NHL Recap March 3, 2024 – CANADIAN CLUBS COLLECT CRUCIAL WINS IN LOGJAMMED PRESIDENTS’ TROPHY RACE

The Jets (39-16-5, 83 points) rallied from two separate deficits to briefly climb into first place in the Western Conference standings before the Canucks (39-17-7, 85 points) edged the Ducks to shuffle back into top spot – a position they’ve held since Jan. 18. The two Canadian clubs are among a group of six teams, separated by three points, with eyes on the Presidents’ Trophy and jockeying atop the NHL standings.

• Quinn Hughes (0-1—1) factored on one of two goals with his NHL-leading 59th assist among defensemen and helped Vancouver maintain its position in first place in the Western Conference for the 65th day this season; the only other teams with as many days atop their conference are Boston (90) and Vegas (70). There are only two other seasons to witness the Canucks spend more time atop their conference: 1991-92 (108 days) and 2010-11 (99 days).
• Vancouver, which has already eclipsed its entire point total from 2022-23 (38-37-7, 83 points), eyes its third Presidents’ Trophy in franchise history and can join the 1993-94 Rangers and 1969-70 Black Hawks as the third team in the expansion era to finish first in the League standings after failing to qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs the season before.
• Josh Morrissey (1-1—2) chipped in on Winnipeg’s two game-tying tallies and has collected 2-19—21 since the turn of the calendar. He ranks eighth in scoring among defensemen since Jan. 1, while his 19 assists through that span trail only Noah Dobson (26), Roman Josi (25) and Hughes (24).

OFFENSIVE OUTBURSTS GUIDE OILERS AND KINGS TO HIGH-SCORING WINS
Connor McDavid (1-1—2), Leon Draisaitl (0-3—3), Phillip Danault (3-0—3) and Kevin Fiala (1-2—3) led the way in offensive outbursts for a pair of Pacific Division clubs as the second-seeded Oilers (37-20-2, 76 points) and Kings (31-19-10, 72 points) captured pivotal victories in the Western Conference playoff race.

• McDavid, who extended his home point streak to 25 games in the process, and Draisaitl combined on two of six Oilers goals and have done so 416 times in the regular season – the second highest among two active teammates behind Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom (502). The only others to do so at least 300 times: Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin (365) as well as Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen (326).
• McDavid joined Nathan MacKinnon – who owns an active 29-game stretch – as the second player with a streak of at least 25 games this season. The 2023-24 campaign is just the fourth in NHL history to feature multiple players achieve the feat following 1989-90 (Brett Hull & Mario Lemieux, both w/ 26 GP), 1981-82 (Bryan Trottier: 31 GP & Wayne Gretzky: 25 GP) and 1979-80 (Gretzky: 28 GP & Guy Lafleur: 27 GP).
• Fiala recorded three points for the second straight game and helped Los Angeles move within one point of idle Vegas (33-21-7, 73 points) for third in the Pacific Division, with Sunday’s victor holding one game in hand (VGK: 61 GP; LAK: 60 GP). Should the Kings continue to climb the standings and overtake the Golden Knights, another First Round matchup against the Oilers would mark the first time the franchise has played the same opponent in three consecutive playoff appearances since its run against the Sharks (2013 CSF, 2014 R1 & 2016 R1).
• Anze Kopitar and Drew Doughty collected the helpers on Fiala’s third-period tally. It marked the 300th regular-season goal the duo has factored on – the most by any active forward-defenseman duo and five more than the next closest (Crosby & Kris Letang: 296).

KAPRIZOV HITS 300 POINTS WITH THREE-GOAL OUTING
Kirill Kaprizov’s netted his third hat trick of the season to match the Wild franchise record for most in a campaign and hit the 300-point milestone in just 258 career games.

PRESIDENTS’ TROPHY RACE TAKES CENTER STAGE ON BROADWAY

First place in the NHL standings could change hands when two of the League’s top three clubs face off on Broadway as the Panthers (41-16-4, 86 points) visit the Rangers (40-17-4, 84 points), while two other clubs among the top eight in the NHL standings will meet for an Original Six matchup on Sportsnet and TVA Sports when the Bruins (35-13-14, 84 points) visit the Maple Leafs (35-17-8, 78 points).

• New York needs a regulation win to overtake Florida for the No. 1 seed. The Panthers displaced the Rangers for the top spot with their victory Feb. 29 as the clubs are among a group of four teams to have held the position over the past 10 days.
• As the standings sit entering play Monday, Boston and Toronto would meet in the First Round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The clubs have met in 16 series all-time, tied for the fourth-most in League history behind Boston-Montreal (34x), Detroit-Toronto (23x) and Chicago-Montreal (17x). The others at 16 are Chicago-Detroit, Montreal-Toronto and Montreal-NY Rangers.

NHL BIG CITY GREENS CLASSIC HIGHLIGHTS 25-GAME SLATE OF NATIONAL TELECASTS

For the second time in as many seasons, the NHL will hit the animated streets of “Big City” as the League is teaming up with ESPN and Disney Branded Television to bring fans the second NHL Big City Greens Classic, a live, animated NHL game telecast featuring the Penguins and Bruins on Saturday at 3 p.m. ET.

• The alternate presentation of the Penguins-Bruins game will feature real-time virtually recreated animation of NHL players and teams modeled after characters on Disney Channel’s hit animated series “Big City Greens” – with Gramma set to coach the Bruins and her grandson, Cricket, behind the bench for the Penguins. Gramma tallied a highlight-reel alley-oop assist in last year’s NHL Big City Greens Classic between the Capitals and Rangers – a first-of-its-kind live volumetric animation presentation – while playing the role of New York goaltender Igor Shesterkin.

Other notable games on the national slate this week:

Wednesday, March 6: Sabres at Maple Leafs (7 p.m. ET on TNT, Max, SN, TVAS)

• William Nylander enters the week with an active 10-game point streak (8-10—18 in 10 GP), with a chance to extend Monday against Boston before Toronto hosts Buffalo on Wednesday for a national telecast on both sides of the 49th parallel. Nylander (3x) already has the most point streaks of at least a dozen games in Toronto franchise history and can become the sixth active NHL player with at least four in his career – he would join Connor McDavid (8x; could be 9x by Wednesday), Nathan MacKinnon (7x), Patrick Kane (6x), Leon Draisaitl (5x) and Sidney Crosby (4x) on that list.

Wednesday, March 6: Red Wings at Avalanche (9:30 p.m. ET on TNT, Max, SN360, ALT)

• Nathan MacKinnon (37-64—101 in 62 GP) enters the week four points back of the League lead as he pursues the second Art Ross Trophy win in franchise history and first in more than 20 years (Peter Forsberg in 2002-03). MacKinnon enters the week with an active home point streak of 29 games, the second-longest from the start of a season in NHL history behind the 40-game run by Wayne Gretzky in 1988-89 (which spanned the entire campaign), with a chance to keep that streak alive tonight when the Avalanche host Connor Bedard and the Blackhawks (9 p.m. ET on NBCSCH, ALT).

Saturday, March 9: Maple Leafs at Canadiens (7 p.m. ET on SN, CBC, TVAS)

• A three-game Hockey Night in Canada slate includes the 845th all-time meeting between the Maple Leafs and Canadiens (including playoffs) when Montreal captain Nick Suzuki leads his team against the Toronto duo of Mitch Marner and Auston Matthews, who both carry lengthy road point streaks into the week. Marner (4-18—22 in 13 road GP) already owns the longest road point streak in franchise history and the lengthiest by any player in the NHL this season, while Matthews (13-6—19 in 11 road GP) is currently tied for the second longest in 2023-24 and third-longest in Toronto history (behind Marner and Doug Gilmour: 12 GP in 1993-94).

Josi, Montour and Morrissey Named NHL ‘Three Stars’ of the Week

Nashville Predators defenseman Roman Josi, Florida Panthers defenseman Brandon Montour and Winnipeg Jets defenseman Josh Morrissey have been named the NHL’s “Three Stars” for the week ending March 3.

FIRST STAR – ROMAN JOSI, D, NASHVILLE PREDATORS

Josi posted the top points-per-game figure among the NHL’s leading scorers last week (3-4—7 in 3 GP) and recorded the League’s best plus-minus rating (+7), helping the Predators (35-25-2, 72 points) win all three starts and extend their winning streak to eight games. Josi began the week tallying three points (2-1—3) in a 4-1 win over the Ottawa Senators Feb. 27. It marked his 18th career multi-goal game, tying Viktor Arvidsson for the fourth most in franchise history behind Filip Forsberg (39), David Legwand (24) and Craig Smith (20). He registered a second consecutive three-point outing (1-2—3) in a 6-1 win over the Minnesota Wild Feb. 29. The multi-point performance was the Nashville captain’s 158th of his career, trailing only Kris Letang (164, PIT) and Victor Hedman (163, TBL) for the most among active defensemen with one franchise. Josi concluded the week with an assist in a 5-1 win over the Colorado Avalanche March 2. Skating in his 13th NHL season, all with Nashville, Josi ranks sixth among active defensemen in career points (173-489—662 in 889 GP). The Predators’ eight-game winning streak matches the second-longest in franchise history (also 8 GP in 2005-06) behind only a 10-game run in 2017-18.

SECOND STAR – BRANDON MONTOUR, D, FLORIDA PANTHERS

Montour led his team in scoring (2-4—6 in 3 GP), highlighted by a pair of game-winning goals, as the Panthers (41-16-4, 86 points) went 3-0-0 and climbed to first place in the NHL overall standings. Montour figured in each of Florida’s goals (1-2—3), including the game-winner, in a 3-2 win over the Buffalo Sabres Feb. 27. It was Montour’s eighth three-point game with the Panthers, tying Keith Yandle for third place on the franchise’s all-time list among defensemen. He skated a team-high 26:35 in Florida’s 4-3 shootout win over the Montreal Canadiens Feb. 29 and notched his second three-point effort and game-winning goal of the week (1-2—3) in a 4-0 win over the Detroit Red Wings March 2. Playing in his eighth NHL season and fourth with the Panthers, Montour (499 GP) is set to join teammate Aaron Ekblad as the second defenseman from the 2014 NHL Draft to reach the 500-game milestone. His 64 goals are the second-most among blueliners in his draft class, trailing only Ekblad (115). The Panthers have won 22 of their past 28 games, going an NHL-best 22-4-2 (.821) since the Dec. 24-26 holiday break.

THIRD STAR – JOSH MORRISSEY, D, WINNIPEG JETS

Morrissey topped the Jets in scoring (1-6—7 in 4 GP), helping Winnipeg (39-16-5, 83 points) win three of four games and take first place in the Central Division. Morrissey tallied multiple points in three of four appearances, beginning with a pair of assists in a 4-2 win over the St. Louis Blues Feb. 27. He played a team-leading 25:31 in a 4-1 loss to the Dallas Stars Feb. 29 and returned to the scoresheet with multiple points in back-to-back games over the weekend, starting with three assists in a 5-3 comeback win over the Carolina Hurricanes March 2. All of Morrissey’s – and Winnipeg’s – scoring came in a dramatic third-period surge in which the Jets overcame a 3-0 deficit. He later tallied 1-1—2 in a 5-2 win over the Buffalo Sabres March 3. Morrissey has collected 2-19—21 in 25 games since Jan. 1, with his 19 assists trailing only Noah Dobson (26), Josi (25) and Quinn Hughes (24) among NHL defensemen. The Jets’ current points percentage of .692, second-best in the NHL, has them on a 113-point pace for the season, one shy of their franchise-record 114 set in 2017-18.