The Columbus Blue Jackets will try to cool off David Pastrnak when they host the Boston Bruins on Sunday.

Pastrnak had two assists in the Bruins’ 6-3 win against the visiting Minnesota Wild on Saturday, extending his point streak to 12 games. The forward has 20 points (seven goals, 13 assists) during the NHL’s longest active streak.

The Bruins (41-24-8, 90 points) are 4-1-0 in their past five games and are three points ahead of Columbus for the first wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.

“Hopefully, we can use that momentum into (Sunday’s game),” said defenseman Andrew Peeke, a former member of the Blue Jackets. “They’re right in the race, too. It’s a big matchup for both teams, and it’s exciting. That’s what makes this part of the year fun — being in that hunt. Every game feels like a playoff game, and that’s really exciting.”

The Blue Jackets (38-24-11, 87 points) have lost three of their past four games following a 3-2 defeat at the hands of the visiting San Jose Sharks on Saturday.

Pavel Zacha and Elias Lindholm each scored two goals for Boston against the Wild. Viktor Arvidsson had a goal and an assist. Casey Mittelstadt notched three assists and Jeremy Swayman made 31 saves.

“It was a complete 60-minute effort,” coach Marco Sturm said. “Every line brought something to the table — could be a fight, could be a goal, whatever it is. Sway in net, outstanding again. That’s who we are, and that’s what I like the most.”

Zacha has six goals and three assists in his past six games.

Igor Chernyshov scored his second goal of the game with 1:25 left in the third period and the San Jose Sharks rallied to defeat the Blue Jackets Saturday.

Defenseman Denton Mateychuk and Cole Sillinger scored and Elvis Merzlikins made 33 saves for Columbus.

“We just didn’t have our legs,” Blue Jackets coach Rick Bowness said. “What these guys have to learn is when you don’t have your legs, you try to simplify the game a little bit. And even though we didn’t have our legs, we’re still trying to make plays that just weren’t there.”

Columbus took a 2-1 lead into the third period but could not hold it.

“They’re (San Jose) fighting for their lives too, just as we are, so they were the better team tonight,” Blue Jackets defenseman Erik Gudbranson said. “They were on top of us. We didn’t really get many opportunities to be on the offensive side of those physical altercations.”

Columbus forward Dmitri Voronkov left the game early in the second period with an upper-body injury after blocking a shot. Bowness said he will not play Sunday.

Joonas Korpisalo is 1-2-0 with a 4.19 goals-against average and .872 save percentage in his career against Columbus. Jet Greaves, the probable starter for the Blue Jackets, has never faced the Bruins.

The Bruins won the teams’ first meeting 4-2 on Feb. 26 as Arvidsson scored twice and Korpisalo made 36 saves. The teams play again on April 12.

–Field Level Media

Charle-Edouard D’Astous has a strong idea of what he and his Tampa Bay Lightning teammates need the rest of the season.

The defenseman said using emotion and playing with more physicality are the answers for the Lightning, who will conclude a back-to-back set on Sunday with a game against the visiting Nashville Predators.

Tampa Bay (45-21-6, 96 points) overcame two quick goals to the surging Ottawa Senators on Saturday afternoon in a 4-2 victory.

The win, however, largely was due to the play of D’Astous and Emil Lilleberg, depth players on an injury-ravaged defensive corps.

“Just play with emotion, be physical. I think when we do those things (that) it’s going our way and like we showed tonight,” said D’Astous, who collected one goal and one assist on Saturday. He has two and five, respectively, in his past eight outings.

Tampa Bay’s Brandon Hagel scored his 34th goal of the season, one off matching his career-high mark he set in 2024-25.

Lilleberg provided the game-winning goal on a four-man rush for the Lightning, who are 5-0-2 in their last seven games and are in second place in the Atlantic Division.

It was Lilleberg’s first goal since Nov. 15 and third overall to help Tampa Bay improve to 12-1-1 in the front end of back-to-backs.

However, the Lightning bring a 6-5-2 mark in the second half of that scenario into Sunday’s game with the Predators (34-30-9, 77 points), who hold the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference.

At home Saturday night against the Montreal Canadiens, Nashville succumbed to a quick attack by the visitors in a 4-1 loss.

“They outplayed us tonight,” center Ryan O’Reilly said after his team’s second loss following five straight victories. “Against their top line, we lost that matchup. We didn’t do enough against them defensively. … It’s disappointing.

“I want to shake this one off and get on to the next. It’s kind of nice it’s back-to-back. We have to shift the focus right now and start preparing for the Lightning. It’s going to be a very tough test for us.”

Since Dec. 9, the Predators are 24-16-5 and are in the postseason hunt.

Of course, any matchup between Tampa Bay and Nashville eventually leads to future Hall of Famer Steven Stamkos.

During a spectacular 16-year career with the Lightning, the 36-year-old Stamkos produced 555 goals and 582 assists for a franchise-record 1,137 points — 22 more than Nikita Kucherov, who was ill and missed Saturday’s win.

In his lone game in Tampa as a visitor on Oct. 28, 2024, Stamkos had two assists in the Predators’ 3-2 overtime loss.

The only assist on the winning marker went to Jake Guentzel, whom the Lightning acquired for their top forward line to replace Stamkos.

That move occurred after Tampa Bay declined to sign its captain, who won two Stanley Cups and two Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophies in 16 seasons.

After a 27-goal first campaign in Nashville, Stamkos has 36 tallies in 73 games.

–Field Level Media

The Boston Celtics might need another big offensive performance from backup point guard Payton Pritchard when they visit the Charlotte Hornets on Sunday night.

Jaylen Brown, Boston’s leading scorer this season, didn’t play Friday night in a 109-102 victory over the Atlanta Hawks because of Achilles tendinitis, but Pritchard filled the scoring void with a game-high 36 points, including six 3-pointers. He also collected seven rebounds and four assists.

Pritchard has at least 10 points in nine of his past 10 games for the Celtics, who are in second place in the Eastern Conference.

“The points are one thing,” Boston coach Joe Mazzulla said. “But I thought the ball handling, handling the pressure, the offensive rebounding — he had two offensive rebounds in the second half there that were huge for us. So it’s just those big-time plays.”

Those two offensive rebounds led to seven second-chance points.

“It’s just winning basketball,” Pritchard said. “I want to win, so obviously, you want to make a play. You see somebody shoot the ball and I see it coming off the rim, and just fighting, trying to get an extra possession. Those little things can change the game and win a game.”

Pritchard has averaged 25.1 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 7.3 assists in the eight games Brown has missed this season. The Celtics have seven wins in those eight games. Brown is listed as questionable for Sunday’s game on Boston’s injury report.

Boston (49-24) has won six of its past seven games. The Hornets (39-35) are coming off Saturday night’s 118-114 loss to Philadelphia, which ended Charlotte’s five-game winning streak. The team had an 88-73 lead midway through the third quarter but was outscored 26-17 in the fourth.

“In that fourth quarter especially, our defensive focus started to wane a little bit as we were missing shots,” Charlotte coach Charles Lee said. “The guys did a good job the last few games of not letting that be the case, ever. Our shot-making can’t affect our defense.”

Charlotte, which has clinched at least a spot in the Eastern Conference play-in tournament, leads the NBA in made 3-pointers (1,210) and is third in 3-point percentage (38.2).

Rookie Kon Knueppel tops the league in made 3-pointers this season (256), and teammate LaMelo Ball is third (235).

Knueppel scored 20 points when Charlotte beat the Celtics 118-89 in Boston on March 4.

“We understand they’re going to have that edge on their shoulder because of how we did beat them in Boston, and so we need to turn the page,” Lee said. “Learn and turn the page.”

Jayson Tatum also is listed as questionable on Boston’s injury report (Achilles repair management). Tatum has appeared in 10 of Boston’s 11 games since he returned from surgery to repair a ruptured right Achilles tendon last May. The Celtics are 8-2 when he has played.

Tatum played a season-high 37 minutes on Friday night against Atlanta and scored 13 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter.

“Yeah, I mean, just continue to give the game what it needs and then just see where he’s at from a physical standpoint,” Mazzulla said of Tatum’s workload. “There isn’t a specific number (of minutes he can play). It’s more about what looks the best for us, where we’re at, what we need, and we continue to go from there. He played the whole quarter a couple games in a row, and he’s handling it well, and so we just continue to kind of assess that and go from there.”

–Field Level Media