* The Wild benefited from three quick goals to start their game against the Kraken and Filip Gustavsson posted another outing with a save percentage of .900 or better as Minnesota gained ground on Colorado, which suffered a regulation loss in Toronto, for third place in the Central Division.
* Auston Matthews scored one of two Toronto tallies as the Maple Leafs skated to their 16th win in a one-goal game this season, climbed the Atlantic Division standings and outlasted the Avalanche in a closely contested affair.
* While the Blues and Canucks are set for a pivotal clash in the Western Conference Wild Card race, Alex Ovechkin continues The Gr8 Chase on a night the Capitals can become the first team to clinch a berth into the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
WILD SCORE EARLY AND OFTEN, CLAIM CRUCIAL POINTS IN CENTRAL DIVISION
Ryan Hartman, Matt Boldy and Liam Ohgren each scored for Minnesota within the opening 4:29 of play to help their club build an early first-period lead en route to a second win in as many games. The Wild (39-25-5, 83 points), who own an eight-point cushion for the first Wild Card spot in the Western Conference, moved within two points of the Avalanche (41-25-3, 85 points) for third place in the Central Division.
* Minnesota, which has scored seven consecutive team goals at Xcel Energy Center, produced the second-fastest three goals to begin a game in franchise history behind Jan. 14, 2017 (4:00 at DAL).
* Filip Gustavsson turned aside all 34 shots he faced to register his fifth shutout of the season and tie the second most in a single season in franchise history. Gustavsson, with the most shutouts in one campaign for the Wild since Devan Dubnyk in 2017-18 (5), posted his 31st outing of 2024-25 with a save percentage of .900 or better. According to NHL EDGE, his 31 such performances are tied with Ilya Sorokin for the third most among all goaltenders, behind Connor Hellebuyck (38) and Andrei Vasilevskiy (33).
MAPLE LEAFS CLIMB ATLANTIC STANDINGS THANKS TO ANOTHER ONE-GOAL GAME WIN
Auston Matthews and Steven Lorentz scored for Toronto and Joesph Woll made 38 saves as the Maple Leafs (41-24-3, 85 points) handed the Avalanche their first regulation loss since Feb. 23 and moved into a tie, in terms of standings points, with the first-place Panthers (41-24-3, 85 points) in the Atlantic Division. Florida owns the tie-breaker because of regulation wins (FLA: 35; TOR: 33).
* Matthews, who helped the Maple Leafs capture their 16th win in a one-goal game this season, gave his club the lead 28 seconds into the second period with his 142nd career go-ahead goal and passed Mats Sundin (141) for the most in franchise history. Overall, the Maple Leafs captain found the back of the net within the opening 30 seconds of a period for the 11th time in his career – one back of Darryl Sittler (12x) for the most in franchise history.
QUICK CLICKS
* NHL, NHLPA to begin talks on new Collective Bargaining Agreement in April
* NHL reimagining format for 2026 All-Star Game, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman says
* Victor Mancini meets young Canucks fan who bought his game-used stick
* Darren Raddysh’s grandma steals show on jumbotron at 1st NHL game
* Ryan Leonard, Zeev Buium among 10 Hobey Baker candidates
WILD CARD RACES, STREAKING STARS HIGHLIGHT 14-GAME THURSDAY
Twenty-eight of 32 teams are set to hit the ice Thursday, including six of the seven clubs either occupying a Wild Card spot or sitting four points out in the East as well as four of the five teams within striking distance of a Wild Card position in the West. The Stars will also look to extend their lengthy home winning streak while Wyatt Johnston aims to push a pair of personal streaks at American Airlines Center.
* The Canadiens (33-27-7, 73 points) snapped the Senators’ six-game winning streak Tuesday to leap into the second Wild Card spot in the East and now look to fend off the Islanders (31-28-8, 70 points), who sit just three points back. Lane Hutson (5-48—53 in in 67 GP) leads all rookies in points and can become just the fifth rookie defenseman in NHL history to post 50 assists in a season, following Larry Murphy (60 in 1980-81), Chris Chelios (55 in 1984-85), Gary Suter (50 in 1985-86) and Stefan Persson (50 in 1977-78).
* The Blues (34-28-7, 75 points) have been the NHL’s hottest team since returning from the 4 Nations Face-Off, with a League-best 20 points through that span. St. Louis is set for a pivotal matchup against Vancouver (32-25-11, 75 points), which occupies the second Wild Card spot in the West by virtue of games played (7:30 p.m. ET on Disney+, ESPN+, Hulu & SNP).
* Dallas (43-21-3, 89 points) holds a four-point lead on idle Colorado (41-25-3, 85 points) for second place in the Central Division and will look to extend its winning streak to nine games at American Airlines Center. The Stars can establish the longest home winning streak in team history – the franchise record of 11 games was set by the Minnesota North Stars in 1972-73.
* Johnston carries a 15-game home point streak into Thursday and can tie Mike Modano (16 GP in 1999-00) for the second-longest run in Stars/North Stars history behind Neal Broten (18 GP in 1989-90). The 21-year-old will also look to extend his home goal streak to seven games and join Evgeni Malkin (7 GP in 2007-08) as just the second active player with a run of that length before age 22.
THE GR8 CHASE CONTINUES AS OVECHKIN, CAPITALS HOST FLYERS
Alex Ovechkin enters Thursday with 887 career goals, eight shy of passing Wayne Gretzky (894) for the NHL’s all-time record, and will look to add to his total when the Capitals, who can become the first team to clinch a spot in the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs, face off against the Flyers. The Capitals captain has scored 51 times against Philadelphia, tied with Mario Lemieux for the second most among all players in NHL history behind only Sidney Crosby (56).
* Washington will clinch a berth into the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs if they defeat the Flyers in regulation AND any result in the Islanders-Canadiens game other than an Islanders regulation win OR if they defeat the Flyers in overtime or shootout AND the Islanders lose to the Canadiens in any fashion OR if they lose to the Flyers in overtime or shootout AND the Blue Jackets lose to the Panthers in any fashion AND the Islanders lose to the Canadiens in regulation.
* On March 20, 1994, exactly 31 years ago, Gretzky scored career goals No. 800 and 801 against the Sharks to tie Gordie Howe (801) for the most in NHL history. Also on this date in 1960, Maurice “Rocket” Richard – the namesake for the NHL goals leader trophy Ovechkin has won nine times and more than any other player – scored the 544th and final tally of his career. Richard was the NHL goals leader for more than a decade from 1952 to 1963, when Howe supplanted him atop the list.
