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WEDNESDAY’S RESULTS
Home Team in Caps
Toronto 5, COLUMBUS 2
NY Islanders 3, NY RANGERS 2
ANAHEIM 4, Edmonton 3
ROOKIES VAULT MAPLE LEAFS UP ATLANTIC DIVISION STANDINGS
William Nylander (1-1—2) extended his point streak to nine games (3-7—10) and Auston Matthews scored his team-leading 33rd goal of the season as the Maple Leafs improved to 6-1-1 in their last eight contests.
* Toronto (34-23-15, 83 points) moved one point ahead of idle Boston (38-29-6, 82 points) for third place in the Atlantic Division. The Maple Leafs, who have one game in hand, completed a four-game season sweep of the Bruins on Monday.
* Per Elias, Nylander – who scored his 20th goal of the season – tied the longest point streak by a rookie in Maple Leafs history, equaling the mark set by Gus Bodnar in 1943 and later matched by Bob Nevin (1960) and Dan Daoust (1983).
* Matthews (33-25—58) moved within one goal of matching Wendel Clark (34 in 1985-86) for the most by a rookie in Maple Leafs history and vaulted back into a tie with Patrik Laine for the rookie goal-scoring lead.
DUCKS DEFEAT OILERS IN CRUICIAL PACIFIC DIVISION MATCHUP
Hampus Lindholm (1-2—3) earned a career-high three points and Ryan Getzlaf (0-3—3) posted his sixth three-point game of the season as the Ducks (39-23-11, 89 points) overtook the Oilers (39-25-9, 87 points) for second place in the Pacific Division.
* Rickard Rakell (1-1—2) extended his point streak to six games (5-3—8), highlighted by his League-leading 10th game-winning goal of the campaign. He also has registered career highs in goals (32) and points (45) this season.
* Jonathan Bernier (29 saves) improved to 6-0-1 in his last seven appearances, posting a 1.54 goals-against average, .950 save percentage and one shutout in that span.
LOOSE PUCKS
Andrew Ladd scored the tiebreaking goal with 7:22 remaining in regulation – his 20th of the season – as the Islanders (34-26-12, 80 points) moved within two points of the idle Bruins (38-29-6, 82 points) for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. The teams face off Saturday at Barclays Center . . . Oilers captain Connor McDavid (26-59—85) recorded his 10th three-point game of the season to extend his lead in the Art Ross Trophy race . . . Ducks forward Andrew Cogliano skated in his 777th consecutive game, surpassing Craig Ramsay (776) for the fourth-longest such streak in NHL history . . . Rangers forward Rick Nash reached the 20-goal plateau for the 12th time in his 14 NHL seasons . . . The Department of Player Safety announced that Toronto’s Roman Polak and Buffalo’s Rasmus Ristolainen each will have hearings on Thursday . . . ICYMI: Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin will wear Russian-American themed skates for pregame warmup as part of Russian Heritage Night on Thursday.
SNEAK PEEK AT THURSDAY’S ACTION
All Times Eastern
Tampa Bay @ Boston, 7 p.m., TVAS, NESN, SUN
Columbus @ Washington, 7 p.m., CSN-DC, FS-O
New Jersey @ Toronto, 7:30 p.m., SNO, MSG+
Carolina @ Montreal, 7:30 p.m., SNE, RDS, FS-CR
Pittsburgh @ Ottawa, 7:30 p.m., NHLN-US, RDS2, TSN5, ROOT
Arizona @ Florida, 7:30 p.m., FS-F, FS-A
Vancouver @ St. Louis, 8 p.m., FS-MW, SNP
Calgary @ Nashville, 8 p.m., FS-TN, SNF
Philadelphia @ Minnesota, 8 p.m., FS-N, FS-WI, CSN-PH
Dallas @ Chicago, 8:30 p.m., CSN-CH, FS-SW+
Edmonton @ Colorado, 9 p.m., ALT, SNW
Winnipeg @ Los Angeles, 10:30 p.m., FS-W, TSN3
TOP CLUBS FACE OFF IN WASHINGTON
Two of the League’s top teams face off when the Capitals (47-17-8, 102 points) host the Blue Jackets (47-19-6, 100 points) at Verizon Center. Columbus, who leads the season series with a 2-1-0 record (WSH: 1-1-1), looks to narrow the gap in the NHL and Metropolitan Division standings. Washington, meanwhile, is 3-0-1 in its last four games. This matchup also features the League’s top two goaltenders, as Columbus’ Sergei Bobrovsky – who leads the NHL in wins (39) and goals-against average (2.04) – faces Washington’s Braden Holtby, who ranks second in each of those categories (37 W, 2.05 GAA). The teams conclude their season series in Columbus on April 2.
PENGUINS, SENATORS LOOK TO IMPROVE PLAYOFF POSITIONING
The second place team in the Metropolitan Division meets the second place team in the Atlantic Division when the Penguins (46-17-9, 101 points) visit the Senators (40-24-8, 88 points) at Canadian Tire Centre. Pittsburgh looks to gain ground in the NHL and Metropolitan Division standings, where the top three teams are separated by only two points. Ottawa will try to narrow the gap on Montreal (41-23-9, 91 points) atop the Atlantic Division standings.
WESTERN CONFERENCE WILD CARD BATTLE RESUMES
The Flames (41-28-4, 86 points) and Predators (36-25-11, 83 points) – who hold the first and second Western Conference Wild Card spots, respectively – complete their three-game season series in Nashville. The Flames, who are 12-2-0 in their last 14 contests, also trail the Oilers (39-25-9, 87 points) by one point for third place in the Pacific Division.
