Winnipeg Jets left winger Nikolai Ehlers of Aalborg, Denmark made Danish hockey history on Sunday. In a 7-4 Jets win over the Tampa Bay Lightning at Canada Life Centre in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Ehlers became the all-time leading scorer in the National Hockey League among players born in Denmark.
How did Ehlers make history?
Ehlers collected his 474th point by scoring a goal into an empty net from Mark Scheifele of Kitchener, Ontario and Vladislav Namestnikov of Zhukovskiy, Russia with two minutes and 45 seconds left in the third period to put the Jets up 6-4 at the time. Of his 474 NHL points, Ehlers has 209 goals and 265 assists for 474 points.
Who had the old record?
Frans Nielsen of Herning, Denmark had 473 points from 2006 to 2021. He had 167 goals and 306 assists for 473 points over 15 NHL seasons and 925 games. Nielsen was with the New York Islanders from 2006 to 2016, and the Detroit Red Wings from 2016 to 2021. All of Ehlers’s 474 points came with the Jets over 617 games played.
Ehlers’s magical weekend
In addition to making history against the Lightning, Ehlers had his fifth career NHL hat trick on Friday in a 6-2 Jets win over the Columbus Blue Jackets. Ehlers opened the scoring at 5:13 of the first period from defenseman Colin Miller of Sault. Ste. Marie, Ontario. He then scored unassisted goals at 15:14 of the first period and 18:51 of the second period. Ehlers’s four prior hat tricks came on January 26, 2016 in a 5-2 Jets win over the Arizona Coyotes, on October 9, 2017 in a 5-2 Jets win over the Edmonton Oilers, on November 29, 2018, in a 6-5 Jets win over the Chicago Blackhawks, and on December 20, 2018 in a 5-3 Jets win over the San Jose Sharks.
Ehlers in 2024-25
Ehlers has got off to a great start. He has eight goals and nine assists for 17 points in 12 games. He is a +11 with two penalty minutes, four power-play points, one game-winning goal, three blocked shots, seven hits, one takeaway, and 11 giveaways. Ehlers’s game-winning goal this season came in a 4-3 Jets overtime win over the Seattle Kraken on October 24. Ehlers scored from Kyle Connor of Shelby Township, Michigan and Scheifele at 1:26 of the extra period.
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