Despite losing 4-3 to the New Jersey Devils on Saturday night, Ottawa Senators’ captain Brady Tkachuk broke the NHL record for most hits in a single game with 16.
The 24-year-old Tkachuk finished the game with one goal, seven shots, a 65.38 even-strength corsi percentage (via Natural Stat Trick), two penalty minutes and, of course, the 16 hits in 20:06 of ice time. Throw in one takeaway for your troubles.
With the loss, the Senators are now 33-39-4 with 70 points, tied for last in the Atlantic Division with the Montreal Canadiens. With expectations going into the 2023-24 campaign of competing for a playoff spot, to say this season is a disappointment is an understatement.
On Friday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli didn’t hold back in how he viewed the Senators’ season.
“It’s fact, not opinion, that the Senators have had the most disappointing season of all 32 teams in the NHL,” Seravalli said. “I’m real curious as to how aggressive (Senators’ general manager Steve) Staios is in his nature when trying to make changes.”
The NHL only started tracking hits in 2005-06 after the full-season lockout, so the likes of Scott Stevens and Wendel Clark won’t be found anywhere near the record books. The record holder before Tkachuk was defenseman Nikita Zadorov when he played for the Colorado Avalanche, where in a 7-1 loss to the Los Angeles Kings in March 2018, the Russian defender logged in 15 hits.
After Zadorov, the likes of Mark Borowicki, Shane Doan, Matt Martin and Brett Festerling recorded 14 hits in a single game. As of April 7, 286 players have recorded at least 10 hits in a game.
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