4 things we learned in the NHL: Panthers’ Aaron Ekblad joins elite company

Florida Panthers left wing Jonathan Huberdeau (11) celebrates a third-period goal with teammates Aaron Ekblad (5) and Keith Yandle (3) in an NHL hockey game. (Joe Skipper/AP)

Aaron Ekblad has another 10-goal season, Jonathan Quick keeps climbing the all-time wins list and the Koivu family gets in the record books.

Here are four things we learned in the NHL Monday.

Ekblad puts up another double-digit goal season

After setting a new franchise record for goals by a Florida Panthers defenceman, Aaron Ekblad joined an exclusive club with his 10th goal of the season against the San Jose Sharks.

The 22-year-old became just the 13th defenceman in the modern era to score 10-plus goals in his first five seasons, joining an impressive group of blue liners to accomplish the milestone.

The last player on the list to accomplish the milestone was Dion Phaneuf who did it from the 2005-06 season until the 2009-10 season. Ekblad and Denis Potvin are also the only defencemen selected first overall to score 10-plus goals in their first five seasons.

Ekblad is the seventh defenceman to reach double-digit goals this season joining Morgan Rielly, Matt Dumba, Kris Letang, Mark Giordano, Jeff Petry and Thomas Chabot.

Quick moves into fourth on wins list by U.S. born goalies

With his 33-save performance against the St. Louis Blues, Jonathan Quick notched his 302nd career victory and moved past Mike Richter for the fourth most wins by a U.S. born goaltender.

Ryan Miller is the only other active goalie on the list but he is still on the injured reserve with a sprained MCL. If the Ducks backup picks up one more win, he would pass John Vanbiesbrouck for the top spot.

It has been a tough go for Quick through 24 games this season. The reigning William M. Jennings Trophy winner has a 9-12-3 record, 2.97 goals-against average and .904 save percentage as the Kings have sat near the bottom of the west standings most of the season.

In 580 career games the Milford, Conn., native is 302-207-59 with a 2.31 goals-against average, .916 save percentage and 51 shutouts. He also has two Stanley Cups, a Conn Smythe Trophy and two Jennings trophies.

All in the family

Not only did Mikko Koivu‘s goal help give the Minnesota Wild a crucial win over the Vegas Golden Knights, but it was also the 200th tally of his career. The milestone was also significant because it helped him and brother Saku become the 14th set of brothers to each have 200 career goals.

Saku retired from the NHL back in 2014 with 255 goals, 577 assists and 832 points in 1,124 career games while Mikko has 200 goals, 487 assists and 687 points in 969 games.

The Gretzky bothers (Wayne and Brent) still hold the record for points by a pair of brothers with 2,861 while Henrik and Daniel Sedin are second with 2,111 points.

Peter Laviolette gets win No. 600

After John Tortorella became the first American-born coach to reach 600 wins on Jan. 10, it wasn’t going to take long for Laviolette to join him. The Nashville Predators helped their coach reach the milestone with a 4-1 win over the Colorado Avalanche on Monday.

Laviolette is now the 20th coach in NHL history to reach the 600 wins and the third this season after Tortorella and Montreal’s Claude Julien. In 1,138 games behind the bench with the Predators, New York Islanders, Carolina Hurricanes and the Philadelphia Flyers, the Norwood, Mass., native has a 600-399-114 record with 25 ties.

He also won a Stanley Cup with the Hurricanes back in 2006 and has two other appearances in the Stanley Cup Final with the Flyers and Predators.

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