Florida Panthers at Toronto Maple Leafs (7:30 p.m. ET; SN, TVAS2, SCRIPPS)
The Maple Leafs (45-25-4), who can clinch a playoff berth with one point, are 3-0-1 in their past four games and look to stay alone atop the Atlantic Division; they have a one-point lead on the second-place Tampa Bay Lightning and are two ahead of the Panthers (44-26-4). Florida is looking to respond after being swept in a home-and-home set with Montreal, including a 3-2 overtime loss at Bell Centre on Tuesday.
Colorado Avalanche at Chicago Blackhawks (9:30 p.m. ET; MAX, truTV, TNT, ALT2, SN1, TVAS)
The Avalanche (45-26-4) have seen their lead for third place in the Central Division shrink to five points over the St. Louis Blues, but Colorado has a game in hand. The Avalanche are eight points behind the second-place Dallas Stars, who have won six in a row. The Blackhawks (21-44-9) have been eliminated from playoff contention.
Seattle Kraken at Vancouver Canucks (10:30 p.m. ET; SNP, TVAS2, KONG, KING 5, KHN)
The Kraken (31-38-6) have been eliminated from playoff contention. The Canucks (34-27-13) look to move closer to the second wild card in the West; they are seven points behind the Wild with a game in hand.
If playoffs started Wednesday
Eastern Conference
(1A) Toronto Maple Leafs vs. (WC1) Ottawa Senators (2A) Tampa Bay Lightning vs. (3A) Florida Panthers (1M) Washington Capitals vs. (WC2) Montreal Canadiens
(2M) Carolina Hurricanes vs. (3M) New Jersey Devils
Western Conference
(1P) Vegas Golden Knights vs. (WC1) St. Louis Blues (2P) Los Angeles Kings vs. (3P) Edmonton Oilers (1C) Winnipeg Jets vs. (WC2) Minnesota Wild
(2C) Dallas Stars vs. (3C) Colorado Avalanche
About last night
There were 10 games on the NHL schedule Tuesday, all with playoff implications:
Washington Capitals 4, Boston Bruins 3: Ovechkin scored his 891st goal, moving him within four of passing Gretzky for the NHL’s all-time record. Ovechkin scored on the power play at 15:43 of the first period for the Capitals (48-17-9), who moved within one point of the Jets in the Presidents’ Trophy race and 11 ahead of the Hurricanes for first place in the Metropolitan. The Bruins (30-36-9) fell to last in the East, 10 points behind the Canadiens for the second wild card.
Montreal Canadiens 3, Florida Panthers 2 (OT): Nick Suzuki scored with nine seconds left in regulation and then 29 seconds into overtime to help the Canadiens (35-30-9) stay two points ahead of the Columbus Blue Jackets for the second wild card in the East. The Panthers (44-26-4) fell one point behind the Lightning for second place in the Atlantic.
Buffalo Sabres 5, Ottawa Senators 2: Tage Thompson scored his fifth goal in as many games for the Sabres (32-36-6), who remained nine points behind the Canadiens for the second wild card in the East. The Senators (39-29-6) saw their lead for the first wild card trimmed to five points.
Columbus Blue Jackets 8, Nashville Predators 4: Kirill Marchenko scored his third NHL hat trick and had an assist for the Blue Jackets (34-30-9), who remained two points behind the Canadiens for the second wild card in the East with a game in hand. The Predators (27-40-8) have been eliminated from playoff contention.
Tampa Bay Lightning 4, New York Islanders 1: Nikita Kucherov had two assists and extended his point streak to nine games for the Lightning (44-25-5), who moved within one point of the Maple Leafs for first in the Atlantic, and one ahead of the third-place Panthers. The Islanders (32-32-10) lost their sixth straight (0-4-2) and fell five points behind the Canadiens for the second wild card in the East.
St. Louis Blues 2, Detroit Red Wings 1 (OT): The Blues (41-28-7) won their 10th in a row on Cam Fowler’s goal at 3:27 of overtime after Jordan Kyrou tied it with 29 seconds left in regulation. The win moved the Blues one point ahead of the Wild for the first wild card in the West. The Red Wings (34-33-7) fell four points behind the Canadiens for the second wild card in the East.
Utah Hockey Club 3, Calgary Flames 1: Karel Vejmelka made 33 saves in his 18th straight start for Utah (34-29-12), which moved within eight points of the Wild for second wild card in the West. The Flames (35-27-12) have lost three of four and fell six points back of the second wild card.
Edmonton Oilers 3, Vegas Golden Knights 2: Leon Draisaitl scored his NHL-leading 52nd goal of the season for the Oilers (43-26-5), who remained two points behind the Kings for second in the Pacific Division. Pavel Dorofeyev had a goal and an assist for the Golden Knights (45-21-8), who had their six-game winning streak end but still clinched a playoff berth with Calgary’s loss to Utah. Vegas is five points ahead of Los Angeles for first in the Pacific.
Anaheim Ducks 4, San Jose Sharks 3 (SO): Mason McTavish had three assists and scored the only goal in the shootout for the Ducks (33-33-8), who avoided elimination from playoff contention and moved within 14 points of the second wild card in the West. The Sharks (20-44-10) have been eliminated from playoff contention.
Los Angeles Kings 4, Winnipeg Jets 1: Anze Kopitar, Andrei Kuzmenko and Adrian Kempe each had a goal and an assist for the Kings (42-23-9), who won for the sixth time in eight games and moved within five points of the Golden Knights for first in the Pacific. The Jets (51-20-4) had a three-game winning streak end and their Presidents’ Trophy lead on the Capitals trimmed to one point.
