The Philadelphia Flyers clinched the final available playoff spot in the Eastern Conference with a win Saturday over the New York Rangers, thereby eliminating the Florida Panthers from contention.
The Flyers needed a single point to ensure they could not be caught by the Panthers, and proceeded to beat the Rangers 5-0 on the strength Claude Giroux's first career regular-season hat trick.
Philadelphia returns to the postseason after missing out a year ago. It last qualified in 2016, losing in six games to Washington in the opening round.
The Metrpolitan Division seeding remains up in the air, but the win bumped Philadelphia to third place, thereby setting up a potential first-round date with the rival Pittsburgh Penguins.
The Buffalo Sabres made history Wednesday by becoming the first team to finish 31st in the NHL standings.
Buffalo clinched the league's last-place position with a regulation loss to the Ottawa Senators, whom the Sabres won't be able to catch with only two games remaining and a five-point gap between them.
It marks Buffalo's third last-place finish in the past five seasons, as the Sabres dropped to 30th in both 2013-14 and 2014-15. The addition of the Vegas Golden Knights this season pushed Buffalo a notch below those campaigns, albeit with more points earned in 2017-18 than in either of the other two.
As a result, the Sabres will have the highest odds of landing the top pick in the 2018 NHL Draft, with an 18.5 percent chance of winning the lottery to be held April 28 in Toronto.
The winger recorded one goal and two assists Tuesday against Detroit, reaching 80 points for the season (27 goals, 53 assists) in 80 games.
The total eclipses the franchise's single-season points record of 79 set by Rick Nash in 2008-09, according to the Blue Jackets.
Panarin was acquired from Chicago in a multi-player trade last summer that saw Brandon Saad go the other way. He recorded 77 points as a Blackhawks rookie in 2015-16, and 74 with Chicago last season.
Montreal goalie Carey Price made history in starting Tuesday against Winnipeg, passing Jacques Plant for the most regular-season games played by a Canadiens goaltender.
Carey Price devient le gardien le plus sollicité de l'histoire du club. Félicitations, Carey! / @CP0031 surpasses Jacques Plante for the most games played by a goaltender in Canadiens history. Bravo, Carey! #GoHabsGopic.twitter.com/J9MlXmM6dB
Price recently passed Patrick Roy - who appeared in 551 games - for second on the list.
Entering Tuesday, Price had a 286-200-61 career regular-season record with a .919 save percentage after being drafted fifth overall by Montreal in 2005.
Price's eight-year, $84-million extension kicks in next season, meaning he'll continue to set the bar in Montreal for the foreseeable future.
The Boston Bruins have signed defenseman and captain Zdeno Chara to a one-year contract extension worth $5 million, the team announced Wednesday. The deal includes an additional $1.75 million in performance-based incentives.
The bonuses reportedly reward a mix of games played and playoff success, according to TSN's Pierre LeBrun.
Chara could have become an unrestricted free agent July 1, but the Bruins were expected to retain his services for a 13th season with the club.
The $5-million base salary is a $1-million raise over this season, but that's due to the front-loaded nature of the extension he signed in 2011.
The 41-year-old is the longest-tenured captain in the NHL, and has won both the Norris Trophy and Stanley Cup during his time in Boston.
In 68 games this year, Chara has recorded seven goals and 16 assists for 23 points with a plus-26 rating while averaging a team-high 23:00 of ice time per game.
Chara is currently sidelined due to injury, but is expected to return prior to the start of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Shea Weber played on a fractured foot for more than two months.
Speaking Tuesday in the Montreal locker room, the Canadiens defenseman admitted he suffered the injury that later required season-ending surgery while blocking a Jack Eichel shot during the first game of the season back on Oct. 5, according to Sportsnet's Eric Engels.
Weber kept playing until Dec. 16, recording six goals and 10 assists in 26 games while averaging more than 25 minutes a night.
Eventually, he recognized something wasn't quite right.
Shea said his injury was tough to detect on original MRI-- "There's a lot of gray area with that," and he felt it was wise to get a new set of eyes on things after being in a walking boot for six weeks didn't change his situation.
Still, he claims he would've kept playing for as long as possible even if he knew his foot was fractured, saying, "I've played through fractures before."
Weber added he expects to go through his regular summer training and is confident he'll be ready for training camp.
For now, he needs some help getting around:
Shea Weber rencontre les médias, avec son moyen de transport temporaire.
It's no exaggeration to suggest more than a dozen players could make a case for the Hart Trophy this year. The landscape could shift a bit over the final two weeks of the regular season, but here we narrow it down to five MVP candidates, with a few honorable mentions.
5. Claude Giroux
In training camp, Philadelphia Flyers head coach Dave Hakstol decided to shift captain and longtime top center Giroux to the wing, allowing Sean Couturier to establish himself as the man down the middle.
Giroux accepted the move, and it's worked out beautifully. He ranks fifth in scoring with 26 goals and 64 assists for 90 points through 75 games, and he's helped Couturier break out to the tune of 30 goals and 40 assists, both career highs.
The Flyers are also sitting comfortably in a playoff spot, and Giroux's flexibility has made a huge impact up and down the lineup. It's the productivity, however, that matters most, and the 30-year-old could very well establish new career highs of his own in goals and points by season's end.
4. Alex Ovechkin
After loading up over the past few seasons in order to maximize their chances of winning, the Washington Capitals were expected to take a step backward this season after losing some key players last summer.
Lo and behold, they're back atop the Metropolitan Division, in large part due to Ovechkin's pursuit of a seventh Maurice Richard Trophy as the NHL's leading goal-scorer.
Ovechkin's 44 goals are good enough for the lead entering play Friday, and he clearly remains the straw that stirs the drink for a still-successful (at least in the regular season) Washington club.
3. Evgeni Malkin
A year after being left off the NHL's list of the top 100 players of all time, Malkin is highlighting the egregiousness of that omission.
Malkin ranks third in goals (41) and fourth in points (91), and is in contention for both the Maurice Richard and Art Ross Trophies. Should he collect both, adding the Hart should be an automatic.
He also ranks third in points per game (1.30), behind only the next two players in these rankings, and leads all players in scoring since Jan. 1 with 55 points in 34 games.
Even if he falls short of the goals lead, points lead, or both, he continues to prove the Pittsburgh Penguins are considerably more than Sidney Crosby's team. At the very least, it's way past time to stop overlooking just how good Malkin is.
2. Nikita Kucherov
The Tampa Bay Lightning have been the top team in hockey since puck drop, with Kucherov in front of the scoring race all along. With eight games remaining on his schedule, he leads the NHL with 95 points.
The Lightning boast a rather stacked roster and teammate Steven Stamkos has also been playing elite hockey, but voters tend to default to the league's leading scorer when it comes to the Hart, especially if he plays on a first-place club.
The fact he's surrounded by so much talent, however, may ultimately discount his performance enough to open the door for a different winner.
1. Nathan MacKinnon
This time last year, the Colorado Avalanche were on the verge of making the wrong kind of history as the worst team over an 82-game schedule since the shootout was adopted in 2005.
Now, Jared Bednar's squad is close to clinching a playoff spot on the strength of what's by far MacKinnon's best season as a pro.
The first overall pick from the 2013 NHL Draft has recorded 38 goals and 54 assists through only 66 games, having missed some time due to injury. He ranks third in overall scoring, but first in primary points and points per game.
Naysayers will point to the Avalanche's league-high shooting percentage as proof that their success is based on luck, but MacKinnon's performance combined with the club's remarkable turnaround is enough to make this decision rather easy.
Honorable mentions
Connor McDavid: The last player to win the Hart on a non-playoff team was Mario Lemieux in 1988, and he captured the scoring title by 19 points over Wayne Gretzky.
McDavid remains the best player in hockey despite the Edmonton Oilers' sad record. He could win the Art Ross, but he isn't lapping the field enough to offset his team's failures, and that will hurt his case.
Taylor Hall: The Florida Panthers currently have a better chance of grabbing a playoff spot than the New Jersey Devils, and Hall's point total and per-game average lags a bit too far behind the NHL leaders for legitimate MVP candidacy.
The Toronto Maple Leafs center will play Thursday in Nashville against the Predators, making his first appearance in a month after being sidelined since Feb. 22 with a shoulder injury.
Matthews confirms return tonight. Leivo will come out, Babcock says #Leafs
With a 5-2 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins at the Air Canada Centre on Saturday, the Leafs have now recorded 10 straight home wins for the first time in franchise history.
The streak dates back to Jan. 31 and is comprised of wins over the Islanders (two), Ducks, Predators, Senators, Lightning, Blue Jackets, Panthers, and Bruins. The last loss on home ice came at the hands of the Avalanche back on Jan. 22.
Toronto will have a chance to extend the home winning run to 11 games when the Leafs host Dallas on March 14.
Mark Scheifele appears to have avoided another major injury.
The Winnipeg Jets center is reportedly doubtful to play Thursday against New Jersey, but an upper-body injury suffered Tuesday in New York isn't believed to be serious, according to TSN's Darren Dreger.
Scheifele missed 16 games with an upper-body injury earlier this season, but head coach Paul Maurice said the latest ailment is not related.
Through 50 games, Scheifele has recorded 21 goals and 30 assists.
An official update is expected prior to Thursday's tilt with the Devils.
