* The surging Sabres secured an overtime victory versus the Senators and joined a rare list of teams with a seven-game winning streak headed into the holiday break.
* Connor McDavid moved six points ahead of Nathan MacKinnon in the Art Ross Trophy race and enters the hiatus with the League scoring lead for the fifth time in his career.
SURGING SABRES STREAK INTO HOLIDAY BREAK
Bowen Byram (2-1—3) opened the scoring and buried his first career overtime goal as Buffalo recorded a seven-game winning streak for the first time since a franchise record-tying 10-0-0 run from Nov. 8-27, 2018. Byram registered the second three-point game of his career and first since Nov. 3, 2021 (2-1—3), which was less than eight months before he won the Stanley Cup with Colorado.
* The Sabres (18-14-4, 40 points) sit two points back of the reigning-champion Panthers (20-14-2, 42 points), who occupy the Eastern Conference’s final Wild Card spot. Buffalo improved to 4-0-0 since naming Jarmo Kekäläinen its general manager on Dec. 15.
McDAVID’S HIGH FIVE-ASSIST GAME, DRAISAITL’S THREE GOAL EFFORT LIFT OILERS TO VICTORY
Connor McDavid (0-5—5) assisted on all five Edmonton goals, including three of Leon Draisaitl’s, and achieved several notable feats as he built a six-point lead in the Art Ross Trophy race. McDavid (23-44—67 in 38 GP) became the first player with 67 or more points entering the holiday break since 1995-96, when Penguins teammates Mario Lemieux (76) and Jaromir Jagr (68) achieved the feat.
* The Oilers captain climbed into a tie with Bobby Orr (13) for the seventh-most four-assist games in NHL history before moving into a tie for 12th for the League’s all-time five-point games list. Tuesday marked McDavid’s second career five-assist performance, which matched Draisaitl and Paul Coffey for the second most in Oilers history behind Wayne Gretzky (12).
* McDavid boosted his totals this December to 12-19—31 (12 GP), a month that has seen him post four different games with four-plus points – a feat he also achieved in December 2022. The last player to have five such performances in a single calendar month was Lemieux in March 1993.
RANGERS, PANTHERS RIDE HIGH IN VICTORIES BEFORE HOLIDAY CLASSIC
The Rangers and Panthers skated to high-scoring wins in their fourth-last games before meeting outdoors in the 2026 Discover NHL Winter Classic on Jan. 2:
* Despite entering the final frame down 3-2, Artemi Panarin (1-1—2) helped the Rangers score five third-period goals to earn their largest margin of victory in a third-period comeback win since Feb. 22, 1972. Panarin factored on his 99th game-winning goal with New York, which tied Chris Kreider for the sixth most in franchise history, trailing Rod Gilbert (138), Brian Leetch (124), Jean Ratelle (116) and Mark Messier (100).
* After entering the second intermission with a 2-0 deficit, five different Panthers players scored as Florida completed a multi-goal third-period comeback against Carolina for the second time in five days – it marked the club’s third such victory this season, which is the most among all teams. The Panthers scored five in the third period for the fifth time in franchise history and first since Jan. 31, 2013.
XMAS GIFTS TO MAKE IT UNDER THE TREE
More highlights from the League’s last games before its three-day holiday break, with many more in Tuesday’s edition of Live Updates:
* Samuel Girard scored Colorado’s lone goal to help the League-leading Avalanche tie the second-fewest games to 60 points in a season (also 36 GP; BOS in 2022-23, SJS in 2008-09 & PHI in 1979-80), behind the 1929-30 Bruins (35 GP). Colorado (27-2-7) tied the second-most wins before the holiday break, trailing only the 2018-19 Lightning (28).
* William Nylander (2-2—4) notched the third of his four points on Max Domi’s end-to-end go-ahead goal as the Maple Leafs quelled a comeback attempt by the Penguins, which featured Sidney Crosby collecting his 1,080th career assist to overtake Adam Oates (1,079) for eighth place on the NHL’s all-time list.
*Dylan Larkin tied the game with 4:03 remaining in the third period and then scored the overtime winner to reach the 20-goal mark. Detroit has two 20-goal scorers (Larkin & Alex DeBrincat) at the holiday break for the first time since 1988-89 (Steve Yzerman & Paul MacLean) and won its 10th game this season after scoring the winner in the third period or overtime, which is the most among all teams. The contest also featured John Gibson extend his win streak to eight games and become the first Red Wings goaltender since Chris Osgood in 2007-08 (also 8 GP) to post a run of that length.
* Lane Hutson (0-3—3) and Noah Dobson (0-3—3) became the third defensemen duo in Canadiens history to each record at least three assists in the same game, joining Andrei Markov and P.K. Subban (Oct. 23, 2015) as well as Guy Lapointe and J.C. Tremblay (Feb. 12, 1972 & Jan. 6, 1971). Hutson’s first helper of the night was also the 90th of his career – he became second-fastest player in Canadiens history to record 90 assists with the club (121 GP), behind only Buddy O’Connor (114 GP).
* Adam Pelech potted the go-ahead goal with 1:15 remaining in regulation – the second latest by a defenseman in franchise history behind Ryan Pulock (59:19 on Feb. 11, 2020) – as the Islanders (20-13-4, 44 points) remained one point back of the second-place Flyers (19-10-7, 45 points) in the Metropolitan Division. Trevor Zegras (0-1—1) helped Philadelphia clip Chicago and became the first player with a nine-game point streak in his first season with the Flyers since John LeClair (12 GP from March 2-25, 1995).
* Steven Stamkos (1-1—2) ended his 1,200th NHL game with his 17th career overtime goal and moved into a tie for the seventh most in League history. Stamkos also became the third player in franchise history with the winning goal in three consecutive games, following Mike Fisher (3 GP from Jan. 23-31, 2012) and Steve Sullivan (3 GP from Jan. 5-9, 2007).
NHL RETURNS FROM BREAK WITH RIVALRY-HEAVY NHL SATURDAY SHOWDOWN
The NHL schedule is now on a three-day holiday break before returning for the NHL Saturday Showdown on Dec. 27, a 13-game slate that includes 11 divisional matchups, five provincial/state rivalry games, a clash between the top two teams in the Eastern Conference (DET-CAR) and a showdown between a pair of Western Conference contenders (COL-VGK).
FOR MORE OF TODAYS NHL MORNING SKATE (DEC 24/25)
SOURCE: NHL Public Relations
