The NHL officially announced Friday that the Ottawa Senators will host the Montreal Canadiens at Lansdowne Park on Dec. 16 in the next installment of the league's outdoor series: the 2017 Scotiabank NHL100 Classic.

"By bringing the Ottawa Senators and Montreal Canadiens together, outdoors at Lansdowne Park, we recreate - and reimagine - a matchup of founding NHL franchises who launched 100 years of remarkable history for our league and our fans," NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said.

"The 2017 Scotiabank NHL100 Classic will serve as another signature event in our Centennial celebration, will set the stage for the next 100 years of NHL excitement, and will contribute a unique sports moment to Canada's sesquicentennial."

The outdoor showcase will be staged three days before the 100th anniversary of the first NHL game in Ottawa.

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Follow theScore's fantasy feed on Twitter (@theScoreFantasy) for the latest news, features and more. And download Squad Up, theScore's free-to-win-money sports game.

Here is a look at the Squad Up daily NHL fantasy picture for Friday, March 17 (all advanced statistics courtesy of Corsica.Hockey and apply to 5v5 situations):

Dynamic Duos

• C Sidney Crosby (99K) & LW Conor Sheary (48K), Penguins (vs. Devils): New Jersey will be playing its second game in as many nights. Crosby and Sheary play together at 5v5. With Evgeni Malkin sitting out Friday, it's possible Sheary will be promoted from PP2 to PP1.

• C Sean Monahan (52K) & LW Johnny Gaudreau (62K), Flames (vs. Stars): Calgary's winning streak came to an end, Wednesday, against Boston. Nonetheless, this duo should have no problem picking up where they left off. Dallas has the second-highest xGA60 (expected goals against per 60 minutes) in the NHL.

• C Rickard Rakell (44K) & RW Patrick Eaves (44K), Ducks (vs. Sabres): It's a shame Rakell is listed as a center even though he plays LW. You have to choose between he and Ryan Getzlaf, but it's an easy choice considering the latter costs nearly twice as much. Rakell has 30 goals on the year. He and Eaves could each have multi-point nights against a Sabres team playing the second half of a back-to-back.

Bargain Plays

• RW Michael Grabner (32K), Rangers (vs. Panthers): When you rely heavily on breakaways to score, your production isn't going to be consistent. However, 32K for a player with 27 goals provides outstanding value, even if Grabner is a complete boom-or-bust player.

• LW Remi Elie (25K), Stars (at Flames): Elie is 11th among NHL skaters with 4.45 iSCF60 (individual scoring chances for per 60 minutes). He has played only six games, but he has a goal and two assists in his last four. If LW Jamie Benn (upper body) can't go, Elie will likely slot in on Dallas' top line with Cs Jason Spezza and Tyler Seguin.

• G Anders Nilsson (75K), Sabres (at Ducks): There's a good chance Nilsson get's the call between the pipes on the second night of a back-to-back. It's not an ideal scenario, but he has been a reliable backup netminder this season and the Ducks offense ranks in the bottom half of the league in terms of goals per game.

Top Fades

• LW Jamie Benn (67K), Stars (at Flames): It's unclear whether Benn is going to suit up or not. Even if he does, he isn't worth rostering against the red-hot Flames.

• RW Corey Perry (67K), Ducks (vs. Sabres): Perry has been relegated to a third-line role and isn't even on the top power-play unit anymore. At 67K, better value can be found elsewhere.

• D Dennis Wideman (29K), Flames (vs. Stars): Wideman has been in and out of the lineup these days and doesn't play significant minutes when he does suit up. Even with a bargain salary and a juicy matchup, don't roster him.

Contrarian Options

• C Tyler Seguin (72K), Stars (at Flames): Seguin will likely be faded with a tough matchup and a high salary, but there is a chance Brian Elliott (illness) won't be at 100 percent if he does play, Friday. This could open the door for a big night from one of the league's most talented players.

• G Brian Elliott (96K), Flames (vs. Stars): On the flip side, Elliott's status on Squad Up is considered questionable, which will leave him with little ownership even though he was on the ice for Thursday's practice. Obviously if you roster Seguin, or any other Stars, don't roster Elliott.

• D Rasmus Ristolainen (42K), Sabres (at Ducks): Ristolainen will have low ownership with a matchup against the defensive juggernaut Ducks. However, he can return value without scoring. He is capable of putting up 5-plus shots, hits and blocks in a single game.

(Photos courtesy Action Images)

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Through the remainder of the regular season, we'll take a look at how the night's action impacts the playoff race, highlighting which teams' postseason odds went up or down significantly.

Another dramatic swing for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Two days after relative catastrophe - with every result from Tuesday night's schedule hurting their playoff chances - the Maple Leafs bounced back to smash the Lightning in their latest most important game of the season. In doing so, Toronto saw every other competitor in the race for the final few seeds in the Eastern Conference postseason come up empty.

The Islanders, Panthers, Senators, Bruins, Flyers, and Lightning, of course, all suffered regulation losses, allowing the Maple Leafs to sneak back into the eighth seed.

Over in the West, the Kings collected two points in their win over the Sabres. But their postseason chances took a hit, as the Oilers, Predators, and Blues were all winners as well.

Eastern Conference

Western Conference

To see percentages for the entire NHL, visit Sports Club Stats.

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With a secondary assist on Jarome Iginla's third-period goal, Dustin Brown picked up the 500th point of his career on Thursday night.

Brown is just the eighth player in Los Angeles Kings history to reach the mark.

The 32-year-old collected another assist on Adrian Kempe's late tally and now has 31 points on the season, his most since the 2011-12 campaign.

(Video courtesy: NHL.com)

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EDMONTON, Alberta - Patrick Maroon scored twice, Leon Draisaitl had a goal and two assists, and Connor McDavid added three assists as the Edmonton Oilers beat up on the Boston Bruins 7-4 on Thursday night.

Benoit Pouliot, Anton Slepyshev, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, and Milan Lucic also scored for the Oilers, who moved one point ahead of Calgary for third place in the Pacific Division.

David Pastrnak, Brad Marchand, Dominic Moore, and David Krejci had a goal each for the Bruins, who had a four-game winning streak snapped.

The Oilers jumped out to an early 2-0 lead on a pair of goals 59 seconds apart by Maroon, who upped his career-high goal total on the season to 24.

Edmonton got another goal three minutes later as David Desharnais hooked around the net and sent the puck in front to Pouliot, who poked it past goalie Tuukka Rask. It was Pouliot's second goal in two games after breaking a 28-game scoreless drought against Dallas on Tuesday.

Boston got one back on a power play with 7 1/2 minutes remaining in the opening frame when Marchand made a perfect pass to set up Pastrnak at the side of the net for his 31st goal of the season, and fifth in his last five games.

The Bruins made it 3-2 with two minutes to go in the first, as Marchand was left alone at the side of the net to score his 37th goal of the season and 12th in his last 11 games.

The Oilers scored again with 51 seconds remaining when Slepyshev batted the rebound of McDavid's shot out of the air and past Rask.

Edmonton made it 5-2 two minutes into the second on the power play as Drake Caggiula's pass went off Bruin forward Riley Nash's skate and into the net. Rask was replaced in the Boston net by Anton Khudobin.

Boston fought back a couple minutes later, getting a short-handed goal from Moore.

Draisaitl made it 6-3 Edmonton seven minutes into the second, picking off a pass at mid-ice and going the distance to score his 60th point, the most ever in an NHL season by a German-born player.

Edmonton added another power-play goal with five minutes left as a puck hit Lucic and got past Khudobin. It was the second game in a row that the Oilers have scored seven goals, and the first time they had done that at home since 1988.

Krejci scored on a Boston man advantage with 32 seconds left in the middle period.

NOTES: There was no scoring in the third, but a brief scare when Boston forward Matt Beleskey was hit in the right side of the head with a shot from Patrice Bergeron in the game's final minute. He was slow to get up, but skated off with the assistance of Bergeron.

UP NEXT

Bruins: Travel to play at Toronto on Sunday.

Oilers: Host Vancouver on Saturday.

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With an assist on Connor Brown's second-period goal Thursday night, William Nylander picked up his 50th point of the season.

In doing so, Nylander became the third Toronto Maple Leafs rookie to hit the 50-point plateau, joining Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner. The achievement makes the Maple Leafs the first team to have three first-year players reach the milestone since the 1992-93 Winnipeg Jets.

Matthews and Marner - who picked up an assist Thursday - have 55 points, while Nylander has 50. They sit second, third, and fourth in rookie scoring, respectively, all trailing Jets forward Patrik Laine.

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No problem for the Minnesota Wild.

Despite losing their third straight game, there is no reason to believe the Wild can't get their season back on track, coach Bruce Boudreau told reporters following Thursday's 3-1 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes.

"I've seen them play great, so why wouldn't I think that they're going to fight their way out of it?" Boudreau said. "It doesn't make any sense to think that they wouldn't."

It's been a rough March for the Wild, who own a 2-6-0 showing so far. The team has also won just four of 10 contests since trading three draft choices - including this year's first-round pick - to the Arizona Coyotes for center Martin Hanzal.

The recent performances have been in stark contrast to the 41-14-6 record that Minnesota owned at the end of February, after running a 12-game win streak earlier this season. The Wild now sit three points back of the Chicago Blackhawks for top spot in the Central.

Minnesota's inability to score has been evident in its recent slump. The team has been limited to two or fewer goals in six of eight games in March.

If anything, Boudreau isn't casting blame on goaltender Devan Dubnyk, who took the loss to the Hurricanes. Afterward, Boudreau said: "He allowed two. We should be able to score three in a game."

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Maybe a few extracurriculars aren't such a bad idea, after all.

Following one of the club's most dismal displays of the season on Tuesday night against Florida, the Toronto Maple Leafs rebounded in a big way on Thursday, cruising to a 5-0 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning.

The team received a lot of backlash after Tuesday's 7-2 shelling by the Panthers, as photos posted on Instagram showed that players - including Morgan Rielly, Tyler Bozak, Mitch Marner, Leo Komarov, and Josh Leivo - had spent Sunday fishing.

Following Thursday's game, Bozak took joy in hinting that time spent away from the rink was to thank for Toronto's effort vs. the Lightning.

"We had a lot of energy," Bozak said with a smile, according to TSN's Mark Masters. "Whenever you have a few days to bond, do some stuff outside the rink it helps. It helped us tonight."

Never a dull moment with the Maple Leafs.

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