Monday’s “First Call” shows us how former Pittsburgh Penguin Phil Kessel took over the NHL’s consecutive games streak. A pair of Metropolitan Division teams suffered home losses. The Eastern Conference has its first team locked into the playoffs. And the Pirates will be facing a familiar opponent on Opening Day in St. Louis Thursday.

Phil stands alone

Former Penguin and current Arizona Coyote Phil Kessel now has the NHL’s longest active playing streak at 969 games. That’s because Keith Yandle didn’t play Saturday night against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

The Philadelphia Flyers’ defenseman had played in 989 consecutive contests. But that run ended over the weekend. Yandle hadn’t missed a game in 13 years. On Jan. 25, the 35-year-old grabbed the NHL record, which was previously held by Doug Jarvis.

Interim coach Mike Yeo said the “organizational decision” was “what’s best for the Philadelphia Flyers going forward.”

The Flyers are out of playoff contention and want to get a look at some younger players over the season’s final month.

Flyers forward Kevin Hayes wasn’t happy about it, particularly because the team didn’t let Yandle get to 1,000 games.

“I can’t say I agree with it, but the impact that Keith has on myself and the guys in that locker room is something that can’t be measured,” Hayes said via NBC Sports Philadelphia. “You guys might write something that makes me look like an idiot by saying that. But decisions need to be made by organizations. … They made a decision and we have to roll with it. It’s a business.”

Kessel’s latest game was Arizona’s 3-2 overtime win over Chicago Sunday. He had an assist.

On the board

Speaking of former Penguins, Zach Aston Reese scored a goal for the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday against the Edmonton Oilers.

His first goal as a Duck! ???? to ZAR#FlyTogether pic.twitter.com/k6L2Lmk03o

— Anaheim Ducks (@AnaheimDucks) April 4, 2022

That was the first goal for Aston-Reese since the Penguins sent him to Anaheim as part of the Rickard Rakell trade.

It wasn’t nearly enough for the Ducks. They got thumped 6-1.

The other NHL player Anaheim acquired in that swap was Dominik Simon. He hasn’t scored in six games, but does have an assist.

Metro missteps

Two teams in the Metropolitan Division had home losses Sunday.

The Washington Capitals dropped a 5-1 decision to the Minnesota Wild. The Wild have 91 points, second most in the Western Conference behind the Central Division-leading Colorado Avalanche (104 points). Cam Talbot — not Marc-Andre Fleury — got the win in net. Joel Eriksson Ek scored twice for Minnesota.

EK'S STARTING THE WEEK OFF STRONG pic.twitter.com/bvYGQfzqqN

— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) April 4, 2022

Washington still is in the eighth and final Eastern Conference playoff spot with 84 points. That’s eight points behind the third-place Penguins who were idle Sunday.

The Rangers (94 points) at least gained a point in their defeat. But they still lost to the division’s seventh-place team, the Flyers (55 points). Philly won a 4-3 shootout at Madison Square Garden.

Martin Jones had 43 saves for the Flyers. Kevin Hayes had the game-winning shot.

Hollywood turns the lights off on Broadway. #PHIvsNYR | @KevinPHayes12 pic.twitter.com/eFJx6IUatX

— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) April 4, 2022

The Rangers trailed that game 3-1 with less than five minutes remaining before scrambling back to force overtime and gain a point.

First of many

The first team in the NHL to clinch a playoff spot is the Florida Panthers.

They beat the Buffalo Sabres 5-3 on Sunday, giving them 102 points atop the Eastern Conference and the Atlantic Division. And that gives them enough to qualify for one of the eight Eastern Conference postseason slots.

Anthony Duclair scored twice for Florida.

Goals so nice, Duke scores 'em twice pic.twitter.com/AAku7yjxn6

— x - Florida Panthers (@FlaPanthers) April 3, 2022

The Panthers next host the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday. It’s potentially a first place-second place showdown in the Atlantic. Toronto sits in second, nine points behind the Panthers. But Toronto has to play the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday. Tampa is tied with Toronto for second place with 93 points apiece.

The Leafs have won four in a row. So have the Panthers.

Him again?

While the Pirates are rolling out JT Brubaker as the Opening Day starter in St. Louis, the Cardinals are countering with Adam Wainwright. It’s the seventh time he’s had that honor.

This will be Wainwright’s 17th season in the Major Leagues. He’s 40 years old and has pitched against the Pirates 47 times. Only the Chicago Cubs (53) and the Milwaukee Brewers (49) have squared off against Wainwright more often than the Pirates.

Wainwright has 21 victories against the Pirates, more than any other active pitcher. He was 17-7 in 2021 with a 3.05 ERA. The veteran right-hander was 4-0 with a 0.30 ERA and 29:2 strikeout ratio against the Pirates last year.

The Pirates only managed a .128 team batting average against him in those four outings.

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