NHL On Tap: Sabres look for 9th straight win; Stars' point streak at 13

There are 14 games on the NHL schedule for Thursday, including one on nationally in the United States. Here are five things to watch today, along with the complete game schedule.

Buffalo buzzsaw

The Buffalo Sabres will go for their ninth straight win when they play the Washington Capitals at KeyBank Center (7 p.m. ET; MNMT2, MSG-B). The Sabres’ eight-game winning streak is their second longest of the season after a 10-game streak from Dec. 9-31. This is the first time they’ve had multiple winning streaks of eight-plus game in one season. More impressively, every win has come in regulation, the longest such streak for Buffalo in 20 years, since an eight-game regulation winning streak from March 3-16, 2006. Buffalo is 29-5-2 since Dec. 9 and has a four-point lead on the Tampa Bay Lightning for first in the Atlantic Division. The Capitals (32-27-7) are playing the second game in a back to back after losing 4-1 at the Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday. Alex Ovechkin needs two goals to join Wayne Gretzky as the only players in NHL history with 1,000 career goals in the regular season and playoffs combined.

Hey look, there’s Oil in Dallas

The Edmonton Oilers’ tour of the beasts of the Central Division continues at American Airlines Center, where they will play the red-hot Dallas Stars (8 p.m. ET; HULU, ESPN+, SNO, SN1). The Stars (40-14-10) are 12-0-1 since Jan. 23, a 13-game point streak that is tied for the second-longest in franchise history and tied for the third-longest point streak in the NHL this season. Dallas is five points behind the Colorado Avalanche for first place in the Central Division. The Oilers won in Colorado on Tuesday, 4-3, for their second consecutive win and third in four games. Connor McDavid had a goal and an assist against the Avalanche to pad his NHL scoring lead. He has 110 points (36 goals, 74 assists), six more than Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon and Tampa Bay Lightning right wing Nikita Kucherov. McDavid carries a 19-game road point streak into Dallas. He is a hat trick away from reaching 400 NHL goals. Edmonton (32-25-8) is tied for second in the Pacific Division with the Vegas Golden Knights, three points behind the first-place Anaheim Ducks.

‘Mack’ is back

Macklin Celebrini makes his annual return to Boston for the San Jose Sharks game at TD Garden against the Boston Bruins (7 p.m. ET; NBCSCA, NESN, SNP, SNE). Celebrini played one season of college hockey at Boston University in 2023-24 before the Sharks selected him with the No. 1 pick in the 2024 NHL Draft. He’s back in Boston with the Sharks in a playoff race, but ready to face a team that is on a heater at home. The Bruins (36-22-6) have won 13 consecutive home games, the seventh-longest home winning streak in team history. The Sharks (30-26-6) are one point behind the Seattle Kraken for fourth place in the Pacific Division and the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference. Celebrini has goals in four straight games and on Tuesday he became the third fastest teenager to reach 90 points in a season, doing it in 62 games. Sidney Crosby reached 90 points in 54 games in 2006-07 and Wayne Gretzky needed 56 games to get there in 1979-80.

Ducks are hunting

The Anaheim Ducks will try to build on their lead in the Pacific Division when they play the Toronto Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena (7 p.m. ET; TSN4, KCOP-13, Victory+). The Ducks (36-25-3) are three points ahead of the Oilers and Golden Knights with a game in hand on both. They have already surpassed their win total from last season (35) and are attempting to reach the playoffs for the first time since 2017-18. They have won three of their past four games and eight of 10 since Feb. 1. Toronto (27-27-11) has lost eight games in a row (0-6-2).

Seeing Red

The Tampa Bay Lightning will try to end a prolonged slump when they play the Detroit Red Wings in an important game for the Atlantic Division standings at Benchmark International Arena (7 p.m. ET; The Spot, FDSNDET, TVAS). The Lightning (39-20-4) have lost six of their past seven games, allowing 5.0 goals per game. Their only win in that stretch came against the similarly slumping but out-of-playoff contention Maple Leafs. They have fallen out of first place and are now tied with the Montreal Canadiens for second place in the Atlantic Division after Montreal’s 3-2 win against the Ottawa Senators on Wednesday. Meanwhile, the Red Wings (36-22-7) are coming off one of their hardest losses of the season, 4-3 to the Florida Panthers on Tuesday, when they had a 3-2 lead before allowing two goals in the final 90 seconds. They are 3-3-1 in seven games since coming back from the Olympic break. But a regulation win would put them one point behind the Lightning.

The schedule

San Jose Sharks at Boston Bruins (7 p.m. ET; NBCSCA, NESN, SNP, SNE)

Washington Capitals at Buffalo Sabres (7 p.m. ET; MNMT2, MSG-B)

Anaheim Ducks at Toronto Maple Leafs (7 p.m. ET; TSN4, KCOP-13, Victory+)

Detroit Red Wings at Tampa Bay Lightning (7 p.m. ET; The Spot, FDSNDET, TVAS)

Columbus Blue Jackets at Florida Panthers (7 p.m. ET; FDSNOH, SCRIPPS)

Calgary Flames at New Jersey Devils (7 p.m. ET; MSGSN, SNW)

St. Louis Blues at Carolina Hurricanes (7 p.m. ET; FDSNMW, FDSNSO)

Edmonton Oilers at Dallas Stars (8 p.m. ET; HULU, ESPN+, SNO, SN1)

Philadelphia Flyers at Minnesota Wild (8 p.m. ET; FDSNWIX, FDSNNO, NBCSP)

New York Rangers at Winnipeg Jets (8 p.m. ET; TSN3, MSG)

Chicago Blackhawks at Utah Mammoth (9 p.m. ET; Utah16, CHSN)

Nashville Predators at Vancouver Canucks (10 p.m. ET; SNP, FDSNSO)

Pittsburgh Penguins at Vegas Golden Knights (10 p.m. ET; SN-PIT, SCRIPPS, SNE, TVAS)

Colorado Avalanche at Seattle Kraken (10 p.m. ET; KHN/Prime, KING 5, KONG, KTVD, ALT2)