Valeri Nichushkin scored twice, Nathan MacKinnon added two assists to break the franchise's single-season points mark and the Colorado Avalanche cruised into the playoffs behind a 5-1 win over the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday night.

MacKinnon wrapped up the regular season with 140 points (51 goals, 89 assists) to top Peter Stastny's franchise record of 139 set in 1981-82 when the club was in Quebec.

Tampa Bay's Nikita Kucherov became the fifth player to have a 100-assist season as the Lightning beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 6-4 on Wednesday night.

Kucherov, the NHL's scoring leader with 144 points, scored a first-period goal, then set up Brayden Point's power-play tally with 2:55 left in the second for the historic assist.

"It's a special moment," Kucherov said. "Thanks to my teammates and coaching staff for putting me in position to have success. I'm fortunate to play with great players."

The New York Rangers have been on a mission since falling to the New Jersey Devils in the opening round of the playoffs last spring. They responded by finishing with the NHL's best regular-season record.

Artemi Panarin had a goal and an assist, Igor Shesterkin made 26 saves for his fourth shutout of the season and the New York Rangers beat the Ottawa Senators 4-0 on Monday night to clinch the Presidents' Trophy.

This season, there was no question. No doubt. No surprise.

Whereas it took until the final days of the 2022-23 regular season for the Florida Panthers to punch their ticket to the Stanley Cup Playoffs -- before embarking on a run that would take them to the Stanley Cup Final -- this season it was long assured. The Panthers, who spent the season battling the Boston Bruins for the top spot in the Atlantic Division, were a lock.

But even as the Panthers clinched their fifth straight trip to the postseason on Thursday, their postgame dressing room wasn’t exactly overflowing with joy. The coach, Paul Maurice, said he didn’t feel like talking about it and their stars were muted.

“I appreciate the questions and I’m just a grumpy old man,” Maurice said. “So I’ll answer them all them all tomorrow. I don’t feel like talking about good things right now.”

Adam Fox scored 36 seconds into overtime and the New York Rangers became the first NHL team to clinch a playoff spot this season, beating the Philadelphia Flyers 6-5 following a wild third period Tuesday night.

Alexis Lafreniere had two goals and Igor Shesterkin made 36 saves for the Rangers, who lead the league with 100 points after giving coach Peter Laviolette his 800th career win.

It was a storybook finish for the New York Rangers in their Stadium Series win over the New York Islanders on Sunday. But not necessarily the story they intended to tell.

"It wasn't a script we would have written," Rangers coach Peter Laviolette said after their 6-5 overtime victory in front of 79,690 fans at MetLife Stadium in the highest-scoring outdoor game in NHL history. "It was crazy. It was awesome. So many props to our guys after a first period that didn't go the way we wanted at all."

The New York Islanders will host All-Star Weekend in 2026, the NHL announced Sunday.

The news was announced during the first intermission of the Islanders' 6-5 overime loss in their Stadium Series game against the New York Rangers at MetLife Stadium. It was second game of the Series, after the New Jersey Devils defeated the Philadelphia Flyers 6-3 on Saturday night.

Matthew Tkachuk and Sam Bennett each had two goals and two assists as the Florida Panthers won their franchise-record 11th consecutive road game by routing the rival Tampa Bay Lightning 9-2 on Saturday night.

Florida is now one win from matching league history, and coupled with the Boston Bruins' loss earlier in the day, the Panthers now hold a one-point lead in the Atlantic Division. Boston is the division's defending champion and has been the first-place tenant for most of this season.

New Jersey Devils captain Nico Hischier said their game at MetLife Stadium had been circled on their calendar before the season. What he didn't know was how crucial their 6-3 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday night could end up being for the Devils.

"That's a win that brings the group together," said Hischier, who had two goals and an assist in front of 70,328 fans, the largest crowd to date for an NHL Stadium Series game. "We knew it was a big game at the beginning of the year. With how the standings are, it's an even a bigger game. So, this can bring the group together. We move on, we take the good feelings out of it, and now we have more business to do."

The Chicago Blackhawks will host the 2025 NHL Winter Classic at Wrigley Field, a league source confirmed Tuesday.

Their opponents will be the St. Louis Blues.

The NHL previously held the second Winter Classic at Wrigley Field in 2009, featuring the Blackhawks and the Detroit Red Wings. This marks the second time in three seasons that the NHL is revisiting a venue for the Classic, having held an outdoor game at Fenway Park in 2010 and 2023.