Superstar captain Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins traditionally have had the Buffalo Sabres' number even though they have lost both encounters this season. The Penguins, who are 14-0-3 in their last 17 meetings with Buffalo, answered a 4-3 defeat to the Sabres on March 1 by winning five of their next six contests heading into Thursday's tilt at KeyBank Center.

Coming off their best performance in nearly two weeks, the New York Islanders resume their pursuit of first-place Washington when they host an old nemesis on Thursday night. New York has dropped three straight overall and eight of its last nine (1-6-2) at home to the Montreal Canadiens, including a 4-3 shootout loss on Nov. 5.

Rookie Carter Hart will attempt to provide a spark to the Philadelphia Flyers' flickering postseason aspirations on Thursday when he returns to the crease against the visiting Washington Capitals. The 20-year-old Hart has been sidelined since Feb. 21, when he sustained an ankle injury in the morning skate before attempting to play through the pain in an ill-fated start versus Montreal.

The St. Louis Blues have leveled off since ripping off a franchise-record 11-game winning streak and are trying to hold onto third place in the Central Division as they open a three-game road trip with a visit to the woeful Ottawa Senators on Thursday night. The Blues are trying to avoid their first three-game slide since Nov. 17-21.

The Tampa Bay Lightning look to match the franchise record for victories in a season and extend their winning streak in the series to 15 regular-season games when they visit the struggling Detroit Red Wings on Thursday night. The Lightning set club records with 54 wins and 113 points last season and are one shy of matching the most road wins in franchise history after recording No. 24 with a 6-2 rout at Toronto on Monday.

With Ben Bishop providing nearly an impenetrable shield in net, the Dallas Stars are holding down the top wild card in the Western Conference and breathing down the neck of third-place St. Louis for third place in the Central Division. The Stars go for their sixth win in seven games when they visit the Minnesota Wild on Thursday night.

After gaining at least one point in 19 consecutive games, the Boston Bruins have suffered consecutive regulation losses and look to reverse that trend while ending a three-game road trip on a high note Thursday at the Winnipeg Jets. The Bruins cut a four-goal deficit to one Tuesday at Columbus before falling 7-4, a game that emphasized Boston has to play with the same edge as teams fighting for playoff positioning with three weeks remaining in the regular season.

The Arizona Coyotes continue to exceed the expectations of just about everyone outside the organization as they continue their postseason push by hosting the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday. Arizona, which finished at the bottom of the Western Conference last season, was tabbed to do so again by most experts but instead owns the second wild-card spot in the West with a pair of challengers nipping at its heels.

The Nashville Predators finally ignited a dormant power play in their last outing, however, the end result was a second straight loss and fourth in six contests. The Predators bid for better results on Thursday when they continue their three-game trek through California with a visit to the Los Angeles Kings at Staples Center.

The San Jose Sharks used just about every second of the game to win their sixth straight last time out and look to match their season-high winning streak Thursday night when the Florida Panthers pay a visit. The Sharks received the winning goal from captain Joe Pavelski with 3.6 seconds left for a 5-4 victory at Winnipeg on Tuesday and have scored 25 times during their six-game run.