Captain Shane Doan will compete in his 1,300th NHL game on Thursday as the Phoenix Coyotes visit the surging Boston Bruins. The franchise's all-time leader in games played, Doan is still contributing with 18 goals and 19 assists - although he has just one and four, respectively, in 19 career contests versus Boston. Radim Vrbata wasn't shy about making a dent in the scoreboard in Phoenix's last outing as he collected a goal and two assists in a 3-1 triumph over Florida on Tuesday.

The Carolina Hurricanes face an uphill climb to keep their fleeting playoff hopes alive and will look to win back-to-back games for the first time in 6 1/2 weeks when they host the lowly Buffalo Sabres on Thursday night. The Hurricanes are sitting eight points back of Philadelphia for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference and need to build on Tuesday's 3-1 victory over the New York Rangers.

The San Jose Sharks begin a three-game Eastern Conference road trip on Thursday with a visit to the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Sharks finished a four-game homestand against Eastern opponents, posting a 3-0-1 mark to improve to 18-6-3 against the conference. Columbus has won its last five home games as it attempts to hang on to a playoff spot in the Metropolitan Division.

The Tampa Bay Lightning look to snap a five-game winless streak and revive their playoff push when the Florida Panthers visit on Thursday. The Lightning dropped two shootout losses to drop to 1-4-2 since the Olympic break, but own the first wild-card spot - four points clear of ninth place in the Eastern Conference.

The St. Louis Blues have the inside track in the race for the Presidents' Trophy and have a chance to strengthen their hold on the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference with back-to-back games against a pair of division cellar dwellers. St. Louis looks to rebound from a rare home loss when it hosts the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday night. The Blues have won seven of the past eight against the Oilers, although Edmonton came away with a 3-0 win in its last visit to St. Louis.

The Minnesota Wild watched as a three-goal lead went by the boards while the New York Rangers were downright flat in their last contest. The teams look to take out their frustrations on one another Thursday when they meet in St. Paul, Minn. "We got really complacent when we were up 3-0," forward Zach Parise admitted after the Wild yielded four straight goals in an overtime loss to Edmonton on Tuesday. "... We played with no intensity, no urgency."

The Los Angeles Kings look to match a franchise-best nine-game winning streak and net Darryl Sutter his 500th coaching victory on Thursday when they open a five-game homestand against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Rookie Martin Jones made 24 saves in a 3-2 win over Calgary and turned aside 38 shots in the Kings' 3-1 victory in Toronto on Dec. 11, but is expected to take a seat in favor of Jonathan Quick, who attempts to tie Rogie Vachon as he vies for his franchise-best 171st victory.