Upon winning their sixth consecutive game on Saturday in Colorado, the Sens jumped into first place and knocked Montreal out of top spot for the first time since Oct. 20.
Through 67 games, Ottawa's earned 84 points - the same total as Montreal - but by virtue of points percentage, the Senators hold a slim edge with one game in hand.
Ottawa's managed an 8-2 record over its past 10 games, and remains undefeated since a series of trade deadline moves.
He may have his critics, but make no mistake - Morgan Rielly can wheel.
The oft-maligned Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman proved as much during Saturday's tilt with the Carolina Hurricanes, putting on an impressive display in overtime before netting the game-winner.
Rielly's tally was his fourth goal of the season, and his 24th point. The victory was Toronto's third in a row, marking the Leafs' first successful three-game stretch since mid-January.
Anderson only needed to make 14 saves against the league-worst Avalanche.
The 35-year-old earned the milestone win in his 283rd game with the Senators, while Lalime required the same number of games to reach 146.
Anderson's achievement comes with a couple of caveats. Firstly, he's also four losses behind Lalime for the most defeats in franchise history, and secondly, he's played the majority of his career in the shootout era that's inflated win totals league wide.
Still, it's a testament to Anderson's longevity and his perseverance this season in particular, in which he's taken multiple leaves of absence to attend to his wife, Nicholle, who was diagnosed with cancer last fall.
Anderson now has 234 career victories in 496 games played over 14 seasons with the Senators, Avalanche, Florida Panthers, and Chicago Blackhawks.
Tensions boiled over during the Winnipeg Jets' Saturday-night tilt with the Calgary Flames, each team boasting more than a few players well acquainted with physicality.
Flames forward Sam Bennett and Jets defenseman Jacob Trouba were at the center of the turmoil. Late in the second period, Trouba took exception to Bennett's net-front presence, and the young rearguard took it upon himself to send a message and clear the area.
The pair's lengthy bout was Bennett's third fight of the season and Trouba's second, according to HockeyFights.com.
Ekblad has played every game for the Panthers this season, but the 21-year-old has an injury history that includes a concussion suffered last January and whiplash sustained during the World Cup of Hockey.
The 25-year-old pivot, playing in just his fifth game this season, stifled Vincent Trocheck at the blue line and proceeded to complete the brilliant solo effort with the Panthers forward draped all over him.
The picturesque short-handed marker was the first goal of Gourde's career.
The Swedish pivot is enjoying a breakout effort this season, building on a strong showing last year to become his club's MVP during its resurgent 2016-17 campaign.
Backlund kept his exceptional campaign rolling on Saturday night, whipping a backhand shot past Connor Hellebuyck to give the Flames a 1-0 lead over the Winnipeg Jets.
In doing so, Backlund reached a new career high with 48 points and tied his career-best mark of 21 goals. With his 'Triple M' line still among the most dangerous in the league, it's safe to assume he'll push those totals higher by the time the regular season draws to a close.
The Columbus Blue Jackets captain scored a beauty early in Saturday's game versus the Buffalo Sabres, toe dragging defenseman Jake McCabe into submission before roofing his 24th of the season
"If you would tell me to get off the ice you would not be able to because I wanted to continue to play. Now it's about how you deal with it and make the most of these next two weeks, training and rest and try to come back on top of things."
Lundqvist was hurt in the first period of Tuesday's 5-2 win over the Florida Panthers, but stayed in and finished with 43 saves.
"Right now, I'm just focusing on the next week to 10 days," he said. "We have a good plan here of what I need to do, and from there you take it step by step and see how it feels. We expect it to be two-to-three weeks, and we have to see how I react to the treatments and the exercise."
Lundqvist is 30-17-2 with a 2.65 GAA and a .913 save percentage in 51 games. Over a full season, that GAA would be the worst in his 12-year career, while the save percentage would be his second-worst and lowest since 2007-08.
Antti Raanta will assume control of New York's crease in Lundqvist's absence. He has a 2.33 GAA and .922 save percentage in 22 appearances this season.
Remember goals, Philadelphia? Goals were nice, they were fun.
Unfortunately, the Flyers don't score often anymore. An excruciating 2-1 loss to the Bruins on Saturday - in which Philly defender Brandon Manning tipped in Boston's winner with 5.6 seconds left in the third period - means the Flyers have scored one goal or less in seven of their last 10 defeats, going back to the start of February.
A simple look at the shot clock in those seven losses suggests the Flyers have seriously angered the hockey gods. Philadelphia and Boston finished Saturday's game with 27 shots apiece, but in the Flyers' six other losses we're highlighting here, they outshot the opposition in five of those games.
But both the puck and the shot clock lie, it seems. The Flyers are excellent at putting the disc on net, but not from quality scoring areas. Check out this image from Hockey Viz, which shows where Philadelphia is shooting from at even strength:
The Flyers are far below average at shooting the puck from in front of the net and from the circles. In other words, the more dangerous areas of the ice in terms of scoring opportunities. Instead, they're chucking the puck from the blue line, and considering how perfect goalies are these days, it's no surprise the puck isn't going in.
Playoffs!?
The past six weeks have been frustrating for Philadelphia and its supporters. The Flyers need a miracle run like they had last year in order to make the playoffs, but it's looking less and less likely they'll be able to pull off an encore.
Thanks to a dominant Metropolitan Division, there's essentially only one wild-card spot available in the Eastern Conference. Before the majority of play gets underway on Saturday night, it belongs to the New York Islanders, but it's tight. Five teams are separated by six points, and the Flyers are one of th.
Philly has 70 points to the Islanders' 75, and both clubs will have played 67 games as of Sunday morning. However, of the five teams in contention for that last playoff spot, the Flyers have the worst goal differential, at minus-26.
