NHL On Tap: Wild seek point in 20th straight game against Blackhawks

There are 11 games on the NHL schedule for Thursday, with two nationally televised in the United States. Thursday also marks the 19th week of "NHL Coast to Coast," a weekly whip-around studio show on Prime Video in Canada that provides live look-ins, highlights and analysis of all the games. Here are five things to watch today, along with the complete game schedule.

Wild seek to extend success against Blackhawks

Kirill Kaprizov and the Minnesota Wild (39-18-12) look to extend a 19-game point streak against the Chicago Blackhawks when they clash at Grand Casino Arena in the back end of a home-and-home series (7:30 p.m. ET; HULU, ESPN+). Minnesota’s 4-3 overtime win at United Center on Tuesday stretched them to 18-0-1 against Chicago dating to Feb. 4, 2020, the longest active point streak by one NHL team against another and the longest point streak against one team in Wild history. Forwards Kaprizov and Matt Boldy are tied for third in the NHL with 38 goals each; Kaprizov is poised to reach 40 for the fourth time in his six NHL seasons and Boldy can hit 40 for the first time in his five seasons for Minnesota, which is third in the Central Division. Connor Bedard had two assists Tuesday and leads the Blackhawks (25-30-12) with 64 points (27 goals, 37 assists) in 54 games. The 20-year-old center is four points shy of surpassing his NHL career-best of 67 last season and three goals from reaching 30 for the first time.

Top of the Marn-ing

Mitch Marner and the Vegas Golden Knights can tighten the race for the Pacific Division lead when they host the Utah Mammoth at T-Mobile Arena (10 p.m. ET; HULU, ESPN+). The Golden Knights (31-23-14) are in third in the division, two points behind the first-place Anaheim Ducks and one behind the Edmonton Oilers. Marner, acquired by Vegas in a trade with the Toronto Maple Leafs on July 1, is second on the Golden Knights with with 69 points (19 goals, 50 assists) in 67 games. The forward is one point from becoming the third player with at least 70 points in his first season with Vegas and joining William Karlsson (78 in 2017-18) and Jonathan Marchessault (75 in 2017-18). The Mammoth (35-27-6) will try to tighten their grip of the first wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference, where they lead the Seattle Kraken and Los Angeles Kings by five points following a 6-3 win at the Dallas Stars on Monday that ended a four-game losing streak (0-2-2).

That's Original

The Montreal Canadiens (37-20-10) visit the Detroit Red Wings (37-23-8) in a pivotal Atlantic Division and Original Six showdown with plenty of playoff implications (7 p.m. ET; FDSNDET, TSN2, RDS). The Red Wings can pull into a tie in points with the Canadiens (and also with the Boston Bruins should they defeat the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday) for third place in the division. Forwards Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki each have three-game goal streaks for the Canadiens, who are 4-2-0 in their past six games. Caufield scored his NHL career-high 40th goal in a 3-2 overtime win against the Bruins on Tuesday. Forward Patrick Kane scored twice in a 5-2 victory against the Calgary Flames on Monday, the Red Wings’ second win in seven games (2-3-2).

McDavid nears more milestones

Connor McDavid will hit the ice two goals from 400 in his NHL career and one assist from 800 when the Edmonton Oilers host the Florida Panthers at Rogers Place (9 p.m. ET; TVAS, SNO, SNW, SCRIPPS) in a rematch of the previous two Stanley Cup Finals. The Oilers captain leads the NHL with 115 points (37 goals, 78 assists) in 69 games, four ahead of Tampa Bay Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov and Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon (111 each). McDavid has 1,197 points (398 goals, 799 assists) in 781 games with Edmonton, which is second in the Pacific Division, one point behind the Anaheim Ducks and one point ahead of Vegas. The Oilers (34-26-9) look to sweep the two-game season series against the Panthers, who defeated them in six games in the 2025 Stanley Cup Final and in seven in the 2024 Final. The Panthers (33-31-3) are trying to recapture some winning chemistry to make a run toward a playoff spot; they're 3-6-0 in their past nine games and sit 13 points behind the Red Wings for the second wild card from the East.

Buffalo soldiers

The Buffalo Sabres bring a team-record 11-game road point streak and a five-game road winning streak into their game against Macklin Celebrini and the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center (10 p.m. ET; NBCSCA, MSG-B). The Sabres (42-20-6) are 10-1-0 since returning from the Olympic break and haven't lost away from home since a 3-2 overtime defeat at the Lightning on Feb. 3. That’s propelled them into first place in the Atlantic Division, four points ahead of Tampa Bay and two points behind the Carolina Hurricanes for the top record in the Eastern Conference. The Sharks  (32-28-6) are one point behind the Kraken and Kings for the second wild card from the West. Celebrini, the 19-year-old center who is fifth in the NHL in scoring with 95 points (35 goals, 60 assists) in 66 games, needs a point to tie Joe Thornton for third-most points in a season in San Jose history (96 in 2007-08).

The schedule

Winnipeg Jets at Boston Bruins (7 p.m. ET; NESN, TSN3)

New York Islanders at Ottawa Senators (7 p.m. ET; RDS2, TSN5, MSGSN)

Montreal Canadiens at Detroit Red Wings (7 p.m. ET; FDSNDET, TSN2, RDS)

New York Rangers at Columbus Blue Jackets (7 p.m. ET; FDSNOH, MSG)

Chicago Blackhawks at Minnesota Wild (7:30 p.m. ET; HULU, ESPN+)

Seattle Kraken at Nashville Predators (8 p.m. ET; FDSNSO, KHN/Prime, KONG)

Florida Panthers at Edmonton Oilers (9 p.m. ET; TVAS, SNO, SNW, SCRIPPS)

Tampa Bay Lightning at Vancouver Canucks (10 p.m. ET; SNP, The Spot)

Utah Mammoth at Vegas Golden Knights (10 p.m. ET; HULU, ESPN+)

Buffalo Sabres at San Jose Sharks (10 p.m. ET; NBCSCA, MSG-B)

Philadelphia Flyers at Los Angeles Kings (10:30 p.m. ET; FDSNW, NBCSP)