Let's begin with an Ovechkin update. Alex Ovechkin scored goal number 888 on Thursday, which means he is seven goals away from breaking Gretzky's goal record. Ovechkin now has 35 goals, which ties him for fourth in that category. What's more remarkable is the fact that Ovie has reached that goal total in just 53 games.

The Great 8 scores goal #888#ALLCAPS Alex Ovechkin is on pace to become the NHL's all-time goals leader on April 13 vs the Blue Jackets pic.twitter.com/YSSgQyxqFh

— Sportsnet Stats (@SNstats) March 20, 2025

With a 3-2 win, the Capitals are now the first team to clinch a playoff spot this season, reaching the 100-point mark in 69 games. Quite an improvement from last season, when they were the last team to clinch a playoff spot.

–

The Edmonton Oilers could potentially be without both Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid in their next game on Saturday against Seattle. Draisaitl missed Thursday's game with an undisclosed day-to-day injury, while McDavid left Thursday's game in the second period after getting checked in the ribs by Josh Morrissey (no update after the game). It goes without saying that missing both McDavid and Draisaitl would be a huge blow for the Oilers, who haven't had an easy time since the 4 Nations break. Fantasy teams would also have a massive void to fill on Saturday if one or both superstars are out of the lineup.

Connor McDavid is done for the night after sustaining a lower-body injury. pic.twitter.com/hgg3QDlhS6

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) March 21, 2025

Missed games are a rare occurrence for Draisaitl, who missed just his sixth game in seven seasons. Draisaitl has already reached 100 points, trailing only Nathan MacKinnon in the scoring race. Draisaitl is also just one goal shy of 50.

Stuart Skinner isn't in the same echelon as Draisaitl or McDavid. That being said, the Oilers' starting goalie was pulled by the concussion spotter late in the third period after being bumped in the crease (also no update after the game).

Without Draisaitl, McDavid, and Skinner, another Skinner stepped up for the Oilers. Jeff Skinner scored a pair of goals on four shots in what turned out to be a 4-3 overtime loss to Winnipeg. Skinner had been elevated to the top power play in this game because of Draisaitl's absence, although neither goal was with the man advantage. Skinner had not registered a point in nearly a month (since February 23), but his value could change suddenly with openings resulting from the injury situation. Skinner began this game on a line with McDavid and Zach Hyman, who scored Edmonton's other goal. If you're feeling confident, Skinner is sub-50% rostered in both Yahoo and Fantrax.

Earlier in the day, Evander Kane skated with the Oilers for the first time since surgery. Kane is expected to miss the rest of the regular season, but he may return for the playoffs.

Kane's attendance at the skate was perhaps overshadowed by that of new Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who was also at the skate. Carney was a goalie who played one game for Harvard back in 1984-85. If you want me to discuss any more politics here, then you’ve come to the wrong place.

–

How is your fantasy playoff week going? After finishing first overall in the regular season, I'm in my first-round playoff matchup right now. No bye, just eight of the 14 teams in the playoffs. As you probably know by now, nothing is guaranteed in the fantasy playoffs. On top of that, I'm without Kirill Kaprizov and Shea Theodore due to injury. Has my team really been worse off since the Kaprizov injury, which happened right before Christmas? Well, remove the week where Kaprizov returned briefly, and my team is 5-1-2, with four of the wins happening in the last four weeks – four weeks that I have also been without Theodore. Maybe my team has adjusted, but truthfully I played all non-playoff teams for those last four weeks. So now I’m back to my statement about nothing being guaranteed.

I could have had a great day on Thursday, except that Linus Ullmark allowed four first-period goals to Colorado before being pulled for Anton Forsberg. I considered benching Ullmark because of the opponent, but decided to start him with the Avalanche playing the second game of back-to-backs on the road and neither of my other goalies (Thompson, Dostal) starting. If you don't like the matchup, trust your gut and don't be afraid to sit your goalie! Hopefully this doesn't cost me my entire matchup, although if it does there will be more to blame than goaltending.

Brock Nelson scored his first two goals with the Avalanche in his seventh game with the team. Nelson entered this game with just two assists in his first six games. Although he has been bumped down to the Avs' second power play, Nelson scored one of his goals on the power play.  

–

The St. Louis Blues look like they could legitimately grab the final wild card spot in the West, pushing the play on the Canucks on Thursday. Dylan Holloway scored a goal and added an assist in the 4-3 overtime win over the Canucks. Holloway now has nine points over his last five games, including multiple points in each of his last three games. Holloway also filled the peripheral stat categories on Thursday with seven hits and three blocks.

The only St. Louis player that might be hotter than Holloway is Jordan Kyrou. With an assist on Thursday, Kyrou has nine points over his last four games. Kyrou also has back-to-back games with four shots.

The Canucks were able to salvage a point thanks to Brock Boeser's second goal of the game with just three seconds left in regulation. Since being held without a goal for 12 consecutive games, Boeser has two goals in back-to-back games. The Canucks will need more consistent goal scoring from Boeser in order to secure the final wild card in the West.

–

Elvis Merzlikins made it to the end of regulation without allowing a goal, but then Aleksander Barkov scored 27 seconds into overtime to give the Panthers a 1-0 overtime win and make Merzlikins the hard-luck losing goalie. Elvis has now failed to earn a win in his last five games, dating all the way back to March 1. As a result, the Blue Jackets have fallen out of one of the wild card spots in the East.

Sergei Bobrovsky pitched a 25-save shutout, which is his fifth of the season. Only Connor Hellebuyck has more shutouts than Bobrovsky, who is tied for second with three other goalies.

–

In the Leafs' 4-3 win over the Rangers, John Tavares led the way with two goals and an assist with four shots on goal. Tavares reached 1100 career points in this game, making him the eighth active player and 68^th player overall to reach that mark.

Jake McCabe registered three assists, breaking an eight-game point drought. If you like plus-minus and the Leafs (and what hockey fan doesn't like both!), you'll like this stat: Chris Tanev and McCabe lead the Leafs with a plus-29 and plus-23, respectively. No other Leaf has double-digit positive plus-minus.

Artemi Panarin scored a goal and added an assist, extending his point streak to 11 games. Panarin has 16 points over that 11-game stretch.

–

In the Flames' come-from-behind 5-3 win over New Jersey, Jonathan Huberdeau scored the game-winning goal while adding an assist. Huberdeau has been heating up recently with six points in his last five games. As well, he has tied last year's output with 52 points and is just four points shy of a Flames career best. Huberdeau is currently on pace for 63 points, which would still not come close to his Florida numbers but would represent better value recouped from his $10.5 million cap hit. Huberdeau's 26 goals this season is just one goal shy of his combined goal output in the previous two seasons combined.  

–

By losing 3-1 to the Kings on Thursday, the Chicago Blackhawks have officially been eliminated from playoff contention. That should come as a shock to absolutely no one.

–

Bo Horvat scored two goals including the overtime winner for the Islanders in their 4-3 win over Montreal. Horvat is how with four points over his last four games. Horvat is doing his part in keeping the Islanders in the wild card race and for fantasy teams, taking a minimum of three shots in each of his last seven games. Over that span (since March 8), no player has taken more shots than Horvat (30 SOG).

–

Pavel Dorofeyev picked up a hat trick on Thursday night, giving him 30 goals on the season. That places him in the top 20 among goal scorers this season. Bet you never saw that coming! Dorofeyev is also in the top 20 in power-play goals (12), so he has totally taken advantage of playing on the Vegas PP1. I could type more on Dorofeyev, but it's getting late and I don't feel like stealing Andrew's thunder in this week's Looking Ahead.

–

Why am I not surprised that this happened to Buffalo…

OH NO BUFFALO

The Sabres scored an OWN GOAL with the goalie pulled AND a delayed penalty coming to Utah 😭😬 pic.twitter.com/pLtnqagQrW

— Gino Hard (@GinoHard_) March 21, 2025

Mikhail Sergachev came through for Utah, scoring two goals with three shots and a plus-4 in 24 minutes.

Conversely for the Sabres, Rasmus Dahlin was held without a point with two shots and a minus-4. Dahlin has been coming up cold in the scoring department recently with just a single point in his last six games. He's had a solid season with 51 points in 59 games, but could his value improve even more with a move out of Buffalo?

–

If you’re always on the lookout for very deep league power-play additions, Luca Cagnoni made his NHL debut on the Sharks’ top power play on Thursday. Cagnoni did not score a point, but he logged 23:15 in icetime, which isn’t bad for a rookie. The Sharks have been auditioning defensemen on the top power play since Jake Walman was traded, with the 20-year-old fourth-round pick from 2023 getting the latest tryout. Cagnoni has posted big numbers in the WHL and in his first AHL season. As the Sharks climb out of their rebuild, the right guy here could hold significant fantasy value one day.

–

Follow me on X @Ian_Gooding and Threads @goodsfantasyhockey and Bluesky @goodsfantasyhockey.bsky.social