Each Monday throughout the 2023-24 NHL season, NHL.com will provide fans with a guide of games that will be nationally televised that week. Today, a look at games for the 25th week of the season.
In total, 11 games will be carried nationally by ESPN, TNT, Sportsnet, NHL Network and/or TVA Sports led by the Toronto Maple Leafs and Auston Matthews' quest for 60 goals airing twice on ESPN+ and HULU.
It's less than one month before the start of the Stanley Cup Playoffs on April 20. Two teams competing for a wild card berth in the Western Conference, the Vegas Golden Knights and Minnesota Wild, will face off at Xcel Energy Center on Saturday (ESPN+/HULU), part of the final 15-game day of the regular season.
TNT has coverage of the Boston Bruins visiting the Tampa Bay Lightning on Wednesday. The Bruins are pursuing their second consecutive Presidents' Trophy, given to the team that finishes with the best record in the NHL. The Lightning are trying to hold on to the first wild card from the Eastern Conference and clinch a playoff berth for the seventh consecutive season.
TUESDAY, MARCH 26
New Jersey Devils at Toronto Maple Leafs (7:30 p.m. ET; TSN4, ESPN+, HULU): Matthews needs two goals to tie his own record of 60 set in 2021-22, when he became the first NHL player born in the United States to reach the mark. He's on pace for 68 goals in 81 games and could be the first to score 70 in a season since Teemu Selanne and Alexander Mogilny each had 76 in 1992-93.
Devils center Jack Hughes played the 300th game of his NHL career when he had a goal and an assist in a 4-0 win against the New York Islanders at UBS Arena on Sunday. He and Matthews were part of NHL.com's projected roster for the United States at the 2025 NHL 4 Nations Face-Off to be held Feb. 12-20.
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 27
Boston Bruins at Tampa Bay Lightning (7:30 p.m. ET; MAX, TNT, NESN, TVAS): David Pastrnak and the Bruins have lost two of three meetings against Nikita Kucherov and the Lightning this season ahead of the finale of their four-game season series.
Pastrnak (99 points; 44 goals, 55 assists) is one point from becoming the fifth player in Bruins history with 100 in consecutive seasons, joining Bobby Orr, Phil Esposito, Adam Oates and Barry Pederson. Kucherov (123 points; 41 goals, 82 assists) leads Colorado Avalanche forward Nathan MacKinnon (122 points; 44 goals, 78 assists) in the race for the Art Ross Trophy given to the player with the most points at the end of the regular season.
SATURDAY, MARCH 30
Vegas Golden Knights at Minnesota Wild (3:30 p.m. ET; HULU, ESPN+): The reigning Stanley Cup champion Golden Knights have a tenuous hold on the second wild card into the playoffs from the Western Conference, four points ahead of the St. Louis Blues and six in front of the Wild. They have a challenging road trip ahead of them: back-to-back games at the Blues on Monday (8 p.m. ET; SCRIPPS, BSMW, NHLN, TVAS) and the Nashville Predators on Tuesday before playing the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday and the Wild on Saturday.
Toronto Maple Leafs at Buffalo Sabres (7 p.m. ET; HULU, ESPN+, SNP, SNO, CBC): Matthews is on track to win his third Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy (2020, 2021) given to the League’s top goal-scorer. He has 10 points (three goals, seven assists) in a four-game point streak to help the Maple Leafs (40-21-9) build a four-point lead over the Lightning for third in the Atlantic Division. The Sabres are attempting to make the playoffs for the first time since 2011. They trail the Washington Capitals by six points for the second wild card from the East.
OTHER NATIONALLY TELEVISED GAMES
TUESDAY
Boston Bruins at Florida Panthers (7:30 p.m. ET; BSFL, NESN, SNP, SNO, SNE, TVAS)
FRIDAY
New Jersey Devils at Buffalo Sabres (7 p.m. ET; MSGSN, NHLN, MSG-B, SN1)
SATURDAY
Detroit Red Wings at Florida Panthers (12:30 p.m. ET; BSDETX, BSFL, NHLN, SN)
Ottawa Senators at Winnipeg Jets (7 p.m. ET; CITY, SNW)
Los Angeles Kings at Calgary Flames (10 p.m. ET; CBC, SN, CITY, KCAL)
SUNDAY
Anaheim Ducks at Vancouver Canucks (3:30 p.m. ET; SN360, SNP, TNT, MAX)
