NHL On Tap: Kopitar closing in on milestones when Kings host Panthers

Welcome to the NHL On Tap, a daily look at the games on the NHL schedule. There are four games on the schedule for Wednesday, including two televised nationally in the United States and one in Canada:

Games of the day

Florida Panthers at Los Angeles Kings (10 p.m. ET; MAX truTV, TNT, SN360, TVAS)

The Panthers (28-17-3) and Kings (25-14-5) meet for the first of two games this season with Florida captain Aleksander Barkov looking to extend a nine-game point streak (13 points; three goals, 10 assists) against Los Angeles dating back to Feb. 23, 2019. Forward Adrian Kempe has scored in three straight, including a goal in a 5-1 loss against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Monday that ended the Kings’ nine-game home winning streak. Kings captain Anze Kopitar (1,254 points; 431 goals, 823 assists in 1,417 games) needs a goal to pass Dave Taylor for third place in Los Angeles history. Kopitar has 666 points (217 goals, 449 assists) in 705 home games and is three points shy of tying Luc Robitaille (669 points; 322 goals, 347 assists in 540 games) for second-most home points on the Kings' all-time list.

Boston Bruins at New Jersey Devils (7 p.m. ET; MSGSN, NHLN, NESN, TVAS-D)

Forward David Pastrnak has a four-game multipoint streak (11 points; five goals, six assists) for the Bruins (23-19-6), who will try to extend a four-game point streak (3-0-1) when they face the Devils (26-17-6) for the first time this season. This is the sixth such streak of Pastrnak's NHL career; the only Boston players to have longer multipoint streaks are Phil Esposito (18 times), Bobby Orr (13 times) and Brad Marchand (seven times). New Jersey will induct former coach Jacques Lemaire into its Devils Ring of Honor before trying to end a four-game losing streak (0-2-2) and a scoring slump; New Jersey is 2-6-3 in its past 11 games with 20 goals over that stretch.

Columbus Blue Jackets at Toronto Maple Leafs (7:30 p.m. ET; TVAS, SN, FDSNOH)

The Atlantic Division-leading Maple Leafs (30-16-2) seek their fourth win in a row powered by Auston Matthews, who has scored in four straight and needs one goal to become the sixth United States-born player to record nine consecutive 20-goal seasons. The Toronto captain has eight goals in nine games since returning from an upper-body injury. Mitch Marner, who is second in the NHL in assists (52) and fourth in points (67), has eight points (one goal, seven assists) during a four-game multipoint streak. The forward had a goal and two assists in Toronto’s 5-3 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday which moved him ahead of Borje Salming (122) for the most multi-assist games in Maple Leafs history. The Blue Jackets (22-18-7) are on a 6-1-1 run led by Zach Werenski, who is tied with Cale Makar of the Colorado Avalanche for the lead in goals (15) among defensemen and is one behind him in points (51).

Other Wednesday games

Winnipeg Jets at Colorado Avalanche (9:30 p.m. ET; KTVD, ALT, TSN3)

Center Nathan MacKinnon will seek to extend an 11-game home point streak (18 points; six goals, 12 assists) for the Avalanche (28-19-1), who are 2-3-0 in their past five following a 3-1 loss to the Minnesota Wild on Monday. Center Mark Scheifele is tied for fourth in the NHL in goals (27) for the Central Division-leading Jets (31-14-3), who have lost six of their past 10 games (4-4-2) after a 5-2 loss at Utah Hockey Club on Monday.