Marner ties Leafs’ franchise-record point streak
Toronto Maple Leafs forward Mitchell Marner extended his career-long point streak to 18 games on Wednesday while tying a franchise record.
The winger scored an empty-net goal late in the third period of Toronto’s 3-1 win over the San Jose Sharks to continue his run. It’s the longest active streak in the NHL this season and started in an overtime loss to the Sharks on Oct. 27.
Marner joined Darryl Sittler (in 1977-78) and Eddie Olczyk (1989-90) as the only Leafs to hit that 18-game mark.
After a comparatively slow start to the season — with only five points in his first seven games — Marner exploded into a dominant threat for the Leafs. He now has collected at least one point in 23 of 25 contests, while producing eight goals and a team-leading 22 assists. That also ties Marner for the fourth-most helpers in the NHL so far.
Marner is the 23rd player in NHL history with a point streak of at least 18 games. He has seven goals and 17 assists during the streak.
Marner had two chances at an empty net in the closing minutes Wednesday, looking to pass first and then firing another shot wide as the Scotiabank Arena crowd groaned. He got another chance and finally buried the puck.
Asked whether there was a sense of relief, Marner said: “Yeah, I mean, did you see me? I can’t wait to talk to my father. He’s gonna be like, ‘What the hell are you doing on that pass for the first one? [Michael Bunting], on the bench, when he looked at me couldn’t believe I tried to pass to him, too.”
The 25-year-old has been an effective playmaker since entering the league in 2016-17, gathering more than twice as many assists as goals in nearly every season to date. According to Stathletes data, Marner leads the NHL this season in passes to the slot (3.62 per game), which has helped him consistently tee up teammates.
Marner has made a point of praising those around him throughout this monthlong stretch. After he scored on Monday in Detroit to put his streak at 17 games, Marner was quick to note such success doesn’t happen in a vacuum.
“It’s a cool thing, but nothing’s every achievable by yourself,” he said. “It’s always kudos to your teammates and it’s always a lot of love to those guys in making plays and finding me in open ice.”
Beyond just playing a pivotal role for Toronto at 5-on-5, Marner is a key player in the Leafs’ top power-play and penalty-kill units. He leads all Toronto forwards in average ice time (21:29) and short-handed ice time (2:20).
Marner has a chance to stand alone with the Leafs’ point-streak record when Toronto faces Tampa Bay on Saturday.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
WASHINGTON — Brayden Schenn played his 1,000th regular-season NHL game when he and the St. Louis Blues beat the Washington Capitals 5-2 on Thursday night.
Older brother Luke played his 1,000th game Oct. 17 with the Nashville Predators. The Schenns are the eighth set of brothers to each reach that milestone and the first to do so in the same season.
“I’ve always said you don’t get there without the help of tons of people,” Brayden said after his team’s morning skate. “Family being one and coaches and players and teammates and people in the organization. Obviously, you have to embrace the day-to-day grind of the ups and downs and just how hard this league is, but, yeah, pretty special that we have best buddies that push each other every day and get to do it in the same year.”
Blues players celebrated the occasion with Schenn shirts and hats with the captain’s No. 10 on them. Father Jeff gave a pregame speech in the locker room after coach Jim Montgomery said, “Schenner and his bro both getting 1,000 games in the same season is a tribute to the great family raised by Jeff and his wife.”
Jeff Schenn said Brayden was his favorite player on the Blues and tied for his favorite overall, of course, with Luke.
“Honored and privileged and very proud to be part of the big day and the big journey that goes along with it,” their dad said. “You see the hard work and the dedication and the bumps and the bruises and everything you guys put into it. … Just so excited and happy to be here and awful proud of him.”
Montgomery said after the win that Jeff Schenn looked very comfortable speaking in front of the group.
“Jeff and his wife, Brayden’s parents, they raised four great kids and two have played 1,000 games in the NHL,” Montgomery said. “His message was well-received, and you could tell by our start that we wanted to play for our captain.”
Dylan Holloway, who scored twice, said because it was Schenn’s 1,000th game, the Blues “wanted this one bad.”
The Capitals acknowledged the milestone with a message on arena videoboards and an announcement during the first period.
Brayden getting to 1,000 comes amid talk ahead of the March 7 trade deadline that teams are interested in acquiring both of them in separate moves. The Blues are on the fringe of the playoff race in the Western Conference, while the Predators are far out of contention.
“The times I’ve gotten traded, I didn’t expect to get traded, so you really never know,” Brayden said, adding he has loved his time with St. Louis. “It’s a business and that just comes with the flows of kind of where we’re positioned, five points out of the playoffs. But it’s the trade deadline, so some people make rumors. … You just take it a day at a time and just focus on your game and play.”
Brayden, 33, has three years left on his contract at an annual salary cap hit of $6.5 million. Luke, 35, has one more season left after this one at $2.75 million.
The Schenn brothers have played together in the NHL before, spending 3½ seasons with the Philadelphia Flyers from 2013 to 2015. Brayden won the Stanley Cup with the Blues in 2019, then Luke back to back with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2020 and 2021.
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