NHL Buzz: Ovechkin sits out loss to Blue Jackets for rest

Welcome to the NHL Buzz. Each day during the regular season, NHL.com has you covered with all the latest news.

Washington Capitals

Alex Ovechkin sat out a 7-0 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday because of rest.

Ovechkin has 70 points (42 goals, 28 assists) in 62 games this season and became the NHL's all-time leading goal scorer last Sunday when he got goal No. 895 in a 4-1 loss to the New York Islanders to pass Wayne Gretzky.

On Friday, more than 3,000 fans were on hand at Capital One Arena for a celebration honoring Ovechkin.

Defenseman Jakob Chychrun also was a healthy scratch. He has a career-high 20 goals and 47 points in 72 games this season.

Washington has clinched the Metropolitan Division and No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference and will have home-ice advantage through at least the Eastern Conference Final. They have three regular-season games remaining.

Chicago Blackhawks

Patrick Maroon took the ice for the final game of his NHL career against the Winnipeg Jets at United Center on Saturday.

"It certainly kind of sank in last night," Maroon said. "You sit there and think about it a lot, the good times, the bad times, the adversity you go through, emotions you go through, the ups and downs with the players, the guys.

"Think the thing I'm thinking about the most is going to dinner with the guys. That's something I'll be missing a lot but yeah, this is my last and I'm going to cherish every moment."

The 36-year-old forward announced that this would be his final NHL season on March 22 prior to the Blackhawks' 4-1 loss to his hometown St. Louis Blues.

A sixth-round pick (No. 161) for the Philadelphia Flyers in the 2007 NHL Draft, Maroon has 323 points (126 goals, 197 assists) in 847 regular-season games with the Anaheim Ducks, Edmonton Oilers, New Jersey Devils, Blues, Tampa Bay Lightning, Minnesota Wild, Boston Bruins and Blackhawks. He won the Stanley Cup with the Blues in 2019 and the Lightning in 2020 and 2021.

"Lots of family and friends are coming into town to be part of this special night," Maroon said. "Hopefully we win the game and make it that much more special. I'm really looking forward to it."

Defenseman Alec Martinez announced before the game that it would also be the final game of his 16-year NHL career. Martinez won the Stanley Cup three times, with the Log Angeles Kings in 2012 and 2014 and the Vegas Golden Knights in 2023.

Chicago, which has been eliminated from Stanley Cup Playoff contention, has a two-game road trip to end the regular season following its game Saturday. -- Tracey Myers, staff writer

Toronto Maple Leafs

Oliver Ekman-Larsson did not play for the Maple Leafs against the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday.

The defenseman, who played a team-high 25:14 in a 4-3 overtime win against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Wednesday, did not practice Friday and is day to day with an undisclosed injury.

He did not play another shift after 1:23 of overtime when he fell awkwardly while on a breakaway.

"He'll be evaluated, you never know," coach Craig Berube said. "He's a tough guy but he won't be playing tomorrow."

The Maple Leafs will face the Carolina Hurricanes on Sunday.

Because of roster limitations under the NHL salary cap, the Maple Leafs are playing with 17 skaters against the Canadiens, and use five defensemen.

"It's always challenging but we've played games where we've lost a defenseman early in the game and you play with five," Berube said. "It's important that our forwards do a good job of helping our defense out tomorrow night and making sure they get back quick for breakouts and make the game easy on them as much as possible, not getting extended shifts in the D-zone and tiring your defense out. That'll be a big part of the game."

Defenseman Jake McCabe and forward David Kampf each missed his fourth straight game.

McCabe, who is out with an undisclosed injury, was not on the ice at practice on Friday while Kampf, who is out with an upper-body injury, skated on his own prior to the main session.

Berube said he expects McCabe to return prior to the end of the regular season. Toronto has four games remaining. -- Dave McCarthy

Edmonton Oilers

Mattias Ekholm left with an undisclosed injury against the San Jose Sharks on Friday, in his first game since missing seven straight and 13 of the 17, with an undisclosed injury.

Ekholm left the 4-2 win 6:41 into the first period, after playing 1:25 of ice time across two shifts.

The defenseman has 33 points (nine goals, 24 assists) in 64 games.

Forward Zach Hyman also left the game in the second period after playing 7:33 of ice time. There was no update on his status after the game. Hyman has 44 points (27 goals, 17 assists) in 73 games this season.

Goalie Stuart Skinner, who missed seven games with a head injury following a collision in the crease with Dallas Stars forward Mikko Rantanen on March 26, returned to back up Calvin Pickard on Friday.

Skinner is 24-18-4 with a 2.91 goals-against average and .894 save percentage in 49 games (48 starts).

Skinner will play one of the back-to-back games against the Winnipeg Jets on Sunday or the Los Angeles Kings on Monday.

Defenseman Jake Walman missed his second game with an undisclosed injury Friday, but is expected to return to the lineup either Sunday or Monday, Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch said.

The Oilers are third in the Pacific Division, two points behind the Los Angeles Kings and have played one more game. -- Gerry Moddejonge

Vancouver Canucks

Elias Pettersson won't play again this season for the Canucks because of an upper-body injury sustained during a 5-3 loss at the New York Rangers on March 22.

Pettersson had skated since but with Vancouver eliminated from the Stanley Cup Playoffs on Wednesday, coach Rick Tocchet said there was no point rushing the forward back.

"Probably going to shut [Pettersson] down," Tocchet said. "He's getting better, but at this point rather him just try to get back stronger."

Pettersson, who has missed nine games with this injury, was originally labeled day to day. Instead, he will finish this season, his first on an eight-year, $92.8 million contract (average annual value $11.6 million), with 45 points (15 goals, 30 assists) in 64 games.

"Originally I thought after a while maybe some pain but at this point it's progressing but not at the pace we want so why even play him?" Tocchet said. "That's kind of where we're at."

Forward Filip Chytil continues to make progress recovering from a concussion sustained on a hit into the boards on March 15 but also probably won't play again this season.

"He's putting some pretty good days together but why play him?" Tocchet said. "I'm not saying he's closer. I just like the way he's progressing, putting good days together."

Forward Nils Aman will miss the rest of this season after sustaining an upper-body injury on a hard collision into the boards during an April 4 practice. -- Kevin Woodley

Colorado Avalanche

Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar are among the Avalanche regulars who won't play during their two-game road trip to end the regular season in order to rest before the start of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

MacKinnon, along with fellow forwards Jonathan Drouin and Ross Colton, and defensemen Makar and Josh Manson did not travel for games at the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday and at the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday.

"We got a lot of guys dealing with stuff," Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said Friday. "The training room's full, as you can imagine, this time of the year and the schedule that we've been playing. So yeah, we'll make some informed decisions on some guys, and we're obviously not going to be able to [rest everyone]."

MacKinnon leads the Avalanche in goals (32) and assists (84) and is tied with Nikita Kucherov of the Tampa Bay Lightning for first in the NHL with 116 points. His streak of 209 consecutive regular-season games played came to an end Thursday.

Colorado is locked into third place in the Central Division, and will play the Dallas Stars or Winnipeg Jets in the first round.

"There's so many guys dealing with little things that you can't take them all out," Bednar said. "It's just not possible. So we'll pick and choose some guys that we want to make sure are feeling the best they can feel come next weekend (start of playoffs)."

Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog was loaned to the Colorado Eagles of the American Hockey League on a conditioning assignment Wednesday and played for the team on Friday. Landeskog has been working toward a return since undergoing cartilage transplant surgery in his right knee May 10, 2023. He last played in Game 6 of the 2022 Stanley Cup Final. -- Ryan Boulding

Tampa Bay Lightning

Luke Glendening will be out indefinitely with an upper-body injury and may not be available for the rest of the regular season.

The forward has seven points (four goals, three assists), averaging 10:47 of ice time in 77 games, to go along with 105 hits and 58 blocked shots.

He has not missed a game due to injury this season, only missing one game due to the birth of his child.

The Lightning have three regular-season games remaining before the Stanley Cup Playoffs begin. They have qualified for the postseason. They are second in the Atlantic Division, two points behind the Toronto Maple Leafs and two ahead of the Florida Panthers.

Dallas Stars

Tyler Seguin is nearing a return to the lineup for the Dallas Stars.

The 33-year-old forward has missed the past 56 games after undergoing hip surgery on Dec. 5.

After several weeks of noncontact practices and morning skate participation, Seguin has started practices with contact this week.

"[He] is knocking on the door to come back," Dallas coach Pete DeBoer said prior to a 4-0 loss to the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday. "He's taking contact, he's taking full practices."

Seguin had 20 points (nine goals, 11 assists) in 19 games prior to the surgery.-- Taylor Baird