Top-5: Nathan MacKinnon scores one of the goals of the year in the NHL

13 games were presented in the NHL last night, including the Canadiens’ match in Dallas.
The CH won their game against the Stars, but we also need to talk about what happened elsewhere across the league.
It was a busy evening:
That’s a wrap on a 13-game Thursday!#NHLStats: https://t.co/Px7DmZTdwl pic.twitter.com/0sKt64QMQz
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) January 17, 2025
1: Nathan MacKinnon scores one of the goals of the year
Nathan MacKinnon is part of the elite in the National League.
And we saw it last night, as the Avalanche hosted the powerful Oilers at home.
The Dog scored one of the goals of the year by completely outsmarting Evan Bouchard… before beating Stuart Skinner:
EWWW
There’s no stopping Nathan MacKinnon when he picks up steam like that.
: @espn
https://t.co/S5tPrXCygm pic.twitter.com/yzybyxrH5E
— NHL (@NHL) January 17, 2025
The Avalanche was controlling the game… Until the Oilers’ big guns decided to wake up.
The Edmonton team scored four unanswered goals to ultimately win 4-3, after trailing 3-0 in the first period:
After falling down 3-0 part way through the first period, the @EdmontonOilers rattled off four straight goals to pick up the 4-3 victory!
pic.twitter.com/kdvRj6yf7k
— NHL (@NHL) January 17, 2025
Evan Bouchard (one goal and one assist), Connor McDavid (one goal and one assist) and Leon Draisaitl (two assists) contributed to their team’s victory.
Things are going well for the Oilers lately, who have won eight of their last ten games.
2: Another goal for Ovi
We move to overtime in the game between the Senators and the Capitals.
The score is 0-0… And it’s the guy who usually scores goals who decided to step up.
You guessed it, Alex Ovechkin gave his team the victory (1-0) with a good shot:
ALEX OVECHKIN WINS IT IN @ENERGIZER OVERTIME WITH CAREER GOAL 874!
ONLY 21 MORE GOALS TO PASS WAYNE GRETZKY FOR THE MOST IN NHL HISTORY! pic.twitter.com/n489W2JN8v
— NHL (@NHL) January 17, 2025
Ovi now has 874 goals scored in the NHL.
He is only 21 goals away from surpassing Wayne Gretzky, and it’s safe to say it’s just a matter of time at this point.
Note that with his goal, Ovechkin has now scored against 179 different goalies since the start of his NHL career.
This is a record:
Alex Ovechkin has now scored on 179 different goalies, breaking Jaromir Jagr’s record for the most in NHL history
(h/t @CapitalsPR) pic.twitter.com/lV3eVurta2
— Gino Hard (@GinoHard_) January 17, 2025
3: Things are going well for Kakko
The Rangers traded Kaapo Kakko to Seattle in December.
And let’s just say the Finnish player is doing what he can to make Chris Drury look bad.
Kakko got an assist on the Kraken’s first goal against the Jets yesterday:
Put some EXTRA sauce on that sucker
Jaden Schwartz put the *perfect* arc on this breakout sauce pass to Kaapo Kakko, who fed it back to Matty Beniers for the opener pic.twitter.com/5DR1kXatex
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) January 17, 2025
He now has 10 points in 13 games since arriving in Seattle.
Not bad!
However, it should be noted that the efforts of the main player were not enough: Dylan DeMelo scored with 27 seconds left on the clock to secure the victory for his team.
The Jets escaped with the W (final score 2-1):
THAT’S GAME
Dylan DeMelo scores the game winner with 27 seconds left in his 600th NHL contest! pic.twitter.com/vacsJ4iSCd
— NHL (@NHL) January 17, 2025
Once again, Connor Hellebuyck was brilliant in net.
The Jets’ goaltender stopped 18 of the 19 shots he faced, marking his 28th (!) victory of the season.
He’s going to win the Vezina, for sure.
4: An assist for Michkov and Celebrini
Lane Hutson recorded an assist last night in the Canadiens’ victory in Dallas.
What does the Calder race look like, then?
In fact, let’s first note that Matvei Michkov and Macklin Celebrini also registered an assist last night in their respective games.
It’s heating up:
Brought to you by the 70s!
Toffoli
Celebrini
Eklund pic.twitter.com/mlQxx37WT2
— San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) January 17, 2025
COOTS.
Michkov with a beautiful play to start the rush. Farabee to Coots and it’s 1–1 baby! pic.twitter.com/Z4afH8jw3m
— TLY (@TheLibertyYell) January 17, 2025
Hutson has now recorded 36 points since the start of the season.
Michkov and Celebrini each have 32 points.
I can’t wait to see who will win the Calder…
Note that Michkov and the Flyers took advantage of their visit to Long Island to beat the hapless Islanders (5-3).
Celebrini and the Sharks, for their part, lost 4-1 to the Blue Jackets in Columbus.
5: 1300th career game for Vlasic
Marc-Édouard Vlasic is no longer the defender he once was.
But he experienced a nice moment last night, even though his team lost to the Jackets.
The defender played his 1300th game in the NHL:
1⃣3⃣0⃣0⃣!
Congratulations to Marc-Édouard Vlasic! pic.twitter.com/FZlkHLFqFP
— San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) January 17, 2025
1300 games… That’s a lot.
And the defender’s achievement is notable as he becomes just the 74th player in NHL history to play that many career games.
That’s quite an accomplishment.
Overtime
– It would have been crazy.
Shesterkin tried for the goalie goal!
pic.twitter.com/ra9mOyndHb
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) January 17, 2025
– Another victory for the Kings.
There’s win No. 25 for the @LAKings!
pic.twitter.com/fJdJ6MFYFU
— NHL (@NHL) January 17, 2025
– Stamkos scored the game winner for his team against the Hawks in a shootout.
Steven Stamkos puts Chicago away on his first shootout attempt for Nashville
pic.twitter.com/wjhEZZRleN
— Gino Hard (@GinoHard_) January 17, 2025
– Bedard scored in his team’s loss:
Bedard’s 13th of the season knots it up!
pic.twitter.com/lFsmxCLyyh
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) January 17, 2025
– Beautiful goal.
WILLY STYLES IN OT!!
William Nylander gets in alone and wins it for the @MapleLeafs in @Energizer overtime! pic.twitter.com/mvfDhjRJdG
— NHL (@NHL) January 17, 2025
– In the Leafs’ victory, Marner reached the 700 career points milestone:
Mitch Marner becomes the fastest Leafs player to reach 700 points in franchise history
pic.twitter.com/Wuh3syDDcw
— BarDown (@BarDown) January 17, 2025
– Nice.
Morgan Frost and Owen Tippett play a little give-and-go to extend the lead for the @NHLFlyers!
pic.twitter.com/kSw7Bju9oc
— NHL (@NHL) January 17, 2025
– A first career game for Donovan Sebrango. The family was emotional:
«To think that that moment happened here is one of the greatest moments of my life.»
Kim Sebrango’s the proudest hockey mom on the planet experiencing her son’s NHL debut for his childhood team tonight.
https://t.co/jfnOp4262b pic.twitter.com/CzOFxBM3PG
— NHL (@NHL) January 17, 2025
– Beautiful milestone for Victor Hedman.
The first Bolt to ever do it
Congrats, Cap! pic.twitter.com/BbSucTDUSe
— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) January 17, 2025
– Sniiiipe.
Patrick Kane SNIPES IT on the power play to give the Wings the lead
pic.twitter.com/59UpLYWtTA
— Gino Hard (@GinoHard_) January 17, 2025
– The top scorers of the night:

– Only two games today in the NHL:
