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ESPN staff
ESPN’s slate of exclusive broadcasts features a doozy Saturday: It’s a tripleheader on ABC and ESPN+, with Pittsburgh Penguins–Detroit Red Wings at 1 p.m. ET, Vegas Golden Knights–Dallas Stars at 3:30 p.m. ET, and capped off by the Boston Bruins hosting the New Jersey Devils at 8 p.m. ET.
The rush to the playoffs has reached the home stretch, and with the standings as tight as ever, these points are all the more important. Can the Penguins get back into the wild-card position? Will one of these two Western powers emerge as the No. 1 seed in that conference?
To help get you ready for the games, we’ve put together a guide on the key players to watch for each team, including in-depth statistical insights from ESPN Stats & Information, and more.
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1 p.m. ET | Watch live on ESPN+
Penguins
Power Rankings: 18
Leading scorer: Sidney Crosby (31 G, 57 A, 88 P)
2022-23 record: 39-30-10, fifth in Metropolitan Division
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Pittsburgh has lost three straight games, six of its last seven on the road, and has been outscored 31-15 in those seven games. The Pens have allowed at least one power-play goal in each of their past five road games, tied for their longest streak this season. Their last streak longer was an eight-game streak during the 2020-21 season.
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The trio of Sidney Crosby-Evgeni Malkin–Kris Letang are synonymous with the Penguins’ consistency. They are the highest active scoring trio in the NHL (3,412 combined points), with Crosby ranking first and Malkin fourth among active players in points. They each rank among the top five point scorers in Penguins history (Crosby second, Malkin third, Letang fifth), and are the only trio in NHL history to skate in at least one game together in 17 seasons.
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Pittsburgh has the oldest average active roster in the NHL, at 30.9 years old. The Penguins do not have a player 25 or younger among their top 11 point scorers this season (defenseman Pierre-Olivier Joseph is 12th, with 21 points at age 23). They have a total of 12 goals and 27 points from forwards age 25 or younger this season. Every other team has at least 40 points combined from skaters age 25 or younger.
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Since the beginning of March, Tristan Jarry has an .884 save percentage, which ranks 46th out of 58 goalies with at least five games played in that span. Before that run, Jarry had a .918 save percentage, which was 10th best among goalies with at least 20 games played.
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Crosby has averaged at least 1.00 points per game in all 18 seasons of his NHL career (he has clinched it for this season), which is one season shy of Wayne Gretzky for the most in NHL history. Crosby’s 53 points at 5-on-5 this season are his most since 2018-19 (61).
Red Wings
Power Rankings: 24
Leading scorer: Dylan Larkin (32 G, 46 A, 78 P)
2022-23 record: 35-33-10, seventh in Atlantic Division
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The Red Wings dropped a 7-6 shootout decision Thursday against the Sabres, and in the process were eliminated from playoff contention for the seventh straight season. Only the Sabres (11 seasons entering 2022-23) have a longer active playoff drought, which could be extended to a 12th season if Buffalo doesn’t rally. This streak comes immediately after the Red Wings made the playoffs for 25 consecutive seasons from 1990-91 through 2015-16, tied for third longest in NHL history.
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After games were played on Feb. 23, the Red Wings were technically in the second wild-card spot in the East with 64 points (they were tied in points with the Panthers, with three games in hand). But Detroit won just three of its next 15 games (3-11-1) to fall all the way down to sixth in the wild-card race.
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The Red Wings have earned a point in five of their past six games, averaging 4.67 goals per game in that span. Their 28 goals in the last six games are the most in the NHL since the span began March 28.
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Jake Walman has nine goals and nine assists for 18 points this season, but when he is on the ice at 5-on-5, the Red Wings have the higher quality of shots. According to Stathletes, every defensive partner that has played at least five minutes with Walman at 5-on-5 this season has an on-ice expected goal percentage over 50%.
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David Perron has picked up the offensive slack with seven goals in his past six games, which are the most in the NHL since March 28. His 13 points in his last 10 games are tied with Dylan Larkin for the most on the Red Wings since that span began March 20.
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Speaking of Larkin, the Red Wings captain matched his career high in goals at 32 with a tally Thursday against the Sabres (he also scored 32 in 2018-19). His three 30-goal seasons are tied with Pavel Datsyuk for second most on the Red Wings over the past 20 years (Henrik Zetterberg had four).
3:30 p.m. ET | Watch live on ESPN+
Golden Knights
Power Rankings: 5
Leading scorer: Jack Eichel (27 G, 38 A, 65 P)
2022-23 record: 49-22-8, first in Pacific Division
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Vegas has earned at least one point in 15 of the past 18 games played (13-3-2) dating to the start of March. That is the second-best points percentage in the league over that span, trailing only the Oilers (.861).
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Eight of those 13 wins since March 1 have been by one goal, continuing a season-long trend for Vegas. Its 25 one-goal wins in 2022-23 are tied with the Hurricanes for the most in the NHL.
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Six players who appeared in at least one game with Vegas during its historic run to the 2018 Stanley Cup Final remain with the team: William Carrier, William Karlsson, Jonathan Marchessault, Brayden McNabb, Reilly Smith and Shea Theodore. That season, Vegas became the sixth team in NHL history to reach the Cup Final in its first-ever trip to the postseason and third to do so in its inaugural campaign (1917-18 Toronto Arenas, 1967-68 St. Louis Blues).
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Jack Eichel, playing in his first full season with the Golden Knights after last season’s trade from Buffalo, was not on that Vegas team and, in fact, will make his Stanley Cup playoffs debut. Eichel will become the eighth player in NHL history to make his postseason debut after recording at least 400 career regular-season points, joining Mario Lemieux (1989), Dennis Maruk (1983), Marc Savard (2008), Olli Jokinen (2009), Taylor Hall (2018), Joe Sakic (1993) and Marcel Dionne (1976).
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Eichel leads the team with 27 goals, but he is far from the only goal-scoring option. Eichel is one of 11 skaters on Vegas with at least 13 goals (only the Kraken have more at or over that benchmark).
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If Vegas were a basketball team, its offense would be up-tempo in hopes of creating fast-break points. The Golden Knights average 3.10 shots off odd-man rushes per game this season, second behind the Panthers.
Stars
Power Rankings: 6
Leading scorer: Jason Robertson (45 G, 58 A, 103 P)
2022-23 record: 43-21-14, first in Central Division
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The Stars have scored 78 goals in the 19 games played since Feb. 25 (4.11 per game), the second-highest scoring average over that span, trailing only the Oilers (4.35 per game). Since relocating to Dallas in 1993-94, the Stars have not scored more than 81 goals over any 20-game span.
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Jason Robertson (45), Roope Hintz (35) and Jamie Benn (32) give the Stars a trio of 30-goal scorers for the first time since the 2015-16 season (Jason Spezza, Tyler Seguin, Benn).
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Robertson has 12 points in his past four games and 103 for the season, the fourth skater in North Stars/Stars history to hit triple digits in one season and the first since Dino Ciccarelli in 1986-97. Robertson, Ciccarelli (three straight) and Dave Gagner are the only skaters in franchise history to record consecutive 40-goal seasons.
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Another Stars skater who has been lighting the lamp lately is 38-year-old Joe Pavelski. He has goals in eight of his past nine games, and 12 of his past 16. Only Matt Boldy (14), David Pastrnak (13), Leon Draisaitl (13) and Nathan MacKinnon (12) have scored more goals over that span than Pavelski.
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The Stars have gotten off to good starts this season, scoring the game’s first goal in 47 of their 77 games played. Only the Avalanche (49) have scored first more often than Dallas.
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The Stars’ offensive strategy is to draw bodies to the front of the net in order to create traffic in front of their opponent’s goalie. Of their point shots, 78.7% are taken through traffic, which is second most in the NHL behind only the Islanders (81.2%). In addition, 52.6% of all shot attempts are through traffic, which is fifth highest behind the Islanders, Avalanche, Hurricanes and Flames.
Source: www.espn.com