NHL 2024-25 Recap Week 5 McDavid hits 1000 points, Vasilevskiy hits 300 wins, Stars score 7 twice

Connor McDavid became the 4th fastest (659 games) and 4th youngest (27) to record 1000 career NHL points. McDavid has the best chance of any player ever to reach 2000 points. Only Wayne Gretzky has ever reached that number. McDavid is already in the top 100 scorers of all time, which is wild since he isn't even 30. His running mate, Leon Draisaitl, has 874 points in 734 games. McDavid has an outside chance to break Gretzky/Ovechkin's goal-scoring mark. Besides, Gretzky only Mario Lemieux and Mike Bossy hit 1000 faster. Bossy could have had a more remarkable career without his health problems.

https://www.nhl.com/video/nsh-edm-mcdavid-scores-goal-against-scott-wedgewood-6364731319112

Things I like

1. Andrei Vasilevskiy became the 40th and fastest NHL goalie to achieve 300 wins taking only 490 games. If he continues at this pace with a long career, he could easily beat Martin Brodeur's record of 691 wins. Vasilevskiy is underrated and one of the biggest reasons the Lightning made it to the Stanley Cup Finals three straight seasons. Of course, his win total also benefited from how good those teams were. Vasilevskiy hit his 300th win the same night McDavid recorded his 1000th point.

2. The Dallas Stars scored seven goals in back-to-back games this week, and that's wild since they're only 15th in goal-scoring. It's even wilder because their top line has yet to get going, so watch out when they do. However, the Stars are first in goals allowed and my favorite to win the Stanley Cup again. 33-year old Matt Duchene and undrafted Mason Marchment lead the team in scoring.

Things I don't

1. That Ryan Reeves hit on Darnell Nurse was awful. It's like he purposely targeted his head with as much force as possible. Theres no excuse for that. His five game suspension is well deserved. This is Reeves fourth NHL suspension.

Fights of the Week

Special thanks to hockeyfights.com for making this section a little easier to do.

Brendan Dillon vs Jonah Gadjovich

So many punches. It was rock em sock em robots, even with the jersey over a head.

Mathieu Olivier vs Arber Xhekaj

A tussle to start and then punches galore.

Kurtis MacDermid vs Jonah Gadjovich

There were not as many punches, but they were earned.

Goat of the Week

Tom Wilson - Washington Capitals

Wilson had a few chances to get it out, and right before his errant pass, he had time to think. Although his options weren't great, he could have backhanded out of the zone. Instead, he passed to a lane Matthew Knies, who was just on him, occupied. Knies has some nice moves, and William Nylander cleans up the rebound for the goal. The Capitals lost in overtime.

https://www.nhl.com/video/tor-wsh-nylander-scores-goal-against-logan-thompson-6364680192112

Stat Line of the Week

11/11/24 Montreal 7 vs. Buffalo 5

The Montreal Canadiens won't be featured here much, so I decided to give the nod to Nick Suzuki for his four-point effort against the Buffalo Sabres to help the Canadiens end their six-game losing streak. Suzuki is coming off his career year last season and hoping to become a point per game player for the first time. He has 18 points in 18 games.

Numbers, Numbers

  13 – Game points streak for Martin Necas

200 – Career goals for Mitch Marner

700 – Career points for Roman Josi

31 – Career hat tricks for Alex Ovechkin

2 – Straight losses for the Winnipeg Jets on their Florida trip

3 – Turnovers by Mika Zibanejad against the Jets in the Rangers loss

12 – Teams with 99% or higher attendance capacity  

Rankings

The rankings are based on how the teams are currently playing.

Top 5

1. Florida
2. Carolina
3. Toronto
4. Winnipeg
5. Washington

Bottom 5

30. Anaheim
31. San Jose
32. Montreal
33. Detroit
34. Columbus