THREE HARD LAPS

* Auston Matthews, who leads the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy race with 35 goals this season, scored the game winner as the Maple Leafs clinched a berth in the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

* Connor McDavid recorded his fourth straight three-point game and is now on pace for 100 points in a shortened NHL season.

* The Golden Knights moved into first place in the NHL standings as they earned their 10th straight win.

If you missed it earlier today, Gallant was name head coach for Canada at the World Championship.

“As players, we feel we’re very fortunate that we’ve been able to do what we love to do. There’s a lot of situations out there where people have had to sacrifice what they love to do and we’re still able to do it, obviously under different circumstances. Guys have had to really adhere to protocols and things like that, and it’s made it stressful at times.

“But at the end of the day, we’re playing hockey and we’ve enjoyed that part of it.”

-Sam Gagner of the Detroit Red Wings. Ted Kulfan of the Detroit News has more from Gagner.

Hockey starts early today at 5:30pm ET with Vancouver in Ottawa. Some excitting games will follow, the full schedule is below. Quinton Byfield makes his NHL debut for the LA Kings too.

Big game of the night is the Colorado Avalanche against the Vegas Golden Knights. Vegas holds a four point lead but Colorado has a game in hand.

Jeff Blashill first, Sam Gagner below.

A little less than five minutes to watch.

It's slow, so...

Join NHL prospect guru Scott Wheeler, Aaron Ward and Ken Daniels.

from Ansar Khan of Mlive,

Teammates told Detroit Red Wings prospect Joe Veleno to work hard, have fun and enjoy the moment Tuesday, because you only get one opportunity to make your NHL debut.

“They said everything you did to get here, bring it on the ice every shift,” Veleno said.

After feeling some butterflies and what he called exciting nerves during the pregame warmup, Veleno did not look out of place in his first NHL game, a 1-0 shootout loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena.

“He was strong on the puck, strong on his stick, played a 200-foot game, had some opportunities,” coach Jeff Blashill said. “I thought he played a good hockey game. He looked like a guy who’s played two years pro and was ready for the opportunity to skate in the NHL. His strength really showed.

“He got a decent amount of ice time and he earned it.”

continued

THREE HARD LAPS

* The Panthers and Lightning both earned wins to clinch a berth in the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs, joining the Hurricanes – who clinched on Monday and moved into first place in the overall NHL standings with a win on Tuesday – to fill three of the four slots in the Discover Central Division.

* The Capitals swept their three-game set with the Islanders, shutting out New York in two of the three contests, to move one point ahead of the Penguins for first place in the MassMutual East Division.

* The NHL and Turner Sports announced a seven-year media rights agreement that will have regular-season, Stanley Cup Playoff and Stanley Cup Final games televised on TNT and TBS starting next season and running through 2027-28.