* After the Sabres won the lone contest Friday, the final Saturday of March features 15 games including a doubleheader on ESPN+/Hulu to go along with a four-game Hockey Night in Canada slate.
* Saturday will begin with an NHL Network Showcase that could be a First Round preview as the Red Wings, battling for a Wild Card spot, and Panthers, jockeying for a No. 1 seed, meet for a matinee in Sunrise (also on Sportsnet).
* The Avalanche and idle Canucks can both clinch a berth in the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs on Saturday. For more details on their clinching scenarios, click here.
HOCKEY NIGHT IN CANADA, ESPN+/HULU DOUBLEHEADER HIGHLIGHT SATURDAY SLATE
Five Canadian teams are in action on Hockey Night in Canada as three Saturdays remain in the 2023-24 regular-season schedule. The Maple Leafs (41-22-9, 91 points), who own a four-point cushion on the Lightning (40-25-7, 87 points) for third in the Atlantic Division, travel to Buffalo for a contest also broadcast as part of an ESPN+ and Hulu doubleheader.
* While the Sabres eye three wins in a single season against the Maple Leafs for the third time in the past decade (3 in 2021-22 & 2015-16), Auston Matthews and his pursuit of a second career 60-goal season continues (59-35—94 in 71 GP). Matthews, with goals in each of his past four games against Buffalo, owns 18 career tallies against the franchise – tied for this third most against one club (26 vs. MTL, 24 vs. OTT & 18 vs. VAN).
* Frederik Andersen helped the Hurricanes (46-21-7, 99 points), who trail the Rangers (49-20-4, 102 points) by three points in the Metropolitan Division, clinch their sixth consecutive playoff berth with a 24-save shutout Thursday. Andersen has won each of his past seven games since returning from injury on March 7 and owns the lowest goals-against average (1.14) as well as the second-highest save percentage (.957) among all goaltenders through that span (min. 5 GP).
* Saturday would mark the 500th game of Connor Hellebuyck’s career (270-172-41, 2.63 GAA, .917 SV%, 36 SO) should he get the start for the Jets (44-23-6, 94 points) – a club that occupies the third seed in the Central Division behind the Stars (46-19-9, 101 points) and Avalanche (46-21-6, 98 points). His 270 victories are the most by any U.S.-born goalie through their first 500 career games.
* Jack Eichel (66-82—148 in 155 GP w/ VGK) and the Golden Knights (40-25-8, 88 points) start the ESPN+ and Hulu doubleheader when they travel to Minnesota to face the Wild. Eichel, who owns one of the highest goals-per-game rates among all Vegas skaters since joining the club in 2021-22, sits two points shy of 150 in his career with the reigning Stanley Cup champions.
PAIR OF WESTERN CONFERENCE CLUBS CAN CLINCH SATURDAY The Avalanche (46-21-6, 98 points) and idle Canucks (45-20-8, 98 points) can both clinch a berth in the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs on Saturday. There are four scenarios in which Colorado can punch its ticket to the postseason, while Vancouver can lock in a berth with a Minnesota loss to Vegas in any fashion AND a St. Louis loss to San Jose in regulation. Check out the March 30th edition of #NHLStats: Live Updates for more details on their clinching scenarios.
* Mikko Rantanen (39-58—97 in 73 GP) enters Saturday’s contest against the Predators one goal shy of 40 on the season and three points back of 100. He can become the sixth player in Avalanche/Nordiques history to record multiple 40-goal seasons – he would join the likes of Michel Goulet (7x), Joe Sakic (5x), Peter Stastny (5x), Nathan MacKinnon (3x) and Milan Hejduk (2x).
THOMPSON SPEARHEADS SABRES COMEBACK WIN WITH FOUR-GOAL GAME The Sabres rallied from a two-goal deficit to defeat the Devils with the help of a four-goal game by Tage Thompson and a 28-save performance by Devon Levi. Thompson became the fourth player in Sabres history to record multiple four-goal games, joining Rick Martin (4 GP), Dave Andreychuk (3 GP) and Alexander Mogilny (2 GP). He also joined Alex Ovechkin (4 GP), Anze Kopitar (2 GP) and Nathan MacKinnon (2 GP) as the fourth active player with multiple four-goal outings.
* Thompson recorded his sixth career hat trick, moving him into a tie with Drew Stafford, Pat LaFontaine and Miroslav Satan for the seventh most in franchise history. Five of those six hat tricks have come over the past two seasons alone – the only player with more over that span is Auston Matthews (6), who Thompson is set to clash with Saturday.
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And six picks before Thompson went at #26 in 2016, Ken Holland took Dennis Cholowski. Ouch.
The sad part is Thompson has turned out to be everything (and more) that the Wings thought Rasmussen was going to be. Double ouch.
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