NHL Recap March 17, 2024 – CROSBY CONTINUES TO LEAD PENGUINS’ MARCH TOWARD A WILD CARD SPOT

Sidney Crosby (1-1—2) factored of two of his team’s six goals against the Detroit Red Wings and the Penguins (30-28-9, 69 points) also benefited from regulation losses by the Islanders (29-23-15, 73 points) and Devils (32-32-4, 68 points) to climb the Eastern Conference standings. Pittsburgh moved within five points of Detroit (34-28-6, 74 points) for the second Wild Card spot.

• Crosby (33-35—68 in 67 GP), who scored his 583rd career goal in the contest, continued his point-per-game rate in 2023-24. Should he continue at that pace to conclude this campaign, he would tie Wayne Gretzky (19) for the most career point-per-game seasons in NHL history.

HURRICANES, JETS, RANGERS PUSH THE PACE IN PRESIDENTS’ TROPHY RACE
Three of the NHL’s top eight teams either maintained or improved their positioning in a jam-packed Presidents’ Trophy race as the Hurricanes (42-20-6, 90 points), Jets (43-19-5, 91 points) and Rangers (45-19-4, 94 points) each earned wins Sunday:

• Dmitry Orlov (2-2—4) and Sebastian Aho (0-3—3) led the Hurricanes to a seven-goal outburst as the club kept pace with the Rangers who sit atop the Metropolitan Division. Orlov finished the game one shy of the most points by a Hurricanes/Whalers defenseman in a single game, while Aho tied his head coach Rod Brind’Amour (54) for the third-most multi-assist outings in franchise history, a list that is topped by Ron Francis (163) and Eric Staal (79).
• Tyler Toffoli (2-1—3) continued his hot start with the Jets as he posted his second consecutive multi-point outing to help Winnipeg overtake Colorado (43-20-5, 91 points) and Dallas (41-19-9, 91 points) for first place in the Central Division. Toffoli (4-1—5 in 4 GP) became the third player in Jets/Thrashers history score at least four goals in his first four games with the franchise following Patrik Laine (4-1—5 in 2016-17) and Shawn McEachern (4-1—5 in 2002-03).
• Mika Zibanejad (1-0—1) scored one of his team’s five goals, and did so within the opening 30 seconds of a period for the seventh time in his career with New York, as the Rangers earned their third straight win against the Islanders dating to Dec. 22, 2022 – tied for the franchise’s longest win streak versus the club in the past decade (also 3 GP from Jan. 12, 2019 – Jan. 16, 2020 & March 7, 2013 – Oct. 29, 2013). The Rangers look to join the Detroit Red Wings (6x) and Bruins (4x) as the third franchise to win the Presidents’ Trophy at least four times.

POINTS IN BUNCHES FOR BUCHNEVICH
Pavel Buchnevich (0-3—3) factored on three of four Blues goals to record his team-leading seventh three-point game of the season and help St. Louis (36-29-3, 75 points) move within four points of Vegas (36-24-7, 79 points) for the second Wild Card position in the Western Conference.

OVECHKIN EYES ANOTHER 20-GOAL SEASON TO START THE WEEK
Alex Ovechkin (19-31—50 in 63 GP) and the Capitals (32-25-9, 73 points) continue their chase toward a spot in the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs and will do so with two games in hand on the Red Wings (34-28-6, 74 points), who occupy the second Wild Card spot.

• Should the Capitals captain find the back of the net for the second time in as many games, he would join Gordie Howe (22) and Brendan Shanahan (19) as just the third player in NHL history with at least 19 consecutive 20-goal campaigns. In fact, only five have had at least 19 such campaigns at any point in their career.

The Capitals also find themselves a part of a handful of upcoming national games this week, with key storylines to follow noted below:

Wednesday, March 20: Maple Leafs at Capitals (7:30 p.m. ET on TNT, Max, SN, TVAS)

Auston Matthews (8-12—20 in 16 GP) and Alex Ovechkin (9-8—17 in 16 GP) will be going head-to-head for the 17th time (TOR: 9-5-2; WSH: 7-8-1). Matthews leads the NHL in goals since entering the League in 2016-17, while Ovechkin ranks fourth in that span. Matthews has 354 goals in 546 games as he nears the end of his eighth NHL season (0.65 G/GP), a higher goals-per-game rate than Ovechkin had at the end of his eighth campaign (0.62 G/GP; 371 in 601 GP through 2012-13).

Wednesday, March 20: Wild at Kings (10 p.m. ET on TNT, Max, SN, TVAS)

The Wild (33-27-8, 74 points) trail the Kings (34-22-11, 79 points) and Golden Knights (36-24-7, 79 points) by five points in the standings – with the latter owning the second Wild Card spot. Kirill Kaprizov carries a four-game goal streak into the week and sits five tallies shy of his third straight 40-goal season (never achieved by a Wild player).

Saturday, March 23: Panthers at Rangers (8 p.m. ET on ABC, ESPN+)
Paul Maurice (862) needs two wins to tie Lindy Ruff (864) for fourth place in NHL history among head coaches, while Peter Laviolette (796) needs four to become the seventh in League history to win 800 in that role. Florida and New York are among a group of five teams that have occupied the League’s No. 1 seed since Jan. 1, along with Vancouver, Winnipeg and Boston (4 days).

Saturday, March 23: Oilers at Maple Leafs (7 p.m. ET on CBC, SN)

Connor McDavid (8-18—26 in 17 GP) and Auston Matthews (12-6—18 in 17 GP) will be going head-to-head for the 18th time. The Maple Leafs have a record of 11-4-2 in those contests, while the Oilers have gone 6-9-2.

Kucherov, Bedard and Fleury Named NHL ‘Three Stars’ of the Week

Tampa Bay Lightning right wing Nikita Kucherov, Chicago Blackhawks center Connor Bedard and Minnesota Wild goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury have been named the NHL’s “Three Stars” for the week ending March 17.

FIRST STAR – NIKITA KUCHEROV, RW, TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING

Kucherov tied for the League points lead (2-5—7) in just two games, helping the Lightning (36-25-6, 78 points) defeat a pair of the top-ranked teams in the Eastern Conference to strengthen their hold on the first Wild Card berth. Kucherov began the week by recording his sixth career five-point game (1-4—5) in a 6-3 win over the New York Rangers March 14. In the process he reached the 70-assist mark for the third time in his career (also 83 in 2022-23 and 87 in 2018-19), joining Connor McDavid (six) as the only active players with 3+ 70-assist seasons. The 10-year Lightning star followed up with a one-goal, one-assist effort in a 5-3 win over the intra-state rival Florida Panthers March 16, reaching the 40-goal plateau for the third time. Only Lightning captain Steven Stamkos (six) has more 40-goal seasons in franchise history. Kucherov increased his season points total to 40-74—114 in 66 games, closing within two points of scoring leader Nathan MacKinnon (42-74—116) in his bid for a second career Art Ross Trophy. Kucherov swept the Art Ross, Hart Trophy and Ted Lindsay Award honors in 2018-19.

SECOND STAR – CONNOR BEDARD, C, CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS

Bedard earned a share of the League points lead last week (2-5—7 in 3 GP), helping the Blackhawks post a pair of wins. The first overall pick in the 2023 NHL Draft set several notable marks with a five-point performance (1-4—5) in a 7-2 win over the Anaheim Ducks March 12. His goal was his 20th of the season, joining Eddie Olczyk (20 in 1984-85) as just the second 18-year-old to score 20 in a campaign for the Blackhawks. His five-point game matched Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (0-5—5 on Nov. 19, 2011), Ilya Kovalchuk (1-4—5 on Jan. 19, 2002), Dale Hawerchuk (3-2—5 on March 13, 1982) and Jack Hamilton (4-1—5 on Dec. 4, 1943) as just the fifth by an 18-year-old in NHL history. Nugent-Hopkins and Kovalchuk are the only other 18-year-olds with a four-assist game. Bedard was held off the scoresheet in a 5-0 loss to the Los Angeles Kings March 15 and ended the week by notching his 12th multi-point game of 2023-24 (1-1—2) in a 5-2 win over the San Jose Sharks March 17. The NHL’s rookie scoring leader increased his season points total to 21-32—53 in 54 GP, with his points-per-game rate of .98 ranking sixth among all rookies in the past 20 seasons (min. 40 GP).

THIRD STAR – MARC-ANDRE FLEURY, G, MINNESOTA WILD

Fleury went 2-0-1 with a 0.97 goals-against average, .961 save percentage and one shutout in three games, helping the Wild (33-27-8, 74 points) close within five points of a playoff berth in the Western Conference. He turned aside 22 of 23 shots in a 4-1 win over the Arizona Coyotes March 12 before recording the 75th shutout of his career (16 saves) in a 2-0 win over the Anaheim Ducks March 14. Fleury moved within one shutout of climbing into the top 10 in NHL history. He closed the week making 35 saves in a 3-2 shootout loss to the St. Louis Blues March 16. Playing in his 20th NHL season, the League’s active wins leader improved his career record to 560-326-95 in 1,019 appearances, ranking second all-time in wins (560), third in saves (26,456) and fourth in goaltender games (1,019) and minutes played (58,953:51). The Wild are 5-1-2 in March, tied for the most points (12) among all NHL teams since the start of the month.