The Florida Panthers are at it again.

The team brought their love of Kevin Spacey to another level Saturday, with fans being given cutouts of the "House of Cards" star's face ahead of the game against the Detroit Red Wings.

The faces were handed out as rumors continued to swirl that Spacey himself would attend the game at the BB&T Center.

If he is indeed in attendance, it will now be pretty difficult to pick him out of the crowd.

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The Pittsburgh Penguins are rounding into form. Their head coach thinks so, at least.

After a big 4-1 win over the Flyers in Philadelphia on Saturday, Mike Sullivan called his team's effort "the most complete game we've had," according to NHL.com's Adam Kimelman.

"I thought when the time came to have to defend, we defended hard. Our attention to detail was really good," Sullivan said. "I thought everybody trusted one another out there. And when we play that way, we're hard to play against. This was obviously an important game for both teams; we're playing against a very good team that's won a lot of games recently."

With the win, the Penguins jumped the New York Islanders in the Metropolitan Division, knocking the Brooklynites into the first wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. The Isles are in action Saturday in Dallas, so could hop the Penguins with a win.

More importantly for the Penguins, they moved six points up on the Flyers, though Philadelphia has a game in hand.

Sullivan's Penguins are 24-14 since he took over as head coach, and he signaled out Phil Kessel after the game, who made a key play on a forecheck that led to what ended up being the game-winning goal.

"I thought that was a big part of the game, and when Phil engages like that down low, he's a big body," Sullivan said. "He's strong. And when he engages like that, he's hard to play against. I thought he made the whole play. I mean, it was a terrific play all around, but I thought Phil made the whole play as far as creating that turnover. And that's what we need more of from everybody for us to be the type of team that we want to become.

"I've said this from day one since I've taken this team over that we have to be a team that can generate offense different ways. We have some talented players that I think can create off the rush with their instinctive play and their sheer talent. And when we add that other element to our game and we create offense off of our puck pursuit and end zone, just relentless pursuit on the puck, I think we're a harder team to play against."

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Columbus Blue Jackets head coach John Tortorella will make history when he steps behind the bench Saturday.

The contest against the New Jersey Devils will make him the first American-born bench boss to coach 1,000 regular-season games, an achievement he credits to the many chances he's been given over the years.

"I'm very fortunate in having some people around me who have given me the opportunities that I've been given, where some very good coaches have not been given the chance," Tortorella told the Blue Jackets' official website, according to NHL.com's Craig Merz.

"A thousand games means you been given chances. People have entrusted you with their teams, and obviously I've been around some really good people to be involved in so many games."

Tortorella was given such a chance this season, when the Blue Jackets named him head coach after firing Todd Richards due to the team's brutal 0-7 start to the season.

Things haven't panned out very well for the Blue Jackets so far, however, as the team holds the second-worst record in the Eastern Conference.

"I know people don't want to hear it because they've heard it for a number of years here, but we're going through a process with the team," he said. "The amount of teaching that goes into this is what grabs you. I think it's going to be fun."

Tortorella has a Stanley Cup and a Jack Adams Trophy to his name, and will have 475 career victories with a win Saturday.

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The Toronto Maple Leafs will have one less star to worry about Saturday against the Buffalo Sabres.

Rookie Jack Eichel will miss the contest as he battles the flu, head coach Dan Bylsma announced.

The 19-year-old was impressive in his first visit to the Air Canada Centre earlier in March, scoring a goal in a 4-3 shootout victory.

Eichel has been on fire of late, with eight points in his last eight games. His 49 points are good enough for second in league scoring among rookies.

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The wait is finally over.

Goaltender Niklas Backstrom will be between the pipes for the Calgary Flames for the first time in 14 months when they take on the Montreal Canadiens, and he is relishing the opportunity.

"It's fun," Backstrom told Aaron Vickers of calgaryflames.com. "Playing … that's the most fun part about this game and you want to go out there and compete and compete against other teams, but compete against yourself too to see where you are. For sure it's fun to have a date now."

The 38-year-old, whose last game came as a member of the Minnesota Wild back on Jan. 13, 2015, was a victim of multiple injuries, and the Wild's solid one-two combo of Devan Dubnyk and Darcy Kuemper.

Backstrom was acquired by the Flames at the trade deadline, along with a sixth-round pick, in exchange for forward David Jones. And while he hasn't made a start in more than a year, he isn't ready to hang up the skates just yet.

"He still wants to play," Flames coach Bob Hartley said. "As soon as we made the trade we sat with him, and he doesn't want to retire, he wants to keep playing. He came in with a great attitude, lots of energy, lots of work on the ice, in the gym. He works relentlessly, so we felt that we needed to be honest with him also, and that's why he's going to get the start in Montreal."

Backstrom has 409 career games under his belt, boasting a 194-142-50 record with a .915 save percentage and a 2.48 goals-against average.

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