NHL Previews

The Dallas Stars have already clinched a playoff berth, while the Seattle Kraken have already been eliminated. But there’s still plenty on the line when Dallas hosts Seattle on Saturday afternoon. The Stars (50-21-9, 109 points) enter the weekend one point behind the New York Rangers for the Presidents’ Trophy, which goes to the team with the best regular-season record and includes home-ice advantage throughout the playoffs. The Stars also have yet to clinch the

After 79 games, the Winnipeg Jets and Colorado Avalanche are tied in the standings and are playing for home-ice advantage in the first round. Winnipeg (49-24-6, 104 points) and Colorado (49-24-6, 104 points) will face off Saturday afternoon in Denver. The winner of Saturday’s clash will grab control of second place in the Central Division and home ice in the likely first-round matchup between the teams. If the Jets prevail — as they have in

The Detroit Red Wings’ push for the playoffs has been slowed to a crawl after the team dropped seven of their past nine games (2-4-3). The Red Wings (38-32-9, 85 points) will look for a reversal of fortune on Saturday night when they visit Auston Matthews and the Toronto Maple Leafs (46-24-9, 101 points). Detroit’s latest setback was a 6-5 overtime loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday. That additional point secured by Pittsburgh represents

Two days after allowing nine goals, the Philadelphia Flyers ended their ugly eight-game losing streak (0-6-2) and lived to see another day in the playoff chase for the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. Philadelphia’s next chance at improving its position for the playoffs occurs Saturday when it hosts the New Jersey Devils. The Flyers (37-32-11, 85 points) are one point behind the Pittsburgh Penguins for the final wild-card spot and share the same

Time is running out for the Washington Capitals, whose weekend plans will include some scoreboard watching. The Eastern Conference’s No. 2 wild-card holder as Thursday night’s games began, the Capitals (37-31-11, 85 points) could not top the Buffalo Sabres and fell out of the final postseason spot in a 4-2 loss. They desperately need two points Saturday when the Tampa Bay Lightning come to the nation’s capital. “Especially early on, I thought we did a

The New York Rangers and New York Islanders may get together in a first-round playoff series for their first postseason encounter since 1994. But it might not happen the way the Rangers envisioned, especially if Saturday afternoon’s visit from the Islanders winds up becoming a third straight loss. The Rangers (53-23-4, 110 points) head into their penultimate game still ahead of the Carolina Hurricanes atop the Metropolitan Division. They held a five-point lead going into

The Carolina Hurricanes look to keep the good times rolling when they visit the St. Louis Blues on Friday. The Hurricanes (50-22-7, 107 points) are 14-3-1 since March 7 and have won five of their past six, including a three-game winning streak heading into the contest against the Blues. They’re coming off a 4-1 win against the Boston Bruins on Tuesday and have outscored the opposition 19-7 in their past six games. Four of those

The Washington Capitals continue what they hope will be a sprint to the playoffs when they visit the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday night. Washington (37-30-11, 85 points) holds the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference. The Detroit Red Wings and Pittsburgh Penguins each have 84 points. All three teams have four games remaining and Detroit plays Pittsburgh on Thursday, guaranteeing one of them two points. If Washington wins out,

Toronto Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews will continue his pursuit of history Thursday night in a rematch against the visiting New Jersey Devils. Matthews scored his 66th goal in Toronto’s 5-2 road victory over the Devils on Tuesday. Matthews, who extended his goal streak to six games (seven goals), passed Alex Ovechkin (65 goals in 2007-08) for the most goals in a season by an active player. “It’s cool (to pass Ovechkin). He’s obviously who