* Alex Ovechkin scored a goal on consecutive days for the 60th time in his career and is now just a hat trick away from completing The Gr8 Chase.
* The drama and excitement of the NHL will continue to live on Rogers in Canada through the 2037-38 season after the League and Rogers Communications announced a monumental 12-year national media rights deal that will deliver more national games and fewer blackouts to hockey fans.
* The Hurricanes and Maple Leafs both picked up a win Wednesday and became the second and third Eastern Conference team, respectively, to clinch a berth into the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
* With two weeks remaining in the regular season, NHL players and clubs will determine the final 10 playoff spots, all 16 seeds and all eight First Round matchups, an Art Ross Trophy winner in a race that has had the leader change on three of the past five days, and whether The Gr8 Chase will deliver a new NHL all-time goals leader before the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs begin.
Ovechkin IS now a hat trick away from completing The Gr8 Chase
Alex Ovechkin converted on a two-man advantage during the final minute of the second period to record his 892nd career goal and move within three of passing Wayne Gretzky (894) for the most in NHL history. Ovechkin’s 0.66 goals-per-game average this season and 0.60 rate in his career both put him on pace to complete The Gr8 Chase against the Blue Jackets on April 13 (6 p.m. ET on SNE, MNMT, FDSNOH).
* Ovechkin’s goal was captured by OviCast, an alternate presentation for all remaining TNT- and ESPN-produced regular-season games involving Washington. Wednesday’s TNT telecast also featured a moment between Ovechkin and analyst Brian Boucher, who Ovechkin scored “The Goal” against in front of then-Coyotes head coach Gretzky on Jan. 16, 2006.
* #NHLStats has been tracking The Gr8 Chase with more than a dozen Stats Packs since 2019-20 focused on Ovechkin, with the latest one – THE GR8 CHASE: A Hat Trick Away from the NHL Goals Record – released shortly after No. 892 on Wednesday. Look for one after each game in which Ovechkin scores a goal through the record-breaking No. 895.
* Did You Know? Today marks the 17-year anniversary of when Ovechkin beat Lightning goaltender Karri Ramo for his 65th and final goal of the 2007-08 season – his highest total in one campaign to date. That came less than two weeks after he became the 19th different player in NHL history to score at least 60 times in one season (a feat accomplished by four players since Ovechkin). That also helped him capture his first career Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy.
NHL AND ROGERS ANNOUNCE MONUMENTAL 12-YEAR NATIONAL MEDIA RIGHTS DEAL
Rogers Communications and the NHL announced a 12-year agreement for the national media rights to NHL games on all platforms in Canada through the 2037-38 season. The $11 billion CDN agreement starts in 2026-27 following the conclusion of the current landmark 12-year deal. Under the new agreement, fans will have access to more live national games than ever before and fewer regional blackouts. Click here for details on the deal.
* NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman made an appearance on Sportsnet ahead of the Maple Leafs and Panthers game to discuss the agreement. He, Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly, Rogers President and CEO Tony Staffieri as well as Rogers Sports & Media President Colette Watson also sat down with Ron MacLean to discuss the partnership earlier in the day.
Hurricanes, Maple Leafs headed to 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs
The Hurricanes (46-24-4, 96 points) and Atlantic Division-leading Maple Leafs (46-25-4, 96 points) clinched berths in the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs by virtue of earning at least one point against the Capitals and Panthers, respectively. Carolina locked in its franchise record-tying seventh straight postseason berth, while Toronto clinched to extend the NHL’s longest active streak of playoff appearances.
* Seth Jarvis (1-1—2) scored his 30th goal of the season and collected an assist to help the Hurricanes defeat the Eastern Conference-leading Capitals (48-18-9, 105 points) at Lenovo Center. Jarvis became the seventh player in Hurricanes/Whalers history with multiple 30-goal seasons before age 24, joining Eric Staal (3), Sylvain Turgeon (3), Sebastian Aho (2), Jeff Skinner (2), Geoff Sanderson (2) and Kevin Dineen (2).
* The Hurricanes have now made the playoffs for a seventh straight year dating back to 2019, which matches the longest run in franchise history set by the Hartford Whalers from 1986 to 1992.
* Rod Brind’Amour has made the playoffs for the seventh year since his debut in 2018-19. The only other individuals to have a similar run to begin their head coaching career over the last 40 years are Mike Keenan (11 from 1985 to 1996), Darryl Sutter (8 from 1993 to 2002), Joel Quenneville (7 from 1997 to 2003), Brian Sutter (7 from 1989 to 1995) and Pat Burns (7 from 1989 to 1995).
* After the Panthers jumped out to a 1-0 lead, Mitch Marner (1-1—2) and John Tavares (1-0—1) spearheaded the Maple Leafs rally to help them earn a crucial win as Toronto opened up a three-point lead over Tampa Bay (44-25-5, 93 points) for first place in the Atlantic Division and a four-point edge over Florida (44-27-4, 92 points). Marner recorded his 201st career multi-point game and tied Dave Keon for the fourth most in franchise history while Tavares scored his League-leading 15th goal since the 4 Nations Face-Off Break (15-10—25).
* The Maple Leafs secured their ninth consecutive postseason berth, which is the longest active streak in the League. It marks the third time in franchise history that Toronto has posted a run of at least that length (15 from 1930-31 – 1944-45 & 9 from 1958-59 – 1966-67).
* Toronto will now look to clinch the division title for the third time in the NHL’s expansion era (since 1967-68), following 1999-00 (Northeast Division) and 2020-21 (North Division).
KREIDER, MILLER HIGHLIGHTED IN #NHLSTATS: LIVE UPDATES
The latest edition of #NHLStats: Live Updates featured a number of noteworthy storylines from across the five-game slate, including Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar (1-1—2) and Rangers forwards Chris Kreider (1-0—1) and J.T. Miller (0-1—1) each finding the score sheet to lift their respective teams to victory Wednesday.
* After the Blackhawks jumped out to a 2-0 lead, Makar factored on two of his team’s goals in the third period, including collecting an assist on Martin Necas’ tying goal in the final 11 seconds of regulation, to set the stage for an Avalanche shootout victory. Colorado earned its sixth multi-goal comeback win of the season – tied with Minnesota, Carolina and Edmonton for the third most behind only Seattle (9) and Anaheim (7).
* Kreider recorded his 10th career 20-goal season – the second most in franchise history – and Miller became the fourth active U.S.-born player to reach the 700-point milestone as New York secured a crucial overtime victory. The Rangers (36-32-7, 79 points) moved into a tie in standings points with the idle Canadiens (35-30-9, 79 points), who held onto the final Wild Card spot in the East by virtue of a game in hand.
QUICK CLICKS
* David Pastrnak, Nikita Zadorov meet figure skater who lost parents in tragic plane crash
* Mats Zuccarello wears custom warmup jersey in honor of Sam Rosen’s retirement
* Central Scouting analyzes top prospects for 2025 NHL Draft
* Carolina clinches playoff berth, salutes Alex Ovechkin
* Super 16: Storylines for stretch run of NHL regular season
NHL COAST TO COAST has HUGE NIGHT IN EASTERN CONFERENCE’S PLAYOFF RACE
NHL Coast to Coast, the live whip-around studio show available to viewers on Prime Video Canada starting at 7 p.m. ET, returns during a nine-game slate featuring three teams in the thick of the Eastern Conference’s Wild Card race as the Senators (39-29-6, 84 points), Canadiens (35-30-9, 79 points) and Blue Jackets (34-30-9, 77 points) hit the ice.
