Sergei Bobrovsky climbed into the NHL’s top 10 for wins among goaltenders as he helped the Panthers pick up two points against the Maple Leafs and pad their lead atop the Atlantic Division in the process.
* Linus Ullmark submitted his entry for save of the year as he and newly acquired Senators teammate Dylan Cozens guided Ottawa to a fifth straight win and a five-point cushion on the first Wild Card spot.
* Six games are slated for Friday, with plenty of teams in action jockeying for postseason positioning. Two of those clubs will be facing off against one another when the Jets and Stars meet in a Central Division clash.
BOBROVSKY CLIMBS NHL’S ALL-TIME WINS LIST IN DIVISIONAL CLASH
Sergei Bobrovsky turned aside 23 of 25 shots to backstop the Atlantic Division-leading Panthers (41-22-3, 85 points) past the second-place Maple Leafs (39-23-3, 81 points), earn his 424th career win and leapfrog Tony Esposito (423) for 10th place on the NHL’s all-time wins list among goaltenders.
* Bobrovsky, who joined Ed Belfour and Curtis Joseph as the third undrafted goaltender among the 10-winningest netminders in NHL history (since the draft was introduced in 1963), ranks among the top-two in wins for multiple franchises (CBJ & FLA). He is one of five goaltenders in League history to find themselves in that scenario; also Roy Worters (BRK & QUA), Roberto Luongo (FLA & VAN), Marc-Andre Fleury (PIT & VGK) and Clint Benedict (MMR & SLE)
* The Panthers netminder improved to 166-100-17 following a loss in his career. He is one of 11 goaltenders in NHL history with at least 160 career victories in that scenario, and the third active (also Fleury: 222 & Jonathan Quick: 179).
SENATORS, RANGERS SNAG VITAL VICTORIES IN EAST WILD CARD RACE
The Senators (35-25-5, 75 points) and Rangers (32-28-6, 70 points) each skated to vital victories Thursday night to improve their positioning in a crowded Eastern Conference Wild Card race that features six teams separated by just seven points.
* Dylan Cozens (0-1—1) factored on one of Ottawa’s six goals to continue his hot start with the club and Linus Ullmark made 22 saves against his former team, including a highlight-reel glove save, to help the Senators extend the NHL’s longest active win streak to five games (tied). They moved within four points of the Lightning (37-23-5, 79 points) for third place in the Atlantic Division.
* Cozens, who was acquired by Ottawa from Buffalo on NHL Trade Deadline Day, became the seventh player in Senators history to begin his tenure with the franchise with a four-game point streak (2-2—4 in 4 GP). The others: Dany Heatley (22 GP in 2005-06), Filip Kuba (8 GP in 2008-09), Chris Tierney (7 GP in 2018-19), Alexandre Daigle (7 GP in 1993-94), Daniel Alfredsson (5 GP in 1995-96) and Sylvain Turgeon (4 GP in 1992-93).
* After the Wild battled back to tie the game twice in the third period, Braden Schneider (1-0—1) scored the overtime winner to help the Rangers move into a tie, in terms of standings points, with the Blue Jackets (31-26-8, 70 points), who occupy the second Wild Card position due to games played (CBJ: 65 GP; NYR: 66 GP). New York and Columbus clash Saturday at Nationwide Arena.
* Schneider became the fifth Rangers defenseman to score an overtime goal at age 23 or younger. The others: Brian Leetch (2x; youngest: 21 years, 317 days on Jan. 14, 1990), K’Andre Miller (2x; youngest: 22 years, 65 days on March 27, 2022), Ryan McDonagh (22 years, 129 days on Oct. 20, 2011) and Reijo Ruotsalainen (23 years, 278 days on Jan. 4, 1984).
GOLDEN KNIGHTS, KINGS WIN AS STANDINGS SHUFFLE IN PACIFIC DIVISION
Jack Eichel (0-1—1) and Quinton Byfield (1-0—1) have become a staple on the score sheet for their respective clubs as of late and continued the trend Thursday to lift the Pacific Division-leading Golden Knights (39-19-7, 85 points) and Kings (35-20-9, 79 points) – who leapfrogged the Oilers (37-24-4, 78 points) into second place – to victory.
* Eichel factored on one of four Golden Knights goals and Adin Hill (27 saves) posted his fourth shutout of the season as Vegas, in search of its fourth division crown in eight seasons, bolstered its lead atop the Pacific Division standings. Eichel added another single-season franchise record to his resume with his performance by boosting his 2024-25 totals to 20-59—79 (64 GP). He eclipsed William Karlsson’s 2017-18 campaign (43-35—78 in 82 GP) for the most points in a season in franchise history.
* Byfield became the first Kings player, age 22 or younger, with a five-game goal streak since 1987-88, when Jimmy Carson (3x; longest: 6 GP) and Luc Robitaille (2x; 6 GP) did so, and helped Los Angeles improve to 8-0-3 in their past 11 home games. His teammate, Darcy Kuemper, turned aside all 21 shots he faced and also improved to 11-0-1 in his past 12 games at Crypto.com Arena. He matched the longest home point streak by a goaltender in Kings history (Kelly Hrudey: 11-0-1 in 1990-91).
CROSBY AND SMITH’S MULTI-POINT GAMES FEATURED IN #NHLSTATS: LIVE UPDATES
Rookies and veterans were both featured in several notes from the latest edition of #NHLStats: Live Updates as Will Smith (1-1—2) and Sidney Crosby (0-2—2) both put up multi-point performances in a winning effort for their respective teams.
* Smith extended his point streak to five games for the second time this season and became the fifth Sharks rookie with 10 multi-point outings in a single campaign. Smith and teammate Collin Graf (2-0—2) accounted for San Jose’s first three goals Thursday and extended the club’s stretch of consecutive goals scored by rookies to seven dating to March 8 – the longest stretch by any team since the 2015-16 Coyotes (7 from Oct. 10-15, 2015).
* The Penguins captain notched his 117th career multi-assist period and passed Adam Oates (116) for seventh most in NHL history while he also moved within one point of tying Wayne Gretzky (583-1,086—1,669 w/ EDM) for the fourth-most points by a player with one franchise in League history.
QUICK CLICKS
* Panthers staying on course in Atlantic without Matthew Tkachuk, other stars
* Trophy Tracker: Nathan MacKinnon of Avalanche picked to win Hart as League MVP
* 2025 NHL Draft Diary: James Hagens
* NHL to celebrate first-ever “Hockey Day in Sweden” March 21-22
* Save of the Season? Linus Ullmark jumps across crease for impressive glove save
FRIDAY PIVOTAL DAY IN WEST PLAYOFF RACES
Friday has key implications in the Western Conference playoff race, with the top three teams in the Central Division all in action – including a head-to-head contest between the top two teams when the Jets (45-17-4, 94 points) host the Stars (42-20-2, 86 points) – as well as a pair of clubs in the thick of the tightly contested Wild Card race as the Flames (30-23-11, 71 points) and Utah Hockey Club (29-25-11, 69 points) take to the ice.
* Kyle Connor (33-48—81 in 66 GP) leads the Jets in assists and points in 2024-25 and sits two helpers shy of becoming the fourth different player in team history with 50 in a single season. His contributions to date have also aligned Winnipeg (24-5-4 at Canada Life Centre) into a position to match the franchise mark for fewest games to 25 home wins in one campaign, first set in 2017-18 (34 GP).
* Mikko Rantanen has been a key contributor for the Stars since the club acquired the forward on NHL Trade Deadline Day, with goals in each of his first two contests with the franchise and within striking distance of the 400-assist milestone. Rantanen can become the first player to score in his first three games with the Stars/North Stars and the third to accomplish the feat with a franchise in 2024-25 (Barrett Hayton and Dylan Guenther: 3 GP w/ UTA).
* The Flames, who occupy the last Wild Card position in the Western Conference, welcome Nathan MacKinnon and the Avalanche (39-24-3, 81 points) to Scotiabank Saddledome and have their sights set on their first win against the club in six attempts (last: Oct. 13, 2022). Meanwhile, Utah forward Clayton Keller (23-51—74 in 64 GP) has been pivotal in his club’s playoff push, which includes 27 assists since the turn of the calendar year – the second most among all players during that span.
