NHL storylines heading into final quarter of regular season

The 2017-18 NHL season entered its final quarter Saturday with 956 of 1,271 games completed (75.2 percent). A look at key storylines entering the remaining 315 games of the regular season.

QUICK HITS

First place in three of the League's four divisions is within reach for many teams, with the top two seeds separated by four or fewer points in the Metropolitan, Atlantic and Central Divisions.
The Vegas Golden Knights own a 12-point lead atop the Pacific Division. Vegas aims to become the first expansion team from either the NHL (since 1967-68), NBA (since 1961-62), MLB (since 1961) or NFL/AFL (since 1960) to finish atop the League standings, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
Washington Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin leads the League with 38 goals in pursuit of his seventh Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy. Ovechkin can become the second player in NHL history to finish a season with the most goals at least seven times (Bobby Hull: 7x).

Tampa Bay Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov leads the NHL with 82 points (33 goals, 49 assists) and is on track to win his first Art Ross Trophy. He leads a group of 43 players age 25 or younger who have at least 40 points this season. Among those players is New York Islanders center Mathew Barzal, whose 66 points (17 goals, 49 assists) lead all rookies.

PLAYOFF PICTURE: DRIVE FOR DIVISION TITLES

First place in three of the League's four divisions is within reach for many teams with one point separating Nos. 1-3 in the Metropolitan Division, five points between Nos. 1-3 in the Atlantic Division and two teams tied in terms of points for first place in the Central Division. The expansion Golden Knights are the only team with a lead of at least five points, 12 points over the San Jose Sharks in the Pacific Division.

Metropolitan Division

The Capitals (35-20-7, 77 points), who earned the League's top record in each of the past two seasons, sit atop their division, where the top four teams are separated by five points. This is contrary to the trend since 2013-14; the gap between the top two teams has been largest in the Metropolitan Division in every season during that span compared to the other three divisions (2013-14: 13 points; 2014-15: 12 points; 2015-16: 16 points; 2016-17: 7 points).

Atlantic Division

The Lightning (42-17-3, 87 points) lead the Atlantic Division and NHL after missing the playoffs last season. Tampa Bay has relinquished first place in the NHL for only six days since Nov. 28, never falling more than one point from the top spot. Only one team in the past 81 years has finished with the League's best record after missing the playoffs the previous season - the New York Rangers did so in 1993-94 en route to winning the Stanley Cup.

Central Division

The Nashville Predators (37-14-9, 83 points) lead their division -- with the Winnipeg Jets (37-16-9, 83 points) in second -- after advancing to the Stanley Cup Final in 2017. The Central has been the most tightly contested division since the League's current alignment was introduced in 2013-14, with the top two seeds separated by five or fewer points in each of the past four seasons (2013-14: 1 point; 2014-15: 5 points; 2015-16: 2 points; 2016-17: 3 points).

Pacific Division

The Golden Knights (41-16-4, 86 points), who have held first place in their division since Dec. 23, have established records for wins and points by an NHL team in its inaugural season. Vegas now looks to become the first expansion club from either the NHL (since 1967-68), NBA (since 1961-62), MLB (since 1961) or NFL/AFL (since 1960) to finish the season atop the League standings, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. The Golden Knights would become the second expansion team from any of the four North American professional sports leagues to finish first in its division, joining the NBA's Denver Nuggets who did so in 1976-77 (aside from 1967-68 Philadelphia Flyers, when all teams in the NHL's West Division were expansion clubs).

PLAYOFF PICTURE: WILD CARD PUSH

Overall, 22 teams either occupy a playoff spot or sit within five points of one, including 11 teams who were not part of the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs (East: the Lightning, Flyers, New Jersey Devils, New York Islanders, Carolina Hurricanes, Florida Panthers; West: Golden Knights, Jets, Dallas Stars, Los Angeles Kings, Colorado Avalanche).
The Eastern Conference features three teams -- the Islanders (63 games played), Hurricanes (62) and Panthers (59) -- who are outside the playoff picture but within five points of the second wild card position.
The Western Conference includes three teams outside the top eight - the St. Louis Blues (62 GP), Kings (62 GP) and Avalanche (61 GP) - who are within four points of a playoff spot.
Last season, seven teams made the playoffs after not qualifying in 2015-16 - matching the largest year-to-year change in NHL history. There has been a playoff turnover of at least five clubs in 10 of the past 12 seasons.

OVECHKIN LEADS GOALS RACE

Ovechkin leads the NHL with 38 goals as he pursues his seventh Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy. Ovechkin, who is four goals shy of 600 in his career, aims to become just the second player in NHL history to finish a season with the most goals at least seven times (Hull: 7x).
Ovechkin is being chased by 11 players who are within 10 goals of him, including seven other 30-goal scorers. The last season to feature at least eight 30-goal scorers at the three-quarter mark was 2009-10 (also eight players through 923 GP).
Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin, who has 76 points (36 goals, 40 assists) has three points in three of his past four games to move into second in the League in both goals and points. He is one of two active NHL players with multiple Art Ross Trophies (teammate Sidney Crosby).
Six of the top 10 in points have never won a scoring title, including Flyers forward Claude Giroux (74 points, 22 goals, 52 assists), Calgary Flames forward Johnny Gaudreau (73 points, 20 goals, 53 assists) and Jets forward Blake Wheeler (72 points, 18 goals, 54 assists), who rank third through fifth, respectively. No player from the Flyers or Jets/Thrashers franchise has ever won the scoring title.
Edmonton Oilers center Connor McDavid (71 points, 27 goals, 44 assists) ranks sixth as he aims to defend his scoring title, a feat not accomplished since Jaromir Jagr won four in a row from 1997-98 through 2000-01.

YOUNG STARS SHINE

There are 43 players age 25 or younger who have reached the 40-point mark this season -- including three of the League's top six point-getters (Kucherov, Gaudreau and McDavid). That group is highlighted by Barzal, who has used a three five-point games to catapult to the top of the rookie points race and into a tie for 12th in the League.
Meanwhile, Vancouver Canucks forward Brock Boeser (51 points, 27 goals, 24 assists) ranks second in rookie points and paces that group with 27 goals. Three other rookies have hit the 20-goal mark this season - Jets forward Kyle Connor (22), Lightning forward Yanni Gourde (22) and Blackhawks forward Alex DeBrincat (22).

Four goaltenders from the 25-and-under contingent have posted at least 20 wins this season. Tampa Bay's Andrei Vasilevskiy, 23, and Winnipeg's Connor Hellebuyck 24, rank first and second (tied) in the League with 36 and 32 wins, respectively. Vasilevskiy would become the 12th different goaltender in NHL history to finish a season with at least a share of the League lead in wins before celebrating his 24th birthday - Carey Price (2010-11) is the only goaltender to do so since 1996-97.