Patrick Kane became the fifth U.S.-born player in NHL history to reach the 500-goal milestone and the first since Keith Tkachuk nearly 18 years ago (April 6, 2008) as the Red Wings skated to victory on Thursday.
* Nathan MacKinnon reclaimed the scoring lead with a four-point night that saw Colorado score eight goals through the first two periods. In the process, the Avalanche extended their home winning streak to 16 games – tied for the sixth longest in NHL history.
* More Olympic-bound players put up multi-point performances in winning efforts to cap Thursday’s slate of games.
KANE JOINS SHORT LIST OF U.S.-BORN PLAYERS TO REACH 500-GOAL MILESTONE
With two of Detroit’s five goals, Patrick Kane (500-869—1,369 in 1,332 GP) reached the 500-goal milestone and became one of only five U.S.-born players to do so as the Red Wings (26-15-4, 56 points) defeated the Canucks to move into second place in the Atlantic Division standings. Kane joined Mike Modano (561), Keith Tkachuk (538), Jeremy Roenick (513) and Joe Mullen (502).
* Kane, now six points from surpassing Modano (1,374) for the most by a U.S.-born player in NHL history, also became just the sixth active player to hit the 500-goal mark. The others: Alex Ovechkin (915), Sidney Crosby (649), Steven Stamkos (600), Evgeni Malkin (523) and John Tavares (509).
MacKINNON RETAKES SCORING LEAD WITH FOUR-POINT NIGHT, EIGHT AVALANCHE GOALS
Nathan MacKinnon (1-3—4) was one of five Avalanche players with three or more points Thursday – all of whom collected theirs through two periods – and reclaimed the scoring lead over Connor McDavid. Colorado extended its home winning streak to 16 games and matched the sixth-longest run in NHL history.
* The second period saw MacKinnon, Cale Makar and Josh Manson each post three points, marking the fourth time in franchise history three players each collected three-plus points in a single frame. The end of that period also marked the first time in franchise history five players each posted three or more points through 40 minutes of a game (also Brock Nelson & Ross Colton).
* Makar became the first defenseman this season to 50 points – a distinction he shared with Zach Werenski in 2024-25. The last blueliner to achieve this feat in consecutive campaigns was Erik Karlsson (2015-16 & 2014-15).
* MacKinnon’s three-assist period was the ninth of his career, which tied Sidney Crosby and Nikita Kucherov for the most among active players and also matched Peter Stastny for the most in franchise history.
PLAYERS NAMED TO OLYMPIC ROSTERS SHINE THURSDAY
Multiple players who have been selected to represent their country at Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 had standout performances on Thursday. Click here for the #NHLStats Pack: Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026, which includes notes on every Olympic roster announced to date.
* Team Canada’s Sidney Crosby (0-2—2) factored on half of his club’s goals to move within one of his 19th 50-point season – which would tie the sixth most in NHL history – and help the Penguins (21-12-9, 51 points) win their sixth straight game to move into the first Wild Card seed in the Eastern Conference. Crosby (1,087 w/ PIT) surpassed Wayne Gretzky (1,086 w/ EDM) for the second-most assists with a single franchise, behind Ray Bourque (1,111 w/ BOS).
* Team Canada’s Connor McDavid (1-1—2) recorded his 24th multi-point game of the season (44 GP) to extend his point streak to 17 games (18-23—41 in 17 GP), matching a career high reached twice previously in 2021-22 and 2022-23. He became the third active player to accrue 40 points during a point streak of any length, alongside Crosby in 2010-11 (50 in 25 GP) and Patrick Kane in 2018-19 (43 in 20 GP) and 2015-16 (40 in 26 GP).
* Team Canada’s Mark Stone (1-2—3) extended his goal streak to six games and established the second-longest run in Golden Knights history, behind Max Pacioretty (7 GP in 2021-22). Stone has now collected a point in 23 of his 26 appearances in 2025-26 (88%). The only other player that has recorded a point in at least 85% of their games this season is McDavid (38 GP/44 GP; 86%).
* Team France’s Alexandre Texier followed up his first career three-point game with his first career hat trick and became the fourth Canadiens player in the past 30 years to record three points on consecutive days, joining Tyler Toffoli (Jan. 20-21, 2021), Pierre Turgeon (March 22-23, 1996) and Martin Rucinsky (Jan. 27-28, 1996). Texier became the 10th different player to score a hat trick in the first eight days of 2026 – of note, there were 14 players with a hat trick in all of January 2025.
SABRES, MAPLE LEAFS SPOTLIGHTED IN #NHLSTATS: LIVE UPDATES
The latest edition of the #NHLStats: Live Updates featured the Atlantic Division’s Sabres (23-15-4, 50 points) and Maple Leafs (21-15-7, 49 points) both skating to victory to move up the Eastern Conference standings, with Buffalo sliding into the final Wild Card position and Toronto moving within one point.
* Defensemen factored on three of the Sabres’ five goals to help Buffalo move into a playoff spot for the third day since the turn of the calendar (also Jan. 1 & 2). The Sabres (42 GP) required their fewest games to 50 points in a season since 2018-19 (41 GP) and hold a playoff position this late in a campaign (693 GP) for the first time since Feb. 24, 2023.
* Scott Laughton found the back of the net shorthanded against his former team with just over six minutes remaining in the third period (54:04) to pull the Maple Leafs even and set the stage for Easton Cowan to net the winner in overtime. Laughton scored the sixth-latest shorthanded game-tying goal in Maple Leafs history – a list topped by Joe Nieuwendyk (59:43 on Dec. 9, 2003).
QUICK CLICKS
* Steven Stamkos honored for 600th NHL goal, sons skate out on ice with him
* Slovakia roster for 2026 Winter Olympics includes Juraj Slafkovsky, Simon Nemec
* Most Valuable Player at halfway point of season
* Unmasked: Mentorship from veteran goalies invaluable for success at position
* Artyom Levshunov making his push for Blackhawks
OVECHKIN LOOKS TO CONTINUE SCORING WAYS ON THREE-GAME FRIDAY
Alex Ovechkin (18-19—37 in 44 GP) is closing in on his 21st career 20-goal season after finding the back of the net in back-to-back games for the Capitals (22-16-6, 50 points), who travel to Chicago to clash with the Blackhawks (18-18-7, 43 points) at United Center on Friday. Ovechkin can become the third 40-year-old in NHL history to score 20 goals through his first 45 games of a season, alongside Gordie Howe (21 in 1968-69) and Johnny Bucyk (21 in 1975-76).
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