Stamkos Beats His Old Team, Crosby Passes Bourque: A Wild Halloween in the NHL

Halloween in the NHL was supposed to be about costumes. Instead, Saturday's wild 10-game slate delivered Sidney Crosby passing Ray Bourque for the most assists by a player with one franchise, David Pastrnak passing Patrice Bergeron on Boston's all-time goals list, and Steven Stamkos beating his old team, Tampa Bay, in a shootout the day after his superstar teammate's trade request became public — plus a fifth straight win for a Montreal team playing without its captain, and a second straight shutout for an Edmonton goalie who faced 18 shots and barely broke a sweat. Field Level Media's nightly roundup and NHL.com's game reports tell the same story from every rink: this was the loudest night of the young season.

Stamkos haunts Tampa Bay — with Kucherov's request hanging over all of it

Start in Nashville, where the Tampa Bay Lightning's strange weekend got stranger. Nikita Kucherov had three assists in his first game after requesting a trade, but the Lightning lost 5-4 to the Nashville Predators in a shootout at Bridgestone Arena, NHL.com reported. The man who beat them was their former captain. Steven Stamkos tied the game 4-4 with a power-play goal at 7:27 of the third period, then scored the only goal of the fourth round of the shootout, beating Andrei Vasilevskiy under the right arm with a backhander, according to Field Level Media.

The layers here are almost too many to count. Stamkos's tying goal was the 246th power-play goal of his career, tying Phil Esposito for sixth on the NHL's all-time list, per NHL Stats via the Predators' official recap. Nashville goalie Justus Annunen made 22 saves and stopped all four Lightning attempts in the first shootout of his career — in his 83rd appearance, an NHL record, Field Level Media reported — as the Predators won a game past regulation for the first time in six tries this season. Reid Schaefer scored his first goal of the season for Nashville, and Adam Edstrom and Jayden Struble also scored. Vasilevskiy made 29 saves in the loss.

And then there is Kucherov. Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman reported Friday that the reigning Hart Trophy winner, in the final season of an eight-year, $76 million contract, told the Lightning he would not re-sign and would like to be traded — news he delivered to his teammates on the team flight to Nashville, multiple outlets reported. General manager Julien BriseBois answered with a statement posted on the team's social media account: "We are aware of the media reports regarding the future of Nikita Kucherov with the Lightning. We unequivocally have no intention of trading Nikita." Kucherov, who has a modified no-trade clause with a 10-team list, did not speak to reporters after Saturday's game. His captain did. "It was a tough day," Victor Hedman said, per USA Today. Coach Jon Cooper praised the response on the ice: "He's a proud Bolt and he came in tonight to help us win a hockey game as he's done his whole career here and he gave us a hell of a chance. It's too bad we couldn't pull that one out." Three assists say the same thing. Whatever happens next, Kucherov is playing — and Tampa Bay's season now runs through this standoff.

Montreal wins a fifth straight — and Crosby passes Bourque in a loss

The Montreal Canadiens keep winning games they have no business winning comfortably, and Saturday they did it the chaotic way: a 5-4 hold-on at the Bell Centre over the Pittsburgh Penguins for their fifth straight victory, the Canadian Press reported via TSN. Josh Anderson scored twice and added an assist, Chris Kreider had a goal and an assist, and Oliver Kapanen and Alexandre Texier also scored as Montreal returned home from an undefeated four-game Western road trip — still without captain Nick Suzuki, and with Kirby Dach scratched ill shortly before puck drop.

Rookie Jacob Fowler made 25 saves and became the third Canadiens rookie goaltender in the past 40 years to win seven consecutive starts, joining Carey Price and Jakub Dobes, TSN reported. Montreal needed every one of them, because Sidney Crosby turned the night into a history seminar anyway: a goal and two assists, with his 1,112th career assist moving him past Ray Bourque for the most assists by a player with one franchise, according to NHL.com and Reuters. Crosby's late goal also tied him with Marcel Dionne for sixth on the NHL's all-time points list. Erik Karlsson matched Crosby's goal-and-two-assists line for Pittsburgh, which has lost two straight. Texier and Kreider scored 27 seconds apart early in the second to break a 2-2 tie, and Anderson's second — a deflection of a Lane Hutson point shot — stood up as the margin when Crosby pulled Pittsburgh within one with 3:11 left.

Pastrnak passes Bergeron, and Boston steals one late

At TD Garden, the Boston Bruins trailed the Chicago Blackhawks 4-2 in the third period and won anyway, 5-4 in overtime. Elias Lindholm scored at 2:32 of the extra period, driving to the front of the net off a Charlie McAvoy assist, moments after Michael DiPietro (37 saves) stopped Anton Frondell's hat-trick bid on a breakaway at the other end, Field Level Media reported. Mason Lohrei got Boston within one at 13:06 of the third, and Morgan Geekie tied it with 12 seconds left with the goaltender pulled.

The milestone belonged to David Pastrnak. His first-period breakaway goal was the 428th of his career, moving him past Patrice Bergeron into sole possession of third on the Bruins' all-time list, behind only Johnny Bucyk (545) and Phil Esposito (459), NHL.com reported. Pastrnak reached 428 in 848 games; Bergeron needed 1,294. His tribute afterward, via WEEI, was the quote of the night: "Obviously I'm honored, and blessed he's my friend. Very humbled by it. At the same time, he's the reason I pass him too. He's a big part. So I'm blessed that I got to know him and learn from him." Boston improved to 10-4-1. Chicago left with a point, a 41-32 shot advantage, and one more milestone of its own: Patrick Kane became the first American-born player with 900 career assists on Frondell's first-period opener, per Field Level Media. Connor Bedard had a goal and an assist for the Blackhawks.

Jarry does it again, and McDavid's streak hits 14

The Edmonton Oilers did not need drama. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins opened and closed a three-goal second-period flurry, Vasily Podkolzin scored the middle goal, Jason Dickinson added a late empty-netter, and Tristan Jarry made 18 saves in a 4-0 win over the New York Islanders in Elmont — his second consecutive shutout, after a 24-save blanking of Calgary on Wednesday, Field Level Media reported. Connor McDavid collected the primary assist on Nugent-Hopkins' second goal, extending his NHL-record season-opening assist streak to 14 games.

The numbers around McDavid are getting silly even by his standards. NHL.com's On Tap notes he leads the league with 37 points (eight goals, 29 assists), 35 of them in October — one point shy of Mario Lemieux's 36 in October 1992-93 for the second-biggest October ever, behind only Lemieux's record 38 in 1988. Edmonton is 10-2-2 and a perfect 6-0-0 on the road. Ilya Sorokin made 20 saves for the Islanders, who were held without a point for just the second time in nine games.

Around the rest of the rink

ST. LOUIS 5, DETROIT 4 — Aleksanteri Kaskimaki scored his first career goal with 6:45 remaining to finish St. Louis' rally from two goals down in the third period in Detroit, Field Level Media reported. Jimmy Snuggerud and Justin Barron each had a goal and an assist for the Blues, and Joel Hofer made 24 saves. Lucas Raymond had a goal and an assist for the Red Wings.

DALLAS 3, COLUMBUS 1 — Jake Oettinger made 24 saves and Dallas scored twice in the first period — Mikko Rantanen and Thomas Harley — before Arttu Hyry finished it, closing a six-game homestand with a win after back-to-back lopsided losses. Damon Severson's third-period goal spoiled Oettinger's fourth shutout bid of the season; Columbus has lost two in a row.

OTTAWA 5, SAN JOSE 1 — Dylan Cozens and Tim Stutzle each had a goal and an assist and Ottawa scored three times in the second period to cruise in San Jose. Shane Pinto added an empty-net goal and an assist, Drake Batherson and Ridly Greig also scored, and Samuel Ersson made 22 saves. Michael Misa scored for the Sharks, who have lost three of four.

BUFFALO 3, LOS ANGELES 2 — Tage Thompson scored twice, including the third-period go-ahead goal, as Buffalo won its third straight. Jack Quinn had a goal and an assist, Zach Benson and Rasmus Dahlin each had two assists, and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 27 saves. Los Angeles played without top-line winger Adrian Kempe, day-to-day with an undisclosed injury, Field Level Media reported.

TORONTO 4, VANCOUVER 2 — William Nylander and Teddy Blueger each had a goal and an assist as Toronto snapped a two-game skid and posted its first regulation win in Vancouver since December 10, 2019, according to the Maple Leafs' official recap. Anthony Stolarz made 27 saves and recorded his third assist of the season on Blueger's empty-net goal. Nylander's opener was his 42nd career game-opening goal, passing Frank Mahovlich for eighth in franchise history. Auston Matthews scored his team-leading 11th, and Zack MacEwen's goal stood as the winner.

COLORADO 5, CALGARY 2 — Artturi Lehkonen scored twice, Cale Makar collected four assists, and Nathan MacKinnon and Martin Necas each had a goal and an assist as Colorado won consecutive games for the first time since the season's opening two. Mackenzie Blackwood made 25 saves. Joel Farabee and Martin Pospisil scored for Calgary.

Sunday: McDavid at the Garden, Kaprizov at 499

Five games close the weekend on Sunday, and the headline writes itself: McDavid and the Oilers visit the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden (6 p.m. ET), with McDavid trying to extend his point and assist streaks to 15 games and Edmonton chasing a seventh straight road win to open the season — which would match the 1983-84 Oilers for the best road start in franchise history, per NHL.com. The Rangers have lost three straight, allowing 18 goals in the process, and are missing injured goaltender Igor Shesterkin.

In Washington (3:30 p.m. ET), Kirill Kaprizov sits one point from 500 for his career — 499 points (244 goals, 255 assists) in 412 games — and would become the second player in Minnesota Wild history to reach the mark, after Mikko Koivu, who needed 681 games, NHL.com reported. Kaprizov also leads the league with 14 goals. The day opens in Raleigh (1 p.m. ET), where the Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes (11-2-2) chase a fourth straight win against a Winnipeg Jets team that has lost eight in a row (0-6-2); if Pyotr Kochetkov starts, he goes for a franchise-record 10th consecutive win to start a season. Utah visits Philadelphia (4 p.m. ET) behind Logan Cooley, who has six goals on a three-game road scoring run, and Ottawa closes the night in Anaheim (8 p.m. ET), where Beckett Sennecke can extend his home goal streak to six games. The Golden Knights, beaten 5-2 by New Jersey on Nevada Day in a game Previously covered in full, are idle Sunday before opening a four-game road trip Monday in Boston.