The Carolina Hurricanes are back in action this afternoon with a 5:00 PM puck drop against the Montreal Canadiens at the Lenovo Center. After taking care of the New Jersey Devils 5-2 on Saturday night, the Canes will look to avoid the season sweep versus the Habs this evening.

Montreal owns the season series so far, having beaten Carolina 7-5 on New Year’s Day and 5-2 just five days ago in Montreal. In both games, the Hurricanes dominated possession and outshot the Canadiens significantly, yet somehow found themselves on the wrong end of the scoreboard.

Montreal comes into Raleigh riding a four-game winning streak after beating Nashville 4-1 on Saturday. With 92 points, the Habs are third in the Atlantic Division and are fourth in the Eastern Conference.

The Canadiens remain in a battle for the playoffs, but are in a good position with 10 games remaining in the regular season. The Habs are on a four-game winning streak and are 9-4-2 since the Olympic break.

Cole Caufield is leading the way for Montreal this year. He has 45 goals this season and is chasing Nathan MacKinnon’s 48 goals for the league lead. No Canadien has led the NHL in goals since Guy Lafleur in 1977-78. Caufield is lethal from the slot and has been particularly dangerous against the Hurricanes, scoring in both meetings this year.

Juraj Slafkovský and Oliver Kapanen also scored in each of the previous two meetings between these teams.

Nick Suzuki has been outstanding as the team’s first-line center with 88 points in 72 games and has points in eight of his last nine games. He ranks ninth in the league in scoring, and his 64 assists are sixth-best in the NHL.

Sophomore defenseman Lane Hutson is having a Norris-caliber season with 71 points, and 19-year-old Ivan Demidov continues to shine in his rookie campaign with 16 goals and 40 assists.

With Jacob Flower earning the win over Nashville last night, Jakub Dobes is the likely starting goaltender. He was impressive in his first appearance against Carolina, stopping 41 of 43 shots on March 24. If he gets the start today, the Canes will be facing a goaltender who has posted a .926 save percentage over his last six starts and played great against them less than a week ago.

Montreal, under head coach Martin St. Louis, is a high-event, transition-based attack that prioritizes finishing quality over shot volume. The Canadiens rank 3rd in goals per game despite sitting just 20th with an expected-goals-for share of 48.76 percent. The Habs, fueled by Caufield’s elite 20.7 percent rate and slot-heavy offensive deployment, lead in the NHL in shooting percentage. The power play is a top-five unit at 24.5 percent, quarterbacked by Hutson at the point, and Suzuki being the playmaker. Suzuki ranks third in the league with 39 power play points.

On the flip side, the Canadiens’ kill ranks 26th in the league. The last power play goal they surrendered was a Nikolaj Ehlers tally five days ago.

Canadiens projected lineup

Cole Caufield — Nick Suzuki — Juraj Slafkovsky

Alex Newhook — Oliver Kapanen — Ivan Demidov

Zachary Bolduc — Jake Evans — Josh Anderson

Joe Veleno — Phillip Danault — Brendan Gallagher

Mike Matheson — Noah Dobson

Jayden Struble — Lane Hutson

Kaiden Guhle — Alexandre Carrier

Jakub Dobes

Jacob Fowler

Scratched: Arber Xhekaj, Samuel Montembeault

Injured: Kirby Dach (upper body), Patrik Laine (lower body), Alexandre Texier (lower body)

Saturday’s win over the Devils showed exactly what this team is capable of when things click. The Canes scored five straight goals after falling behind 1-0, with Nikolaj Ehlers lighting the lamp on the power play and Seth Jarvis notching his 30th goal of the season on a shorthanded empty-netter. Shayne Gostisbehere returned from a three-week absence with a goal and an assist, and continues to perform during an injury-laden season.

The return of Gostisbehere is huge. His 43 points in 45 games lead all Hurricanes defensemen, and having him back as the power-play quarterback should give that unit a boost. He looked like he hadn’t missed a beat against the Devils.

Ehlers continues to be red-hot in March. He is on a three-game goal streak and has 17 points in 13 games this month.

Jarvis’s empty-netter last night made him just the sixth player in franchise history with at least three consecutive 30-goal seasons.

Jordan Staal scored yesterday against the Devils, and that marker put him in sole possession of eighth on the franchise’s all-time goal-scoring list. His next goal will put him at the 20-goal mark for the first time since the 2015-16 season.

With Brandon Bussi earning the win on Saturday, expect Frederik Andersen to get the start this afternoon. Andersen has played better since the Olympic break, earning a 6-2-0 record. However, one of those blemishes was the loss in Montreal, in which he allowed three goals on just 19 shots.

Hurricanes projected lineup

Andrei Svechnikov — Sebastian Aho — Seth Jarvis

Taylor Hall — Logan Stankoven — Jackson Blake

Nikolaj Ehlers — Jordan Staal — Jordan Martinook

William Carrier — Mark Jankowski — Eric Robinson

Jaccob Slavin — Jalen Chatfield

K’Andre Miller — Sean Walker

Shayne Gostisbehere — Alexander Nikishin

Frederik Andersen

Brandon Bussi

Scratched: Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Nicolas Deslauriers, Mike Reilly

Injured: Pyotr Kochetkov (lower body)

The Canes are wearing their red jerseys tonight and will honor veterans, active-duty personnel, Guard members, and reservists during Military Appreciation Night.

Here’s how to check out the action:

• Time: 5:00 PM ET
• Location: Lenovo Center – Raleigh, NC
• TV: FanDuel Sports Network with Mike Maniscalco, play-by-play; Tripp Tracy, color analyst; Shane Willis, analyst; Hannah Yates, rinkside.
• Radio: 99.9 The Fan FM
• Line: ML: CAR -175; PL: CAR -1.5 +142

The Columbus Blue Jackets are back at home for the second of three straight games in the friendly confines of Nationwide Arena. This game features the Boston Bruins. 

Boston Bruins - 41-24-8 - 90 Points - 6-2-2 in the last 10 - Won 2 - 4th in the Atlantic

Columbus Blue Jackets - 38-24-11 - 87 Points - 6-3-1 in the last 10 - Lost 2 - 4th in the Metro  

Team Notes Per CBJ PR

• The Blue Jackets began a three-game homestand with a 3-2 loss to San Jose on Saturday. It snapped the club's 12-game home points streak (9-0-3), which was tied for the longest home points streak in club history (12; 9-0-3 from Feb. 11-Mar. 31, 2013). The team failed to collect points for just the second time in 18 games at Nationwide Arena in 2026 (12-2-4).

• The club has earned points in 24 of its last 29 contests (20-5-4, 44 pts) to lead the league points pct. (.759) and goals against per game (2.45), and rank second in wins (tied) and points and eighth in goals-for per game (3.45) since Jan. 11.

• Columbus has allowed two goals or less in eight of the last 10 games since Mar. 10 (1.90 GA/GP, 3rd in NHL).

• CBJ conclude their 15th of 16 back-to-back sets (18-7-4, .690 pts pct.) today vs. Boston. The club has won five of the last six second games of a back-to-back and earned points in seven of the past eight (6-1-1; 9-4-1 overall in second games).

• The Jackets lead the NHL with a franchise-record 55 goals scored by defensemen in 2025-26 (55-131-186, 73 GP).

Player Notes Per CBJ PR

• Adam Fantilli collected an assist vs. San Jose and has points in eight of the last 10 games (3-7-10) and 14 of the last 18 contests (8-11-19). He has set a single-season career high in assists and points (tied) with 21-33-54 in 73 contests.

• Jet Greaves has earned points in 14 of his last 16 starts since Jan. 11 (12-2-2, 2.23 GAA, .915 SV% in 16 GP), while G Elvis Merzlikins has recorded points in 10 of his past 13 starts over that span (8-3-2, 2.54 GAA in 14 GP).

• Boone Jenner has registered 1-3-4 in the last six games and is slated to play in his franchise-record 800th career game (209-207-416, 799 GP) today against the Bruins.

• Mathieu Olivier, who leads the club in hits (207), ranks 11th-T in the NHL in goals since Jan. 28 (11-4-15 in 22 GP).

• Cole Sillinger, who notched a goal yesterday, has posted 2-5-7 in the last seven contests and has set career highs in assists and points (tied) with 8-25-33 in 72 appearances in 2025-26.

• Zach Werenski has notched 21-56-77 and 25 multi-point efforts in 66 games in 2025-26 to lead NHL blueliners in points-per-game (1.17), multi-point efforts and shots on goal (229) and sit second in points and third in goals.

Blue Jackets Stats

• Power Play - 19.9% - 18th in the NHL
• Penalty Kill - 77.9% - 24th in the NHL
• Goals For - 228 - 15th in the NHL
• Goals Against - 221 - 16th in the NHL   

Bruins Stats

• Power Play - 23.3% - 9th in the NHL
• Penalty Kill - 76.7% - 27th in the NHL
• Goals For - 243 - 9th in the NHL
• Goals Against - 224 - 22nd in the NHL

Series History vs. TheBruins

• Columbus is 17-18-10 all-time, and 10-8-5 at home vs. Boston.
• CBJ have earned points in eight of the last 11 games against Boston at Nationwide Arena since Dec. 27, 2016 (6-3-2).
• The home team has won three-straight games and earned points in 19 of the last 23 meetings dating back to Nov. 10, 2016 (15-4-4).
• The winning team has scored four goals or more in five consecutive meetings overall and eight times in the last 10 matchups, as well as each of the past four at Nationwide Arena.
• The winning team has won by multiple goals in seven-straight contests in the series and nine of the past 10 meetings, along with by three-plus in each of the past four at Columbus.
• The Blue Jackets are 17-of-81 on the power play (21.0 pct.), and 58-of-68 on the penalty kill (85.3 pct.) against the Bruins in 23 all-time meetings at Nationwide Arena.

Who To Watch For The Bruins

• David Pastrnak leads the Bruins with 63 assists and 92 points.
• Morgan Geekie leads Boston with 34 goals.
• Joonas Korpisalo is 12-9-4 with a SV% of .891.

CBJ Player Notes vsBruins

• Boone Jenner 13 points in 24 career games against Boston.

• Zach Werenski has 15 points against the Bruins.
• Mason Marchment has 7 points in 9 games vs. Boston.

Injured Reserve & Other Injuries

• Brendan Smith - Lower Body - Missed 35 Games IR - Out for the rest of the regular season.
• Damon Severson - Missed 1 Game - Upper Body - Week-to-week
• Dmitri Voronkov - Upper Body - Left game early against San Jose

TOTAL MAN GAMES LOST: 182

How to Watch & Listen: Tonight's game will be on FanDuel Sports Network. The radio broadcast will be on 97.1 The Fan, with Bob McElligott behind the mic doing the play-by-play. 

Stay updated with the most interesting Blue Jackets stories, analysis, breaking news, and more!

Tap the star to add us to your favorites on Google News and never miss a story.

Let us know what you think below.

For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or creating your own post in our community forum.

The Matchup: The New Jersey Devils (37-33-2) at the Chicago Blackhawks (27-33-13)

The Time: 7:00 PM EDT

The Broadcast: TV — MSGSN, NHLN; Radio — Devils Hockey Network

Effectively Eliminated

The New Jersey Devils were keeping their playoff hopes at least somewhat alive over the past couple weeks, winning most of their games. However, key losses to the Washington Capitals and last night’s collapse to the Carolina Hurricanes all but eliminated them from playoff contention. It is not quite a mathematical truth yet, as only the New York Rangers have been mathematically eliminated from playoff contention, but it is too much of a hill to climb at this point. The most points the Devils can now finish with is 96 if they won each of their final 10 games, and there are currently four teams, spanning from seventh place (Penguins) to 10th place (Senators) with 86 to 88 points at this current moment. All of those teams can still hit 100 points, and only two of them will make the playoffs. Even the 11th and 12th place Flyers and Capitals can still reach the playoffs if three of those teams have a terrible end to the season. But the New Jersey Devils? They made their bed and now will have to lie in it.

I will have more to say in a future post-mortem article on this season, but it got me thinking last night: never let anyone tell you that a loss in November or December won’t make or break the season. And while this is a pervasive attitude among fans, that games late matter more than games early in the season (they don’t), it’s also terrible to see similar attitudes among players. And frankly, I think there were too many players on the Devils who were too comfortable with giving up a loss in the first half of the season with the mind that it doesn’t determine the whole season. Losing a game is fine, but losing efforts are not, and I think we all know that too many players gave losing efforts throughout the season until about a month ago.

The Blackhawks Are Worse…Much Worse

The Devils are not a bad team, though. The Blackhawks are a bad team. They are very likely to win the first overall pick for Gavin McKenna this summer. And if you are watching the standings for that, you might actually want the Devils to win tonight, hurting their own draft position. They are tied with the New York Rangers at 67 points through 73 games for the second-worst point totals in the league, ahead of only the truly rotten Vancouver Canucks. But what makes the Rangers more respectable than the Blackhawks is that the Rangers play in the Eastern Conference. In case you have not noticed by now, the league parity appears very well and good. But the conference parity has been flushed down the toilet and is now clogging the sewers under league headquarters. I might expect a team with 67 points in the West to have more like 55 points in the East. In total, there are 11 teams in the East with true winning records (i.e. not “NHL .500”) and 11 teams that have a winning record in regulation. In the West, the Edmonton Oilers just won their 28th game in regulation to become the fourth team to at least be breakeven in the first 60 minutes, with only three teams (Colorado, Dallas, Minnesota) having a winning record in regulation.

I will have more to say about conference parity in a future article, but it is important to note that the Blackhawks are a terrible team in one of the worst conferences I can ever remember staining an NHL season.

The Blackhawks have two scorers with more than 40 points in Tyler Bertuzzi (53 in 70) and Connor Bedard (67 in 60). If those two do not score, the Blackhawks are all but certain to lose their games. They lost 6-1 to the Rangers two nights ago and 5-1 to the Flyers in their matchup the night before. They have the 30th-ranked offense in all situations (2.51 goals per 60) and the 25th-ranked all situations defense (3.16 goals against per 60).

That’s actually an overperformance of their expected numbers.

Their 2.58 expected goals for per 60 ranks 32nd in the league: dead last. Their 3.46 expected goals against per 60 ranks 27th in the league. Reducing the situations to five-on-five only makes things worse, with their total offense improving to 26th in the league while their defense slips to 28th in the league, with their expected rates sitting still at 32nd for offense (2.22 xGF/60) and their expected five-on-five defense sitting dead-last at 32nd with a flat 3.0 expected five-on-five goals against per 60. The Devils, by comparison, are sitting at 2.58 xGF and 2.65 xGA per 60 at five-on-five. It’s a true chasm between a Devils team we are frustrated with and a truly bad team.

But this is the NHL, and truly bad teams are still full of (mostly) NHL players. If the Devils are wallowing too much from yesterday evening, the Blackhawks can catch them sleeping and take a victory, giving the Rangers second-position for the Draft Lottery. This is especially true since the solid young goaltender Spencer Knight will be in net for Chicago, with his .908 save percentage and three shutouts in 48 games this season. That trade, getting Knight with a first-round pick in exchange for Seth Jones, was really great work by Blackhawks General Manager Kyle Davidson. Now that these games really don’t matter to the Devils’ playoff hopes, it might be fun to see how a young, talented goaltender performs in net.

Your Thoughts

What do you think of tonight’s game? How do you think the Devils will respond to their collapse in Carolina last night? What do you think of the Chicago Blackhawks? Can the Devils learn anything from a team that is truly in the basement? Leave your thoughts in the comments below, and thanks for reading.

ST. LOUIS — The Toronto Maple Leafs have had their upcoming game against the Anaheim Ducks marked on their calendar ever since the two teams first met this season on March 12. That’s when Anaheim Ducks captain Radko Gudas extended his knee into Auston Matthews, ending the Maple Leafs’ captain's season with a dangerous knee-on-knee hit.

“We’ll see ‘em in a couple of weeks,” Max Domi said in the days after the hit.

Now comes word that Gudas may not play in that game. On Thursday, the defenseman sustained a lower-body injury in a game against the Calgary Flames and was seen leaving Scotiabank Saddledome in a walking boot. He did not participate in Anaheim’s 4-2 loss to Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers.

Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports that Gudas wants to play against the Maple Leafs on Monday no matter what, but the final decision may not come down to him if the club’s medical staff doesn’t clear him. Gudas understands the scrutiny that comes with avoiding a game where he is sure to be a target of retribution by many Maple Leafs for the hit on Matthews.

The Leafs were criticized for their lack of immediate response to the hit at the time.

“It’s obviously a game that means a lot for our side, so we’ll be pretty fired up,” Maple Leafs forward William Nylander said following his club’s listless 5-1 loss to the St. Louis Blues at Enterprise Center on Saturday.

Headlines: Gudas/Toronto; McMann; Canada to finalize Worlds management team, then go over roster, which could include Gavin McKenna; possibility things will move fast between Porter Martone and Flyers; optimism between Flames and Jonathan Castagna.https://t.co/qNjGbrPRt6

— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) March 29, 2026

The Leafs looked like a team lacking motivation against the Blues, with Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube calling out every one of his skaters for their lack of compete. The loss moved Toronto to the fifth-worst record via points percentage in the NHL (.507). That’s good news for the club’s chances at possibly retaining their first-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft, which is top-five protected following the trade that acquired defenseman Brandon Carlo.

With eight games to go, it’s evident that the Leafs look like a team that is just going through the motions, waiting for this season to be over. Any juice going into a game, like retribution against the Ducks, will at least help in making these games interesting for the Maple Leafs. Even if Gudas doesn’t play, there will probably be many fights in the game.

Top Stocks to Own - Barchart.comtop Stocks to Own based on highest current Signals Rating, a combination of signal strength and direction.

It’ll be interesting to see if things get out of hand. The Ducks lead the Pacific Division with a 41-28-4 record, and the Leafs really have little to lose if they run roughshod at Honda Center on Monday.

“You can't go out and do stupid things—suspensions and things like that," Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube warned. "That's not what it's all about. But we definitely have to go out and play a physical, hard game against that team".

Welcome to this edition of the Vancouver Canucks post-game analytics report. This recurring deep dive breaks down the analytics behind each Canucks game as recorded by Natural Stat Trick. In this article, we look back on Vancouver’s most recent 7-3 loss to the Calgary Flames. 

Despite the lopsided score, the Canucks actually won the analytics battle in this game. Vancouver held a 23-22 even-strength scoring chances advantage while also winning the even-strength high-danger scoring chances battle by a count of 13-9. In the end, though, the Flames capitalized on their opportunities, which is why Calgary skated away with the victory. 

As for the heatmap, Vancouver's focus was to get pucks on net from wherever they could. As for the Flames, they focused on creating issues in front of the net, which allowed them to get to lose pucks in the Canucks defensive zone. Overall, it was not a strong defensive performance by Vancouver's skaters, and it was a tough night for Nikita Tolopilo and Kevin Lankinen. 

To wrap this game up, the trio of Liam Öhgren, Elias Pettersson and Linus Karlsson were the Canucks best line. During their 13:06 of ice time, Vancouver held an 8-4 shot advantage and won the high-danger scoring chances battle 5-2. Ultimately, this is a trio that deserves some time together as they showed some chemistry in this game. 

The Canucks continue their road trip on Monday with a matchup against the Vegas Golden Knights. At the time of writing, it is expected that Monday will be Evander Kane's 1000th regular-season game. Game time is scheduled for 7:00 pm PT. 

Make sure you bookmark THN's Vancouver Canucks site and add us to your favourites on Google News for the latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns, and so much more. Also, don't forget to leave a comment at the bottom of the page and engage with other passionate fans through our forum. This article originally appeared on The Hockey News.

Latest From THN’s Vancouver Canucks Site: 

Abbotsford Canucks’ Arshdeep Bains Could Set New Franchise Record This Weekend

Former Canucks Captain Hits 30-Goal Mark For Fourth Time In His Career

2025-26 Canucks Set Franchise Record For Empty Net Goals Allowed

For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or creating your own post in our community forum.

Saturday could not have gone better for the New York Islanders amid their playoff push.

After knocking off the Florida Panthers 5-2, scoring five unanswered goals in the second period, the Islanders moved into second place in the Metropolitan Division with 89 points.

Matthew Schaefer Ties Islanders Rookie Defenseman Points Record in 5-2 WinSchaefer etched his name in Islanders history, matching a rookie defenseman scoring record. His two assists fueled a crucial victory, highlighting his impact.

However, waking up in second would depend on the out-of-town scoreboard. 

And, for the first time in quite a while, the results went the Islanders' way:

The Pittsburgh Penguins (88 points) fell 6-3 to the Dallas Stars.

The Columbus Blue Jackets (87 points) lost 3-2 to the San Jose Sharks.

The Detroit Red Wings (86 points) fell 5-3 to the Philadelphia Flyers.

The Ottawa Senators (86 points) lost 4-2 to the Tampa Bay Lightning. 

The Islanders' next game is critical as they host the Penguins at UBS Arena on Monday night, the first of a back-to-back. They travel to Buffalo to face the Sabres on Tuesday. 

In the last two games, the Montreal Canadiens had weak starts and needed goaltender Jakub Dobes to be phenomenal in the first frame to keep them in it before they found their footing. On Saturday night against the Nashville Predators, rookie Jacob Fowler wasn’t put in the same predicament. Quite to the contrary, Martin St-Louis’ team was very strong out of the gate. So strong in fact that the Tennessee outfit only managed to test Fowler three times in the first 20 minutes, while Montreal put nine shots on Juuse Saros’ net.

With two games on tap this weekend, it wasn’t surprising that St-Louis elected to give Fowler a game and rest Jakub Dobes for a second game against the Carolina Hurricanes in the span of six days. There was, however, one surprising thing about Fowler on the night: the Florida native had replaced the back plate of his mask, which normally depicts a Sunshine State licence plate, with one that featured a Quebec licence plate. He had used that on the mask he had made for the AHL All-Star Classic earlier this year and had said then that he decided to do it because Quebec was now his new home. A touch that will no doubt be appreciated by Canadiens’ fans.

Canadiens To Host An Outdoor Game?
Canadiens Prospect Misses First Game Of Frozen Four Tournament
Montreal Canadiens Skilled Prospect Is Heating Up

Taking Liberties With The Canadiens’ Goalies

For the second game in a row, the opponents ran into the Habs’ goaltender, and the Sainte-Flanelle was having none of it. On each occasion, the Canadiens stood up for their masked man. That’s great because you don’t go far in this league if you do not have a pack mentality, but the problem was that on both occurrences, it was diminutive defenseman Lane Hutson who came to the rescue.

On Thursday, against a 6-foot-2, 204-pound forward, Boone Jenner, and on Saturday, against a 6-foot, 183-pound forward, Luke Evangelista. While it’s good that someone was willing to stand up for the goalies, it never should be Hutson. Firstly, because that’s not his job, and secondly, because the Canadiens absolutely cannot afford an injury to their star blueliner.

Of course, the first name that comes to mind in that situation is Arber Xhekaj, but the gritty blueliner has been a healthy scratch for the last five games, and so he wasn’t on the ice or on the bench. It’s hard to imagine St-Louis putting him back in the lineup at this stage, since Jayden Struble has been playing great hockey of late. My one criticism is that he should have been the one to defend the goalies, not Hutson.

What’s the solution then? Playing seven defensemen? St-Louis has repeatedly said he doesn’t like doing that, as it’s hard to manage everyone’s ice time in that situation. Would it be worth inserting Xhekaj as a fourth-line forward? The idea could be interesting to explore, especially when St-Louis only played his fourth liners for an average of roughly eight minutes on Thursday. Still, the time for experiments has long gone. The Canadiens are involved in one of the tightest playoff races in recent memory. The stakes are just too high; you can’t play a player out of position now. Furthermore, it’s unlikely that the coach would be willing to scratch an offensive player to make way for protection; it’s just not the way he thinks.

Still, however things play out, this issue has to be addressed, and it needs to be addressed in a hurry.

No Jealousy On The Second Line

In the Canadiens 4-1 win, Montreal’s second line scored three of the Sainte-Flanelle’s four goals, and the three linemates each got a goal. Ivan Demidov opened the score with a spectacular shot off the post and in.

Listen to that ping! 🔊

Ivan Demidov gets the @CanadiensMTL on the board first! pic.twitter.com/GYBMaGl9YP

— NHL (@NHL) March 28, 2026

Rookie Oliver Kapanen scored the Canadiens’ second goal, on which Hutson got his 60th assist on the season, tying his total from last season. With 10 games to go, he needs six assists to tie Larry Robinson’s record of 66 assists.

Lane Hutson became just the third player and first defenseman in @CanadiensMTL history to record consecutive 60-assist seasons. #NHLStats

Watch now in 🇨🇦 (@Sportsnet), 🌎: https://t.co/dT34F4MhkCpic.twitter.com/lkffyF5RnY

— NHL Public Relations (@NHLPR) March 29, 2026

Later in the second frame, Alex Newhook joined the party when Demidov fed him for a one-timer in the high slot, a fantastic pass. With two points tonight, the Russian rookie now has 16 goals and 40 assists on the season for 56 points in 62 games.

Suzuki Keeps On Impressing

With an assist on Demidov’s goal, Nick Suzuki picked up the 300th assist of his career and added another one on Cole Caufield’s 45th goal of the season, meaning the captain now has 88 points this season—just one short of the career-high he set last season with 10 games left to play.

COLE CAUFIELD HAS HIS 45TH GOAL OF THE SEASON 😤 pic.twitter.com/OVNmo377tw

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) March 29, 2026

Needless to say, he will set a new mark before the end of the regular season, and it’s looking increasingly likely that he will hit the 100-point mark. As things stand, he’s on pace for exactly 100 points. The last Hab to hit the century mark in a season was Mats Naslund back in 1985-86, remember that year? It was a fantastic year in Montreal, and it ended with a parade.

The Canadiens headed to Carolina after the game, where they’ll take on the Hurricanes on Sunday at 5:00 PM. It will be interesting to see if Josh Anderson will be well enough to play. He left the game in the first frame, and the Habs later announced he was ill. If he’s not good to gp, what will Montreal do? Alexandre Texier is not on the trip according to La Presse and the Habs didn’t call up anyone. Can Patrik Laine become an option? That appears unlikely, Perhaps St-Louis could be forced to use seven blueliners…

Follow Karine on X @KarineHains Bluesky @karinehains.bsky.social and Threads @karinehains.  

Bookmark The Hockey News Canadiens' page for all the news and happenings around the Canadiens.

Join the discussion by signing up to the Canadiens' roundtable on The Hockey News.

Subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here. 

ST. LOUIS — The Toronto Maple Leafs played their first game without their mentors present since rattling off back-to-back wins against the Boston Bruins and New York Rangers, and their effort on the ice made it look like they needed them back.

The Maple Leafs fell 5-1 to the St. Louis Blues. It looked like it was going to be one of those nights for the Leafs early on, when a four-minute power play for Toronto midway through the first period generated no shots on goal for the man-advantage. From there, things snowballed.

Justin Holl, playing in just his sixth NHL game this season, scored his second goal since 2024 when he departed the Leafs; notably, both of those goals occurred against Toronto. Although Jake McCabe scored early in the third period to cut St. Louis’s lead to 2-1, Pius Suter scored a shorthanded goal shortly after, deflating any hopes of a Toronto comeback.

It was a listless effort by Toronto’s skaters. "We had one player show up tonight, and that was our goalie. That's really what it boils down to," Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube said after the game. The Blues outshot the Maple Leafs in all three periods, demonstrating Toronto’s lack of urgency.

Playing in their 74th game of 82, Toronto’s playoff hopes are now all but mathematically dashed. The urgency just isn't there, and the Leafs are having a hard time manufacturing it given what lies ahead: a summer with no postseason hockey.

“We didn't check. We had no pressure. We let them come at us all night. We had the puck all night, but we didn't check it off them,” Berube said. “Checking is a will, a want, and an urgency, right? And, you know, we let them do whatever they want with the puck tonight”.

Perhaps most disappointing is that the Leafs didn’t put forth a better effort in front of Joseph Woll. The St. Louis native made 33 saves on 38 shots, but the save percentage doesn’t tell the whole story. The goaltender had to make several high-danger stops throughout the evening.

McCabe was asked if it’s hard to generate urgency given where the team sits in the standings. He paused to contemplate his response. “It shouldn’t be,” he responded. “It’s a privilege to play in this league and play on this team. If you lack urgency as a player, you’re going to find yourself out of this league”.

Craig Berube following tonight's 5-1 loss to the St. Louis Blues: "We had one player show up tonight, and that was our goalie. That's really what it boils down to."

— David Alter (@davidalter) March 29, 2026

The Leafs need to change the dynamic. It may or may not be the players; it might require a tweak in management, or perhaps both. While there have been occasions this season when the Leafs dominated in all three periods, there is now a complacency that comes with knowing the season is nearly over. This feels like a resignation, unlike the 4-0 loss to the Washington Capitals where the team was in full crisis mode.

Are the Leafs this bad? Is this just a bad year that can be flipped around with a retool? There aren’t many answers right now, and there won’t be until mid-April when their season comes to an end. Until then, the Leafs will be searching for urgency and motivation. The mentors aren’t around—but maybe they need to be.