Auston Matthews experienced a rarity with his first goalless game of this season while Sidney Crosby continues to long for his first tally of 2018-19. Matthews, however, has recorded multi-point performances in all seven of the Toronto Maple Leafs' contests heading into Thursday's home game versus the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Off to their best start in 23 years, the New Jersey Devils look to remain the NHL's lone undefeated team when they host the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday night. Kyle Palmieri is largely responsible for New Jersey's fast start, becoming the first player in NHL history to score the opening goal in each of the first four games of a season.

Sergei Bobrovsky endured arguably the worst game of his career in his last outing, but the two-time Vezina Trophy winner always seems to bring his best when he faces the team with which he entered the NHL. Bobrovsky carries a 10-3-1 mark with two shutouts, a 1.91 goals-against average and .933 save percentage in 14 career encounters versus Philadelphia into Thursday's tilt as the Columbus Blue Jackets host the Flyers.

Tyler Johnson is back centering a trio that was dominant in previous seasons and looks to follow up his fourth career regular-season hat trick with another big effort when the Tampa Bay Lightning host the winless Detroit Red Wings on Thursday. Johnson was moved from wing to center “the Triplets” line with Nikita Kucherov and Ondrej Palat two games ago and Tampa Bay has scored 12 times since.

After losing the first two of a six-game road trip, the Vancouver Canucks extended their winning streak to three on Brock Boeser’s overtime goal Tuesday, and head to Winnipeg on Thursday to face the Jets. Boeser, who scored 29 goals last season and finished as runner-up for the Calder Trophy, scored his second game-winning goal during the win streak as the Canucks improved to 3-2-0 away from home with a 3-2 win at Pittsburgh.

 

The Chicago Blackhawks have yet to lose in regulation but that's not the streak they want to stop when they host the struggling Arizona Coyotes on Thursday night. Chicago set an NHL record in Saturday's 4-3 victory over the St. Louis Blues, becoming the first team in league history to open the season with five consecutive overtime games.

After breaking even on their season-opening four-game road trip, the Edmonton Oilers finally get to enjoy the comforts of home Thursday as they face off against the Boston Bruins in their opener at Rogers Place. Edmonton began the campaign with a loss to New Jersey in Sweden and fell in Boston before posting back-to-back one-goal victories.

The Los Angeles Kings struggled to produce goals during their disappointing road trip but hope to find their scoring touch when they host the New York Islanders on Thursday. Los Angeles went 1-3-0 on its trek, tallying three times in the victory but once in each loss - including Monday's 4-1 setback in Toronto.

The San Jose Sharks have been handed one of the worst schedules to start the season, playing eight of their first 11 games away from home. After wrapping up a five-game road trip with a narrow loss at New Jersey on Sunday, San Jose will play for only the second time at the SAP Center when it hosts the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday night.