By Myrtle Davies

NHL Public Relations

Columbus clips Detroit in 2025 Stadium Series to GRAB first Wild Card spot

Justin Danforth scored the go-ahead goal with 2:17 remaining in regulation after the Red Wings erased a 3-1 third-period deficit as the Blue Jackets earned a victory in front of 94,751 fans at the 2025 Navy Federal Credit Union NHL Stadium Series. Columbus (30-22-8, 68 points), which scored five goals for a franchise-record fourth consecutive game, swept its home-and-home set with Detroit (30-24-6, 66 points) to leapfrog the Red Wings for the Eastern Conference’s first Wild Card spot.

Elvis Merzlikins made 43 saves and tied David Rittich (43 in 2019 HC) for the second most in outdoor game history behind Nico Daws (45 in 2024 SS). Merzlikins mustered his franchise-record 14th career 40-save game, which marks the NHL’s seventh most since his debut season in 2019-20 behind John Gibson (24), Juuse Saros (22), Ilya Sorokin (18), Connor Hellebuyck (17), Igor Shesterkin (17) and Thatcher Demko (15).

* Dmitri Voronkov scored a second-period tally and reached the 20-goal mark for the first time in his career, while Mathieu Olivier beat Cam Talbot just 32 seconds later to put Columbus up 3-1. The Blue Jackets recorded the third fastest two goals by one team in outdoor game history behind the Islanders (0:16 at 2024 SS) and Red Wings (0:17 at 2009 WC).

* Boone Jenner generated two helpers and has found the score sheet in all four games since making his season debut on Feb. 22. Jenner became the second player in franchise history with at least one assist in each of his first four contests during a season, following Nick Foligno (6 GP from Oct. 9-23, 2014).

* James van Riemsdyk (3-4—7 in 8 GP) assisted on the 1-0 goal by Denton Mateychuk to record his seventh career outdoor game point, tied for the most in NHL history with Jonathan Toews (2-5—7 in 6 GP) and former Red Wings captain Henrik Zetterberg (0-7—7 in 4 GP). Patrick Kane (2-4—6 in 7 GP) moved into fourth place following his 1-2—3 effort Saturday.

GAUDREAU FAMILY LEADS BLUE JACKETS’ CEREMONIOUS WALK INTO OHIO STADIUM
Meredith Gaudreau led Columbus during its walk from the NHL Stadium Series Pep Rally at St. John Arena to Ohio Stadium and when they took the ice for the franchise’s outdoor game debut. She was joined by her children Johnny Jr. and Noa, mother-in-law Jane as well as her late husband’s teammates Sean Monahan and Erik Gudbranson.

* The Blue Jackets arrived at Ohio Stadium wearing a Johnny Gaudreau-inspired outfit complete with an AMIRI hat, Avalon Surf Shop hoodie, Champion sweatpants and UGG boots. The Red Wings got to the venue sporting USA Hockey, Boston College Eagles, Dubuque Fighting Saints and Omaha Lancers sweaters, honoring the playing careers of Johnny and his brother, Matthew.

Platinum-certified band O.A.R. headlined the Pep Rally at St. John Arena and Grammy Award-winning rock duo Twenty One Pilots played their hit songs “Overcompensate,” “Holding on to You,” “Ride,” “Heathens” and “Stressed Out” during the first intermission. The Ohio State University Athletic Band performed for player introductions before its rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner” during the Opening Ceremony, which featured a flyover by two F-16s from the 180th Fighter Wing in Toledo and one KC-135 from the 121st Air Refueling Wing in Columbus.

* American Sign Language interpretation of the national anthem was provided by two Columbus natives as part of the NHL and P-X-P partnership, with 13-year-old Elyssa Williams serving as the Deaf performer and John Lestina as the ASL interpreter. NHL in ASL conducted pre-game interviews with Boone Jenner and Dylan Larkin, who became the first players in major professional sports history to be interviewed by a Deaf broadcaster.

* The Ohio State Buckeyes’ national-champion football, women’s hockey and Spirit programs were celebrated during the second intermission. Buckeyes linebacker Sonny Styles held the College Football Playoff National Championship Trophy when he participated in a ceremonial puck drop with kicker Jay Fielding and university president Ted Carter.

OVI 11 AWAY FROM BREAKING GRETZKY’S RECORD

The Gr8 Chase is ticking down with nearly every Capitals game as Alex Ovechkin scored his fifth goal in the past four games to finish the first day of March needing only 11 goals to break Wayne Gretzky’s NHL record of 894. Ovechkin tallied goal No. 884 to cut Tampa Bay’s lead in half during the third period, starting what is historically the highest-scoring month of his career with his League-high 155th career goal in March.

* Ovechkin (53 G in 79 GP) trails only Leon Draisaitl (62 G in 96 GP) for goals since the 2024 NHL All-Star break, despite playing the second-fewest games among all players with 50-plus goals over that span (tied).

* Based on his goals-per-game rate in 2024-25 (0.70), Ovechkin is on pace to break Gretzky’s record April 2 at Carolina. Using his career goals-per-game rate (0.60), he is projected to pass The Great One on April 10 at home (vs. CAR).

AROUND THE RINKS
* Ilya Sorokin secured both a victory and a goal Saturday – the third by an NHL goaltender this season (a League-first) – and backstopped the Islanders to their second straight win. This was already the first season in NHL history to feature multiple goalie goals – let alone three. Overall, Sorokin’s was the 20th goalie goal in League history (18th in regular season, plus two in playoffs) and he became the 17th different goaltender to do so.

* Connor McDavid (0-1—1) and Leon Draisaitl (0-2—2) helped the Oilers cap their road trip with a victory as the Oilers’ captain became the seventh active player to reach the 700-assist milestone (min. 1 GP in 2024-25). McDavid (357-700—1,057 in 699 GP) became the third player in NHL history to collect 700 career assists in 700 games or fewer. The others: Wayne Gretzky (478 GP) and Mario Lemieux (579 GP).

* Nikita Kucherov (0-1—1) became the first Tampa Bay player to register three consecutive 60-assist seasons and Brandon Hagel (1-0—1) became the seventh player in franchise history with multiple 30-goal campaigns as the Lightning (35-20-4, 74 points) extended the NHL’s longest active winning streak to eight games.

* David Pastrnak (1-1—2) recorded his 108th career multi-point period to pass Ken Hodge (107) for the seventh most in Bruins history and in the process extended his point streak to 17 games – tied with Ray Bourque (17 GP in 1984-85) for the eighth-longest in franchise history. Pastrnak’s 17-game stretch also surpassed Robert Lang (16 GP in 2003-04) and Jaromir Jagr (16 GP in 2000-01) for the longest by a Czechia-born player.

* Lane Hutson (0-2—2) factored on the tying and winning goal in Montreal’s comeback win and became the third rookie in Canadiens history with at least 10 multi-assist games in a season. He also joined Chris Chelios (17 GP in 1984-85) and Guy Lapointe (10 GP in 1970-71) as the third rookie Canadiens defenseman with 10 or more multi-point games in one campaign.
* Tim Stützle (1-1—2) extended his assist streak during a Senators (30-25-4, 64 points) victory against the Sharks to match Mark Stone (2017-18) and Sergei Gonchar (2012-13) for the longest run in franchise history, while Robert Thomas (0-1—1) led the Blues (29-26-6, 64 points) to a win and became the sixth player in Blues history to post an assist streak of nine or more games.
QUICK CLICKS

* Flyers’ Matvei Michkov named NHL ‘Rookie of the Month’ for February

* ‘Three Stars’ for February pres. by GEICO: Nathan MacKinnon, Brandon Hagel, Leon Draisaitl

* Seth Jones traded to Panthers by Blackhawks for Knight, first-round pick

* NHL EDGE stats: Seth Jones’ outlook after trade to Panthers

* Part 2 of “4 Nations Face-Off: Unveiled” Relives Canada-USA final, premieres March 2

NHL ON TNT TRIPLEHEADER TAKES OVER SUNDAY SLATE

NHL on TNT accounts for half of the games on a six-game Sunday as the Maple Leafs (37-20-2, 76 points) and Penguins (24-29-9, 57 points), Bruins (28-25-8, 64 points) and Wild (34-22-4, 72 points) as well as Blues (29-26-6, 64 points) and Stars (38-19-2, 78 points) highlight a nationally broadcast tripleheader in the United States. Liam McHugh, Paul Bissonnette, Anson Carter and Rick Bowness lead the pre-game coverage, which begins at 12:30 p.m. ET.

 Auston Matthews and Sidney Crosby will go head-to-head in their first meeting since they captained Canada and USA in the 4 Nations Face-Off final, with the Maple Leafs captain one goal shy of passing Darryl Sittler (389) for the second-most goals in franchise history. Teammate William Nylander moved within the franchise’s top-10 in Toronto’s last outing.

* Matt Boldy also appeared at the 4 Nations Face-Off for USA and has collected a team-high seven points (tied) in the absence of teammate Kirill Kaprizov since Jan. 27. Boldy (96-127—223 in 263 GP) – with 8-12—20 in 23 games without Kaprizov in the lineup this season – is one of three players, age 23 or younger, in Wild history with at least 100 career assists (also Pierre-Marc Bouchard: 160 & Marian Gaborik: 131).

* Roope Hintz is coming off a four-assist performance in his last outing with the Stars, a team that has found the back of the net at least five times in each of their past three home games. Dallas can score five or more goals in four consecutive home contests for the first time in team history and just the franchise’s third time in the past 40 years (4 GP March 6-12, 1991 & Oct. 30 – Nov. 10, 1984).

COURTESY NHL PUBLIC RELATIONS