After a short break for the holidays, the NHL season continued last night.
Here are the results and highlights from the 14 games on the slate:
Wednesday’s 14-game slate was the first day in NHL history to feature a defenseman recording five points in a single period thanks to Kris Letang.
More #NHLStats on his historic night and the rest of tonight’s slate: https://t.co/TwMtHiqpra pic.twitter.com/dTzL3G4SCf
– NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) December 28, 2023
1. Five assists in one period for Kris Letang
The second period of the Penguins-Islanders game will go down in history.
Pittsburgh scored six goals. Best of all, Kris Letang picked up five assists.
This is the first time in history that a defenseman has scored five points in one period. He finished the game with six assists.
To be precise, the right-hander collected five assists in 6:58.
Of all the defensemen in all the games in NHL history, Kris Letang became the first to record five points in a single period.
More #NHLStats on the record-setting @penguins defenseman: https://t.co/TwMtHiqpra pic.twitter.com/NFDq5mBgyq
– NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) December 28, 2023
In addition to Letang, Jake Guentzel also stood out.
The forward scored two goals in the space of 12 seconds.
Jake Guentzel, everybody 😤
It took Guentzel only 12 seconds to score two goals! pic.twitter.com/Ws1KfGPrz2
– NHL (@NHL) December 28, 2023
Pittsburgh, of course, won the game 7-0.
Another defenseman made his presence felt. Marcus Pettersson finished with three points. It’s not his teammate’s six points, but it’s still very good.
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2. Charlie McAvoy has excellent hand-eye coordination
Last night, the Bruins made short work of the Buffalo Sabres.
A 4-1 victory for the visitors.
In the win, Charlie McAvoy picked up an assist, but his best play of the game came in his own territory. In fact, he did it behind his goalie.
He actually saved a goal.
THE HAND EYE FROM MCAVOY 😮💨 pic.twitter.com/ERQMPFJSFd
– Spittin’ Chiclets (@spittinchiclets) December 28, 2023
Linus Ullmark, who was not in front of the net, also shone.
Despite his night off, he made a fine save.
He didn’t save a goal, but he showed his reflexes.
Linus Ullmark with the windmill glove save… ON THE BENCH 😅 pic.twitter.com/fNnv70W0Yl
– B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) December 28, 2023
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3. 19th consecutive game with a point for Nathan MacKinnon
Nathan MacKinnon is unstoppable right now.
Yesterday, in a 5-4 loss to the Coyotes, the center collected two points.
He now has 19 games with at least one point.
Nathan MacKinnon (19 GP) is one game shy of tying the @Avalanche team record for longest point streak, set in 2006-07 by Paul Stastny (20 GP).
More #NHLStats on MacKinnon, who also secured his League-leading 18th multi-point game of the season tonight: https://t.co/TwMtHiqpra pic.twitter.com/jnyOv7U2Lr
– NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) December 28, 2023
Paul Stastny (20 games) holds the franchise record.
MacKinnon can catch up with him on Friday, when he and Colorado visit the Blues.
Jonathan Drouin also contributed offensively. The former Canadian scored a goal, his fifth of the season.
Jo has seven points in his last seven games.
A 7th point in 7 games for Jonathan Drouin 🔥 pic.twitter.com/yrlZV0Ppgk
– TVA Sports (@TVASports) December 28, 2023
At one point in the game, the Avalanche led 4-0, but the Coyotes rallied and even forced overtime.
YOTES COME BACK FROM A 4-0 DEFICIT TO SEND IT TO OT! pic.twitter.com/H81uOvZq3K
– Spittin’ Chiclets (@spittinchiclets) December 28, 2023
And they even won the game.
What a comeback!
THAT’S WHAT’S UP https://t.co/zzm0q4SPXe pic.twitter.com/KJLAMOtr0I
– Arizona Coyotes (@ArizonaCoyotes) December 28, 2023
Let’s just say the Avalanche goalie wasn’t happy…
Georgiev trying to collect mats in Fortnite pic.twitter.com/0WEXIHpVk4
– Spittin’ Chiclets (@spittinchiclets) December 28, 2023
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4. 500th point of Sebastian Aho’s career
Sebastian Aho had a strong game against the Preds.
He collected a goal and three assists. So far this season, the Finn has 35 points in 32 games.
Yesterday, he reached the 500 career point plateau.
That’s career point No. 500 for Sebastian Aho! 🙌#NHLStats: https://t.co/wMoCE7kdtV pic.twitter.com/7KnYkY8NeP
– NHL (@NHL) December 28, 2023
In his last eight games, the former Canadien has collected 13 points.
Marc Bergevin should never have let him go, hehe.
Speaking of the Habs, they’ll face the Canes tonight in Carolina. The latter, having played in Nashville last night, should be more tired than the Tricolore, who haven’t played since last Friday.
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5. Connor Bedard scores both goals in victory
The Blackhawks scored just two goals last night.
Still, it was enough to win the game. Connor Bedard scored both goals, including the overtime winner.
It was his first NHL overtime winning goal.
CONNOR BEDARD
TOE DRAG RELEASE
OVERTIME WINNER 🥵 pic.twitter.com/wuR2c4YPho– B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) December 28, 2023
Only Sidney Crosby and Jordan Staal were younger when they scored the first overtime goal of their careers.
As for his first goal of the game, he paid the price.
Connor Bedard pays the price and gets his 14th goal this season! pic.twitter.com/C9q9BsatQR
– TVA Sports (@TVASports) December 28, 2023
In 34 games this season, the last first-round draft pick has 32 points, including 15 goals.
He’s on track for a 77-point season. Not bad.
Extension
– Letang obviously picked up an assist on Valtteir Pusstinen’s first goal.
First NHL goal for Valtteri Puustinen! 🚨 pic.twitter.com/77YJAKsMpH
– NHL (@NHL) December 28, 2023
– What a scorer!
Sam Reinhart hits the 20-goal mark for the seventh consecutive season and eighth time in his career while also securing his fifth game-winning goal of 2023-24 (one back of the League lead).#NHLStats: https://t.co/TwMtHiqpra pic.twitter.com/vRtxGRtW7o
– NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) December 28, 2023
– Sens comeback.
Brady Tkachuk seals the deal with the empty netter and 300th career point ✅ pic.twitter.com/4sW3kr0yQL
– Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) December 28, 2023
– Nikita Kucherov’s 300th goal.
3️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ NHL CAREER GOALS FOR KUCH pic.twitter.com/lJbO9VqDCn
– Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) December 28, 2023
– Evgeni Malkin surpasses Sergei Fedorov.
Evgeni Malkin has two goals tonight (career goals 483 & 484,) passing Sergei Fedorov for the second-most goals by a Russian-born player! 🙌 pic.twitter.com/IikzE7OQNN
– Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) December 28, 2023
– Letang obviously leads the charge.
– Four games on the bill tonight.