With the 2026 Olympic men’s hockey tournament behind us, the international stars are back with their NHL teams as the Stanley Cup playoff excitement begins to ramp up.
This Saturday, many of these hockey icons will hit the ice for a special doubleheader airing on ABC and available on the ESPN app.
In the first game, the Pittsburgh Penguins—featuring Sweden’s Erik Karlsson and Rickard Rakell, but missing the injured Sidney Crosby—will face the New York Rangers, who have USA forwards Vincent Trocheck and J.T. Miller, along with USA coach Mike Sullivan and Swedish teammate Mika Zibanejad.
The second contest pits the Boston Bruins—boasting USA’s Charlie McAvoy and Jeremy Swayman, plus Czechia’s David Pastrnak—against the Philadelphia Flyers, who will field Rasmus Ristolainen (Finland), Dan Vladar (Czechia), and Travis Sanheim (Canada).
To prepare you for these matchups, we’ve compiled a guide spotlighting key players to watch from each team, alongside detailed statistical insights from ESPN Research and broadcast info.
Pittsburgh
Penguins at
New York
Rangers
Saturday, 12:30 p.m. ET
Madison Square Garden
Penguins
Record: 30-15-12, 72 points
Power Ranking: 7
Leading scorer: Sidney Crosby (27 goals, 32 assists)
Notes from ESPN Research
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At the regular season’s start, DraftKings Sportsbook listed the Penguins with +600 odds to make the playoffs (14% implied probability). As of Friday, those odds shifted to -310 (75% implied probability).
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Crosby has participated in 369 of the Penguins’ last 378 games, bouncing back from wrist surgery that sidelined him at the beginning of the 2021-22 season. Only 29 players in the NHL have played more games than Crosby since his return on Oct. 30, 2021, during which he was aged 34 to 38. His games played during this span surpass any other Penguins player by 24 (Kris Letang is next with 345).
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Evgeni Malkin, with 46 points, is the second-highest scorer on the team, following Crosby’s 59. Malkin’s current pace of 1.10 points-per-game would be his highest since 2019-20 (1.35).
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Goaltender Stuart Skinner holds an 8-1-1 record with a 2.30 goals-against average and a .904 save percentage in his last 10 starts, while backup Arturs Silovs has an 8-2-2 record, 2.39 GAA, and .910 save percentage in his past 12.
Rangers
Record: 22-29-7, 51 points
Power Ranking: 30
Leading scorer: Mika Zibanejad (23 goals, 29 assists)
Notes from ESPN Research
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The Rangers have faced challenges at Madison Square Garden in the 2025-26 season, entering Saturday’s game with a home record of 6-15-5, representing the second-lowest points percentage (.327) in the NHL, just ahead of the Vancouver Canucks (.304, 6-17-5). Their fewest home wins in an 80-plus game season was 13 in 2003-04.
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With Igor Shesterkin and Adam Fox back, the Rangers’ roster is now the eighth youngest in the NHL (27.85 years old). even so, their top three scorers are all 32: Zibanejad (52 points), Vincent Trocheck (37), and J.T. Miller (36). Artemi Panarin, who was traded just before the Olympic break, had the highest points for the Rangers this season (57) at age 34.
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Will Cuylle has notched three seasons with 200 or more hits, tying Dan Girardi for the second most such seasons among Rangers players since tracking began in 2005-06, behind only Ryan Callahan’s four such seasons.
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The 2020 No. 1 pick, Alexis Lafreniere, has a career points-per-game rate of 0.52, which is the fourth lowest among No. 1 overall picks with at least 400 NHL games, following Garry Monahan (1963, 0.38), Patrik Stefan (1999, 0.41), and Doug Wickenheiser (1980, 0.50).
Boston
Bruins at
Philadelphia
Flyers
Saturday, 3 p.m. ET
Xfinity Mobile Arena
Bruins
Record: 33-20-5, 71 points
Power Ranking: 11
Leading scorer: David Pastrnak (22 goals, 50 assists)
Notes from ESPN Research
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The Bruins did not qualify for the playoffs last season, but they haven’t missed in consecutive seasons since 2014-15 and 2015-16. This year, they’re showing a .794 points percentage in 2026 (12-2-3), the second-highest in the NHL behind the Tampa Bay Lightning (.861, 15-2-1).
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Pastrnak tops the team with 72 points, marking his fourth career 50-assist season, tying Johnny Bucyk and Adam Oates for the fourth most in Bruins history.
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Morgan Geekie’s 33 goals rank him tied for fourth in the NHL, alongside Cole Caufield, following Nathan MacKinnon (40), Connor McDavid (35), and Matt Boldy (34).
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Charlie McAvoy’s 340 career points place him third among Bruins defensemen in their first nine NHL seasons, behind legends Bobby Orr (870) and Ray Bourque (695).
Flyers
Record: 26-21-11, 63 points
Power Ranking: 23
Leading scorer: Travis Konecny (22 goals, 33 assists)
Notes from ESPN Research
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The Flyers have missed the playoffs for five consecutive seasons, yet they feature the fifth-youngest roster in the NHL for 2025-26, with nine players under 30 achieving 20 or more points this season.
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Trevor Zegras has accumulated 50 points, making him the second-highest scorer on a new team this season, trailing only Mitch Marner (58 with the Vegas Golden Knights).
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NHL Edge reports that Owen Tippett boasts 38 speed bursts exceeding 22 mph this season, ranking second in the NHL behind Connor McDavid, who has logged 110 such bursts.
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Travis Sanheim, Nick Seeler, and Cam York have each recorded over 100 blocked shots this season. The Flyers are among four teams with three players achieving this milestone, alongside the Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Canadiens, and Dallas Stars.
