In his first game with the San Jose Sharks since being acquired from Vancouver prior to the trade deadline, the winger - who was given an opportunity to start on the top line - made an immediate impression by assisting on a relatively rare goal by Joe Thornton.
The point was Hansen's 14th in 29 games this season.
A look at Thursday night's result for the Tampa Bay Lightning seems encouraging - a convincing 4-1 win over the Western Conference-leading Minnesota Wild.
The two points - although crucial in Tampa's push toward the postseason - don't nearly tell the whole story, though, as centers Vladislav Namestnikov, Tyler Johnson, and Cedric Paquette all left the game with injuries.
Head coach Jon Cooper said there's no update on any player, and indicated he'll wait for Friday's medical reports before hitting the panic button, but did offer a rather ominous prediction.
Tampa Bay's season likely hangs in the balance, as their depth down the middle may take a major hit. The Lightning sent out pivots Brian Boyle and Valtteri Filppula at the trade deadline, and have been without captain Steven Stamkos since mid-November.
When he came out of the University of Wisconsin ahead of the 2012-13 season, the Edmonton Oilers thought Justin Schultz was the mobile offensive defenseman they so desperately coveted.
But Schultz never really panned out in Edmonton, and the Oilers shipped him to the Pittsburgh Penguins ahead of last season's trade deadline for a third-round pick. Then Oilers fans watched the reinvigorated blue-liner play a key role for Pittsburgh en route to winning the Stanley Cup.
His former bench boss, at least, is happy to watch the 26-year-old succeed in a new environment.
"He needed an opportunity to go somewhere else and start over and start fresh," Oilers coach Todd McLellan told reporters Thursday. "There was a lot of stress and tension put on him here with the Oilers, whether it's fans, teammates or coaches.
"I'm proud of him," McLellan said. "I'm glad he's that he's having that year."
Schultz makes his return to Edmonton on Friday night. He's crafted a career season with 45 points so far, ranking fourth among all NHL defensemen.
Alain Vigneault is not seeing eye to eye with NHL officials.
The New York Rangers head coach was not happy about an upheld goal call in Thursday's game against the Carolina Hurricanes. The moment in question was this game-tying power-play goal off the stick of Sebastian Aho wherein Vigneault believed goalie Antti Raanta was clearly interfered with.
Here's what Vigneault had to say after the eventual 4-3 loss, per Steve Zipay of Newsday.
In all the times I’ve asked for challenges, this one I’m 100 percent sure I’m right. The ref that didn't make the call said it was a good goal because Antti was out of the blue, which I’m looking at (replay), and there’s contact that lifts his mask. Then they told us that Antti’s feet were in the blue, but his head was outside the blue In my opinion, it was the wrong call. Ask the league, they're going to spin it any way so they look alright and that's the way it always is.
The NHL ruled that "no goaltender interference infractions occurred before the puck crossed the goal line." Thus, the original decision stood.
The Rangers lost their timeout, the game, and eventually their cool.
Kucherov buried a wrister on the power play to open the scoring in the first period, then added an empty-netter late in the third to seal the victory.
The latter tally was his 30th, tying a career high that he set last season. He now has as many goals and assists as he had in all of 2015-16, accomplishing it in 18 fewer games this time around.
The 23-year-old has scored at least 28 goals in each of his last three seasons, and he's only in his fourth full campaign with the Lightning, who signed him to a three-year contract extension last October.
That's the complete list of rookies who've hit the 20-goal mark so far this season.
Aho reached the milestone Thursday by scoring a pair of third-period power-play markers that propelled his Carolina Hurricanes to a 4-3 win over the New York Rangers, with the 20th coming off a nice tic-tac-toe passing play.
Aho added an assist in the contest, and has now recorded 38 points through his first 64 NHL games.
What's even more impressive is that Aho had not played hockey in North America prior to 2016-17, developing his game exclusively in Finland. And what he learned over there is certainly paying off.
Of all the players selected over the past two years, only Jack Eichel, Connor McDavid, Laine and Matthews have scored more goals than Aho, who was the 35th pick in 2015.
Aho likely won't garner much in the way of Calder Trophy support, seeing as the NHL is loaded with rookie talent. Still, what's he's accomplished for the Hurricanes to date should not be overlooked.
Johnson was helped off the ice, and it was later announced that both he and Vladislav Namestnikov - who also left the game with a lower-body injury - would not return.
Tampa Bay entered the contest with a slim shot at making the playoffs, and it could be even more of an uphill battle if Johnson's injury is ruled serious.
It's been a long time coming for the New York Rangers' power play.
Entering Thursday's contest versus Carolina, the Blueshirts' man advantage hadn't converted in any of its last 10 games, and just once in its last 40 attempts overall.
That all changed early in the first period, however, as the quietly productive Chris Kreider banged in his 26th goal of the season during a 5-on-3 opportunity.
The power-play futility was a bit of an anomaly for the Rangers, who've scored the second-most goals of any team this season.
Pittsburgh Penguins forward Tom Sestito has been suspended four games for boarding Winnipeg Jets defenseman Toby Enstrom, the NHL's Department of Player Safety announced.