NHL On Tap: Rangers face Flyers seeking 10th win in row

Welcome to NHL On Tap. Three NHL.com writers will share what they are most looking forward to on the schedule each day. Today, their choices from the 13 games Saturday.

Streaking Rangers aim for 10th win in a row

The New York Rangers can equal the longest winning streak in their history when they visit the Philadelphia Flyers at Wells Fargo Center (3 p.m. ET; ABC, ESPN+, SN360). The Rangers have outscored opponents 39-18 in winning their past nine games. They can match their team record of 10 consecutive wins set Dec. 19, 1939-Jan. 13, 1940, and tied Jan. 19-Feb. 10, 1973. Forward Artemi Panarin leads the Rangers with 15 points (three goals, 12 assists) and goalie Igor Shesterkin is 5-0-0 with a 2.01 goals-against average, .945 save percentage and one shutout during the streak. New York (38-16-3) leads the Metropolitan Division with 79 points, one point behind the Boston Bruins for first in the Eastern Conference and one behind Boston and the Vancouver Canucks for first in the NHL. Philadelphia (30-20-7) is 5-1-1 in its past seven games. Flyers forward Travis Konecny has 12 points (five goals seven assists) during a seven-game point streak. -- Tom Gulitti, staff writer

Matthews the man for Maple Leafs

All eyes remain trained on Auston Matthews. The forward will attempt to score for the sixth straight game when the Toronto Maple Leafs visit the Colorado Avalanche (7 p.m. ET; NHLN, ALT, TVAS-D, SNW, SNO, SNE, CBC). He has scored 10 goals in those five games, becoming the second Maple Leafs player in the NHL’s modern era to score double-digit goals in any five-game span (Rick Vaive, 11 goals from Dec. 29, 1982-Jan. 6, 1983). Matthews has a League-leading 52 goals, in 55 games. Mario Lemieux, who scored 54 goals in 55 games with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1995-96 is the only other player in the past 30 seasons with that many goals through 55 games. The Maple Leafs (32-16-8) have won six straight games, including a 7-4 win against the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday. The Avalanche (35-18-5) are coming off a 2-1 overtime loss to Detroit on Thursday. -- Shawn P. Roarke, senior director of editorial

Another impressive season for Pastrnak

David Pastrnak was kept off the scoresheet in a 3-2 overtime loss at the Calgary Flames on Thursday but will get an opportunity to get back to his torrid offensive pace when the Boston Bruins face the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena (7 p.m. ET; CITY, SNP, NESN) in a meeting between the top two teams in the NHL. Pastrnak is fourth in the NHL with 82 points (36 goals, 46 assists) in 58 games. He has 15 points (six goals, nine assists) in his past 11 games. Boston (34-12-12) is first in the Eastern Conference; Vancouver (37-16-6) is first in the Western Conference. Boston is playing the third of a four-game road trip, which started with a 6-5 overtime win at the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday. The Canucks are on a season-long, four-game losing streak. They lost 5-2 at the Seattle Kraken on Thursday. Canucks defenseman Quinn Hughes leads all NHL defensemen with 69 points (12 goals, 57 assists). He has five assists in his past seven games. Elias Pettersson does not have a point in his past two games but had eight points (two goals, six assists) in his previous six. Pettersson has 73 points (29 goals, 44 assists) in 59 games. -- Derek Van Diest, staff writer

Saturday games

St. Louis Blues at Detroit Red Wings (12 p.m. ET; ABC, ESPN+, SN360)

The Red Wings (30-20-6) will seek their fourth straight win to strengthen their hold on the first wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference. Detroit leads the Tampa Bay Lightning, which holds the second wild card, by one point and trails the Maple Leafs by six points for third in the Atlantic Division. Red Wings forward Patrick Kane has eight points (three goals, five assists) during a six-game point streak. St. Louis (30-24-2) is tied with the Nashville Predators for the second wild card from the Western Conference. Blues forward Pavel Buchnevich has five goals in his past four games, including his third NHL hat trick in a 4-0 win against the New York Islanders on Thursday.

Montreal Canadiens at New Jersey Devils (2 p.m. ET; MSG, TSN2, RDS)

The Devils (28-24-4) will try to rebound after being outscored 11-3 in losing their two games since a 6-3 win against the Flyers in the 2024 Navy Federal Credit Union NHL Stadium Series at MetLife Stadium last Saturday. Forward Nico Hischier needs three assists to reach 200 for his career for New Jersey. Montreal (22-27-8) will look to end a four-game losing streak. Forward Cole Caufield is one goal away from becoming the sixth player in Canadiens history with three 20-goal seasons before age 24, joining Stephane Richer (five), Guy Lafleur (four), Bernie Geoffrion (four), Claude Lemieux (three) and Henri Richard (three).

Tampa Bay Lightning at New York Islanders (2 p.m. ET; MSGSN, BSSUN)

The Lightning (30-23-5) begin a three-game road trip hoping to end a three-game losing streak that has dropped them into the second wild card in the East. Forward Nikita Kucherov is one assist away from reaching 60 for the fourth time. He leads the NHL with 95 points in 57 games. The Islanders (23-19-4) are 1-2-2 in their past five games and trail the Lightning by five points for the second wild card. New York forward Mathew Barzal needs one assist to reach 300 for his career.

New York Rangers at Philadelphia Flyers (3 p.m. ET; ABC, ESPN+, SN360)

This is the first of three meetings between the Rangers and Flyers in their final 25 regular-season games. New York won 3-1 at Philadelphia on Nov. 24. Forward Chris Kreider has five goals in his past four games and leads the Rangers with seven goals during their winning streak. Flyers goalie Samuel Ersson is 4-1-1 with a 2.51 GAA and .907 save percentage in his past six games.

Washington Capitals at Florida Panthers (6 p.m. ET; MNMT, BSFL)

Alex Ovechkin will play his 1,400th game for the Capitals and become the ninth player in NHL history with that many games with one team. The 38-year-old forward has 14 points (eight goals, six assists) during a 10-game point streak, which is his longest since his NHL career-high 14-game streak from Nov. 16-Dec. 15, 2018. Washington (26-21-8) will look to win four in a row for the first time since a five-game winning streak from Nov. 10-22. Florida (37-16-4) had a six-game winning streak snapped with a 1-0 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday. Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky is 7-1-0 with a 1.61 GAA, .947 save percentage and one shutout since Jan. 24. Florida has allowed two goals or fewer in 12 straight games.

Toronto Maple Leafs at Colorado Avalanche (7 p.m. ET; NHLN, ALT, TVAS-D, SNW, SNO, SNE, CBC)

The six-game win streak is Toronto’s longest since they won six in a row in 2021-22. Toronto has outscored opponents 34-14 since their streak began on Feb. 13. Forward Mitchell Marner has multiple assists in six consecutive games, which is a Maple Leafs record. He passed defenseman Borje Salming, who did it in five straight games. Colorado forward Nathan MacKinnon, who scored the only goal for the Avalanche on Thursday, has eight points (two goals, six assists) during a five-game point streak.

Vegas Golden Knights at Ottawa Senators (7 p.m. ET; TVAS, SN1, SCRIPPS)

The Golden Knights (32-19-6) begin a five-game road trip after losing four of their past five. With 299 wins in 512 games, they can surpass the Edmonton Oilers (542 games) for the fewest games to 300 wins in NHL history. Vegas forward Jonathan Marchessault has 12 goals in his past 14 games. The Senators (24-27-4) are 9-3-3 in their past 15 games. Forward Claude Giroux has nine points (three goals, six assists) during a seven-game point streak, which is the longest by an Ottawa player this season.

Boston Bruins at Vancouver Canucks (7 p.m. ET; CITY, SNP, NESN)

The Canucks will look to end a season-long, four-game losing streak. Prior to its current skid, Vancouver had not lost more than two straight. Canucks forward J.T. Miller has scored in his past three games, which included a hat trick in a 10-7 loss at the Minnesota Wild on Monday. Boston is playing the third of a four-game road trip. The Bruins lost 3-2 in overtime at the Calgary Flames on Thursday in the second game of a back-to-back. Boston won 6-5 in overtime at Edmonton on Wednesday.

Dallas Stars at Carolina Hurricanes (8 p.m. ET; BSSO, BSSW)

Stars forward Matt Duchene (338 goals, 461 assists in 1,032 games) needs one point to reach 800 for his career. Dallas (34-16-8) is 0-2-2 in its past four games. The Hurricanes (34-17-5) will look to win their fifth straight. Carolina rookie goalie Pyotr Kochetkov is 11-3-2 with 1.90 GAA, .932 save percentage and two shutouts since Dec. 12, including a 45-save performance in a 1-0 win against Florida on Thursday.

Calgary Flames at Edmonton Oilers (10 p.m. ET; CBC, TVAS, SN, CITY)

The Flames (27-25-5) and Oilers (33-19-2) renew the Battle of Alberta with the third of four meetings this season. Edmonton won the first two, including a 5-2 victory in the 2023 Tim Hortons Heritage Classic at Commonwealth Stadium on Oct. 29 and a 3-1 victory at Calgary on Jan. 20. Forwards Zach Hyman (two goals, one assist) and Evander Kane (one goal, two assists) led the Oilers with three points each in the two games. Flames forward Nazem Kadri has scored four goals in his past four games, including the overtime winner against the Bruins on Thursday.

Minnesota Wild at Seattle Kraken (10 p.m. ET; ROOT-NW, BSWI, BSN)

The Kraken (24-21-11) are 3-0-1 in their past four games to pull within three points of the Blues and Nashville Predators for the second wild card in the West. Seattle forward Jared McCann has 10 points (five goals, five assists) during a six-game point streak and 21 points (11 goals, 10 assists) in his past 15 games, including four (one goal, three assists) in a 5-2 win against the Canucks on Thursday. Marc-Andre Fleury, who is 4-1-0 with a 2.23 GAA, .918 save percentage and one shutout in seven games (five starts) since Jan. 13, will start for Minnesota (27-24-6) after Filip Gustavsson started against Edmonton on Friday.

Nashville Predators at San Jose Sharks (10 p.m. ET; BSSO, NBCSCA)

The Predators (30-25-2) have won three in a row to pull into a tie with the Blues for the second wild card in the West. Nashville is 16-10-2 on the road and 14-15-0 at home. Predators defenseman Roman Josi has 12 points (two goals, 10 assists) in his past 10 games. The Sharks (15-35-5) have been off since a 4-0 loss to the Golden Knights on Monday.

Anaheim Ducks at Los Angeles Kings (10:30 p.m. ET; BSSD, BSW, BSSC)

This is the second of four games between the Kings (28-17-10) and Ducks (20-34-2) this season. Los Angeles won 5-2 at Anaheim on Nov. 24. The Kings wrap up a three-game homestand after splitting the first two games against the Columbus Blue Jackets (5-1 win) and Predators (4-1 loss). Drew Doughty is three assists from becoming the first Kings defenseman with 500. Ducks forward Frank Vatrano has seven points (four goals, three assists) in his past four games.