As the NHL season begins to wind down, the top teams in the standings are starting to punch their ticket to the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

For the Columbus Blue Jackets, the path is still uncertain. With just eight games remaining, they sit four points back of the final wild card spot in the Eastern Conference.

The road ahead won’t be easy. The Blue Jackets have a tough schedule to close out the regular season, with key games against teams like the Toronto Maple Leafs, Ottawa Senators, and Washington Capitals.

Blue Jackets Remaining Schedule:

• Saturday, April 5: vs. Toronto Maple Leafs
• Sunday, April 6: vs. Ottawa Senators
• Tuesday, April 8: vs. Ottawa Senators
• Thursday, April 10: vs. Buffalo Sabres
• Saturday, April 12: vs. Washington Capitals
• Sunday, April 13: vs. Washington Capitals
• Tuesday, April 15: vs. Philadelphia Flyers
• Thursday, April 17: at New York Islanders

They’ll need to pick up points fast and string together wins if they want to catch the Montreal Canadiens in the standings. That push begins Saturday in Toronto.

Blue Jackets Suffocated By Colorado; Slips Further From Wild Card SpotSean Monahan(17), Zach Aston-Reese(5), and Boone Jenner(6) scored the goals for Columbus, and Elvis Merzļikins gave up seven goals on 28 Avs shots to secure a 7-3 CBJ loss on Thursday. 

Scoreboard Watch For Thursday, April 3The Columbus Blue Jackets haven't had to scoreboard-watch in April in a few years, but here we are.

Columbus Prospect Hits NCAA Transfer Portal Again And Will Play For Third Team In Three Years A Columbus Blue Jackets prospect has hit the NCAA’s transfer portal once again.

On March 28, the St. Louis Blues signed top prospect Jimmy Snuggerud to a three-year entry-level contract. This was after the 20-year-old forward posted 24 goals, 27 assists, and 51 points in 40 games this season with the University of Minnesota. 

Following signing his ELC, Snuggerud quickly made his NHL debut with the Blues on April 1 against the Detroit Red Wings. During it, the 2022 first-round pick did not look out of place and recorded two shots in 10:43 of ice time. 

During the Blues' following matchup against the Pittsburgh Penguins on April 3, Snuggerud took another step forward. The Minnesota native recorded his first NHL point by picking up the primary assist on Jake Neighbours' third-period goal.

Snuggerud showed off his impressive playmaking skills leading up to the goal, too. While stickhandling the puck in the offensive zone, Snuggerud made a perfect feed across the slot to Neighbours before the latter fired it home.

This was a great play from Snuggerud, and the young forward showed just how solid of a passer he is with it. Overall, the youngster is fitting in quite nicely with the Blues early on, and it will be fascinating to see how he builds off this from here. 

Recent Blues News 

Blues Star Exits Penguins Matchup With Injury

Blues Send First-Round Pick Back To AHL

Blues Defenseman Continuing To Be Incredible Addition

Blues' Jordan Binnington Rewarded For Stellar Month

Blues Star Is Absolutely Thriving Right Now

MARYLAND HEIGHTS, Mo. -- The St. Louis Blues will have to be without one of their promising young forwards for at least the next two games.

Dylan Holloway did not practice on Friday due to a lower-body injury he suffered in a 5-4 overtime win against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday and will not play at the very least against the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday and the Winnipeg Jets on Monday.

“He went and saw a doctor today and he’s not back yet so we don’t have information, but he’s not going to be a player for the next couple of games,” Blues coach Jim Montgomery said. “Saturday and Monday, he’s not going to play. That I know.”

Holloway, who has 63 points (26 goals, 37 assists) in 77 games, was checked in the offensive zone by Penguins forward Rutger McGroarty at the 17:09 mark; he came on for a final shift with 1:16 remaining but left the ice quickly hunched over and was ruled out the rest of the game after leaving the bench area.

At practice on Friday, the Blues shuffled around their forward lines, only leaving the line of Radek Faksa, Alexey Toropchenko and Nathan Walker together.

Jimmy Snuggerud, the No. 23 pick in the 2022 NHL Draft who had an assist – his first NHL point – on Thursday in his second game, moved up to the top line and was paired with Robert Thomas and Pavel Buchnevich, while Jake Neighbours slid down to skate with Brayden Schenn and Jordan Kyrou, and Mathieu Joseph, a healthy scratch the past two games, moved onto ‘The 70s’ line with Zack Bolduc and Oskar Sundqvist.

“The good thing is we have a lot of options,” Montgomery said. “You have Bolduc, you have Snuggerud, you have Mojo. I don’t want to split up the ‘Faksi’ line, they’re just too important to our team identity and how I use them. We have a lot of guys that are playing really good hockey. Unfortunatey, ‘Tex’ is out or he would be another option. Snuggerud has shown a lot. I like ‘The 70s’ line. I like it a lot. That and moving Jake with Schenn and Kyrou is going to allow me to get more ice time for Jake.

“[Snuggerud’s] shown us a lot. He’s a hockey player. He’s making plays and he’s competing. As long as that maintains and stays up, I say that cautiously. This is the NHL and to be an every day player in the NHL is not easy. You see it a lot with young players.”

Texier, who played in four straight games before being a healthy scratch the past two, has an upper-body injury and is also unavailable for Saturday’s game against the Avalanche.

“Upper body issue that he went to see a doctor about, what treatment he needs to get back as soon as possible,” Montgomery said. “I think he is day to day, not a player tomorrow. That’s all the information I have. He’s not back from the doctor either.”

As for reuniting ‘The 70s Line’ again, Montgomery said,.”Speed, how they attack the blue line with speed and how ‘Sunny’ gives that line incredible details, especially in our own end and in tracking. And the other two work.”

LAS VEGAS -- Needing to distance themselves from the pack, the Golden Knights missed another opportunity when they lost to the Western Conference-leading Winnipeg Jets, 4-0, on Thursday.

Facing Winnipeg's backup goaltender, Eric Comrie, the Knights stumbled through a sluggish start and couldn't catch up once the Jets got their offense started. Comrie made 26 saves in recording his second shutout of the season.

Vegas started Adin Hill, who made 16 saves before being pulled in the third period for Akira Schmid.

Here are three takeaways from the game:

WESTERN WOES: Vegas has split its 32 games since Jan. 14, with a majority of its wins coming against Eastern Conference foes. The Knights, who turned in a 10-2-2 mark in March, are 16-11-5 during that stretch, including 10-4-3 against teams from the East. That leaves a disappointing 6-7-2 against Western Conference foes in the same span.

"I’m concerned," coach Bruce Cassidy said. "This isn’t a one-off. We should be prepared to play. We didn’t."

The Golden Knights have seven games remaining - all against Western Conference teams.

ENEMY TERRITORY: With three road games on deck, the Golden Knights bring their fledgling offense north of the border for a date with a dangerous and hungry Calgary Flames team that is still looking for a playoff berth. The Flames (84) are five points back of the Minnesota Wild, who have 89 points and are in second place in the Wild Card race. Calgary will be playing its second game of a two-game homestand after Thursday's 4-1 win over Anaheim. The Flames have won two of their last three in Calgary. The Knights have won their last two meetings with the Flames, but the home team is on a 5-1 run with this series.

NOW WHAT, AGAIN: To revisit the same thought after Tuesday's loss to Edmonton, the Golden Knights have clinched a playoff berth, but are not out of the wild-card woods just yet. Vegas (98) is now only three points ahead of the Los Angeles Kings (93) and five in front of the Edmonton Oilers (91). Sitting in first and second of the Western Conference Wild Card standings are the St. Louis Blues and Wild, both from the Central Division. The Knights aren't in jeopardy of slipping out of the Pacific Division's top three, but could fall into second- or third-place with a late-season collapse. By doing so, they would face either the Kings or Oilers in the first round, rather than the Blues or Wild. The Knights have seven games remaining, including five on the road. They'll need to shake off their back-to-back losses at home and get back to winning if they want to wrap up their fifth Pacific Division title.

Jared C. Tilton via Getty Images

Alex Ovechkin is currently just two goals away from tying Wayne Gretzky's all-time goals record, and three away from making history of his own. Tonight, he and the Washington Capitals will face the Chicago Blackhawks on the ice. While there's no guarantee that Ovechkin will get closer — or even break — Gretzky's record at tonight's game, the Blackhawks defense this season has been weak, and Ovechkin has managed 15 goals against the team across 25 career games. Ovechkin's next goal will also mark his 14th 40-goal season, bringing him within one of Gretzky. Tonight's potentially historic game kicks off at 7 p.m. ET on NHL Network and streaming on ESPN+. Here's how to watch. 

How to watch the Washington Capitals vs. Chicago Blackhawks game: 

Date: Friday, Apr. 4

Time: 7 p.m. ET

Location: Capital One Arena

TV channel: NHL Network

Streaming: ESPN+, DirecTV Stream

When is Alex Ovechkin's next game? 

Ovechkin will play with the Capitals tonight against the Chicago Blackhawks. He is just a hat trick away from breaking Wayne Gretzky's all-time goals record, and has scored 15 goals in his 25 career games against the Blackhawks — who have already allowed 272 goals this season, so what's a few more? 

Washington Capitals vs. Chicago Blackhawks time: 

The Capitals vs. Blackhawks NHL game will kick off tonight at 7 p.m. ET. 

Washington Capitals vs. Chicago Blackhawks channel: 

The Washington Capitals vs. Chicago Blackhawks game will air on NHL Network and will be available to stream live on ESPN+. 

How to watch the Washington Capitals vs. Chicago Blackhawks without cable: 

Washington Capitals remaining season schedule: 

If Ovechkin doesn't break the record this time, there's always the next game. 

April 4:

vs. Blackhawks

April 6:

at Islanders

April 10:

vs. Hurricanes

April 12:

at Blue Jackets

April 13:

vs. Blue Jackets

April 15:

at Islanders

April 17:

at Penguins

More ways to watch NHL Network: 

Alex Ovechkin ties Wayne Gretzky for NHL's all-time scoring record originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

The Great One has company.

Alex Ovechkin tied Wayne Gretzky for the most goals scored in NHL history, netting his 894th career goal in the third period of the Washington Capitals‘ home game against the Chicago Blackhawks Friday night.

The record-tying goal, which was Ovi’s second of the game, gave the Caps a 4-3 lead with 13:47 left in regulation.

Ovechkin’s chase of the career goals record has been dubbed “The GR8 Chase.”

Gretzky was in the building with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman to witness the historic moment by the 39-year-old Ovechkin.

Gretzky had held the scoring record since 1994 when he tallied his 802nd goal to pass Detroit Red Wings legend Gordie Howe. Gretzky, who played primarily for the Edmonton Oilers and Los Angeles Kings, scored his 894th and final goal came on March 29, 1999 as a member of the New York Rangers. He retired three weeks later at the age of 38, concluding a historic 20-year NHL career.

His scoring record had stood since — with Jaromir Jagr scoring 766 goals before retiring in 2018 and Brett Hull netting 741 goals before closing his 19-year career in 2006.

Then came Ovechkin, who after being selected first overall in the 2004 draft, scored 52 goals as a rookie, including two in his debut on October 5, 2005.

That was nearly 20 years and 892 goals ago.

Ovechkin scored a career best 65 goals during his third season in 2007-2008. He has recorded nine 50-plus goal seasons, matching the record shared by Gretzky and New York Islanders legend Mike Bossy. He has scored 40 or more goals in a season 14 times, which topped Gretzky’s record of 12.

Along the way, Ovechkin won nine Rocket Richard Trophies for most goals scored in a season, three Hart Trophies as most valuable player, and the 2017 Stanley Cup, which was the first in Capitals’ franchise history.

Ovechkin entered his 20th NHL season in October needing 42 goals to top a record once believed to be unbreakable. He missed 16 games earlier this season with a fractured left fibula, pushing the record pursuit closer to the end of the season.

He now shares the league’s hallowed scoring record with the sport’s most revered player.

“Alex has been exceptional for our game,” Gretzky told CNBC earlier this season. “I hope I’m the first guy to shake his hand when he does break the record.”