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Around the NHL: Ovechkin honors Marc-Andre Fleury, Oilers’ McDavid, Stars’ Seguin close to returning
Alex Ovechkin, Washington Capitals and Marc-Andre Fleury of the Minnesota Wild.
Photo credit: Matt Krohn-Imagn Images
Jeremy Tingly
Mar 31, 2025, 07:00 EDTUpdated: Mar 30, 2025, 23:33 EDT
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The Stanley Cup Playoffs are quickly approaching, with most teams around the league having less than 10 games left in their 2024-25 regular seasons. The storylines are flying off the charts with the season winding down, and there’s lots to talk about as the postseason creeps closer.
From Alex Ovechkin chasing Wayne Gretzky’s goal-scoring record, to tight playoff races in both conferences, hockey fans will be entertained in a major way to finish off, what’s been, an electric campaign. Without further ado, here’s the very latest from around the NHL:

Alex Ovechkin shows love to Marc-Andre Fleury

In one of the classiest moves you’ll ever see, after the conclusion of the Washington Capitals-Minnesota Wild game on March 27, Ovechkin rounded up his Caps’ teammates, and made their way to centre ice to shake the hand of Wild goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury
Fleury is retiring at the end of this season, and putting a bow on his hall-of-fame worthy career. The 40-year-old netminder spent 13 seasons with the Pittsburgh Penguins, heated rivals of the Capitals, and he’s certainly had a slew of battles with Ovechkin and his Capitals over the years.
“I think I gave him a bit of a boost,” Fleury told NHL.com Mar.27 in his postgame availability. “‘Ovi’ scored a lot of goals against me. I know I’m the one he’s scored the most goals against. But on the flip side, I’m happy to have played so many games against him. There was such a great rivalry with the Caps and with Ovi.”
Ovechkin scored 28 goals in 47 career regular season games against Fleury, the most for him against any NHL goaltender. Fittingly, Ovechkin scored in his last game against Fleury, and added another Sunday night against the Buffalo Sabres, career goal 890, moving him just five away from breaking Gretzky’s record. The Capitals have nine games remaining this season.

Connor McDavid expected to back before end of regular season

Edmonton Oilers superstar Connor McDavid is getting healthier by the day, and should be able to get back into regular-season action for the Oilers. McDavid has been out of the lineup since Mar.20, after suffering a lower-body injury.
McDavid didn’t travel with the Oilers on their current four-game road trip, however, head coach Kris Knoblauch shared some positivity with NHL.com’s Derek Van Diest.
“He might join us later on the trip, but not now,” Knoblauch said. “We know a ballpark point where it’s going to be and it’s not going to be the next game or two. We feel it should be before the regular season ends, so we’re looking at one, two (weeks), at the most three, because that’s what we have left in our season, but he’ll be [back] before the regular season is over.”
McDavid has recorded 90 points on the season, through his 63 games. His 90 points ties him with Maple Leafs’ winger Mitch Marner for fifth in the league. Impressive feat considering he’s missed a quarter of the season. McDavid hasn’t played more than 76 games in a year since the 2022-23 season.

Stars hopeful Tyler Seguin close to returning

Tyler Seguin is back on the ice with his Dallas Stars’ teammates, and so far so good on his potential return to the lineup. Seguin participated in the Stars’ morning skate on Saturday, prior to their 5-1 win over the Seattle Kraken.
Seguin was heating up before he underwent hip surgery Dec.5, recording 20 points in his 19 games leading up to his procedure. The Stars have him on long-term injured reserve for now, and used the added cap space to trade for Mikko Rantanen prior to the deadline.
Stars’ head coach Peter DeBoer spoke to reporters recently on what he’s seen from Seguin of late, and shed some light on the timeline for his return. “We’ve got a whole sports science department that really comes up with a plan on work rate and workload, and you can see they monitor everything,” DeBoer said on how Seguin is working his way back to game speed. “Everything is structured and orchestrated, so we just try and follow the recommendations, but he’s taken some big steps.”
The Stars have won five in a row, are 7-1-2 in their last 10 games, and are holding down the second spot in the Central Division.

Quick hits from around the NHL

  • Oilers’ forward Leon Draisaitl hit 50 and 51 goals on the season in a thrilling overtime win over the Calgary Flames Saturday night. Draisaitl is running away with the Rocket Richard trophy chase, stretching his lead over Maple Leafs forward William Nylander to nine.
  • St. Louis Blues signed top prospect Jimmy Snuggerud to a three-year, entry-level contract this past weekend. The Minnesota Golden Gopher has recorded 51 points in 40 games this NCAA season.
  • Minnesota Wild defenseman David Jiricek is out for the season due to a lacerated spleen.
  • The Philadelphia Flyers fired head coach John Tortorella. Tortorella made some interesting comments after losing to the Toronto Maple Leafs 7-2 on Tuesday, and put all the necessary writing on the wall for management to pull the trigger. Daily Faceoff’s Anthony DiMarco wrote about on all the events that led to the decision.
  • Anze Kopitar called teammate Quinton Byfield the Los Angeles Kings’ best player ‘for quite a while now’. Byfield is up to 19 goals, and 44 points, in 72 games this season.
  • Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby scored in the first period of a 7-3 loss to the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday, to establish a new NHL record of 20 seasons with a point per game or better.
  • Nashville Predators GM Barry Trotz made some interesting comments last week regarding both Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Marchessault. “One of the things that I learned about, in terms of the legacy players, they do take longer to assimilate and to feel comfortable and to feel like it’s more their team,” Trotz said, referencing Stamkos and Marchessault. “So I’m hoping those legacy players feel more comfortable in Nashville and assimilate better next year. That’s the one take I can honestly say I thought it would be a little quicker and it wasn’t.”

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