5 things we learned in the NHL: Canucks’ Pettersson not slowing down yet

Patrik Laine recorded a hat trick and the Winnipeg Jets defeated the Vancouver Canucks.

Elias Pettersson continued his hot start to the season, the Buffalo Sabres are climbing the standings and Pekka Rinne tied a Finnish goalie milestone.

Here are five things we learned in the NHL.

Elias Pettersson continues to light the lamp

With his first period goal against the Winnipeg Jets, Pettersson tied a goal-scoring mark that hasn’t been seen since the 2005-06 season.

The Swedish rookie scored on the powerplay with a one-timer from the right faceoff circle for his 12th of the season.

Pettersson leads all rookies with 12 goals and 19 points in 17 games this season and is looking like the runaway candidate for the Calder Trophy. Ottawa’s Colin White, Brett Howden of the New York Rangers and Montreal’s Jesperi Kotkaniemi all trail Pettersson with 12 points each.

Sabres on a roll

It looked like the Buffalo Sabres were in for a tough night against the Pittsburgh Penguins when they were down 4-1 early in the second period. But the Sabres scored four unanswered goals, including an OT winner from Jack Eichel, to extend their winning streak.

With the victory, Buffalo has now won six straight, which is their longest streak since the 2009-10 season. In five of those contests, the Sabres have rallied from a third-period deficit to win the game.

They are now fourth in the NHL with a 13-6-2 record, good for 28 points, after finishing dead last only one season ago.

[relatedlinks]

Max Domi continues to thrive in Montreal

Domi continues to lead the way for the Canadiens, and on Monday he picked up his 25th point of the season in Montreal’s overtime loss to the Washington Capitals.

He became the first Habs player to score more than 24 points in his first 20 games with the team since the 1919-20 season.

The 23-year-old has handled the challenge of shifting over to centre on the Canadiens’ top line well after spending most of his time on the wing with the Arizona Coyotes.

But even with his high-scoring numbers, Domi still has a bit of his dad in him.

Pekka Rinne rewriting the record books

With the Nashville Predators’ 3-2 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning, Rinne tied Mikka Kiprusoff for all-time wins by a Finnish-born goalie in NHL history with 319.

Kiprusoff retired from the NHL following the 2012-13 season with a 319-213-64 record (along with seven ties), a 2.49 goals-against-average and a .912 save percentage in 623 games with the Calgary Flames and the San Jose Sharks.

In 579 games with the Predators, Rinne has a 319-170-67 record, a 2.36 goals-against-average and a .919 save percentage. He also is the reigning Vezina trophy winner. In 12 starts this season, Rinne has an 8-2-1 record as the Predators sit first in the entire league with 31 points.

Senators and Panthers pay tribute to Mike Foley

Longtime Ottawa Senators equipment assistant Mike Foley passed away from colon cancer on Saturday so before Monday’s game, the Sens and Panthers took a moment to honour his life. Foley worked for the Senators for 26 years

With his wife Nancy and daughters Allison and Julie in the crowd the Senators played a video tribute to Foley during a first-period TV timeout. Following that, both teams tapped their sticks on the ice while the crowd gave a standing ovation.

Mike Foley was 61.

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.