PENGUINS-HURRICANES MATCHUP, CENTRAL DIVISION RACE HIGHLIGHT WEEK AHEAD

WESTERN CONFERENCE WILD-CARD CHASE AMONG 5 THINGS TO WATCH

HERE'S A LOOK AT 5 THINGS TO WATCH:

1. PENGUINS, HURRICANES IN TIGHT METROPOLITAN DIVISION RACE

The Pittsburgh Penguins and Carolina Hurricanes will play a key Metropolitan Division game at PNC Arena on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; FS-CR, ATTSN-PT, NHL.TV).

The Penguins (39-24-10) are 9-3-3 in their past 15 games, including 7-2-2 in their past 11, and in position to reach the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the 13th consecutive season. They're third in the Metropolitan and three points ahead of the Hurricanes (39-25-7), who hold the first wild card from the Eastern Conference and hope to clinch a playoff berth for the first time since 2008-09, when they advanced to the Eastern Conference Final. 

Carolina is 23-8-2 in 2019 and 17-6-2 since acquiring forward Nino Niederreiter in a trade from the Minnesota Wild on Jan. 17.

2. WILD, WILD WEST

The Wild and Colorado Avalanche are two of the teams competing for wild-card spots in the Western Conference. They face off at Xcel Energy Center on Tuesday (8 p.m. ET; FS-N+, ALT, NHL.TV).

The Wild (34-30-9) are 2-3-3 in their past eight games and are one point behind the Arizona Coyotes for the second Western wild card. Minnesota has made the playoffs each of the past six seasons but hasn't advanced beyond the Western Conference First Round since 2014-15.

Colorado (31-29-12) trails Arizona by four points and is 2-2-0 without forward and captain Gabriel Landeskog, who is likely out the rest of the regular season with an upper-body injury.

3. BUSINESS BOOMING ATOP CENTRAL

The top two teams in the Central Division face off when the Nashville Predators play the Winnipeg Jets at Bell MTS Place on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; ESPN+, SN360, SNW, SNP, FS-TN, NHL.TV).

The Jets (42-25-4) hold a one-point lead over the Predators (41-27-5) for first place in the division. Behind Winnipeg and Nashville are the third-place St. Louis Blues (37-27-8), who begin a four-game homestand against the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday (8 p.m. ET; SN1, SNE, SNO, SNP, FS-MW, NHL.TV).

4. HOT TO TROTZ

Barry Trotz will become the fourth in NHL history to coach 1,600 regular-season games when the New York Islanders play the Coyotes at Nassau Coliseum on Sunday (3 p.m. ET; SN, MSG+, FS-A, NHL.TV).

Only Scotty Bowman (2,141), Joel Quenneville (1,636) and Al Arbour (1,607) have coached more NHL games than Trotz (1,596), who's in his first season with the Islanders after spending 15 with the Predators and four with the Washington Capitals, with whom he won the Stanley Cup in 2017-18.

The Islanders (42-23-7) are tied for first in the Metropolitan Division with the Capitals.

5. MILESTONE WATCH

* Alex Ovechkin is two goals from scoring 50 for the eighth time in his NHL career. The Capitals play at the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday (7:30 p.m. ET; NBCSN, NBCSWA, NHL.TV) and are home against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Wednesday, the Wild on Friday and the Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday.

Wayne Gretzky and Mike Bossy (nine each) hold the NHL record for most 50-goal seasons.

* Steven Stamkos is one goal from passing Vincent Lecavalier (383) and becoming the all-time goal-scoring leader for the Lightning, who play four games this week beginning with the Coyotes at home Monday (7:30 p.m. ET; ESPN+, TVAS, SUN, FS-A PLUS, NHL.TV).

* Cam Atkinson is three goals from tying Rick Nash's single-season record of 41 for the Columbus Blue Jackets, set in 2003-04. Nash also scored 40 in 2008-09 and 38 in 2007-08 for the Blue Jackets, who are at the Calgary Flames on Tuesday (9 p.m. ET; ESPN+, SNW, FS-O, NHL.TV), the Oilers on Thursday and the Vancouver Canucks on Sunday.

* Zdeno Chara is one goal from becoming the 22nd defenseman to score 200 in the NHL. Chara and the Boston Bruins play at the Islanders on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; SNE, SNO, TVAS, MSG+, NESN, NHL.TV), the Devils on Thursday and the Florida Panthers on Saturday. 

* The Los Angeles Kings need two wins to reach 1,700 all-time in the regular season. They begin their week against the Jets at home Monday (10:30 p.m. ET; FS-W, TSN3, NHL.TV).