FOUR-GAME FRIDAY PACKS PLENTY OF EXCITEMENT

The 75th hat trick of 2021-22 was scored Friday, marking the highest such total at this stage of a season since 1995-96 when hats rained down 85 times within the first 928 games.

* Evgeny Kuznetsov (3-0—3) scored his second career hat trick – and first in more than six years (Oct. 23, 2015) – including a tying goal in the final five minutes of regulation to set the stage for an overtime winner by Lars Eller. The Capitals (32-18-10, 74 points), who won despite surrendering a 2-0 lead in the third period, moved within one point of the idle Bruins (35-18-5, 75 points) for the first Wild Card position in the Eastern Conference. Alex Ovechkin (0-1—1) was inches away from surpassing Jaromir Jagr for sole possession of third place on the all-time goals list, but did tie Brett Hull for 23rd place on the League’s points list.

* The second-place Penguins (35-15-9, 79 points) moved two points clear of the idle Rangers (36-17-5, 77 points) in the Metropolitan Division as they quelled a Golden Knights comeback attempt with a three-goal third period. Kris Letang, who boosted his totals to 6-44—50 in 2021-22 (55 GP), reached the 50-point mark for the sixth time in his NHL career – tied for the most such campaigns among active defensemen.

* Zach Werenski scored with 32 seconds remaining in regulation to force overtime and help the Blue Jackets claim their 19th comeback win of the season – one shy of the franchise record (20 in 2005-06 and 2018-19). Werenski’s tally was the second-latest tying goal by a defenseman in Blue Jackets history (Seth Jones: 19:31 of third period on March 20, 2021).

* Anders Lee scored for the sixth time in three games and Brock Nelson pushed his goal streak to four contests – his second such run in as many months – as New York won to give Barry Trotz his 900th victory as an NHL head coach. Lee, who scored six times over his prior 27 games before his current stretch, reached the 20-goal mark and became the first Islanders player with six or more goals over the course of three games since John Tavares in 2017-18 (6 G in 3 GP).

SABRES, MAPLE LEAFS SET TO PRACTICE OUTDOORS IN HAMILTON

The third and final outdoor game of the 2021-22 regular season is one day away, with the host Sabres and visiting Maple Leafs set to get their first glimpse of the setting at Tim Hortons Field during practice Saturday. Buffalo is scheduled to hit the ice at 3:30 p.m. ET, followed by Toronto at 5:30 p.m. ET.

* The clubs will then meet for a late-afternoon showdown Sunday in the 2022 Tim Hortons NHL Heritage Classic (4 p.m. ET on TNT, SN, TVAS).

* REMINDER: The Heritage Classic Information Guide, which features 100+ pages, now is available for registered users on the League’s media site. A few other handy resources are below ahead of the 35th regular-season outdoor game in League history:

* Fan Reminders

* #NHLStats Pack

* Outdoor Team Records

* Outdoor Skater Records

* Outdoor Goaltender Records

#STANLEYCUP PLAYOFFS RACE: ATLANTIC DIVISION

Every Saturday for the balance of the regular season, the #NHLStats team will place a weekly spotlight on one of the League’s postseason races. With the return of the typical playoff structure and divisional alignment in 2021-22, it seems fitting to start the #StanleyCup Playoffs Race series with the Atlantic Division – one whose top four is made up of the same clubs it was exactly two years ago when the NHL hit “pause” through games played March 11, 2020.

* Atop the Atlantic Division standings when the season paused in 2019-20, the Bruins have swapped positions with the No. 1-ranked Panthers relative to the same date two years ago while Tampa Bay and Toronto remain in the same positions they held on that date.

* Vying for its 75th all-time playoff appearance, Boston sits within four points of cracking the top three in the division – something they have yet to do in 2021-22. In fact, only two clubs other than Florida, Tampa Bay and Toronto have managed to break into the top three in the Atlantic since the sixth day of the season: Detroit (Oct. 19-31 and Nov. 9-14) and Buffalo (Oct. 16 – Nov. 3).

* Florida, which has spent a division-best 110 days in first place this season (TBL: 31 days; TOR: 7 days; BUF: 2 days), is in search of its third division crown in franchise history after topping the Southeast in 2011-12 and the Atlantic in 2015-16.

NHL PODCAST WEEKLY ROUNDUP

* Fantasy on Ice (3/7): Highlighting the best pickups entering Week 20 of the fantasy season

* NHL @TheRink (3/9): Sabres leading scorer Tage Thompson joins Dan and Shawn

* The Chirp (3/10): Guest Cassie Campbell-Pascall talks about her new role with ESPN

* Fantasy on Ice (3/10): Guest Tom Vecchio (FanDuel, @NHL’s "Going All In") talks fantasy and DFS

QUICK CLICKS

* #NHLStats: Live Updates for Friday, March 11
* Get to Know: Stars forward Jason Robertson

* Joe Pavelski signs one-year, $5.5 million contract with Stars

* 2022 NHL Draft Diary: Forward Brad Lambert of Pelicans in Liiga

* Willie O'Ree joins Boston Pride ownership group in women's league

STAALS SET TO MAKE HISTORY ON 10-GAME SATURDAY

Red Wings defenseman Marc Staal is expected to skate in his 1,000th regular-season NHL game when Detroit visits the Pacific Division-leading Flames. Marc will join brothers Eric (1,293 GP) and Jordan (1,069 GP) in reaching the benchmark, making the Staals the first trio of brothers in NHL history to each reach the 1,000-game milestone. Jordan is set to bring his total to 1,070 when he captains the Hurricanes against the Flyers in what is set to be the 998th career game for Philadelphia’s Claude Giroux.

MORE SATURDAY LOOK-AHEADS
* Elias Lindholm (29-32—61 in 57 GP) and Andrew Mangiapane (29-14—43 in 57 GP) will each look to reach the 30-goal mark Saturday against the Red Wings. The Flames have had multiple players score 30 goals at this stage of a season (58 GP, including their game Saturday) just twice in franchise history: 1988-89 (Joe Nieuwendyk & Joe Mullen) and 1987-88 (Hakan Loob, Mike Bullard & Nieuwendyk).

* The Hurricanes take a 12-game home point streak (11-0-1) into their contest against the Flyers, tied for the second-longest stretch in club history behind a 15-game run at home in 2005-06 (14-0-1). It is the longest active home point streak in the NHL and could equal the second-longest of the season (COL: 22 GP, 20-0-2; CGY: 13 GP, 12-0-1; STL: 13 GP, 12-0-1).

* The Bruins carry a 17-game winning streak against the Coyotes into Saturday’s meeting, tied for the second longest against one opponent in NHL history. To extend that run, Boston will have to contend with an Arizona team that has scored 22 goals over its past three contests. The Coyotes will look to close in on the franchise benchmark for goals over a four-game span (29 G in 4 GP from Oct. 20-29, 1985 as the Jets).

Thanks to the NHL PR department for the information above.