'Wednesday Night Hockey': 5 Storylines

Two of the best offenses in the NHL face off in the first half of a "Wednesday Night Hockey" doubleheader when the Chicago Blackhawks visit the Toronto Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena (7 p.m. ET; NBCSN, SN, TVAS). Toronto (42-22-5) is fourth in the NHL with 246 goals (3.57 per game) and Chicago (30-30-9) is eighth with 234 (3.36). The Maple Leafs and Blackhawks combined for 13 goals in their first game this season, a 7-6 overtime win by Toronto at United Center on Oct. 7.

In the second game, the Edmonton Oilers (31-31-7) will count on two of the most dynamic offensive players in the NHL, center Connor McDavid and forward Leon Draisaitl, to help them continue a late-season surge when the New Jersey Devils (25-36-9) come to Rogers Place (9:30 p.m. ET; NBCSN, SN1).
Here are 5 storylines to watch:

Blackhawks making unlikely playoff push

It's been a wild season in Chicago, where the Blackhawks fired coach Joel Quenneville 15 games into the season, dropped far behind the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference under Quenneville's replacement, Jeremy Colliton, but have gotten within six points of the last playoff berth in the West because of an offensive revival. The Blackhawks have three 30-goal scorers (Patrick Kane, Alex DeBrincat and Jonathan Toews) for the first time since 2000-01. They've won three in a row, including a 7-1 victory against the Arizona Coyotes on Monday, but have two other teams (Arizona and the Colorado Avalanche) between them and the Wild and little margin for error in their final 13 games. "It's a new challenge," said Toews, one of a handful of players remaining from Chicago's Stanley Cup-winning teams in 2010, 2013 and 2015. "We've been in these playoff hunts before. Maybe not as dire of a position as we are right now, but you never know what can happen."

Maple Leafs try to rebound

Toronto is coming off one of its worst games of the season, a 6-2 home loss to the NHL-leading Tampa Bay Lightning after which center Auston Matthews said the Maple Leafs "pretty much quit" in the third period. The Maple are is third in the Atlantic Division and all but assured of their third consecutive trip to the playoffs, something that hasn't happened since they qualified for six consecutive seasons from 1998-99 through 2003-04. But they're a combined 2-5-0 against the Lightning and Boston Bruins, the teams ahead of them in the division, and will have to pick up their play markedly to have a chance to defeat either team in the postseason after flunking a litmus test Monday.

Oilers still in playoff chase

The Oilers have had their own ups and downs. They've gone the Blackhawks one better by firing not only their coach (Todd McLellan) but their general manager (Peter Chiarelli). But like the Blackhawks, the Oilers have given themselves a chance to make a late run at a playoff berth by playing some of their best hockey of the season down the stretch. A 3-2 overtime win against the New York Rangers on Monday was their fifth in six games and moved them into a tie with the Blackhawks, six points out of the second wild card in the West with a game in hand. "That's more than doable if we continue with this pace," coach Ken Hitchcock said.

McDavid, Draisaitl and …

It's hard to believe a team with two of the top four scorers in the NHL could struggle to put the puck in the net, but that's been the case for the Oilers all season. If McDavid (98 points; 34 goals, 64 assists) or Draisaitl (89 points; 42 goals, 47 assists) don't get it done offensively, no one does. McDavid is on pace for his best offensive season, though he's unlikely to catch Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov and win a third straight NHL scoring title. Draisaitl, who had two assists and scored the overtime winner against the Rangers (on a pass from McDavid), already has NHL career highs in goals and points.

Tough season for Devils

The Devils and Oilers haven't seen each other since Oct. 6, when they played their season opener in Gothenberg, Sweden. New Jersey won that game 5-2 and went on to a 4-0-0 start, one that has disappeared in a blizzard of injuries and losses. Forward Taylor Hall, the Hart Trophy winner last season, hasn't played since Dec. 23 because of a lower-body injury and might not return this season. Center Nico Hischier (upper body) has not played since March 2. Coach John Hynes has the Devils working hard, but the roster has been depleted by injuries. The one silver lining is that a number of prospects are getting the chance to show what they can do, giving Hynes a look at the future.