NHL On Tap: Maple Leafs, Islanders complete home-and-home set

Welcome to the NHL On Tap, a daily look at the games on the NHL schedule. There are 12 games on the schedule for Thursday, including one nationally televised in the United States. Thursday also marks the 12th week of "NHL Coast to Coast," a weekly whip-around studio show on Prime Video in Canada.

Games of the day

Toronto Maple Leafs at New York Islanders (7:30 p.m. ET; HULU, ESPN+, SNO)

The Maple Leafs (23-13-2) and Islanders (14-17-7) are playing a rematch of their game on Tuesday, a 3-1 win for the Maple Leafs that came after a run of three losses in four games. The go-ahead goal came from Steven Lorentz, his first since Nov. 5. Toronto has been without Auston Matthews for the past five games, winning two and losing three. Matthews was placed on injured reserve with an upper-body injury on Tuesday, retroactive to Dec. 20, which leaves open the possibility of returning at any time. He practiced with the team Monday, his first time since being injured. John Tavares has an eight-game point streak (seven goals, six assists). The Islanders are 2-5-0 in their past seven games.

Minnesota Wild at Washington Capitals (7 p.m. ET; FDSNWIX, FDSNNO, MNMT)

It’s a clash of two of the NHL’s best, between the Wild (23-11-4) and the Capitals (25-10-2). The Wild have won three of four. The Capitals have won four of six. Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin is now 25 goals from taking the all-time goals record from Wayne Gretzky, who scored 894 in his career. Ovechkin has a goal in two of three games since he returned from injury, missing 16 games with a fractured fibula. Goalie Filip Gustavsson is one win from a tie for fifth place on the Wild’s win list. The Wild lost defenseman Jared Spurgeon to a lower-body injury at 3:19 of the second period of their 5-3 win on Tuesday against the Nashville Predators; there has been no update on his status.

Carolina Hurricanes at Florida Panthers (7 p.m. ET; FDSNSO, SCRIPPS)

Two of the Eastern Conference heavyweights, with nearly identical records, will match up at Amerant Bank Arena on Thursday, when the Hurricanes (22-13-2) visit the Panthers (23-13-2). The Hurricanes have lost three of four games. Andrei Svechnikov is one assist away from becoming the fourth player from the 2018 NHL Draft to hit 200 assists, joining Quinn Hughes (324), Rasmus Dahlin (246) and Brady Tkachuk (206). The Panthers ended a two-game losing streak in which they’d been shut out in each game with a 5-3 win against the New York Rangers on Tuesday. The Panthers are 15-0-0 when entering the third period with a lead this season.

Other Thursday games

Boston Bruins at New York Rangers (7 p.m. ET; NESN, MSG, SNP, SNE, TVAS)

The Bruins (20-15-4) are 5-2-1 in their past eight games. Brad Marchand has 14 points (seven goals, seven assists) in his past 13 games. The Rangers (16-19-1) have lost four straight and 15 of their past 19 games. Artemi Panarin became the fastest player to 500 points with the Rangers when he got his 335th assist on Tuesday, along with 165 goals in 384 games with New York.

Detroit Red Wings at Columbus Blue Jackets (7 p.m. ET; FDSNOH, FDSNDET)

The Red Wings (15-18-4) are 2-1-0 since hiring coach Todd McLellan. The Blue Jackets (16-16-6) have won three of four games. Zach Werenski has a home point streak of 13 games as the Blue Jackets have moved within two points of the final Wild Card spot in the East. Werenski has 25 points (eight goals, 17 assists) in the streak.

Ottawa Senators at Dallas Stars (8 p.m. ET; Victory+, TSN5, RDS2)

The Senators (19-15-2) got their fourth game-winning goal of the season from Josh Norris in a 3-1 win against the Minnesota Wild on Sunday. Brady Tkachuk (178) needs two more goals to tie Dany Heatley (180) for fifth-most in franchise history. The Stars (22-13-1) are 6-3-1 in their past 10 games. Jason Robertson, who had a goal and two assists on Tuesday, has five points in his past two games.

Anaheim Ducks at Winnipeg Jets (8 p.m. ET; TSN3, KCOP-13, Victory+)

The Ducks (15-17-4) have won two games in a row, both of them coming on game-winning goals by Ryan Strome in the final five minutes of regulation. He’s the 14th player in NHL history to do so. The Jets (27-11-1) are led by Kyle Connor, who has 51 points (22 goals, 29 assists) in 39 games this season, just 10 points behind the 61 he scored last season. His career high is 93 points (47 goals, 48 assists) in 2021-22.

Buffalo Sabres at Colorado Avalanche (9 p.m. ET; KTVD, MSG-B, ALT)

The Avalanche (23-15-0) have won five straight. Nathan MacKinnon finished out 2024 with 143 points (46 goals, 97 assists) in the calendar year, including 61 points (14 goals, 47 assists) in 38 games this season. The Sabres (14-20-4) had won three straight before dropping a game to the Dallas Stars on Tuesday, 4-2. Rasmus Dahlin needs one goal to tie Mike Ramsey (73) for the second-most in franchise history by a defenseman.

Utah Hockey Club at Calgary Flames (9 p.m. ET; SNW, Utah16)

The Utah Hockey Club (16-15-6) has lost five in a row (0-4-1). Logan Cooley has an 11-game road point streak, the 10th player in NHL history to do so at age 20 or younger; Nathan MacKinnon (16 games in 2013-14), Auston Matthews (11 in 2016-17) and Sidney Crosby (11 in 2007-08) are the only ones to do it in the past 30 years. The Flames (18-12-7) have won three of four games. Dustin Wolf is 10-1-1 with a 1.97 goals-against average and .937 save percentage in 12 home starts in 2024-25.

Philadelphia Flyers at Vegas Golden Knights (10 p.m. ET; SCRIPPS, NBCSP+, SNO, SNE, SN360, TVAS)

The Flyers (17-17-4) lost goalie Samuel Ersson to injury after the second period in their win against the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday, resulting in the fourth shared shutout in their history after Aleksei Kolosov came on in relief. The Golden Knights (25-9-3) had won six straight before a 3-2 loss to the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday. Noah Hanifin has three goals in his last five games.

Vancouver Canucks at Seattle Kraken (10 p.m. ET; KHN, KONG, SNP)

The Canucks (17-11-8) have lost five of six games. J.T. Miller has five assists in a four-game point streak. The Kraken (17-19-2) have won their past two games. Kaapo Kakko has three points in his past three games for the Kraken (one goal, two assists) after being traded there from the New York Rangers on Dec. 18. He went scoreless in his first two games in Seattle.

Tampa Bay Lightning at San Jose Sharks (10:30 p.m. ET; FDSNSUN, NBCSCA)

The Lightning (20-12-2) are led on the road by Nikita Kucherov, who has the most points away from home in the NHL with 34 (nine goals, 25 assists) in 16 games. The Sharks (11-23-6) are 0-7-1 in their past eight games and 1-10-1 in their past 12. Rookie Macklin Celebrini has 27 points (12 goals, 15 assists) in 28 games.