* The Blue Jackets and Red Wings each skated to victories before their meeting at Little Caesars Arena on Thursday – each team’s final contest before the 2025 Navy Federal Credit Union NHL Stadium Series. One club will take to the outdoor rink at Ohio Stadium on a three-game win streak.
* Mitch Marner carried his overtime success from the 4 Nations Face-Off back to the Maple Leafs as he netted the extra-time winner in Toronto’s three-goal comeback win at TD Garden – the venue in which he collected a primary assist on the championship-clinching goal just five days prior.
* Alex Ovechkin continued The Gr8 Chase as he reached the 30-goal plateau for the 19th time in his career and moved within 12 of passing Wayne Gretzky for the all-time NHL goals record.
* A three-game Wednesday night will include a Sportsnet doubleheader and a Pacific Division matchup on TNT when the Canucks visit the Kings.
BLUE JACKETS, RED WINGS WIN AS COUNTDOWN TO THE STADIUM SERIES CONTINUES
The countdown continues to tick away until the Blue Jackets and Red Wings, who each skated to closely-contested victories Tuesday, march into Ohio Stadium for the 2025 Navy Federal Credit Union NHL Stadium Series on March 1 (6 p.m. ET on ESPN, ESPN+, Disney+, Sportsnet+, TVA Sports, FX-Canada). The number of days remaining until the Blue Jackets’ outdoor game debut is three, which are the number of seasons since Detroit forward J.T. Compher and Columbus defenseman Jack Johnson won a Stanley Cup together with the 2022 Avalanche.
* Compher and Johnson are two of a dozen Michigan alumni who went on to win the Cup and two of many former Wolverines that could skate for the Blue Jackets or Red Wings on Saturday. Click here to read the #NHLStats Pack: 2025 Navy Federal Credit Union NHL Stadium Series, which features several more notes ahead of the 43rd open-air contest in League history.
* James van Riemsdyk (1-0—1) and Vladimir Tarasenko (1-0—1) scored for the Blue Jackets and Red Wings on Tuesday, respectively, and have each found the back of the net three times in an outdoor game (van Riemsdyk: 3-3—6 in 7 GP; Tarasenko: 3-0—3 in 2 GP) – one tally shy of tying David Pastrnak (4 in 3 GP) and Tyler Toffoli (4 in 3 GP) for the most among all skaters.
* A grand celebration of the Blue Jackets and Ohio State Buckeyes will be reflected in the field design and entertainment at the latest outdoor game, with the theme of celebrating game day traditions for both teams visible throughout the rendering released by the NHL on Tuesday. Click here to read more.
MORE OVERTIME MAGIC FOR MARNER IN BOSTON DURING MAPLE LEAFS WIN
The Maple Leafs and Bruins lived up to their storied rivalry in their final meeting of the regular season: David Pastrnak (2-1—3) extended his point streak to 15 games as Boston built a 3-0 lead, but Morgan Rielly (1-3—4) helped Toronto claw back with three straight goals before Pastrnak’s 30th goal helped his club regain its lead again – only to have the Maple Leafs draw even with 46 seconds remaining in regulation and set the stage for Mitch Marner (2-0—2) in overtime as Toronto (36-20-2, 72 points) earned just its third-ever three-goal comeback win against Boston.
* Marner, who climbed into a tie for sixth on the franchise’s all-time overtime goals list, has been no stranger to overtime success as of late, especially in Boston – Marner assisted on the 4 Nations Face-Off championship-clinching goal in overtime just five days ago in the same arena to help Canada win the tournament.
* Auston Matthews (0-1—1) also climbed a franchise list with his assist on Marner’s game winner and passed Mats Sundin (27) for the most overtime points in Maple Leafs history.
* Rielly factored on all four of Toronto’s goals during their comeback win and became the 15th player in the franchise’s 107-year history to hit the 500-point milestone. He also climbed several Maple Leafs lists among blueliners, one of which includes four-point outings – he tied Babe Pratt and Harry Cameron (both w/ 6 GP) for the second most, behind only Borje Salming (13 GP).
STRONG PERFORMANCES FROM CLUBS MAKING WILD CARD PUSHES
With the regular season wrapping up in 51 days, a number of teams continued their playoff push towards a Wild Card position:
* Cam Fowler (1-2—3) recorded his second three-point game this season as the Blues scored seven straight goals en route to victory and 10 consecutive dating to their previous contest – their longest stretch since a span of four games from Feb. 14-19, 2014 (13 in 4 GP). St. Louis (27-26-6, 60 points) gained ground in the Wild Card race and is now four points back of the final position in the Western Conference.
* Bobby Brink (1-3—4) recorded a career-high four points and Matvei Michkov (0-2—2)reached the 40-point markto help the Flyers (26-26-7, 59 points) defeat their intrastate rivals and move within five points of Columbus for the final Eastern Conference Wild Card spot. Brink scored the second of two Philadelphia tallies in a 10-second span, the fastest two goals by the club since April 7, 2018 (0:06), and Michkov became the fourth Flyers rookie in the past 20 years with 40 points in a season.
* The clubs traded first-period goals, but Urho Vaakanainen (1-2—3) then assisted on two of his team’s four consecutive tallies to help the Rangers defeat the Islanders and leapfrog the Bruins in the Eastern Conference Wild Card race. Vaakanainen fell one point shy of the most by a Rangers defenseman in a game against the Islanders, a mark shared by Ron Greschner (2-2—4 on Feb. 17, 1985), Larry Sacharuk (2-2—4 on Feb. 4, 1976) and Tom Poti (0-4—4 on Feb. 19, 2004).
* Nick Suzuki (1-2—3), Cole Caufield (0-1—1) and Sam Montembeault (20 saves) all played pivotal roles in helping the Canadiens (27-26-5, 59 points) collect two points and remain five points out of a playoff position. Suzuki recorded his fourth straight 40-assist season – tied for the fourth-most consecutive 40-assist campaigns in franchise history behind Guy Lafleur (10), Saku Koivu (5) and Bobby Smith (5) – and Montembeault recorded his fourth shutout of 2024-25, the most by a Canadiens goaltender in a campaign since Carey Price (4 in 2019-20).
LIGHTNING, SABRES PUSH WINNING WAYS TO SIX GAMES
The Lightning (33-20-4, 70 points) and Sabres (24-27-5, 53 points) each captured two points in come-from-behind fashion to capture their sixth straight win and sixth consecutive home victory, respectively.
* Connor McDavid assisted on a Leon Draisaitl goal for the 210th time to give the Oilers a first-period lead, but 4 Nations Face-Off champion Brandon Hagel (1-0—1) scored one of four unanswered Lightning goals to lift his club to their longest win streak since a pair of equal runs in 2020-21. Hagel has posted an NHL-best 11 points (6-5—11) since the beginning of Tampa Bay’s streak on Feb. 4 and is tied with Alex Ovechkin for the second-most goals during that span, behind only Draisaitl (7).
* The Ducks found the back of net once in each of the first two periods, but Dylan Cozens (0-3—3) assisted on three consecutive Sabres goals and helped his team post a home win streak of at least six games for the third time in the past decade (also 6 GP in 2018-19 & 2014-15). He fell one helper shy of the most in a single period in franchise history – a mark set by Jack Eichel (March 31, 2018; 4 in P2).
THE GR8 CHASE IS CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN IN #NHLSTATS: LIVE UPDATES
Tuesday’s edition of #NHLStats: Live Updates featured notes on Alex Ovechkin and The Gr8 Chase as he scored to move within 12 of passing Wayne Gretzky for the all-time NHL goals record. Ovechkin extended his NHL record with a 19th career 30-goal season and registered his 823rd career point at Capital One Arena, which tied Stan Mikita (823 at Chicago Stadium) for the fifth most at a single venue in NHL history.
* Ovechkin (30-17—47 in 42 GP) owns a goals-per-game rate of 0.71 this season, which puts him on pace to pass Gretzky on April 2 (at CAR). Ovechkin (883-714—1,597 in 1,468 GP) owns a career average of 0.60 and that rate has him tracking to break the record on April 10 (vs. CAR).
QUICK CLICKS
* 2025 Navy Federal Credit Union NHL Stadium Series Interactive Information Guide
* Sabres analyst Ray broadcasts from top of arena after puck to face
* Buzz: Brady Tkachuk questionable for Senators against Jets on Wednesday
* LA Strong charity game ‘full-circle moment’ for first responder
* Andrew Copp out rest of season for Red Wings after pectoral surgery
JETS LOOK TO EXTEND FRANCHISE-RECORD RUN DURING THREE-GAME WEDNESDAY
A doubleheader on Sportsnet opens with the Jets (41-14-3, 85 points) looking to extend their franchise-record winning streak to 11 games against the Senators (29-24-4, 62 points) before the Canucks (26-20-11, 63 points) and Kings (31-17-7, 69 points) clash on TNT (truTV), Max and Sportsnet.-25115833.png)
* Winnipeg owns the NHL’s longest winning streak of the season at 10 games and can become just the fifth team to extend that run to 11 in the past five years, following the 2023-24 Oilers (16 GP), 2022-23 Devils (13 GP), 2022-23 Hurricanes (11 GP) and 2021-22 Panthers (13 GP).
* Jesper Bratt carries his franchise-record 10-game assist streak into Wednesday and can climb another all-time list when the Devils (32-21-6, 70 points) face off against the Avalanche (33-24-2, 68 points) on TVA Sports. Bratt, who represented Sweden at the 4 Nations Face-Off earlier this month, can become the third Swedish-born player in NHL history to post an assist streak of 11 games. He would join Erik Karlsson (14 GP in 2022-23) and Daniel Sedin (11 GP in 2009-10).
* The Kings are 19-3-2 at Crypto.com Arena this season and own the best points percentage on home ice among all teams (.833), thanks in part to their current 5-0-1 run. Los Angeles can reach the 20-win mark at home in 25 games and establish the fastest pace in franchise history – the previous mark of 30 contests was set in 2005-06.
