Quebec’s Jonathan Huberdeau raised the white flag in the race for the Art-Ross Cup, awarded annually to the top scorer in the National League, who will not play the Florida Panthers Thursday in Ottawa against the Senators.

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Hours before the opening ball drop, Panthers coach Andrew Brunet confirmed that his striker – the second in the league to score Pittman with 115 points – will be absent along with several other stars of the team, including Alexander Barkov and Claude Giroud.

This means that against the Montreal Canadiens, on Friday at the Bell Center, Huberdeau will have one last chance to raise the boot before the playoffs. Conor McDavid followed with seven points heading into Thursday’s games and the Edmonton Oilers delegate extended that lead by adding an assist in a 5-4 overtime win over the San Francisco Sharks Joseph.

Moreover, Johnny Goudreau took advantage of Quebec’s absence to catch him in second place in scoring. The Flames forward scored, reaching all 40 goals this season, as well as mustering a assist, in the 3-2 loss to Minnesota Wild. Leon Drysittel is fourth with 110 points, adding one point to the Oilers win.