It’s a great time to be a hockey fan. The Olympics will feature NHL players for the first time since 2014, and the Boston Bruins will face off against the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 2026 Stadium Series on Sunday.

But before either of those massive events take place, there’s a doubleheader on ABC and the ESPN app.

The first game is a continuation of one of hockey’s most storied rivalries, as the Colorado Avalanche take on the Detroit Red Wings in a potential Stanley Cup Final preview. Then, the New York Rangers pay a visit to their division rival Pittsburgh Penguins for a Metro Division showdown.

To help get you ready for these two games, here’s a guide on the key players to watch for each team, including in-depth statistical insights from ESPN Research, along with broadcast information.

Colorado

Avalanche at

Detroit

Red Wings

Saturday, 1 ET | ABC

Little Caesars Arena

Avalanche

Record: 35-8-9, 79 points

Power Ranking: 1

Leading scorer: Nathan MacKinnon (38 goals, 50 assists)

Notes from ESPN Research


  • The Avs have multiple 10-game winning streaks this season, becoming the fourth team in NHL history with multiple double-digit winning streaks in a season. The other teams are the 2019-20 Tampa Bay Lightning (11 and 10), 1970-71 Boston Bruins (13 and 10) and 1929-30 Bruins (14 and 11).


  • Scott Wedgewood is fourth in save percentage among qualifying goalies this season (.918) behind Devin Cooley (.924), Andrei Vasilevskiy (.920) and Philipp Grubauer (.919). Teammate Mackenzie Blackwood ranks 15th (.909).


  • MacKinnon is on pace for 141 points this season (assuming he plays in all remaining games). If he hits that mark, he would be the fourth player in NHL history with multiple 140-point seasons (he scored 140 points in 2023-24), joining Wayne Gretzky (11 times), Mario Lemieux (five times) and Phil Esposito (twice). Note: Connor McDavid and Nikita Kucherov can also join this list this season.


  • Cale Makar leads all defensemen in goals (131), points (484), power-play goals (198) and game-winning goals (28) since making his regular season NHL debut in 2019-20.


  • Brock Nelson is playing out his eighth career 25-goal season, tied with Alex DeBrincat and Kyle Connor for third most among active American players behind Patrick Kane (11) and Auston Matthews (10).


Red Wings

Record: 32-17-6, 70 points

Power Ranking: 7

Leading scorer: Lucas Raymond (18 goals, 40 assists)

Notes from ESPN Research


  • Little Caesars Arena opened in September 2017, which means it has yet to host a playoff game. When including all home games remaining this season, it means the arena will have hosted 351 home games, which is the second-most home games by an arena before its first playoff game in NHL history. Only the Capital Centre — the Washington Capitals‘ previous home arena in Landover, Maryland — went longer (360) before it first hosted a playoff game in 1983.


  • John Gibson‘seight-game win streak was ended by the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday (he made 19 saves on 21 shots on goal). He is the second goaltender in NHL history with multiple winning streaks of at least eight games during his first season with a franchise. He joined Bill Durnan with the 1943-44 Montreal Canadiens, who had win streaks of 10 and eight games.


  • Patrick Kane has1,375 career points, breaking a tie with Mike Modano for the most by a U.S.-born player in NHL history (Modano had held the record since Nov. 7, 2007). On Jan. 8, Kane became the fifth U.S.-born skater to score 500 goals, joining Modano (561), Keith Tkachuk (538), Jeremy Roenick (513) and Joe Mullen (502).


  • Dylan Larkin has25 goals this season, and is seeking his fifth consecutive 30-goal season, which would tie Gordie Howe (1949-50 to 1953-54) and Brendan Shanahan (1998-99 to 2002-03) for the second-longest streak of 30-goal seasons in franchise history — current GM Steve Yzerman had seven straight, from 1986-87 to 1992-93.


  • Lucas Raymondhas 116 career goals, which is one shy of tying Sergei Fedorov (117) for fourth most by a Red Wings player age 23 or younger in franchise history, behind Yzerman (229), Howe (160) and Marcel Dionne (139). Raymond will turn 24 on March 28.


New York

Rangers at

Pittsburgh

Penguins

Saturday, 3:30 ET | ABC

PPG Paints Arena

Rangers

Record: 22-27-6, 50 points

Power Ranking: 29

Leading scorer: Artemi Panarin (19 goals, 38 assists)

Notes from ESPN Research


  • The Rangers’22 wins are their fewest through 54 games since 2003-04 (20); they finished that season with 27 wins.


  • Panarinwill not play before the Olympic break for “roster management” reasons as the team seeks to trade him. He has607 points in 482 career games with the Rangers, which ranks sixth in the NHL since his first season in New York in 2019-20.


  • Mika Zibanejadscored his 272nd goal with the Rangers on Wednesday, tying Andy Bathgate for fifth on the franchise’s all-time list.


  • Vladislav Gavrikov ranks second among defensemen in deflections causing turnovers (203) behind Jackson LaCombe (218). Gavrikov finished second in that metric last season (319) behind Jaccob Slavin (346).


  • Jonathan Quick‘s 408 career wins are 12th in NHL history, and second behind Sergei Bobrovsky among active players (449). Quick’s 408 wins are the most among U.S.-born goalies all time; he has 16 more than next highest (Ryan Miller, 391) and 73 more than the next highest active U.S.-born goalie (Connor Hellebuyck, 335).


Penguins

Record: 27-14-11, 65 points

Power Ranking: 8

Leading scorer: Sidney Crosby (27 goals, 30 assists)

Notes from ESPN Research


  • The Penguins are tied for third (with the Carolina Hurricanes) in first-period goals this season with 56, behind the Colorado Avalanche (59) and Tampa Bay Lightning (58). They have17 goals in the opening five minutes of the first period this season, which is second, behind the Avs (19). They have 36 goals in the opening 10 minutes of the first period, which is the most in the NHL — Colorado and Tampa Bay both have 32.


  • Crosby’s1,744 career points are the third most for a franchise in NHL history behind Gordie Howe’s 1,809 for the Red Wings and Steve Yzerman’s 1,755 for the Red Wings. His 1,092 assists are the second most for a franchise in NHL history behind Ray Bourque’s 1,111 for the Boston Bruins.


  • Evgeni Malkin‘s 1,386 career points for the Penguins ranks 10th all time for a franchise. He has scored 32 career goals against the Rangers, which is tied for the second most against a single opponent (with Philadelphia and Tampa Bay); he has scored the most against the New York Islanders (37).


  • Erik Karlsson has 903 career points, 14th among defensemen in NHL history and second among active defensemen behind Colorado’s Brent Burns (935).


  • The Penguins have an.888 team save percentage since trading Tristan Jarry to the Edmonton Oilers for Stuart Skinner on Dec. 12; that mark is 18th in the NHL during that span. They were eighth before the deal at .903. Skinner is 7-1-0 with a 1.63 goals-against average and .934 save percentage since the Christmas break.


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