) edged Philadelphia and reclaimed top spot in the NHL standings from idle Winnipeg (38-14-3, 79 points). Ovechkin – 16 away from breaking Wayne Gretzky’s all-time goals record – scored his 51st against the Flyers and tied his second-highest total against a single franchise (also 51 vs. CAR).
* The Capitals captain scored his first goal against Flyers goaltender Ivan Fedotov – the 180th different netminder he’s tallied against. Since Ovechkin entered the NHL in 2005-06, he’s scored against nearly half of all the goaltenders that have played at least one game (180 of 369; 49%). Overall, he has scored against 84% of the goaltenders he’s played against (180 of 215).
* Ovechkin’s tally marked the 98th time he has scored within the final 60 seconds of any period – tied with Wayne Gretzky for the most in NHL history – and the 35th career goal against a John Tortorella-led team, his most against one head coach and one more than the next closest (Lindy Ruff: 34).
* Ovechkin has scored 149 of his 879 career goals since turning 36. He now sits one shy of becoming the fourth player in NHL history with 150 or more at age 36 or older and would join Gordie Howe (235), Johnny Bucyk (193) and Teemu Selanne (192).
PLAYERS MAKING THEIR MARK AHEAD OF 4 NATIONS FACE-OFF
With the 4 Nations Face-Off less than a week away, players set to represent their country provided a glimpse of what fans can expect of them at the NHL’s best-on-best tournament with impressive performances Thursday.
* Nathan MacKinnon (0-3—3; CAN) registered his 18th career three-point period – tied with Peter Forsberg for the second most in franchise history – to take back the lead in the Art Ross Trophy race and Cale Makar (1-1—2; CAN) reached the 20-goal mark for the second time in as many seasons to lift the Avalanche to victory in his home province. Makar became the fourth active defenseman with consecutive 20-goal campaigns, following Brent Burns (2 from 2015-16 – 2016-17), Oliver Ekman-Larsson (2 from 2014-15 – 2015-16) and Erik Karlsson (2 from 2013-14 – 2014-15).
* Mitch Marner (0-1—1; CAN) factored on one of three Maple Leafs goals and became the fourth player in franchise history to reach the 500-assist milestone. Only three other players in the past 30 years hit the mark in fewer games than Marner (629 GP): Connor McDavid (527 GP), Sidney Crosby (554 GP) and Forsberg (551 GP) – with the first two lining up alongside the Maple Leafs forward at the 4 Nations Face-Off.
Zach Werenski (0-1—1; USA) notched his 58th point of 2024-25 to establish a franchise record for most in a season by a defenseman and extend his home point streak to 20 games. Werenski, who joined Brett Hull (26 GP in 1989-90) and Phil Housley (22 GP in 1991-92) as the third American player in NHL history to record a run of at least that length, became the fourth blueliner to accomplish the feat alongside Bobby Orr (25 GP in 1974-75 & 21 GP in 1970-71), Paul Coffey (23 GP 1985-86) and the aforementioned Housley.
* Filip Gustavsson (SWE) stopped 37 of 38 shots and improved his career totals with Minnesota to 63-38-14. He passed Dwayne Roloson (62) for fourth place on the franchise’s all-time wins list and now trails only Niklas Backstrom (194), Devan Dubnyk (177) and Manny Fernandez (113).
LATE-GAME HEROICS FROM TKACHUK, GUENTHER LIFT FLORIDA, UTAH TO VICTORY
The Panthers and Utah Hockey Club both benefited from late-game heroics as Matthew Tkachuk helped Florida (33-20-3, 69 points) maintain a one-point lead atop the Atlantic Division while Dylan Guenther helped Utah (23-22-9, 55 points) remain within six points of the playoff line in the Western Conference.
* Tkachuk (2-1—3) factored on Florida’s two first-period goals and secured his third 20-goal campaign with the Panthers, but St. Louis responded as the game went into the late stages of the third period tied before Tkachuk potted the winner with 12 seconds left in the contest. It marked the fourth-latest go-ahead tally in Panthers history, behind Vincent Trocheck (59:55 on Feb. 20, 2017), Noel Acciari (59:54 on Jan. 20, 2020) and Jonathan Huberdeau (59:51 on Feb. 3, 2018).
* Tkachuk will look to score more game winners next week at the 4 Nations Face-Off when he represents the USA, a feat his father, Keith, has done several times – his three career game-winning goals at NHL International Tournaments are tied for the most among all American players.
* Guenther (1-0—1) netted the winner with 33 seconds remaining in the extra frame – his second overtime goal in three days. He became the sixth player age 21 or younger to score an overtime goal in consecutive games, following Andrew Cogliano (3 GP in 2007-08 w/ EDM), Cole Caufield (2 GP in 2020-21 w/ MTL), Kyle Connor (2 GP in 2017-18 w/ WPG), Travis Konecny (2 GP in 2017-18 w/ PHI) and Maxim Afinogenov (2 GP in 2000-01 w/ BUF).
QUICK CLICKS
* #NHLStats: Live Updates for Thursday, Feb. 6
* Deep dive into new online international hockey resource from NHL Stats
* 2025 Navy Federal Credit Union NHL Stadium Series Preview Show details
* Potential unsung heroes at 4 Nations Face-Off debated
* Corey Perry in ‘awe’ playing on line with Connor McDavid, **Leon** Draisaitl for Oilers
McDAVID, MacKINNON HIT ICE FOR FINAL TIME BEFORE 4 NATIONS FACE-OFF
Ten teams are in action on Friday, including Edmonton, Colorado and Winnipeg who will contest their final game before selected players head to Montreal for the 4 Nations Face-Off (Feb. 12-20), with Nathan MacKinnon and Connor McDavid going head-to-head prior to joining forces on Canada’s roster next week. They enter Friday’s contest as the two players named to a 4 Nations roster with the most points so far in 2024-25.
* McDavid and MacKinnon will play together for Canada for the first time; however, they have been teammates on the international stage before. McDavid captained Team North America at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey (0-3—3 in 3 GP) alongside MacKinnon, who produced 2-1—3 (3 GP), including an unforgettable overtime winner against Sweden’s Henrik Lundqvist in the team’s final contest. Canada opens the tournament against Sweden on Feb. 12 at Bell Centre in Montreal.
* McDavid, MacKinnon and other former members of Team North America will join a relatively short list of players who have represented different teams at NHL International Tournaments, a group that includes five members of Team Europe from 2016 (Marian Gaborik: Slovakia; Marian Hossa: Slovakia; Zdeno Chara: Slovakia; Christian Ehrhoff: Germany; Dennis Seidenberg: Germany), as well as a few others, including notables Peter Stastny (Czechoslovakia in 1976 & Canada in 1984), Bryan Trottier (Canada in 1981 & USA in 1984) and Glenn Resch (Canada in 1976 & USA in 1984).
* Click here for an all-time register of players who have participated in the eight NHL International Tournaments to date as part of the new international section of Records.NHL.com, which also includes a plethora of other information such as all-time winners, tournament recaps that include formats, box scores and cumulative stats for each event, all-time tournament records for skaters and goaltenders and much more.
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