This article is part of our The Daily Puck series.
As you've probably heard, Sidney Crosby notched his 1,000th career point Thursday. He's the third player to hit that mark this season. You probably remember when Alex Ovechkin, the man forever connected to Crosby in the minds of hockey fans, notched his 1,000th point, but Henrik Sedin also tallied point 1,000 in a slightly more quiet fashion. That means there are eight active NHLers with 1,000 points. However, the natural question then becomes which player is going to hit the 1,000-point milestone next?
It may not surprise you to find out Henrik's brother Daniel is likely next in line to achieve this impressive mark. Daniel has 974 points, meaning he's only 26 points shy of 1,000. It's theoretically possible he could do it this season, but he'll have to pick up the pace. Through 58 games, he has 32 points this year. Daniel is 36, so he probably only has a couple more seasons in him, but he should definitely eclipse 1,000 points before his career is over.
The only other player within 100 points of 1,000 is Shane Doan, who has 964 points. However, it seems very unlikely he'll manage to cross the threshold. Doan is 40, and he only has 19 points this season. He'll really have to hang on in order to get the 36 points necessary. So, after Daniel Sedin notches his 1,000th point, expect to wait a little while for it to happen again.
Featured Matchups
Oilers (PP: 12, PK: 15) at Blackhawks (PP: 16, PK: 27), 7:00 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Cam Talbot (29-16-7, 2.37, .920), Corey Crawford (22-12-3, 2.57, .918)
Key Injuries:Andrew Ference (hip), Darnell Nurse (ankle), Tyler Pitlick (knee), Benoit Pouliot (undisclosed), Kris Russell (undisclosed)
The Oilers are hoping to become what the Blackhawks were for several seasons; the up-and-coming young team that makes good. Of course, even Chicago never had a player like Connor McDavid, who leads the league with 66 points. However, despite the talent on offense, it's actually the defense that has been better for Edmonton this season. They've only allowed 2.53 goals per game, and obviously Talbot has been even better than that. Chicago's penalty kill ranking is bad, but they started the year with the worst penalty kill by a wide margin. It's taken decidedly better play to even get them up to 27th. Oscar Klefbom has notched 146 shots in 58 games, scoring 10 goals on those shots. Patrick Maroon has a surprising 20 goals, and he also leads the Oilers with 73 penalty minutes. Artemi Panarin was suffering through a bit of a cold streak, but in his last five games he's notched seven points. Artem Anisimov leads the Blackhawks with 20 goals, but he has a 22.0 shooting percentage, which is likely unsustainable.
Senators (PP: 23, PK: 8) at Maple Leafs (PP: 2, PK: 9), 7:00 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Craig Anderson (13-7-1, 2.37, .926), Frederik Andersen (23-12-10, 2.75, .915)
Key Injuries:Joffrey Lupul (abdomen), Mitch Marner (upper body)
The Battle of Ontario actually means something this season, as both the Senators and Maple Leafs are in contention for the postseason. Toronto's games have certainly been exciting. They've scored 3.09 goals per game, allowed 2.88 goals per game, tallied 32.7 shots on goal per contest, and given up 32.5 shots. Since returning to action, Anderson has allowed three goals over two games, but his overall numbers are clearly impressive. If Marner can't play, he'll be missed, as he's registered 15 goals and 33 assists in 56 games, including 15 points on the power play. Marner actually leads the Maple Leafs in points, although Auston Matthews is only two points behind him, and Matthews has an impressive 27 goals. Nikita Zaitsev has notched 26 points from the blueline despite a 2.6 shooting percentage. Only two of his points have been goals. Ottawa has a few notable offensive players, but that means Zack Smith may be getting overlooked. He's tallied 13 goals and 15 assists in 53 games. Thirteen of those points have come since the beginning of January. Meanwhile, Bobby Ryan, who has four 30-goal seasons to his credit, only has 12 goals on 83 shots in 49 games.
Predators (PP: 17, PK: 13) at Wild (PP: 7, PK: 10), 8:00 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Pekka Rinne (22-14-6, 2.39, .920), Devan Dubnyk (31-10-3, 1.97, .933)
Key Injuries:Jonas Brodin (finger), Mathew Dumba (lower body)
Dubnyk still leads the NHL in GAA and save percentage. His play has gone a long way, as the Wild have allowed 30.8 shots on net per game. Minnesota's offense has also been impressive, as they've scored 3.28 goals per game. The Predators haven't been quite as strong offensively, but they have averaged 31.7 shots on net goal per contest. Minnesota has 10 players with at least 10 goals, led by Nino Niederreiter who has 19. Jason Pominville only has 10 goals, but that's on 124 shots on net. However, his 8.1 shooting percentage is higher than his shooting percentage in either of his last two seasons. Nevertheless, he has 22 points over his last 20 games, so fantasy owners can't complain too much. P.K. Subban has zero goals in 11 games since returning from injury, but he does have four assists over his last three games. He's also notched 28 shots on net in those games, so the goals could come soon. Ryan Johansen has a whopping 17 points on the power play.
Other Matchups
Blues (PP: 6, PK: 3) at Sabres (PP: 1, PK: 29), 1:00 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Jake Allen (22-14-3, 2.68, .903), Anders Nilsson (9-7-4, 2.67, .922)
Key Injuries:Zemgus Girgensons (abdomen), Kyle Brodziak (foot), Robby Fabbri (knee), Paul Stastny (lower body)
The Sabres have quite the disparity between their power play and their penalty kill. The goaltending situations for these two teams couldn't be more different. The Sabres have a team save percentage of .921, while the Blues' team save percentage is a woeful .896. Buffalo has needed their goalies to step up, because they've allowed 34.1 shots on net per game, the most in the league.
Jets (PP: 19, PK: 28) at Canadiens (PP: 8, PK: 23), 2:00 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Connor Hellebuyck (18-15-2, 2.80, .910), Carey Price (24-14-5, 2.46, .917)
Key Injuries:Marko Dano (lower body), Toby Enstrom (lower body), Tyler Myers (lower body), Ondrej Pavelec (concussion)
Mark Scheifele is one of the league leaders in points, as he's notched 58 in 57 games. This game also features two of the league's most prolific goal scorers, as Patrik Laine has 27 while Max Pacioretty has 28. However, Laine has played in 11 fewer games.
Capitals (PP: 5, PK: 4) at Red Wings (PP: 30, PK: 21), 2:00 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Braden Holtby (29-8-4, 2.02, .926), Petr Mrazek (12-15-6, 3.04, .901)
Key Injuries:Jonathan Ericsson (wrist), Jimmy Howard (knee), Gustav Nyquist (suspension), Joe Vitale (concussion), Andre Burakovsky (hand)
With Nyquist suspended, Detroit's terrible offense gets even worse. The Wings could really use Howard back. Mrazek has struggled mightily this season, and the Capitals have scored 3.41 goals per game.
Islanders (PP: 26, PK: 17) at Devils (PP: 24, PK: 16), 7:00 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Thomas Greiss (18-10-3, 2.53, .919), Cory Schneider (18-17-8, 2.64, .913)
Key Injuries:Kyle Quincey (upper body), Cal Clutterbuck (lower body), Mikhail Grabovski (concussion), Travis Hamonic (knee)
Andrew Ladd was tremendously maligned early this season as a free agent signing gone wrong, but he's finally turning it around. He has six goals and two assists in his last 10 games. Adam Henrique is tied for the team lead in goals for the Devils with 15, although he's only taken 102 shots on net in 57 contests. He scored 30 goals last year, but that was with a 20.1 shooting percentage. The perils of regression to the mean in action…
Sharks (PP: 22, PK: 14) at Coyotes (PP: 25, PK: 26), 8:00 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Martin Jones (28-15-5, 2.35, .913), Mike Smith (15-15-6, 2.84, .918)
Key Injuries:Lawson Crouse (lower body), Louis Domingue (lower body), Brad Richardson (leg), Joonas Donskoi (upper body)
Jones' save percentage is not impressive, but the Sharks have only allowed 27.4 shots on net per game so he still has a perfectly acceptable GAA. He may not have too much to worry about here, though, because the Coyotes have only scored 2.34 goals per game. An Arizona player can be found down in the Recommended Pickup section. San Jose's goal score is pretty centralized. Three players have at least 20 goals, Logan Couture has 19, and nobody else has more than seven.
Lightning (PP: 9, PK: 20) at Stars (PP: 18, PK: 30), 8:00 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Ben Bishop (14-12-3, 2.63, .910), Kari Lehtonen (12-18-6, 2.88, .902)
Key Injuries:Ales Hemsky (hip), Mattias Janmark (knee), Stephen Johns (illness), Johnny Oduya (lower body), Ryan Callahan (hip), Tyler Johnson (undisclosed), Steven Stamkos (knee)
Victor Hedman has 18 power-play points, so he is probably excited for a matchup with the league's worst penalty kill. Jonathan Drouin, meanwhile, has 15 power-play points in 48 games. Patrick Sharp has struggled to score, but he hasn't struggled to get shots on net. He only has one goal in his last eight games, but he tallied 29 shots on net in those contests. Overall, he's notched 98 shots on goal in 33 games.
Flames (PP: 13, PK: 19) at Canucks (PP: 27, PK: 24), 10:00 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Brian Elliott (12-13-2, 2.79, .898), Ryan Miller (15-16-3, 2.65, .916)
Key Injuries:Sven Baertschi (concussion), Derek Dorsett (neck), Erik Gudbranson (wrist)
If you're looking for one of those players who can get you points and penalty minutes, Matthew Tkachuk seemed primed to be just that sort of player. He's notched 36 points in 54 games, including 11 on the power play. However, he's spent plenty of time in the box as well, as he's tallied 92 penalty minutes. In addition to leading the Canucks with 18 points and 39 games, Bo Horvat has a plus/minus rating of zero, which is relatively impressive for this team.
Panthers (PP: 28, PK: 5) at Kings (PP: 20, PK: 7), 10:00 p.m.
Expected Goalies:James Reimer (10-6-4, 2.55, .915), Peter Budaj (26-17-3, 2.15, .916)
Key Injuries:Matt Greene (undisclosed), Jordan Nolan (lower body), Jonathan Quick (groin)
The Panthers are the one team playing Saturday who also played Friday, but with the way Roberto Luongo has played recently, Florida may not mind having Reimer in net. At least they have Jonathan Huberdeau back, who has hit the ground running. Only two players on the Kings, Jeff Carter and Tanner Pearson, have double-digit goals. Fortunately, Carter has 29, which is helping to carry this team offensively.
Recommended Pickup
Radim Vrbata, RW, ARI – It's easy to forget about Vrbata in Arizona. Nobody really seeks out the Coyotes for their viewing pleasure, and the best thing that could happen to Vrbata is for him to be traded. However, he's doing his best to improve his trade value. He's tallied 11 points in his last 13 games, including an assist in each of his last four games. Ten of those points have been assists, but that's not because Vrbata hasn't been trying to light the lamp. In those 13 games, he notched 46 shots on net. That's some bad puck luck. Vrbata has a 6.4 shooting percentage. He's been good, but if he gets luckier, or ends up with better teammates in the near future, he'll be even better.
