A hat trick of hat tricks happened on home ice Tuesday as Connor Bedard and Macklin Celebrini teamed up for a rare feat following Jake Guentzel’s three-goal performance earlier in the night. Bedard and Celebrini also moved within one of the League lead in goals.
* The Red Wings (12-7-1, 25 points) and Lightning (10-7-2, 22 points) both climbed the tight Eastern Conference standings, with Detroit now pacing an Atlantic Division in which the top seven teams are separated by only five points.

* Tonight’s NHL on TNT doubleheader starts with the 15th head-to-head game between five-time Art Ross Trophy winner Connor McDavid and nine-time Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy recipient Alex Ovechkin. The game will also be broadcast on Sportsnet programming in Canada along with two other contests from Wednesday’s slate.

 

BEDARD, CELEBRINI BOTH CLIMB THE SCORING RACE WITH HAT TRICKS

The NHL’s scoring races – for both goals and points – continue to heat up as young stars Macklin Celebrini (13-17—30) and Connor Bedard (13-16—29) both scored hat tricks to move within one of Nathan MacKinnon for the League lead in goals and set up a top four in the Art Ross Trophy race made up entirely of No. 1 picks (Connor McDavid joins them on that list).

* Bedard recorded the second hat trick of his career and became the first with multiple this season, before being joined by Celebrini less than two hours later. He also became the fourth player in Blackhawks history with multiple three-goal outings before age 21, joining Alex DeBrincat (3), Jeremy Roenick (3) and Bobby Hull (2). The hat trick also helped Bedard (13-16—29 in 19 GP) match Patrick Kane (2015-16) for the most goals less than 20 games into a season by a Blackhawks player in the past 25 years.

* Celebrini started his night by scoring two goals in the opening 5:58 and ended it with the overtime winner for his third career hat trick. Celebrini, who joined MacKinnon (33) and McDavid (30) as the only players with at least 30 points in 2025-26, became the third teenager in NHL history to record a hat trick which included an overtime goal, following Jordan Staal (Feb. 10, 2007) and Patrik Laine (Oct. 19, 2016).

 

 

LIGHTNING, RED WINGS GAIN GROUND IN TIGHTLY PACKED EASTERN CONFERENCE

The Lightning and Red Wings both climbed the Eastern Conference standings via wins Tuesday, with both decisions causing a shakeup atop the divisional standings (DET claimed No. 1 in the Atlantic, while CAR moved atop the Metropolitan via the NJD defeat).

* Jake Guentzel (3-0—3) notched his eighth career hat trick and Nikita Kucherov (1-1—2) overtook Martin St. Louis on the franchise’s all-time goals list as the Lightning won for the ninth time in their past dozen games (9-3-0 since Oct. 25). Tampa Bay’s victory vaulted them ahead of five teams into the second Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference.

* The Red Wings received crucial goals from rookies Nate Danielson – who scored the first of his career – and Emmitt Finnie before captain Dylan Larkin iced the game with an empty netter for his 600th career point as Detroit improved to 12-7-1 (25 points) and moved atop the Atlantic Division standings. The Red Wings recorded a dozen wins within their first 20 games of a season for the first time since 2011-12 (12).

 

* With the 2025-26 season set to reach the quarter mark Thursday, the Eastern Conference is log-jammed from top to bottom. There is a one-point difference or tiebreaker determining first place in each division; three points separate the top six clubs; 12 teams are separated by four points (Nos. 4-15); and there is a nine-point difference across the full 16-team grouping.

 

 

HORVAT AND ROBERTSON’S OFFENSIVE OUTPUT FEATURED IN LIVE UPDATES
Bo Horvat moved into a tie for second in the League in goals with his 13th of the season – the most by an Islanders player through 20 games of a season since 2017-18 (John Tavares: 15) – as he helped halt the Stars’ winning streak at five games. Jason Robertson tallied both Dallas goals to extend his goal streak to four games (8-3—11 in 4 GP) and his multi-goal run to three, one shy of the longest in franchise history set by Dino Ciccarelli (4 GP in 1983-84).

 

* Find more notes on Tuesday’s eight-game slate in #NHLStats: Live Updates.

 

QUICK CLICKS

 

* ‘Shoresy Classic’ will see hockey-playing actors face 8 NHL alumni teams
* Senators’ Nick Cousins fined for Embellishment
* Blues rock custom T-shirts to celebrate Justin Faulk’s 1,000th NHL game
* Elvis Merzlikins unveils new ‘Sonic the Hedgehog’ mask

* NHL, NHLPA, Everfi launch ‘Future Goals: Hockey Careers Beyond the Ice’

 

 

12 WEEKS UNTIL NHL PLAYERS RETURN TO OLYMPIC WINTER GAMES
NHL Players will soon be heading to Italy to play for gold at the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026. The men’s tournament begins in exactly 12 weeks (Wednesday, Feb. 11), when Team Finland faces Team Slovakia and Team Italy meets Team Sweden.

Connor McDavid, F, Edmonton Oilers / Team Canada (1st Olympics)
* McDavid scored the overtime clincher for Canada in the 4 Nations Face-Off championship game last February before leading the Oilers to their second straight Stanley Cup Final. McDavid also tallied the tournament-clinching goal at the 2016 World Championship.

Sebastian Aho, F, Carolina Hurricanes / Team Finland (1st Olympics)
* Aho played for Team Finland in the 4 Nations Face-Off before leading the Hurricanes to their third Eastern Conference Final since 2018-19. Aho represented his country during its gold-medal entry on home soil at the 2016 World Junior Championship and won a silver medal four months later in his first of three World Championship appearances (2016, 2017 & 2018).

* NHL.com will also be a hub for content before, during and after the Olympic Winter Games with a dedicated section of the site – including Nicholas J. Cotsonika’s recent feature highlighting Ducks forward Leo Carlsson who ranks among the top 10 in NHL scoring this season and hopes to represent Team Sweden less than two months after his 21st birthday on Dec. 26.

Tonight’s NHL on TNT two-pack to feature Oilers–Capitals, Hurricanes–Wild

Wednesday’s four-game schedule is highlighted by an NHL on TNT doubleheader that opens with the Oilers visiting the Capitals – also on Sportsnet in Canada – and closes with the Wild hosting the Hurricanes.

 

* Connor McDavid (8-16—24 in 14 GP; 6-7-1 record) is set to play his 15th head-to-head contest with fellow No. 1 pick Alex Ovechkin (8-7—15 in 14 GP; 8-4-2 record) as Edmonton continues its season-high seven-game road trip. Ovechkin has tallied in three of Washington’s past four contests after recording 10 goals in nine games last November.

 

* Taylor Hall, another No. 1 pick in action Wednesday, has helped Carolina go 6-1-1 over its past eight games including a 4-3 victory against Minnesota on Nov. 6 which marked the Wild’s last loss in regulation (4-0-1 in 5 GP since then). Kirill Kaprizov buried the overtime winner versus Vegas on Sunday and needs four goals to reach 200 in his career.

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