Through the remainder of the regular season, we'll take a look at how the night's action impacts the playoff race, highlighting which teams' postseason odds went up or down significantly.

Wednesday was a light - but painful - night on the schedule for the Winnipeg Jets and idle Toronto Maple Leafs.

Toronto still has less than 50 percent odds of making the playoffs, and they took a hit thanks to wins by Boston and Ottawa. And the math is very unkind to the Jets after a tough loss to the champs.

Here are notable playoff swings after Wednesday's three games:

Eastern Conference

Western Conference

To see percentages for each team in the league, visit Sports Club Stats.

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Winnipeg Jets defenseman Toby Enstrom was taken to hospital to be checked out for facial fractures, head coach Paul Maurice said Wednesday night.

Enstrom was hit into the boards from behind by Pittsburgh Penguins pest Tom Sestito, who was ejected for the incident, while Enstrom left the game and didn't return.

Sestito was recalled earlier Wednesday before the game that followed a heated meeting between the two clubs earlier in the season, and Maurice was well aware of the enforcer's role when asked about the hit afterwards.

"There's no cost to them doing that. We're going to lose a good defenseman for a while," he said, later adding, "Well, (Sestito) wasn't brought up to dangle."

Maurice said that the club will have a better sense of Enstrom's injury status on Thursday.

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As hard as it may be to believe, two men exchanged punches to the face out of mutual respect for one another.

Pittsburgh Penguins star center Evgeni Malkin was taken to task by Winnipeg Jets captain Blake Wheeler for a high and dangerous hit during the last meeting between the two clubs Wednesday night, and the former obliged because that's just what hockey players do.

Related: Malkin, Wheeler settle score by dropping gloves

"I knew it wasn't a great hit. I respect (Wheeler). I was ready", Malkin said, per Pens Inside Scoop. "It wasn't my greatest fight, couple punches. I lost. One fight is enough for me"

For his part, Wheeler said he had a lot of respect for Malkin answering the bell, adding, "It was good to get that out of the way."

That settles that, then.

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Patric Hornqvist was a late scratch from Wednesday's game in Winnipeg, and Pittsburgh Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan shed light on the injury following his team's 7-4 win.

The Penguins have four games remaining on a road trip that wraps up March 15 in Philadelphia.

Hornqvist has scored 17 goals and added 20 assists in 58 games so far this season. He last played Sunday in Buffalo, recording an assist and three shots during 15:28 of ice time.

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Defenseman Fredrik Claesson scored his first NHL goal and added an assist to help the Ottawa Senators win their fourth straight game, 5-2 over the Dallas Stars on Wednesday night.

Ottawa moved within four points of first-place Montreal in the Atlantic Division. The Senators' winning streak began after they acquired Viktor Stalberg and Alexandre Burrows near the trade deadline.

Craig Anderson made 35 saves and tied the Ottawa franchise record with his 146th victory.

Stalberg and Cody Ceci also each had a goal and an assist for the Senators, and Mike Hoffman had two assists.

Chris Wideman and Jean-Gabriel Pageau also scored against Dallas starting goalie Kari Lehtonen, who left at 3:21 of the second period after allowing three goals in 18 shots.

Antti Niemi replaced Lehtonen. Ottawa didn't have a shot on goal against Niemi for 14:48, until Stalberg scored on the power play for a 4-1 lead. Tyler Seguin and Jason Spezza scored for Dallas.

The Senators scored first on the power play at 13:41 of the first period. Stalberg passed cross-ice to Wideman in the right faceoff circle, and he put a wrist shot into the right side of the net before Lehtonen could get back.

Ottawa took a 2-0 lead at 15:21 when Zack Smith won a faceoff back to Claesson high in the slot for a slap shot and his first goal in 36 career NHL games.

Pageau slid the puck from the slot through traffic and between Lehtonen's legs to knock the goalie from the game.

Seguin pulled Dallas back within two goals at 3-1. Spezza passed from behind the net to Seguin at the left, and he put the puck into a narrow opening inside the left post.

Stalberg deflected Dion Phaneuf's shot from the left post past Niemi.

Spezza scored on the power play in the third period with a shot that deflected off Mark Borowiecki's right leg.

Ceci's goal at 9:01 of the third went in off Niemi's skate.

NOTES: The Stars signed RW Adam Cracknell to a one-year contract extension for $675,000. In his seventh season, the first with Dallas, he has career highs of seven goals and 54 games played. . Ottawa C Kyle Turris missed his first game this season because of an injured finger. ... In Pageau's past four games against the Stars, he has six points (three goals, three assists). He won 10 of 11 faceoffs in the first two periods. ... Playing in his third NHL game, Dallas' Remi Elie had his first assist on Seguin's goal, and Ales Hemsky had his first point in only five games played in an injury-riddled season. ... Borowiecki, the league leader in penalty minutes, increased his total to 126 with a double minor for roughing in the first period. ... The Senators had two goals on three power plays, after going 2 for 16 in their past six games, and Dallas' penalty killers had been 14 for 16 in the previous six.

UP NEXT

Senators: Play the second of three road games in four nights on Friday at Arizona.

Stars: Begin a four-game trip on Sunday at San Jose.

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Brad Marchand knows a thing or two about sneaking up on people.

But whereas in the past, the Boston Bruins winger was known primarily for his nettlesome ways, he now finds himself statistically among the NHL's elite.

Marchand scored twice in Wednesday's 6-1 drubbing of the Red Wings, giving him 32 goals and 70 points on the season, the most by a Bruin in quite some time.

The performance also put him within striking distance of the NHL lead in both goals and points.

Marchand now sits second in goals, level with Patrik Laine and two behind Sidney Crosby (34). On the total points front, only Connor McDavid (74) has recorded more, with Marchand on par with Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Patrick Kane.

The 70 points mark a career high, while Marchand has 15 games in which to match or top the 37 goals he scored last season.

The Bruins signed Marchand to an eight-year, $49-million contract extension in September, and if this is his new normal, that cap hit is set to become a bargain when it kicks in next season.

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Evgeni Malkin is a superstar in his own right, but now he can be mentioned in the same breath as one of the greatest.

The Pittsburgh Penguins forward was all over the score sheet, recording a Gordie Howe hat trick - at least one goal, one assist, and one fight - against the Winnipeg Jets on Wednesday night.

He scored twice, added a helper on a goal by Justin Schultz, and exacted some revenge on Jets forward Blake Wheeler in a staged bout, all within the first 31 minutes of the game.

Related: Malkin, Wheeler settle score by dropping gloves

His first goal came on a breakaway, and it gave him 30 goals on the season for the first time since 2011-12.

Malkin's 31st made it 5-3 for the Penguins at the 10:06 mark of the second period.

The Russian sniper is having his best season since his 50-goal, 109-point campaign five years ago. Injuries have limited him to 69 games or less in each of the last four seasons, but he's now played more in 2016-17 (58 contests) than he did in all of the 2015-16 regular season (57).

A healthy Malkin is a great thing for the NHL.

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