4 things we learned in the NHL: Birthday presents

Jonathan Huberdeau scored 1:38 into overtime after Joe Pavelski scored twice late in the third period to tie it, and the Florida Panthers beat the Sharks 6-5.

• Jaromir Jagr earns milestone on birthday
• Curtis McElhinney struggles against old team
• Matthew Tkachuk leads Flames to victory

From birthday points to a goalie struggling against his former team, here are four things we learned Wednesday night in the NHL.

The flow ages
Jaromir Jagr celebrated his 45th birthday on Wednesday doing what he loves: playing hockey.

The Florida Panthers winger had an assist and was a plus-two in his team’s 6-5 overtime win over the San Jose Sharks.

Jagr moved into impressive territory by playing at age 45, with only Gordie Howe and Chris Chelios also accomplishing the feat.

“Boston

Get ready for game time with over 100 menu items delivered right to your door. Click here to learn more.

No love for McElhinney
Curtis McElhinney returned to Columbus just over a month after the Blue Jackets waived the 33-year-old goaltender.

It wasn’t the comeback to Nationwide Arena that McElhinney envisioned, however, as he allowed four goals on 34 shots in the Toronto Maple Leafs‘ 5-2 loss to the Blue Jackets.

Toronto claimed McElhinney off waivers on Jan. 10 and since then he has played in five games, going 2-3 with a 2.52 goals-against average and .924 save percentage.

Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston wrote five takeways from the Leafs’ loss to Columbus.

Honouring Ilitch
The Detroit Red Wings took a few minutes before their game against the St. Louis Blues to honour longtime owner Mike Ilitch, who died on Friday at the age of 87.

Ilitch paid a reported $8 million to purchase the Red Wings in 1982 and the team went on to win four Stanley Cups in 1997, 1998, 2002 and 2008. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2003.

Ilitch went on to purchase the Detroit Tigers in 1992.

Sportsnet’s Luke Fox wrote earlier Wednesday about Ilitch and his wife’s relationship with Rosa Parks.

Continuing contributions
Flames rookie Matthew Tkachuk opened the scoring for Calgary in its 2-1 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers. The left winger would then add an assist on Troy Brodie’s winner.

Tkachuk now has 11 goals and 25 assists in 54 games to add onto his already impressive first NHL season.

Sonny Sachdeva on Twitter

[relatedlinks]

When submitting content, please abide by our submission guidelines, and avoid posting profanity, personal attacks or harassment. Should you violate our submissions guidelines, we reserve the right to remove your comments and block your account. Sportsnet reserves the right to close a story’s comment section at any time.