THIRTY TEAMS IN ACTION ON 15-GAME SATURDAY
Thirty clubs are in action across Saturday’s 15 games, with pushes for the seven remaining berths in the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs as well as the tightly-contested race for the Presidents’ Trophy taking center stage during the busiest day of the season.



* The Islanders (30-15-5, 65 points) and Bruins (29-14-6, 64 points), who are looking to clinch the final two playoff berths in the MassMutual East Division, square off with the Rangers and Sabres, respectively. The Islanders and Bruins own a seven- and six-point edge over the fifth-place Rangers (26-19-6, 58 points).

* The Oilers (29-17-2, 60 points) occupy second in the Scotia North Division and will look to open a five-point lead over the third-place Jets (27-20-3, 57 points) when they contest the final “Battle of Alberta” game slated for the 2020-21 regular season. Three postseason berths in the Scotia North Division are still up for grabs – fourth-ranked Montreal (22-18-9, 53 points) rallied past Winnipeg on Friday to move six points ahead of Calgary (22-24-3, 47 points).

* The Predators (27-22-2, 56 points) and Stars (21-17-12, 54 points), who are separated by just two points, are set to conclude their eight-game season series in a pivotal showdown at Bridgestone Arena. Nashville has occupied fourth in the Discover Central Division since March 28, while Dallas has moved from seventh to fifth place over that span.

* The Blues (23-19-6, 52 points) will close out their three-game sojourn in Minnesota when they take on the postseason-bound Wild (31-14-4, 66 points) at Xcel Energy Center. St. Louis, which sat outside the playoff picture entering games on April 24, has earned four consecutive wins since then to leapfrog Arizona (22-24-5, 49 points) and open a three-point lead over them for fourth in the Honda West Division.

* The Hurricanes (33-10-7, 73 points), Golden Knights (35-12-2, 72 points), Panthers (33-14-5, 71 points), Lightning (34-14-2, 70 points), Maple Leafs (32-13-5, 69 points), Capitals (32-13-5, 69 points) and Penguins (33-15-3, 69 points), who are separated by no more than four points atop the NHL standings, will look to gain ground in the tightly-contested 2020-21 Presidents’ Trophy race. Carolina, Vegas, Florida and Toronto can claim the award for the first time since it was introduced in 1985-86, while Washington (2009-10, 2015-16 & 2016-17), Tampa Bay (2018-19) and Pittsburgh (1992-93) have won the trophy at least once.



HONDA WEST DIVISION STREAKS EXTENDED, SNAPPED ON FRIDAY
Colorado and Arizona each earned shutout wins in the first half of back-to-back sets to extend and snap lengthy streaks:

* Mikko Rantanen (1-2—3) factored on all three goals and Philipp Grubauer made 21 saves as Colorado blanked San Jose to improve to 13-0-1 in its last 14 games at Ball Arena dating to March 10. The Avalanche’s 14-game home point streak matched the longest in the NHL this season, a mark set by the Islanders from Jan. 18 to March 11 (12-0-2).

* Rantanen has found the score sheet in each of his last seven appearances (6-6—12), including multiple points in three straight (4-3—7). Grubauer recorded his sixth shutout of the season to move into a tie for the most in the NHL (w/ Semyon Varlamov) and improved to 12-0-1 in each of his last 13 appearances at Ball Arena (1.18 GAA, .952 SV%, 3 SO), extending his franchise record for longest home point streak by an Avalanche/Nordiques goaltender.



* Michael Bunting scored one of his team’s three goals and Adin Hill turned aside all 25 shots he faced as the Coyotes blanked the Golden Knights and snapped their franchise-record win streak at 10 games, the longest by any team this season.

* Bunting has netted a team-leading nine goals since making his season debut on March 31 (9-2—11 in 16 GP), including eight in April (8-1—9 in 15 GP). The only NHL rookie with more during the month was Kirill Kaprizov (11-3—14 in 15 GP).



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