Andrei Svechnikov and Sebastian Aho look to continue their respective strong play on Tuesday as the Carolina Hurricanes visit the streaking Columbus Blue Jackets.

Svechnikov and Aho each collected a goal and an assist in Carolina’s 4-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday. Svechnikov has nine points (two goals, seven assists) in his past six games while Aho has nine points (three goals, six assists) in his past nine contests.

Both players have 24 goals this season, four shy of Seth Jarvis for the team lead. Aho leads the team in both assists (44) and points (68), with Svechnikov sitting second in both categories (34, 58).

Jordan Martinook scored the go-ahead goal midway into the third period on Saturday for the Eastern Conference-leading Hurricanes, who improved to 14-3-2 in their last 19 games.

“I thought everybody really contributed. And that’s how we win, right?” Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “It’s not, you know, just special plays here and there. We need every line, really. And that’s what we’ve got to do to get it done.”

Svechnikov notched two assists in the Hurricanes’ 4-1 victory over the Blue Jackets on Dec. 9 in Raleigh, N.C.

Carolina will have a tall task in slowing down Columbus, which enters Tuesday’s tilt on a nine-game point streak (5-0-4). The Blue Jackets remained hot on Saturday by recording a 2-1 victory in a shootout over the Philadelphia Flyers.

Kirill Marchenko provided the fireworks Saturday by scoring his team-leading 25th goal of the season, and 100th career goal, before adding the game-deciding tally in the shootout.

Columbus improved to 15-2-4 in 21 games since Rick Bowness replaced Dean Evason as the team’s head coach on Jan. 12. That surge has allowed the Blue Jackets to move just outside the second-wild card position in the East.

“It’s really important for us and for the standings,” Marchenko said. “It looks like a playoff game. … A lot of games, we’re playing only one goal (games) and always in overtime and shootouts. Happy to win that because last game we lose in overtime (2-1 against the Florida Panthers on Thursday), and now we will change it.”

Jet Greaves turned aside 18 shots in regulation and overtime before denying all three attempts in the shootout.

“He was so calm in the shootout,” Bowness said. “That was pretty good to see. Very impressive.”

Greaves credited the team’s penalty kill for making his job easier. Columbus thwarted all four short-handed situations on Saturday, including a four-minute power play by Philadelphia that bridged from the second and third period.

“I thought the kill did a great job,” Greaves said. “Special teams is so important in these games, and I thought the guys did a good job. There were a lot of shot blocks. I think we were getting it in the neutral zone and up the ice, and that shows a positive effort from the guys. It’s such an important time in the game.”

–Field Level Media

Newly re-elected Barcelona president Joan Laporta tendered an olive branch to Lionel Messi, saying the erstwhile club legend and Inter Miami superstar would always be welcome to return.

Laporta routed challenger Victor Font in Sunday’s election, earning 68.1% of votes cast by 48,480 club members to retain the presidency through 2031.

He overcame Font’s focus on his strained relationship with Messi and an accusation from Xavi, the former Barcelona manager, that Laporta blocked the Argentine midfielder from returning in 2023, two years after Messi left for France.

“Leo will be linked to Barcelona in whatever way he wants to be,” Laporta said. “He deserves a tribute (match) and also a statue. That would be hugely significant. Only Ladislao Kubala and Johan Cruyff have statues at the stadium.

“The doors at Barca are always open to him, whenever he wishes, so that he can continue to strengthen and bring greatness to this institution.”

A lawyer and former Catalan politician, Laporta was club president from 2003-10, reclaimed the post in 2021 and initiated a personnel overhaul that led to Messi’s departure for PSG.

With Messi pulling the strings, Barcelona became a European powerhouse and perennial La Liga champion during Laporta’s initial term.

Messi, 38, led Barcelona to 10 domestic championships and four Champions League titles before continuing his dominance in France and with Inter Miami, with whom he won MLS Cup in 2025 along with back-to-back league MVP awards.

Barcelona’s all-time scoring leader with 672 goals in 778 games, Messi has maintained he would like to come back in the twilight of his career, which also includes the 2022 World Cup triumph with Argentina.

“Last night, I returned to a place that I miss with all my heart,” Messi wrote last November in a social media post that showed him touring the renovated Camp Nou.

“It’s a place where I was immensely happy, where you made me feel like the happiest person in the world a thousand times over. I hope that one day I can return, and not just to say goodbye as a player, as I never got to do…”

Laporta outlined his priorities for the next five years at Barcelona, the current top team in the La Liga table and an aspiring Champions League quarterfinalist.

“To keep building a great team with (manager Hansi) Flick on the bench,” Laporta said. “To win titles, which is what the fans love, but also to play well. And to finish the stadium halfway through the mandate, because that guarantees the club’s future on a financial level but also a venue fitting for putting on a show on the pitch.

“We also want to keep the women’s team really competitive and to keep growing economically. The best years of our lives lie in wait.”

–Field Level Media

The Toronto Maple Leafs will carry the momentum of two wins in three games into their clash Tuesday night against the visiting New York Islanders.

Sparked by two goals from AHL call-up Benoit-Olivier Groulx, the Maple Leafs built a 3-0 lead and held on for a 4-2 road victory over the Minnesota Wild on Sunday.

It followed a 3-2 shootout loss to Buffalo Sabres on Saturday. Toronto snapped an eight-game losing streak with a 6-4 win on Thursday over the Anaheim Ducks, when team captain Auston Matthews went down with a season-ending knee injury.

“No one’s folding the tent,” said Maple Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly, who also scored against the Wild. “We’re trying to compete. We’re trying to push and play good hockey and win games. And, I mean, you’re not going to win every night, but you want the compete to be there, you want the effort to be there, and I think it has been lately. We’ve got a ways to go, but we’re going to look to build off tonight.”

Despite gaining five points over the past three games, the Maple Leafs sit 10 points out of the playoffs as the seventh-place team in the Atlantic Division.

Groulx has three goals in four games since his promotion from the Toronto Marlies. He has four goals and eight points in 69 career games with the Maple Leafs and Ducks.

“It felt really good,” Groulx said. “I thought I had a really tough first period. I was behind the play. I was surprised by their speed, honestly, and their execution, and came back in the second, and I knew I had to regroup.”

Said Toronto head coach Craig Berube: “I know what I’m getting out there, shift after shift with (Groulx). It’s great to see him get a couple of goals tonight. He had another good game all around.”

The Islanders are coming off a 3-2 home win on Saturday over the Calgary Flames.

Simon Holmstrom scored twice in a three-minute span, once while killing a penalty, to help the Islanders go up 3-0.

“We had a really good first period,” Islanders coach Patrick Roy said. “We had a good jump. I mean, we scored three goals. I was pretty pleased with the way we came out, and that was part of what we talked about before the game. We want to get off to a good start. And we had that good start we were looking for.”

Holmstrom was moved to the second line Saturday to play with newly acquired veteran center Brayden Schenn and Anthony Duclair.

“It gives us four very good lines,” Roy said. “Having (Holmstrom) play with Schenn, I thought that was giving us scoring from that line, A, and B, (we feel) comfortable that they can defend very well.”

The Islanders, 11-5-0 in their past 16 games, were third in the Metropolitan Division after their win on Saturday.

“We’ve been doing a good job of managing the puck when we know that our legs aren’t really there, getting the puck deep and trying to outwork them in their own zone,” Holmstrom said. “Everyone is fighting.”

–Field Level Media