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Home , Dougie Hamilton, Kyle Quincey, Vince Dunn

NHL MORNING SKATE – MARCH 20, 2021

THREE HARD LAPS

* A busy Saturday in the NHL is set to span nearly 12 hours and conclude with Oilers captain Connor McDavid pursuing a nine-game point streak and the 60-point mark on the season during Hockey Night in Canada.

* Alex Ovechkin scored twice to help the Capitals rally and moved into tie with Gordie Howe for fourth place on the League’s all-time multi- games list.

* Max Pacioretty also netted two goals and has scored eight times since March 1 – tied with ’s Mikko Rantanen for the most among all players over that span.

NHL WELCOMES SPRING WITH 13-GAME SATURDAY A 13-game Saturday spanning nearly 12 hours begins with a matinee between the Penguins and Devils and closes with two of the top three teams from the Scotia North Division going toe- to-toe on Hockey Night in Canada.

CANUCKS, FLAMES COLLECT WINS AHEAD OF HOCKEY NIGHT IN CANADA REMATCHES The Canucks (16-16-2, 34 points) and Flames (15-13-3, 33 points) each earned wins on Friday to open back-to-back sets in the Scotia North Division, with the second halves of their showdowns slated to be part of a three-pack on Hockey Night in Canada:

* After Canadiens forward Nick Suzuki tied the game with 57 seconds remaining in regulation, J.T. Miller scored in overtime to collect his 100th regular-season point with the Canucks (36- 64—100 in 100 GP).

* , Ont. native gave the Flames the lead after the Maple Leafs erased a 3-1 deficit and has 4-5—9 in 14 career contests in his hometown. The 2020-21 season is the sixth consecutive campaign in which an -born defenseman has scored a game-winning goal against the Maple Leafs in Toronto. The others: (Oct. 7, 2019 w/ STL), Dougie Hamilton (April 2, 2019 w/ CAR), Vince Dunn (Jan. 16, 2018 w/ STL), Cam Fowler (Dec. 19, 2016 w/ ANA), Kyle Quincey (April 2, 2016 w/ DET) and Brent Burns (Dec. 17, 2015 w/ SJS).

* The nightcap features a second straight meeting between the Jets and Oilers, following a 2-1 victory by Edmonton on Thursday that saw NHL leading scorer Connor McDavid (20-38—58 in 33 GP) post the 28th multi-goal performance of his regular-season career. McDavid has collected nearly one-third of his season point total over the course of an active eight-game point streak (6-12—18 in 8 GP), notching multiple points six times in that span including each of his last two outings. Sitting two points from 60 on the season, McDavid will eye a point streak of nine or more games for the fifth time in his career and second time in 2020-21 (10 GP from Jan. 20 – Feb. 8).

SURGING AVALANCHE AIM FOR SIXTH STRAIGHT WIN Nathan MacKinnon and the Avalanche will look to extend their longest winning streak of the season (5-0-0) when they host the Wild for a matinee in . Colorado, which had six- and seven-game winning streaks last season, has traded wins over the course of five head-to-head meetings with Minnesota so far this season (COL: 3-1-1, MIN: 2-3-0). Both clubs feature a player on a lengthy streak: Wild goaltender Kaapo Kahkonen still has his personal nine-game win streak in-tact (as he did not play Thursday) and MacKinnon’s four-game goal streak only trails Alex Ovechkin (5 GP) for the longest active run in the NHL.

OVECHKIN HELPS CAPITALS COMPLETE THIRD-PERIOD COMEBACK WIN Alex Ovechkin scored his 719th and 720th career goals in a span of 3:09 to help the Capitals erase a 1-0 third-period deficit and extend the League’s longest active win streak to seven games.

* Ovechkin’s game-tying goal helped the Capitals captain record a goal streak of at least five games for the 12th time in his career. In fact, it marked his 131st game-tying goal in the regular- season – trailing only (139), Dave Andreychuk (137) and Joe Sakic (132) for the most in NHL history.

* Friday’s game-winning goal marked Ovechkin’s second such tally in as many games – and fifth this season – after first doing so on March 16 versus the Islanders. With 115 career game- winning goals on his resume, his current stretch marks the 11th time in his 16 NHL seasons that Ovechkin has netted the winning marker in consecutive games and first since Dec. 4-6, 2017 (2 GP).

PACIORETTY, THEODORE LEAD GOLDEN KNIGHTS TO FIFTH STRAIGHT WIN Max Pacioretty (2-0—2) recorded his fourth multi-goal game of the season and Shea Theodore (0-1— 1) extended his point streak to six games as the Honda West Division-leading Golden Knights (21-6-1, 43 points) extended their win streak to five games.

* Pacioretty (8-9—17 in 11 GP) scored his seventh and eighth goals since March 1 and sits tied with Colorado’s Mikko Rantanen (8-8—16 in 10 GP) for the most among all players over that span.

* Theodore (2-7—9 in 6 GP), who also has at least one assist in six consecutive games, trails Boston’s Charlie McAvoy (1-10—11 in 8 GP) and Carolina’s Dougie Hamilton (2-8—10 in 7 GP) for the longest such run by defenseman this season.

* Did You Know? The Golden Knights have been in first place in their respective division for 203 days since their inaugural season in 2017-18. Only the Lightning (367) and Capitals (336), who have both won the during that span, have been on top of the standings in their divisions longer.

BLUES RALLY TO COLLECT ANOTHER WIN IN CALIFORNIA Tyler Bozak scored in regulation, while Vladimir Tarasenko scored the decisive marker in the shootout as the Blues rallied to beat the Sharks and improved to 7-1-2 in California this season.

* Friday’s victory marked the Blues’ 32nd comeback win dating to the start of the 2019-20 season, tied with the Penguins for the most among all teams over that span.

QUICK CLICKS

* Bruins games scheduled for Saturday at BUF, Tuesday vs. NYI postponed * Ryan Reaves to be first guest on Season 2 of Men in Blazers On Ice * Kraft Hockeyville had big impact on Avalanche defenseman Samuel Girard * William Eklund benefiting from time with Devils prospect ahead of 2021 NHL Draft * Kings encourage fans to join free Bystander Intervention Training program