21 games to be nationally televised this week

Each Monday throughout the 2023-24 NHL season, NHL.com will provide fans with a guide of games that will be nationally televised that week. Today, a look at games for the 24th week of the season.

In total, 21 games will be carried nationally by ABC, ESPN, TNT, SN and/or TVAS, including on Saturday, when two of the best teams in the NHL, the Florida Panthers and New York Rangers, face off at Madison Square Garden on ABC.

There are plenty of other games with Stanley Cup Playoff implications this week, including a doubleheader on TNT on Wednesday, beginning with the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Washington Capitals followed by the Minnesota Wild at the Los Angeles Kings. ESPN will air the Seattle Kraken at the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday, and Connor McDavid and Auston Matthews meet again on Saturday, when the Maple Leafs host the Edmonton Oilers on "Hockey Night in Canada."

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 20

Toronto Maple Leafs at Washington Capitals (7:30 p.m. ET; MAX, TNT, SN, TVAS): Matthews (20 points; eight goals, 12 assists) and Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin (17 points; nine goals, eight assists) will go head-to-head for the 17th time in the NHL. Toronto is 9-5-2 in those games, and Washington is 7-8-1. Matthews leads the NHL with 55 goals this season and has 354 since joining the League in 2016-17. His 0.65 goals per game is higher than what Ovechkin averaged at the end of his eighth season (0.62).

Ovechkin is one goal from becoming the third player in NHL history to have 19 consecutive 20-goal seasons (Gordie Howe and Brendan Shanahan). Ovechkin is also four points from tying Joe Thornton (1,539) for 13th in NHL history, and 53 goals behind Wayne Gretzky for most all-time. The Capitals (32-25-9) are one point behind the Detroit Red Wings with two games in hand for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference.

Minnesota Wild at Los Angeles Kings (10 p.m. ET; MAX, TNT, SN1, TVAS): The Wild (33-27-8) trail the Vegas Golden Knights by five points for the second wild card from the Western Conference. Los Angeles, meanwhile, is tied in points with Vegas for third in the Pacific Division but has more regulation wins. Wild forward Kirill Kaprizov enters the week on a four-game goal streak and is five goals from his third straight 40-goal season, which is something no Wild skater has ever accomplished.

Kings captain Anze Kopitar has 1,196 points in the NHL. He can join Stan Mikita (1,467 for Chicago Blackhawks) and Evgeni Malkin (1,279 for Pittsburgh Penguins) as the third player born outside North America with 1,200 points playing for one team.

THURSDAY, MARCH 21

Seattle Kraken at Vegas Golden Knights (10:30 p.m. ET; ESPN): This is the finale of a four-game season series and comes a little more than a week after a 5-4 overtime win for the Golden Knights on March 12, when Jonathan Marchessault tied the game with 17 seconds left in the third period before Jack Eichel won it in overtime. The Kraken defeated the Golden Knights 3-0 in the 2024 Discover NHL Winter Classic at T-Mobile Park on Jan. 1, and lost 4-1 in the season opener for both teams at T-Mobile Arena on Oct. 10.

Seattle (28-26-12) begins the week trailing Vegas (36-24-7) by 11 points with one game in hand for the second wild card from the West. The Golden Knights, who are four points ahead of the St. Louis Blues with one game in hand, are 9-2-0 against the Kraken since the latter joined the NHL for the 2021-22 season. Marchessault has scored 37 goals this season, the most by a Golden Knights player since William Karlsson had 43 in Vegas' inaugural season in 2017-18.

SATURDAY MARCH 23

Edmonton Oilers at Toronto Maple Leafs (7 p.m. ET; CBC, SN): Matthews (18 points; 12 goals, six assists) and McDavid (26 points; eight goals, 18 assists) go head-to-head for the 18th time in the NHL. The Maple Leafs are 11-4-2 in those games, and the Oilers are 6-9-2.

McDavid has 96 points (23 goals, 73 assists) in 52 games since Kris Knoblauch was named Oilers coach on Nov. 12, a surge that has Edmonton's captain third in the NHL this season with 106 points (25 goals, 81 assists). He's on pace for 102 assists and 134 points, which would make him the seventh different player with consecutive 130-point seasons.

Florida Panthers at New York Rangers (8 p.m. ET; ABC, ESPN+): The Panthers (45-19-4) and Rangers (45-19-4) start the week one point behind the Boston Bruins for the most in the NHL. Florida has won both games against New York this season, including 4-3 at Amerant Bank Arena on Dec. 29, and 4-2 at Madison Square Garden on March 4.

The Rangers and Panthers are among a group of five teams that have been the League's No. 1 seed since Jan. 1 (Vancouver Canucks, Boston Bruins, Winnipeg Jets). Florida can become the first team to debut in the 1990s or later with multiple Presidents' Trophy wins. The last team to lose the Stanley Cup Final and then finish as the No. 1 seed was the Bruins in 2019-20, a season paused March 12 due to concerns surrounding the coronavirus. Before the Panthers were the Nashville Predators in 2017-18.

New York has led the Metropolitan Division each day since passing the Philadelphia Flyers on Oct. 24. It can become the third team to win the Presidents' Trophy four times (Detroit Red Wings, six; Bruins, four) while in pursuit of the Stanley Cup 30 years since its last championship in 1993-94, when they also finished with the best regular season record in the NHL.

Panthers coach Paul Maurice is two wins from tying Lindy Ruff (864) for fourth in NHL history, and Rangers coach Peter Laviolette is three from becoming the seventh coach in NHL history to win at least 800.

OTHER NATIONALLY TELEVISED GAMES

MONDAY

Washington Capitals at Calgary Flames (8:30 p.m. ET; TVAS, SN, NHLN, MNMT)

TUESDAY

Toronto Maple Leafs at Philadelphia Flyers (7 p.m. ET; NBCSP, TSN4, TVAS)

Carolina Hurricanes at New York Islanders (7:30 p.m. ET; HULU, ESPN+)

Minnesota Wild at Anaheim Ducks (10 p.m. ET; HULU, ESPN+)

THURSDAY

New York Rangers at Boston Bruins (7 p.m. ET; MSG 2, NESN, SN360, TVAS)

Nashville Predators at Florida Panthers (7:30 p.m. ET; HULU, ESPN+)

FRIDAY

Carolina Hurricanes at Washington Capitals (7 p.m. ET; MNMT, BSSO, NHLN, SN, TVAS)

Seattle Kraken at Arizona Coyotes (10 p.m. ET; SCRIPPS, ROOT-NW, SN, TVAS)

SATURDAY

Boston Bruins at Philadelphia Flyers (1 p.m. ET; NHLN, NBCSP, NESN, SN1, TVAS)

Ottawa Senators at New Jersey Devils (7 p.m. ET; MSGSN, CITY, TVAS)

Calgary Flames at Vancouver Canucks (10 p.m. ET; CBC, TVAS, SN, CITY)

SUNDAY

Winnipeg Jets at Washington Capitals (12:30 p.m. ET; MNMT, NHLN, TSN3)

Pittsburgh Penguins at Colorado Avalanche (2 p.m. ET: SN-PIT, MAX, TNT, SN360, TVAS)

Toronto Maple Leafs at Carolina Hurricanes (6 p.m. ET: HULU, ESPN+, SNO)

Edmonton Oilers at Ottawa Senators (6 p.m. ET; TVAS, SNW, TSN5)

Buffalo Sabres at Calgary Flames (9 p.m. ET; SN, MSG-B)