NHL MORNING SKATE – MARCH 4, 2021

THREE HARD LAPS

* The Capitals earned a shootout win at TD Garden over the Bruins, who welcomed back their former .

* The League-leading Maple Leafs earned another win over the Oilers at Rogers Place, extending their road point streak to double digits.

* Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy can extend his lengthy shutout streak in one of 10 games scheduled for tonight.

CAPITALS EARN WIN IN CHARA’S RETURN TO BOSTON Washington earned a come-from-behind shootout win over Boston as defenseman Zdeno Chara competed in his first game back at TD Garden since signing with the Capitals during the offseason. Chara played 14 seasons for the Bruins from 2006-07 to 2019-20, serving as team captain in each one.

* Boston honored Chara with a video tribute which showcased notable moments from his 14- year tenure with the team. #NHLStats also highlighted several of his career achievements as a member of the Bruins, which included winning the James Norris Memorial Trophy in 2008-09 and the two years later.

TORONTO ALLOWS JUST ONE THROUGH THREE-GAME SET IN EDMONTON The Maple Leafs, who had shutout victories over the Oilers in each of their last two contests, earned a 6-1 win on Wednesday to conclude their three-game set with a 3-0-0 record in which they outscored Edmonton by a combined 13-1 margin.

* Toronto had scored nine unanswered goals entering play dating to its come-from-behind win over Calgary on Feb. 24 and built a 4-0 lead before Ryan Nugent-Hopkins got the Oilers on the board at 13:46 of the second period. It marked the seventh time in franchise history in which the Maple Leafs scored 13 or more unanswered goals.

* Toronto extended its road point streak to 10 games (9-0-1), the longest active run in the NHL. The franchise record for most consecutive road games with at least one point is 11, achieved from Dec. 3, 2016 to Jan. 25, 2017 (9-0-2).

* William Nylander (1-0—1) has scored a goal in each of his last five games against Edmonton dating to Jan. 28 (5-1—6), with each contest taking place on the road. Nylander has six goals in seven games since Feb. 18 (6-2—8) after having just four through his first 17 contests in 2020- 21 (4-8—12).

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE HONDA WEST DIVISION Four of Wednesday’s six games featured Honda West Division teams:

* Mark Stone (1-1—2) followed up his five-assist game against Minnesota on Monday with another multi-point effort as Vegas earned its League-leading 10th home win of 2020-21 (10-2- 1, 21 points). The Golden Knights (14-4-1, 29 points), who snapped the Wild’s point streak at seven games (6-0-1), maintained a one-point edge over the Blues (13-8-2, 28 points) atop the Honda West Division standings.

* Mikko Rantanen (2-2—4) and Gabriel Landeskog (1-3—4) had four points apiece and Philipp Grubauer made 26 saves as the Avalanche blanked the Sharks at SAP Center. Rantanen (10-12—22 in 20 GP) became the first Colorado player to reach the 10-goal mark this season – his 22 points are tied with Nathan MacKinnon (5-17—22 in 19 GP) for the team lead.

* Antti Raanta made 40 saves as the Coyotes defeated the Kings to extend their road win streak to four games. Raanta improved to 2-0-0 in two road appearances this season (2.50 GAA, .941 SV%) – he made exactly 40 saves in each outing.

* Zach Sanford scored the winning goal for the second time in as many contests as the Blues improved to 8-0-0 in their last eight road games against the Ducks dating to March 12, 2018 (ANA: 0-8-0), including a 4-0-0 mark in 2020-21.

QUICK CLICKS

* NHL statement on violence against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders * Nino Niederreiter fined $5,000 for actions in Hurricanes game * Devils, Islanders, put out red-taped sticks for Cory Schneider's nephew * Kirill Kaprizov's play for Wild inspires 'Dollar Bill Kirill' nickname, T-shirt * Jayden Grubbe, Brent Sutter on Red Deer living at rink on 'NHL Draft Class' podcast

PREVIEW OF TODAY’S ACTION Twenty clubs are in action tonight including each of the NHL’s top four teams.

* The Islanders will look to extend their home point streak to 10 games when they host the Sabres; the nine-game run (7-0-2) already is their third-longest from the start of a season in franchise history (1978-79: 23 GP, 19-0-4 and 2017-18: 10 GP, 8-0-2). The Islanders are 6-0-0 in their last six games against the Sabres, tied for the longest active winning streak by a club against one of its 2020-21 division rivals (also BOS vs. PHI).

* The Lightning, who have outscored their opponents 13-1 over their past four games, will put their five-game win streak and two-game shutout streak on the line when they open a three- game set against the Blackhawks. Tampa Bay’s win streak is the longest active run in the NHL and one shy of the longest by any club this season (TBL, LAK, MIN all 6-0-0). Should Andrei Vasilevskiy play, he’ll look to extend his active shutout streak of 200:45, which sits just 2:02 from passing John Grahame (202:46) for the longest in Lightning history. Vasilevskiy already holds three of the top five longest shutout sequences in franchise history.

* The Hudson River Rivalry will play out its third rendition of 2020-21 as the Devils look to improve to 3-0-0 against the Rangers this season. Travis Zajac, who scored the first goal of the season series just 32 seconds into their game Jan. 19, has 18-21—39 in his career against the Rangers. Only four Devils players in the 38-season history of the rivalry have more career points against the Rangers while only two have more goals.