Around the NHL: Connor McDavid became the fourth-fastest player to reach the 1,000 point milestone

So far in his 10 seasons, McDavid has 341 goals and 1,001 points in 659 games, scoring a career-high 64 goals and 153 points in 82 games in 2022-23. Although he’s yet to win a Stanley Cup (and hopefully won’t until he moves to a new team), McDavid’s performance in the playoffs has been spectacular as well, scoring 37 goals and 117 points in 74 postseason games.

McDavid’s contract expires at the end of the 2025-26 season and if he reaches free agency, all 32 teams will be interested in the generational talent. Hopefully, he leaves the Pacific Division.

Andrei Vasilevskiy won his 300th game

Speaking of milestones accomplished quickly, Tampa Bay Lightning netminder Andrei Vasilevskiy won his 300th game with a 4-1 victory over the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday. 

Not only that, but he was the fastest netminder to achieve that feat, doing it in 490 games. Over his career, he has a .917 save percentage and a 2.56 goals-against average, with a 300-148-31 record. He won the Vezina Trophy in 2018-19, as well as the Conn Smythe Trophy in the 2021 postseason. Moreover, he’s won two Stanley Cups in his career.

So far this season, the 30-year-old netminder has a .913 save percentage and a 2.32 goals-against average in 13 games played. The Russian netminder is coming off a career-worst year in 2023-24, where he had a .900 save percentage and a 2.90 goals-against average in 52 games played.

Filip Chytil left Thursday’s game with an injury

Sticking with Eastern Conference teams, New York Rangers forward Filip Chytil left Thursday’s 3-2 victory over the San Jose Sharks with an upper-body injury the team announced.

The injury occurred with just under eight minutes left in the second period, as Chytil collided with K’Andre Miller in the offensive zone. He was slow to get up and after a brief return to the bench, the team announced after the second period he’d not return.

Chytil was selected 21st overall by the Rangers in the 2017 draft and broke out in 2022-23, scoring 22 goals and 45 points in 74 games. However, the left-shot centre only played 10 games last season in the regular season, picking up six assists before playing six postseason games. So far in 2024-25, the 25-year-old has four goals and nine points.

Dakota Joshua made his return on Thursday

Some good news in the hockey world: Vancouver Canucks forward Dakota Joshua played his first game of the season on Thursday against the New York Islanders.

In mid-September Joshua announced that he underwent successful surgery to remove a cancerous tumour in one of his testicles, missing the entirety of preseason and the Canucks’ first 14 games. Thankfully, Joshua returned to action on Thursday and logged 12 minutes and five seconds on the ice, picking up a tripping minor, a -1, and collecting four hits in his season debut. 

Last season was a big year for the 28-year-old, as he scored a career-high 18 goals and 32 points in 63 games, along with four goals and eight points in 13 postseason games.