NHL Player News
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Gage Goncalves C | TB
Lightning's Gage Goncalves: Earns first career point
Goncalves notched a power-play assist, three hits and a minus-2 rating in Thursday's 7-6 overtime loss to the Blue Jackets.
Nine of the Lightning's 12 forwards got on the scoresheet, including Goncalves, who earned his first career point, an assist on Conor Geekie's game-tying goal in the third period. Goncalves has moved between the NHL and AHL Syracuse with frequency lately as the Lightning partake in some cap gymnastics. He could stick around to fill in for Nick Paul (undisclosed) for a bit, but it's unclear if Goncalves has done enough to be a lineup regular moving forward. He has four shots on net, eight hits, two PIM and a minus-2 rating through six contests in 2024-25.
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Brayden Point C | TB
Lightning's Brayden Point: Nets power-play goal Thursday
Point scored a power-play goal, blocked two shots and went minus-3 in Thursday's 7-6 overtime loss to the Blue Jackets.
Point got the fun started at 1:51 of the first period to lead off a three-goal frame for the Lightning. The 28-year-old has three goals over two contests since he returned from a lower-body injury. He looks fine and should continue to see top-six minutes, though he was limited to 15:42 of ice time Thursday after playing 23:43 in his return Tuesday. Overall, Point has 11 goals (six on the power play), five assists, 27 shots on net and a plus-8 rating through 14 appearances this season.
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Cole Sillinger C | CLB
Blue Jackets' Cole Sillinger: Provides pair of assists
Sillinger logged two assists and two blocked shots in Thursday's 7-6 overtime win over the Lightning.
Sillinger set up Yegor Chinakhov on a second-period tally and also fed Zach Werenski for the game-winning goal 1:26 into overtime. While it's a young forward group, the Blue Jackets could roll three scoring lines now that Kent Johnson is healthy again. As such, there's no reason to worry about Sillinger's third-line placement from Thursday -- he led all Columbus forwards with 17:55 of ice time in this contest. The 21-year-old center has four points over his last four games and is up to three goals, nine assists, 41 shots on net, 33 hits and a minus-5 rating over 19 appearances for the season.
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Adam Henrique C | EDM
Oilers' Adam Henrique: Records assist in loss
Henrique notched an assist, two shots on goal and two blocked shots in Thursday's 5-3 loss to the Wild.
Henrique has a goal and three assists over his last seven contests. It's moderate production, but it beats the 10-game slump that came before. The 34-year-old center has five points, 33 shots on net, 17 hits, 22 blocked shots and an even plus-minus rating through 21 appearances. Henrique is locked into a third-line role, so his offense is likely to remain uninspiring for large portions of the campaign.
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Connor McDavid C | EDM
Oilers' Connor McDavid: Adds helper in loss
McDavid notched an assist, two shots on goal and two blocked shots in Thursday's 5-3 loss to the Wild.
McDavid has six goals and nine assists over his last seven contests. The 27-year-old is looking no worse for wear after missing three games due to an ankle injury sustained Oct. 28 in Columbus -- in fact, the brief absence might have helped him reset after a good-but-not-great October. Overall, McDavid has nine goals, 25 points, 66 shots on net, 16 hits and a plus-4 rating over 18 appearances this season.
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Leon Draisaitl C | EDM
Oilers' Leon Draisaitl: Scores fluky goal early in loss
Draisaitl scored a goal on three shots in Thursday's 5-3 loss to the Wild.
Draisaitl's goal came from his own end, with the puck just hopping past Marc-Andre Fleury's stick 27 seconds into the game. They all look the same on paper, and Draisaitl now has six goals to go with six assists over his last seven outings. The 29-year-old's 15 tallies this season put him in a three-way tie for the league lead, and he's added 13 helpers, 56 shots on net and a plus-8 rating through 21 appearances. Draisaitl could stay alongside Connor McDavid on the top line as long as Zach Hyman (undisclosed) is out.
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Frederick Gaudreau C | MIN
Wild's Frederick Gaudreau: Shines in Thursday's win
Gaudreau scored two goals on three shots, added an assist and went plus-2 in Thursday's 5-3 win over the Oilers.
Gaudreau hadn't scored in his first nine games in November, but he had six assists in that span. The center played a starring role Thursday, tallying the Wild's last two goals of the contest, which included the game-winner. He's up to four tallies, 12 points, 29 shots on net and a plus-9 rating through 19 appearances, and he's primarily played on the third line over the last month. He's just three points shy of matching his output from 2023-24.
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Anthony Cirelli C | TB
Lightning's Anthony Cirelli: Four-game goal streak
Cirelli had a goal and an assist in a 7-6 overtime loss to Columbus on Thursday.
Cirelli is on a four-game goal streak (four goals), and he has six points in this run. He's having the season of his life this year. Cirelli has 19 points overall, including 13 assists, in 18 games, which puts him in a two-way tie with Brandon Hagel for second overall on the Lightning. And his 154 face-off wins (54.2 percent) lead the team by a wide margin. Cirelli has even been discussed for Team Canada for the 4 Nations Cup coming up in February. Keep deploying him until his pace slows.
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Jonathan Huberdeau C | CGY
Flames' Jonathan Huberdeau: Supplies 500th career assist
Huberdeau notched an assist and three shots on goal in Thursday's 3-2 win over the Rangers.
Huberdeau ended a three-game slump when he set up Connor Zary for the game-winning goal. The helper was the 500th of Huberdeau's career, a milestone he reached in his 851st outing. The winger is up to six goals, five assists, 31 shots on net, 17 blocked shots, 14 hits and a minus-3 rating over 20 contests this season.
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Conor Geekie C | TB
Lightning's Conor Geekie: First two-point game in NHL
Geekie had a goal and an assist in a 7-6 overtime loss to the Blue Jackets on Thursday.
It was the first two-point NHL game of his young career. Geekie found twine on the power play mid-way through the third to knot the game 6-6. He has points in back-to-back games (one goal, two assists). Geekie has six points, including three goals, 23 shots, 23 hits, eight blocks, one power-play goal and one game-winning goal in 18 games thus far. His fantasy value is limited, but this rookie will become a consistent top-six forward in future years.