Boston University forward and projected NHL 2024 first overall pick Macklin Celebrini took home the Hobey Baker Award as the NCAA's top men's hockey player Friday.

Celebrini ranked second in the NCAA with 32 goals and third with 64 points in 38 contests as a freshman this season. His 1.68 points per game trailed only Boston College stars Will Smith and Gabe Perreault for the highest in the country.

The 17-year-old is the fourth freshman to win the Hobey Baker Award, joining Adam Fantilli (2023), Jack Eichel (2015), and Paul Kariya (1993). Celebrini is also the youngest player to ever win the honor.

North Dakota forward Jackson Blake and Boston College sniper Cutter Gauthier were the other finalists. Blake signed his three-year, entry-level deal with the Carolina Hurricanes on Wednesday, while Anaheim Ducks prospect Gauthier will play in Saturday's national championship game.

Celebrini is the fourth Terriers player to win the Hobey Baker Award and first since current Vegas Golden Knights star Eichel. He was also named the Tim Taylor National Rookie of the Year on Friday.

Boston's season ended with a loss to Denver in Thursday's semifinal.

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Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby tied Phil Esposito for 10th on the NHL's all-time points list Thursday against the Detroit Red Wings.

Crosby recorded his 1,590th career point off his 41st goal of the season.

Here's how the all-time points list looks with Crosby climbing the ranks:

A future Hall of Famer, Crosby has won three Stanley Cup championships, two Art Ross Trophies, two Conn Smythe Trophies, two Hart Trophies, two Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophies, and three Ted Lindsay Awards during his illustrious career.

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Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby took sole possession of 10th on the NHL's all-time points list Thursday against the Detroit Red Wings.

Crosby recorded his 1,591st career point, as well as his 1,000th assist, on Erik Karlsson's overtime winner.

The 36-year-old is the seventh-fastest player to record 1,000 helpers, per Penguins PR.

Crosby tied Phil Esposito for 10th on the all-time list with his 41st goal of the season earlier in the contest.

Here's how the record books look with the icon climbing the ranks:

Unsurprisingly, Crosby was more interested in the Penguins' fight to make the playoffs than his own individual achievement.

"It's nice. I mean, I think just being in things right now, the way things are going, this is fun," he said. "This is a fun time of year, some big games. Obviously happy to be in the top 10 ... but getting a big two points and still being in it here is a lot of fun, too."

Head coach Mike Sullivan made sure to heap praise on his No. 1 center.

"The milestones he's achieving now are self-explanatory. ... The thing I admire most about him is the way he carries himself with such humility and integrity," he said. "He represents everything that's right about hockey."

A future Hall of Famer, Crosby has won three Stanley Cup championships, two Art Ross Trophies, two Conn Smythe Trophies, two Hart Trophies, two Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophies, and three Ted Lindsay Awards during his career.

The Penguins now hold the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference with a one-point edge over the Washington Capitals, Detroit Red Wings, and Philadelphia Flyers.

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Phoenix native Matthew Knies is "not too happy" with the uncertainty surrounding the future of the Arizona Coyotes.

"It's pretty unfortunate, the Coyotes did a lot for me growing up," the Toronto Maple Leafs rookie told reporters Thursday. "I loved going to the games, it was kind of a big reason why I got into hockey.

"That kind of situation is out of my control. I'm hopeful that they can stay there because it meant a lot to me. I guess we're going to have to see what happens."

Reports surfaced on Wednesday suggesting that the Coyotes could move to Utah as soon as next season. An announcement regarding the relocation could drop as soon as April 18.

Arizona has been home to an NHL team ever since the original Winnipeg Jets moved to Phoenix in 1996.

Relocation rumors have been looming over the Coyotes for decades, but the speculation reached new heights after the franchise's lease at Glendale's Gila River Arena ended in 2022. The team moved to the 5,000-seat Mullett Arena at Arizona State University at the start of last season as a stopgap, but plans to find a new home to remain in the desert have not yet come to fruition.

Despite years on shaky ground, Knies said minor hockey in Arizona is "definitely growing."

"I think when I was growing up, it wasn't the hockey hotbed Colorado or Chicago or Detroit was," he said. "But it was definitely growing, and you could see the potential there. And I think the Coyotes were a big part of that. It's definitely gotten a lot better, and I know a lot of kids are starting to pick up a hockey stick now. It's just really good to see."

Knies isn't the only Arizona product on the Maple Leafs' roster. Superstar Auston Matthews, who hails from Scottsdale, addressed the murky situation after his team's 6-5 loss to the New Jersey Devils.

"Selfishly, growing up there, them being a big part of me getting into hockey, I'd love for them to figure it out," he said, per the Canadian Press' Joshua Clipperton. "But you kinda understand the position the NHL is in as well."

The Maple Leafs selected Knies in the second round of the 2021 NHL Draft. He's racked up 15 goals and 35 points in 77 games so far this campaign.

The 21-year-old said there's "been learning curves" during his first full season in the big leagues.

"I think I've made some mistakes, but I think I've come back from that," he said. "I think I've grown a lot in my game and matured a lot. ... It's only getting better."

The Maple Leafs clinched their eighth consecutive playoff berth on Friday.

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The reigning Conn Smythe Trophy winner thinks the defending Stanley Cup champions need to start getting their act together if they want to be playing hockey in the spring.

"We got to take care of business," Jonathan Marchessault said following the Vegas Golden Knights' 5-1 loss to the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday. "We're not in the playoffs yet. We gotta start playing like we want to be in it.

"We need more than just a couple guys every night. We're going to need everybody, and right now, we don't have that."

The Golden Knights have now dropped three games in a row and only hold a three-point cushion over the St. Louis Blues for the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference, though Vegas has a game in hand.

It's been tough sledding for Sin City as of late. The team has had to deal with the absences of key players, such as goaltender Adin Hill, defenseman Alex Pietrangelo, and captain Mark Stone.

Hill returned from his seven-game layoff on Wednesday, but it was a rough outing for the netminder. He allowed five goals on 25 shots while surrendering 1.4 goals above expected at five-on-five, per Natural Stat Trick.

The Golden Knights mustered just 18 shots of their own and had 16 giveaways.

Since the calendar flipped to 2024, Vegas ranks 22nd in the league with a 20-18-3 record and 19th with a .524 points percentage. Before Jan. 1, the Golden Knights were battling the Vancouver Canucks for first place in the Pacific Division.

"Right now, for us, our game's not where we need to be," said Keegan Kolesar, who scored Vegas' only goal versus Edmonton. "Even if we were to get in, it might be a quick bounce for us out of there."

The Oilers, meanwhile, were able to put together a strong performance against their heated rivals without superstar captain Connor McDavid.

"We've got a lot of guys off our roster that aren't playing, as well, so that to me, is irrelevant," Golden Knights head coach Bruce Cassidy said of McDavid's absence.

The bench boss added: "Even if he was playing, I wouldn't have expected this result, to be perfectly honest with you."

Marchessault scored 13 goals and 25 points in 22 playoff games last spring while helping the Golden Knights win their first Stanley Cup championship in franchise history.

The 33-year-old is following up that performance with a strong 2023-24 campaign. He's racked up a career-high 41 goals in 78 contests and can become an unrestricted free agent this summer.

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Houston Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta remains steadfast in his desire to bring a professional hockey franchise to the city.

"We would like to work to get an NHL team in Houston," he said Wednesday, according to the Houston Chronicle's Greg Rajan. "I'm working on it."

Fertitta's interest in the matter dates back to 2017, around one month after he purchased the Rockets for $2.2 billion. The NBA squad plays at the Toyota Center, a venue with a capacity of 19,000 seats - 17,800 when fitted for a rink.

"I would put an NHL team here tomorrow," Fertitta told Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle at the time. "This one has got to work. But I'd love to have the other dates in the building.

"Do I want to see Toyota Center filled up 300 nights a year? Definitely. We'll do whatever we can do, but whatever we do has to make sense. ... Will we be aggressive? Yes. That's my nature."

Houston has never had an NHL team to call its own. However, it was previously home to the Aeros, who played in the World Hockey Association from 1972-78, the International Hockey League from 1994-2001, and the American Hockey League until 2013.

The Toyota Center was the Aeros' home venue from 2003-2013.

In February, Fertitta told Bloomberg's Shelly Hagan and David Wethe that he was "talking to the NHL," noting that those conversations had recently turned more serious.

Fertitta added that he was open to bringing in an expansion franchise or adding a team from an existing market.

On Wednesday, reports broke that the Arizona Coyotes could move to Utah as soon as next season. The NHL is reportedly drafting two versions of the 2024-25 schedule to accommodate the potential relocation to Salt Lake City.

The Coyotes have been at the center of relocation rumors for years, but the uncertainty has ramped up since they moved to the 5,000-seat Mullett Arena at the start of the 2022-23 season.

The franchise was attempting to construct a new arena in Tempe, Arizona, but residents voted against building a $2.1-billion entertainment district in the area last May. The Coyotes have since pivoted to a plot of land up for auction in North Phoenix, but Scottsdale mayor David Ortega slammed the plans as "not feasible or welcome" on Monday.

The league most recently expanded to Seattle in 2021. Plans to add another expansion franchise don't appear imminent.

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Oilers superstar Connor McDavid was out of the lineup for Edmonton's 5-1 victory against the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday because of a lower-body injury.

Head coach Kris Knoblauch announced Tuesday that the captain was considered day-to-day with the ailment. McDavid was labeled a game-time decision for the Oilers' clash against their Pacific Division rivals.

Knoblauch said postgame that he is optimistic McDavid can play Friday against the Arizona Coyotes, but mentioned he'll have to be cautious since the Oilers also play on Saturday, per The Athletic's Daniel Nugent-Bowman.

McDavid appeared to suffer the injury during Edmonton's 4-2 victory over the Calgary Flames on Saturday. His final shift of the outing occurred late in the third period.

"He played up until five minutes left of the game and felt some discomfort," Knoblauch explained Tuesday. "We didn't want to make it worse, and we held him back."

McDavid missed two games earlier this season with an upper-body injury.

The 27-year-old is one assist away from 100 on the season with five more games remaining after Wednesday's matchup. McDavid is also in the running for his sixth career Art Ross Trophy with 130 points on the campaign.

The 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs will kick off in 10 days.

"I think Connor knows what the big picture is," Knoblauch said Wednesday, per NHL.com's Derek Van Diest.

"I believe that he is competitive and wants to contribute as much as possible and not take himself out of the lineup, but I think he understands where our team is at, and obviously where his body's at, and what we are looking for in the future."

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New York Rangers head coach Peter Laviolette blasted the New York Islanders following his team's 4-2 loss on Tuesday for a pair of "vicious" hits on Mika Zibanejad and Vincent Trocheck.

Both collisions occurred in the third period of the contest.

The first hit involved Zibanejad, who collided with Islanders defenseman Adam Pelech's elbow at center ice. There was no penalty called on the play.

"(Zibanejad) came back at the end from that vicious hit," Laviolette said. "He came back. That vicious shoulder elbow to the head. Watch it."

When asked if he thought the hit was intentional, the bench boss said, "I do."

Islanders head coach Patrick Roy disagreed with Laviolette's assessment.

"The referee was in a really good position to see, and he saw it," Roy said, according to SNY Islanders. "I was more afraid that Pelly might get hurt on that one. (Zibanejad) was the one that hit Pelly. ... It was totally accidental, there was no doubt in my mind."

He added: "Sometimes, frustration makes you say things."

The second hit came in the dying seconds of the game, when Islanders rearguard Noah Dobson shoved Trocheck into the boards right before captain Anders Lee iced the game with an empty-netter.

An incensed Trocheck took up his frustrations with referee Kelly Sutherland after there was no penalty assessed for the collision.

"Vicious," Laviolette said. "From behind."

"It was hard out there tonight, having to get through all of that. ... But our guys kept fighting and battling until the end," he continued.

The Rangers and Islanders will square off once again on April 13.

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The Nashville Predators earned one point in a 4-3 overtime loss against the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday night to secure their ninth playoff berth in the last 10 seasons.

Spencer Stastney and Ryan O'Reilly scored just over two minutes apart in the final frame to force the extra frame.

The Predators' success this season has been buoyed by a 16-0-2 run that was spurred by a canceled team trip to see U2 perform at Las Vegas' The Sphere in February.

Prior to that franchise record-setting 18-game point streak, Nashville was four points back of a wild-card spot.

The Predators finished last season three points out of the playoff picture. They had made the postseason in each of the last eight campaigns, but only advanced past the first round three times in that span, including a run to the Stanley Cup Final in 2017.

Nashville was swept by the Colorado Avalanche during its last postseason appearance in 2022.

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Toronto Maple Leafs sniper Auston Matthews scored his 66th goal of the season Tuesday, setting a new salary-cap-era record for most tallies in a single campaign.

The tally served as an insurance marker in Toronto's 5-2 win against the New Jersey Devils.

Mario Lemieux was the last player to light the lamp at least 66 times back in 1995-96.

Matthews became the first player to post a 65-goal season since Alex Ovechkin, hitting the mark during the Maple Leafs' 3-2 overtime victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Monday.

The 26-year-old now has the most goals in a single campaign by any active player.

"It's cool," he said of surpassing Ovechkin's career high, per TSN's Mark Masters. "Like, he's obviously who he is, and what he's done for the game and what he's accomplished, so it's a big honour just to be in the same sentence as him."

Matthews is riding a six-game goal streak as he pursues his third career Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy.

He has four more games to get to 70 goals.

"The process is the same every night," Matthews said. "I find when you really ... overthink it and kind of want it too much, it almost doesn't go your way. I just try to approach every game the same."

The Maple Leafs will square off against the Devils again on Thursday.

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