Panthers, Jets in Helsinki for Global Series, highlighting week ahead

The Florida Panthers and Winnipeg Jets playing two games in Helsinki, Finland as part of the 2018 NHL Global Series are among the highlights of the week ahead in the NHL.
Here's a look at 5 things to watch:

1. Going Global

The Panthers and Jets resume the 2018 NHL Global Series with games at Hartwall Arena in Helsinki, Finland, on Thursday (2 p.m. ET; NBCSN, TSN3, NHL.TV) and Friday.
There have been 23 regular-season games in Europe, most recently when the New Jersey Devils defeated the Edmonton Oilers 5-2 to begin the 2018 Global Series at Scandinavium in Gothenburg, Sweden, on Oct. 6.
The Jets and Panthers will play the fifth and sixth games in Finland, all of which have taken place in Helsinki, to conclude the series.
"It's going to be an unbelievable experience for the team and the whole Finnish crowd," said Jets forward Patrik Laine, a native of Tampere, Finland. "Most of the people haven't seen NHL hockey live so it's a nice opportunity for them to see all of the best players in the world. It's going to be unreal for sure."
The Jets (7-4-1) are third in the Central Division. The Panthers (2-4-3) are seventh in the Atlantic Division.

2. Eleven alive

Carolina Hurricanes forward Sebastian Aho can pass Ron Francis for most games in Hurricanes/Hartford Whalers history with at least one point to begin a season when the Hurricanes play the Boston Bruins at PNC Arena on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; FS-CR, NESN, NHL.TV).
Aho has 16 points (four goals, 12 assists) during his 11-game point streak. He also has at least one assist in all 11 games. He joined Wayne Gretzky (1982-83, Edmonton Oilers) and Ken Linseman (1985-86, Bruins) as the only NHL players to have a season-opening streak of at least 11 games; Gretzky and Linseman each had assists in 12 straight to start their season.
The Hurricanes also play the Arizona Coyotes on Friday and the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday.
Other NHL players who can extend point-scoring streaks:
Defenseman Brent Burns (13 points; two goals, 11 assists) and forward Timo Meier (12 points; eight goals, four assists) are the third set of San Jose Sharks teammates with simultaneous point streaks of at least eight games. Joe Thornton and Ryane Clowe each had points in eight straight in 2009-10, and Todd Elik and Pat Falloon had streaks of 10 games in 1993-94.
The Sharks start a three-game homestand against the New York Rangers on Tuesday (10:30 p.m. ET; NBCSCA, MSG, NHL.TV).
Forward Mikael Granlund can stretch his point streak to eight games and help the Minnesota Wild become the first team to win six consecutive games this season when the Wild play at the Vancouver Canucks on Monday (10 p.m. ET; SN, FS-N+, NHL.TV). The Wild also play at the Oilers on Tuesday and the St. Louis Blues on Saturday.
Pittsburgh Penguins center Evgeni Malkin has 15 points (four goals, 11 assists) in his past seven games, and is averaging 2.00 points per game this season with 18 points (five goals, 13 assists) in nine games. He's second behind Colorado Avalanche forward Mikko Rantanen (21 points) for the NHL scoring lead and is the first Penguins player with at least 18 points through the first nine games of a season since Mario Lemieux had 20 points (five goals, 15 assists) in 2002-03.
The Penguins play three games this week. They're home against the New York Islanders on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; SN1, ATTSN-PT, MSG, NHL.TV), at New York on Thursday and back at PPG Paints Arena to play the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday.
New Jersey Devils forward Taylor Hall, last season's Hart Trophy winner, has 11 points during a seven-game point streak (two goals, nine assists). He had points in 26 consecutive games (18 goals, 20 assists) from Jan. 2 to March 6 last season; he missed three games Jan. 22-25 with a thumb injury.
The Devils are on the road for three games this week: at the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday (7:30 p.m. ET; SUN, MSG+, NHL.TV), the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday and the Islanders on Saturday.

3. Perron faces Golden Knights

St. Louis Blues forward David Perron will play his first game against the Golden Knights at Enterprise Center on Thursday (8 p.m. ET; FS-MW, ATTSN-RM, NHL.TV).
Perron signed a four-year, $16 million contract (average annual value $4 million) to return to St. Louis for his third stint with the Blues, who selected him in the first round (No. 26) of the 2007 NHL Draft. He led the Golden Knights with 50 assists last season after being selected from the Blues in the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft, and helped them advance to the Stanley Cup Final with nine points (one goal, eight assists) in 15 Stanley Cup Playoff games.
Center Paul Stastny, who signed with the Golden Knights July 1, spent four seasons in St. Louis before he was traded to Winnipeg on Feb. 26. However, the forward is sidelined with a lower-body injury sustained during a 4-2 loss to the Buffalo Sabres on Oct. 8.

4. Landmark game for Lightning, Senators

The Tampa Bay Lightning play the Ottawa Senators at Canadian Tire Centre as part of Rogers Hometown Hockey on Sunday (7 p.m. ET; SN, TVAS, SUN, NHL.TV), the 2,000th NHL game for each team.
The Lightning and Senators entered the NHL in 1992. Tampa Bay opened its first season with a 7-3 win against the Chicago Blackhawks at Expo Hall on Oct. 7, 1992 and finished 23-54-7 (53 points).
Ottawa also won its inaugural game 5-3 against the Montreal Canadiens at Ottawa Civic Centre on Oct. 8, 1992. The Senators ended their first season 10-70-4 (24 points), tied with the San Jose Sharks (11-71-2) for the worst record in the NHL and three points ahead of the expansion 1974-75 Washington Capitals (8-67-5) for fewest in NHL history.
The Lightning (7-2-1) are second in the Atlantic Division, one point behind the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Senators (4-4-1) are sixth.

5. Milestone watch

Eric Staal and Zach Parise each can achieve NHL milestones with the Wild.
Staal, who turns 34 on Monday, is two goals from becoming the sixth active NHL player with 400, joining Alex Ovechkin (615), Patrick Marleau (536), Ilya Kovalchuk (420), Sidney Crosby (416) and
Marian Gaborik
(407).
Parise, 34, needs four points to become the fifth Minnesota-born skater to reach 700 in the NHL.
Blackhawks center Jonathan Toews is two goals, and Bruins center Patrice Bergeron is four, from 300 in the NHL.
The Blackhawks are on a three-game road trip through Western Canada, visiting the Vancouver Canucks on Wednesday (10 p.m. ET; NHLN, SN1, WGN, NHL.TV), the Oilers on Thursday and the Calgary Flames on Saturday.
The Bruins play twice this week: at the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; FS-CR, NESN, NHL.TV) and the Nashville Predators on Saturday.
Three players are expected to play in their 1,000th NHL regular-season game: Dallas Stars forward Jason Spezza at the Canadiens on Tuesday (7:30 p.m. ET; TSN2, RDS, FS-SW, NHL.TV), Maple Leafs defenseman Ron Hainsey at home against the Stars on Thursday (7 p.m. ET; TSN4, FS-SW, NHL.TV), and Buffalo Sabres forward Jason Pominville at the Senators on Thursday (7:30 p.m. ET, RDS2, TSN5, MSG-B, NHL.TV).