James van Riemsdyk achieved a rare personal mark, Patrik Laine is on a historic run of form and Phil Kessel‘s hot streak continued.
Here are three things we learned in the NHL on Thursday.
Van Riemsdyk hits 30-goal mark
For only the second time in his career, van Riemsdyk hit 30 goals in a single season.
The Toronto Maple Leafs forward scored twice as the Toronto Maple Leafs toppled the Buffalo Sabres, ensuring van Riemsdyk’s second career 30-goal season.
Perhaps not so coincidentally, van Riemsdyk has 31 goals for the season in a contract year. Not a bad time to hit the rare feat from his point of view.
No stopping Laine
The Winnipeg Jets snapped a three-game losing streak on Thursday, defeating the Chicago Blackhawks. But one constant throughout the Jets’s recent run of games has been Patrik Laine, who can’t stop scoring.
The 19-year-old recorded an assist in the victory, extending his franchise-record point streak to 14 games. It’s now the longest by a teenaged player in NHL history.
Any time a player is above Wayne Gretzky on a list, he’s doing something right, and then some.
Kessel still on a tear
Breaking news: The Pittsburgh Penguins have a lot of potent forwards. Phil Kessel is among those elite scorers, and he’s been incredible recently.
Kessel scored the opener as the Penguins recovered from an early 2-0 deficit to defeat the Montreal Canadiens 5-3. That was his 13th point (five goals, eight assists) in his last 11 games.
With 10 games remaining in the regular season, Kessel is on pace to break his career-high of 82 points. He is currently on 79, having already eclipsed his previous best assists total (50).
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