Calgary, AB - The Seattle Kraken concluded their road trip with a 4-3 overtime loss to the Calgary Flames on Tuesday night at the Scotiabank Saddledome. Nazem Kadri played a pivotal role in the Flames' victory, scoring both the game-winning goal and his second goal of the night. This win was crucial for Calgary, as it secured them two points, bringing their total to 79. The Flames are now just four points behind the St. Louis Blues, who sit in second place in the wild card standings with 83 points.
In goal, Joey Daccord defended the net for Seattle, while Dustin Wolf did the same for Calgary. Both teams celebrated milestones, with Seattle’s Ryker Evans and Calgary’s Matt Coronato each playing in their 100th NHL game.
The game began with a goal from Adam Klapka, who scored his second of the season to give the Flames a 1-0 lead. The Kraken answered in the second period, with Jaden Schwartz scoring his 21st goal of the season on a power play, followed by Tye Kartye’s fifth goal, which gave Seattle a 2-1 lead.
Calgary responded with two goals of their own. First, Kadri capitalized on a power play to score his 27th of the season, tying the game at 2-2. Then, Rasmus Andersson fired a snap shot past Daccord, assisted by Matt Coronato, putting the Flames ahead 3-2.
With less than two minutes on the clock Jordan Eberle tied things up 3-3 with a wicked wrist shot past Wolf, forcing the overtime.
The Kraken return home to host the final contest of the season with the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday at 7PM PST.
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Well, that one was a doozy for the Pittsburgh Penguins.
In fact, it was one of their worst losses of the season.
On Tuesday, the Penguins were outclassed by the Tampa Bay Lightning in a 6-1 rout, pretty much being outplayed after the first few minutes of the game. Pittsburgh registered four of the first five shots on goal, and after that, the Lightning completely took over the game.
Penguins goaltender Tristan Jarry was pulled after allowing four goals on the first six shots. Anthony Cirelli opened the scoring a little more than 12 minutes into the opening frame, picking up a rebound off a Ryan McDonagh shot in the low slot area and sneaking it past Jarry. McDonagh got a goal of his own just over a minute later, as he threw the puck at the net from a sharp angle on the left wall that hit Penguins forward Rickard Rakell's skate and went in.
But the Lightning just kept coming. Cirelli potted his second goal of the game - and 26th of the season - less than two minutes later, and Brayden Point put one home 48 seconds after that to chase Jarry from the game and put the Bolts up, 4-0.
All four goals happened in a span of less than four minutes, and it pretty much set the tone for the rest of the game, in which the Lightning outshot the Penguins, 27-15.
"We just didn't play well enough," head coach Mike Sullivan said. "Most of the first, I didn't think it was all that bad, but it just seemed like every chance went in the net. It was one of those nights."
Nikita Kucherov added insult to injury within the last five minutes of the second period, as he capitalized on a Lightning power play resulting from a Ryan Graves interference penalty that sent him crashing into Alex Nedeljkovic, who had relieved Jarry in the first. And before the middle frame was over - with less than a minute remaining - Brandon Hagel put home his 33rd goal of the season to give Tampa Bay the 6-0 lead.
But all of it was too little, too late, and the Penguins know they can't let games get away from them early on. The good news is that they will get right back at it against the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday, and they have a chance to wipe this one from memory pretty quickly.
"We just gotta reset," Rakell said. "Look at the next game, learn from our mistakes today, and just restart. It's a new game for us, a new chance for us to respond."
Despite reaching the 40-goal mark for the third consecutive season during the Maple Leafs’ dominant 7-2 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday night and becoming the second Swedish player in NHL history to record three consecutive 40-goal seasons, the star winger made it clear that his priorities are elsewhere.
“That’s pretty cool, but my focus is on the playoffs right now. That’s obviously fun to accomplish that, playing with great players, but what matters is the playoffs,” said Nylander.
His sentiment speaks to the 28-year-old’s mindset. Since entering the NHL in the 2015-16 season, he’s won just one playoff series and has been vocal about his desire to change that. Last postseason, the Leafs suffered another first-round exit, and Nylander was forced to miss time due to migraines.
He knows that his success only means so much if it doesn’t translate to the playoffs.
On Tuesday, that was on full display at Scotiabank Arena as the forward registered a season-high four points (2G, 2A) while tying his career-high in goals (40). His linemates, John Tavares and Bobby McMann, also had standout performances – Tavares posted two goals and two assists, while McMann added a goal and an assist.
The trio combined for 10 points on the night, but Nylander’s eyes are on the bigger picture.
“Just trying to do what I’m paid to do. That’s it,” said Nylander post-game.
With the victory, the Leafs reclaimed first place in the Atlantic Division, improving to 43-25-3 on the season with 89 points. Again, Nylander downplayed the possibility of winning the division, noting that the goal is to be successful in the post-season.
“I think that would be fun, but playoffs – that’s what the goal is, to be successful there. If we win on the way to having a good playoffs, that’s a nice little plus,” said Nylander.
The Swede’s third straight 40-goal season places him in elite company. He became just the fourth player in Maple Leafs history to record three consecutive 40-goal seasons, joining Auston Matthews (5), Lanny McDonald (3), and Rick Vaive (3).
“He’s a lot of fun to play with,” said Tavares. “Such a unique talent, and the way he’s elevated his game the last number of years and just becoming a perennial all-star. One of the top wingers in the game. Such a game breaker, one of the ultimate game-breakers in our league and certainly we’re thrilled to have him, and he’s having a great year. 40 is difficult to get, so he’s done a lot of good things, special player.”
“I think his work ethic is pretty exceptional. His desire to be the best player on the ice and make an impact is extremely high, he’s very driven that way. We’re certainly seeing it. Thrilled with the way he’s been playing for us all year,” he added.
Tavares and Nylander have developed a strong on-ice connection, with both players enjoying standout seasons. Tavares has been particularly hot of late, tallying five goals, three assists, and eight points over his last three games. Despite their contrasting personalities, has Nylander's laid-back approach – and perhaps even his goal-scoring touch – rubbed off on Tavares?
“Maybe a little bit. It’s just fun to laugh at him and chuckle and things like that,” said Tavares. “You appreciate someone with his drive and skillset, and that’s why I’ve always said he is built to play in Toronto and be a Maple Leaf. His ability to deal with all the attention and all the questions all the time, not taking things too seriously in the right way.”
Nylander had his fingerprints all over this game, helping the Leafs earn their 11th win of their last 12 meetings against the Flyers. Their second-period dominance – an area they’ve succeeded in for much of the season – was on display again Tuesday, as they registered four goals in the middle frame as the forward collected a goal and an assist to break the game open.
His knack for taking over games has only grown as he continues to evolve into a dynamic, all-around superstar on the wing, his teammates say.
“He’s awesome. I love watching Will play; he’s one of one, for sure,” said Max Domi. “The way he plays the game, and I mean that as a really huge compliment. He makes everyone around him better, hangs onto the puck, and he can just make guys look silly out there.”
“Just his ability to generate when you think there is nothing there. I think he sees the ice so well,” added linemate McMann. “He’s always working on his footwork and his puck handling. He always knows where the puck is on his stick. He can make heads-up plays all over the ice and generates a lot of offense.”
It was a commanding victory for the Leafs, one that was much-needed following a disappointing finish in Nashville on Saturday. The club now heads out for a California road trip, with their stars and squad carrying plenty of momentum.
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McMann has 20 goals and 13 assists for 33 points in 63 games with the Maple Leafs this season.
Bobby McMann hit another career milestone on Tuesday in the Maple Leafs' 7-2 win over the Philadelphia Flyers.
The 28-year-old scored in the second period off a great feed from William Nylander behind Philadelphia's net. The goal, which put the Maple Leafs up 3-1, was McMann's 20th goal of the season.
It's the first time he's hit the 20-goal mark in the NHL.
"It's great. If you told me at the start I'd get that, I'd be happy," he said following the game." But just happy we won more than anything and feeling good about our team game."
McMann's story is few and far between. An undrafted forward who signs an AHL deal, starts his career in the ECHL, and works his way up to eventually getting an NHL contract and opportunity with the Maple Leafs.
There wasn't much known about McMann when he showed up in Toronto in 2021, but it's clear he's used every chance to grow his game.
"There's many different ways to get [to the NHL] and continue to believe in yourself and trust yourself. Sometimes you just need the right opportunity, the right break, and like I said, continue to believe in yourself, enjoy the game, and appreciate the journey," John Tavares said on Tuesday night.
"Everyone's different, but thrilled for Bobby and what he's become for us as a player and his impact, not just on the scoresheet, which is obviously phenomenal and a great accomplishment by him, but certainly how he can be counted on in so many different areas and make an impact for us.
"His journey is a great one for a lot of young kids to learn from."
McMann's career started to take off during the 2021-22 season, where he broke the Marlies' rookie goal record with 24 goals in 61 games. He filled the back of the net in the AHL again the following season with 21 goals in 30 games before getting a shot in the NHL.
The Wainwright, Alberta, native lauded former Marlies head coach Greg Moore as someone who helped him unlock his potential at the next level.
"I think my decision-making, as far as when to carry the puck and when to dump and try and go get the puck back. I think that's a skill that's sometimes overlooked and I think there's guys that I've watched previously trying to break into the league that do that really well," McMann said.
"That was something I worked on with the Marlies a little bit. Understanding how you can be effective and how I can carve a role for myself in the NHL. I think that was something that was really big for me. And then, it's watching video and then try to get the reps every game and every practice."
That process has helped McMann. And now, he's on the Maple Leafs' second line, producing alongside players like Tavares and Nylander. Even Max Domi, who, at moments, has played alongside McMann, offered praise for the 20-goal scorer on Tuesday.
"He's a really good skater. He can score. He knows where to go, goes to the dirty areas, and has got that knack [for goal scoring]. He's playing great hockey right now."
Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube has rotated McMann between Toronto's second and third lines this season. There was also a point in the year when the forward played alongside Auston Matthews on the team's top line.
When asked about McMann following their win against the Flyers, Berube mentioned how he "quietly goes about his business" while being a consistent player for the Maple Leafs.
"I think you get pretty consistent play out of him in terms of what he needs to do to be successful. He does a lot of things right every game and they go unnoticed a lot of times," Berube said.
"But his skating, he really does a great job of pushing D back all the time with his speed and he's very consistent at it. He skates extremely well and he's a big, strong guy and he's on top of pucks all the time."
McMann has never played a postseason game in the NHL, though it's trending like he will in a couple of weeks. He's been able to produce consistently in the regular season, and the next step will be doing so in the playoffs, when Toronto will need it most.
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Playing without injured star forward Gabe Vilardi (upper-body) the Jets bounced back from losses to the Vancouver Canucks and Buffalo Sabres this past week with a 3-2 overtime victory over the league-leading Washington Capitals.
On Tuesday, Alex Ovechkin scored his 889th career NHL goal, tying the game between the NHL's top two clubs with four minutes remaining.
Ovechkin's goal was the second deficit the Capitals were able to rally back from, coming back from 1-0 and 2-1 Jets leads as the visitors.
But it was Winnipeg's Nikolaj Ehlers who got the game-winner at 1:28 of the overtime period, improving the Jets to 49-19-4 on the season.
“That was a heavyweight battle right there," head coach Scott Arniel said post-game. "It really was. Even though one team’s from the East, one’s from the West, it was like we play each other eight times a year. There was a lot of trash talking going on, there were some big hits, there was a lot happening. Both teams recognized that they wanna be No. 1. It was a great game. Punch, counterpunch going on all night.”
Josh Morrissey and Mason Appleton got the other goals for Winnipeg, while Connor Hellebuyck turned aside 27 shots, helping the jets pull within one point of Washington and secure a place in the postseason.
Tuesday's game was the third-straight sellout of the season at Canada Life Centre, which saw the Jets improve to 26-6-4 at home.
Ovechkin, much like everyone else in attendance referred to it as a playoff-like game.
"I will say it was a playoff game-like, the physicality was there as well. It was a good one," he said post-game.
Morrissey opened the scoring for Winnipeg on a heavy slap shot 6:50 into the first period. Dylan DeMelo got the puck up to Mark Scheifele, who teed it up for his fellow alternate captain. Morrissey stepped into the puck, which deflected off a Washington player and int the net.
Alex Iafallo - who was called up from the fourth line to fill in for the injured Gabe Vilardi - caused problems in front of the net, contributing to Morrissey's 12th of the season.
Washington got one back late in the first period, with Andrew Mangiapane beating Hellebuyck high, blocker-side on a three-on-two up-ice. Winnipeg led 8-6 on the shot chart through 20 minutes of 1-1 hockey.
The Jets killed off back-to-back penalties to Cole Perfetti and Luke Schenn in the second period, keeping the always-potent Alex Ovechkin and power play off the board. Shortly after a man advantage of their own expired, Winnipeg restored its lead.
Nino Niederreiter found Appleton speeding up the wing, who put wrist shot through Logan Thompson with just 10.4 seconds to play, handing the Jets a 2-1 lead with 20 minutes to play.
Winnipeg failed to find the twine on a third period power play, keeping the door open for a Washington comeback.
That was all Ovechkin needed - a glimmer of hope. He struck off a play from Alaiksei Protas, and from the offensive zone face-off dot, he has been nearly unstoppable. The strike now puts him six goals from a new NHL record.
“It is what it is, you know," Ovechkin said of his chase for Wayne Gretzky's record. "It’s a fun time, obviously. You just have to enjoy it. It’s a special moment. Everybody is watching, everybody is paying attention to it.”
The goal sent the game to overtime, to which the Capitals hit the post in the early going.
But it was a stretch pass from Dylan Samberg that found Ehlers flying up the wing. He ripped home his 24th of the season, sealing the deal on the Jets' 49th win of the season.
Hellebuyck turned aside 27 of the 29 shots he faced, collecting his 41st win of the season, while Thompson, the former Brandon Wheat King star, made 22 stops for Washington.
Next up for the Jets is the third test of the four-game homestand on Friday night, as the New Jersey Devils roll into town for a 7:00 PM central showdown. Vancouver makes its way back to Manitoba on Sunday afternoon to close out the homestand.
The Buffalo Sabres’ playoff chances may be almost nonexistent, but they continue to be a nightmare for the Ottawa Senators. The Senators fell to 0-3 against the Sabres this season with a 3-2 loss in Buffalo on Tuesday night.
37-year-old James Reimer continued his career dominance against Ottawa, improving to 18-6-4 against them and making 30 saves.
The Senators were the better team through 40 minutes, but the scoreboard wasn't buying it. Tied at 2 heading into the third period, Tage Thompson broke the deadlock early in the frame, scoring what stood up as the game-winner. It didn't seem like a particularly dangerous situation, but with Ottawa defenders stumbling about, Thompson buried a pass from behind the net.
After that, the Sabres—led by Reimer—were able to shut the door.
Brady Tkachuk and David Perron scored for the Senators, while Cobden's Jack Quinn and former Senator Jacob Bernard-Docker netted the other goals for Buffalo.
For Bernard-Docker, the goal was likely the most satisfying of his NHL career. Playing his first game against the organization that drafted him in the first round in 2018, he scored his first goal of the season to tie the game at two in the second period.
The Senators had traded Bernard-Docker at the deadline, and even when healthy this season, he was used sparingly. With victories over Winnipeg on the weekend and Ottawa on Tuesday, JBD has put up three points.
The Senators pulled Anton Forsberg in the dying moments and pushed for the equalizer but couldn’t find the back of the net. The win marked the 600th career victory for Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff.
With the Senators closely watching the standings and the out-of-town scoreboard in a tight Eastern Conference wild-card race, squandering all six points so far against the last-place Sabres—as they rock the longest playoff drought in NHL history—is, to put it kindly, a major missed opportunity. Being outscored 12-3 in the process takes it to a ridiculous level.
Ottawa’s next game is Thursday night in Detroit against the Red Wings, the team with the NHL’s second-longest playoff drought.
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Dunne has played in one game for the Sabres this season, which was back on March 8 against the Florida Panthers. During it, he recorded one shot, five penalty minutes, and a minus-2 rating in 7:18 of ice time.
Down in the AHL with Rochester, Dunne has scored nine goals and recorded 26 points in 58 games. This includes a goal and three points over his last five contests with the AHL squad.
In 15 career NHL games split between the Columbus Blue Jackets and Sabres over three seasons, Dunne has zero points, 12 blocks, 35 hits, and a minus-9 rating.
The Vegas Golden Knights are welcoming back Shea Theodore, but will be without Alex Pietrangelo as he is considered day-to-day with a lower-body injury.
The new injury status comes as a surprise, with no prior sense that Pietrangelo has been dealing with any injury.
The 35-year-old has played in 67 games this year, scoring four goals and 32 points. He's averaging 22:29 of ice time, the lowest of his Golden Knights tenure.
With Pietrangelo out, Kaedan Korczak will remain in the lineup, skating alongside Nicolas Hague on the third pairing. It'll be his 14th consecutive game in the Golden Knights lineup, continuing his solid play despite limited minutes.
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Unlike the other major North American sports leagues (MLB, NBA, and the NFL), the NHL has codified fighting into its game. Five-minute majors for fighting and two-minute minors for instigating are right there in the rulebook and have been for a long time.
While there has been endless debate about whether fighting belongs in the game, most hockey fans seem to enjoy a good tilt between a couple of heavyweights from time to time.
Even better? A goalie fight! The very thought of two netminders skating all the way out to center ice to “chuck the knucks” can send typical NHL crowds into a frenzy.
Sportsnet analyst Elliotte Friedman literally booed the decision on 32 Thoughts: The Podcast, asking “why are you ruining our entertainment?”. To drive the point home even more, the title of the episode is “Let The Goalies Fight.”
LA Kings’ head coach Jim Hiller, on the other hand, seemed relieved that his number one goalie was stopped from trading blows with Swayman:
“I was thinking that somebody should have grabbed him (Kuemper). I’m glad it turned out the way it did,” remarked Hiller during the postgame media availability.
And who could blame him? Kuemper is having a Vezina Trophy type of season for the Kings. His GAA of 2.13 is good for second in the league and his SV% of .918 is tied for second as well. Losing him for any reason, let alone for an injury sustained in a goalie fight, would be catastrophic for a team intent on finally changing their playoff narrative this season. High performing number one goalies with Cup winning experience are hard to come by in this league, so one can understand why coaches and GMs are loath to see them fighting.
The last NHL goalie fight took place on February 1st, 2020, between Calgary's Cam Talbot (ex-King) and Edmonton's Mike Smith during the pandemic bubble. In recent LA Kings’ history, the last fight goes back to Felix “The Cat” Potvin and Ottawa goalie Jani Hurme on December 20th, 2001. As a testament to how much the league’s tolerance for goalie fights has changed, Potvin and Hurme were allowed to fight for close to two minutes that night. This would be unthinkable now in 2025.
In addition to the Kuemper near fight, Pheonix Copley left his crease to challenge Anaheim’s John Gibson on February 17th, 2023, but the guys in stripes once again deprived the fans of a goalie scrap.
Does the entertainment value of a goalie fight outweigh the injury risks? When cooler heads prevail, most NHL fans would probably prefer not to lose their starting goalie to some broken knuckles or a wrist sprain due to dropping the gloves.
Thus, it is probably the right decision for the league to crack down on goaltender brawls, but it will never stop the fans from wanting to see it. And that isn’t going to change any time soon.
Even worse, they’ve lost 11 of their last 12 games (1-10-1) and have been outscored 52-21 over that span. Tortorella’s club has won just six times in its last 25 games (6-16-3).
With the Flyers in full-on rebuild mode to finish this season, they’re just one point ahead of the Sabres for the Eastern Conference’s worst record. Buffalo has played three fewer games.
Ryan Poehling and Sean Couturier provided the Flyers’ goals Tuesday night.
The Flyers have been dominated by the Maple Leafs (43-25-3). They’re 1-9-2 in their last 12 matchups with Toronto. The lone victory came last season when Scott Laughton recorded the game-winning goal.
• Tortorella is not exactly helping his cause here.
The last two games, the Flyers were outworked, outplayed and outscored a combined 14-6.
But on top of that, the head coach benched his young, top-pair defenseman Tuesday night. Tortorella played York only 3:50 minutes, sitting him for the rest of the night after the Maple Leafs scored a game-tying goal in the first period. York quickly lost a puck battle behind the net before John Tavares’ shot went off his leg and past Samuel Ersson.
As York was stapled to the pine, Toronto went on to score five more goals before the Flyers finally answered.
But this season has not gone well. York missed 13 games because of a shoulder injury and had been healthy scratched twice before Tuesday night’s in-game benching.
“I’ll admit, when I sent him down, I tried to pick a fight with him when I sent him down, I was so upset with his camp,” Tortorella said two weeks ago. “I think he went to Lehigh, he put the time in, I felt he had a chip on his shoulder coming back here, mainly at me. I was so proud of him as far as where he brought his game to; there is no reason why I can’t still look for that. And I’m going to continue to look for that.”
Tortorella is challenging York again, but the timing of this simply isn’t good. Not only are the Flyers losing games by lopsided scores as they stumble to the finish line, but York is also in a contract year and due for a considerable raise. And he’s getting benched? This can’t be helping negotiations for the summer.
Laughton, after spending parts of 12 seasons in Philadelphia, is playing a depth role for Toronto. He’s still looking for his first point with the Maple Leafs, but he had five hits and a blocked shot against his old club.
• Ersson gave up the seven goals on 30 shots.
The Flyers were not sharp in front of him. They were outshot by double digits and Toronto had five more blocked shots.
The end of the regular season brings the yearly tradition of out-of-town scoreboard watching. This season, Vancouver Canucks fans will be keeping a careful on what happens around the league, especially when it comes to the St. Louis Blues. Tuesday will be no different as Canucks fans will shed their blue and green for red and blue as they will be hoping the Montréal Canadiens can do them a massive favour.
At 5 pm PT, the Canadiens will take the ice at the Enterprise Center to face the Blues. Both teams are currently involved in playoff races, with each occupying the final Wild Card spot. While a win either way wouldn't clinch a berth in the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs, it would ensure that each team remains above the playoff bar, at least for the night.
As mentioned, this game has a significant impact on Vancouver's playoff hopes. According to MoneyPuck.com, if St. Louis wins in regulation, their playoff percentage jumps to 62.6%. If they lose regulation, the Blues would drop to 40.6%, which would be good news for the Canucks who currently sit three points behind St. Louis.
St. Louis versus Montréal is not the only game fans in Vancouver need to watch. At 6:00 pm PT, the Calgary Flames will take on the Seattle Kraken from the Scotiabank Saddledome. A regulation win by Calgary would see their playoff odds jump to 37%, while a regulation loss would drop them to 20.7%.
Almost every night between now and the end of the 2024-25 season will be tense for Canucks fans. Not only does Vancouver need to go on a long winning streak, but fans also need to hope for long losing streaks from the Blues, the Flames, and the Utah Hockey Club. With the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs less than a month away, all four teams will be under pressure on a nightly basis, with the smallest slip-up potentially being the difference between securing a playoff berth and entering the off-season early.
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Utah Hockey Club forward Dylan Guenther recorded his 100th career NHL point last night against the Detroit Red Wings.
Guenther has played just 137 NHL games, and with his milestone point, he is producing at a 0.729 points-per-game rate. If he were to maintain this pace over 1,000 games, he would finish with 729 points—an impressive mark for a first-round draft pick.
The Nashville Predators (26-36-8, 60 points) visit the Carolina Hurricanes (43-23-4, 90 points) for the teams' second and final meeting this season Tuesday at Lenovo Center.
The Predators beat the Hurricanes, 5-2, on Dec. 23 at Bridgestone Arena behind a three-point performance from Jonathan Marchessault.
Nashville is coming off a 4-1 loss to the St. Louis Blues on Sunday, and the Predators are 5-4-1 in their last 10 games. Carolina is coming off a 5-2 defeat of the Anaheim Ducks and has just one loss in the last 10 games.
Tuesday's game marks Nashville's first time facing Mark Jankowski since trading him to the Hurricanes at the March 7 NHL trade deadline. Since arriving in Carolina, Jankowski has six goals in seven games.
Juuse Saros will start in goal for the Predators in Raleigh, while Pyotr Kochetkov will tend the twine for Carolina.
Skjei-Blankenburg Del Gaizo-Barron Oesterle-Stastney
Saros Annunen
Extra: Englund, Vrana IR: Josi, Lauzon, Wilsby
Predators at Hurricanes: Live Updates
First Period (NSH 1, CAR 0)
The Predators earned the first power play chance in the game when Dmitry Orlov was whistled for high-sticking against Michael Bunting just over three minutes into the first period. Nashville's top power play unit struggled early, allowing Carolina's penalty killers to generate multiple shorthanded chances in the first minute of 5-on-4.
The Predators' second power play unit cashed in, however, when Bunting found a loose puck behind the pad of Kochetkov and tucked it in to give Nashville a 1-0 lead over the Hurricanes at the 5:14 mark of the first period.
Bunting's goal was assisted by Kieffer Bellows, who earned his first helper as a member of the Predators, and Brady Skjei, who was playing in his first regular-season game at Lenovo Center as a member of the opposing team after spending parts of the last five seasons with the Hurricanes.
Bunting has now scored two power-play goals in his last three games, both against his former teams. His last came on Saturday in the Predators' 5-2 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs, where he played for two seasons from 2021-23.
Bunting signed with Carolina in free agency before the 2023-24 season, and he was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins later that year in the deal that sent Jake Guentzel to the Hurricanes. Nashville acquired Bunting from the Penguins in the week leading up to this year's trade deadline as part of the deal that sent Luke Schenn and Tommy Novak to Pittsburgh.
Second Period (NSH 2, CAR 1)
Luke Evangelista widened Nashville's lead to 2-0 just over four minutes into the second frame. Filip Forsberg received a stretch pass from Marc Del Gaizo along the boards and chipped it to Evangelista entering the zone, and Evangelista deked on Kochetkov for the score.
With the primary assist on the play, Forsberg recorded his 22nd career five-game point streak and passed Roman Josi (21) for the most in Predators history.
Michael McCarron committed the Predators' first penalty of the game less than a minute later with a cross-check on Jesperi Kotkaniemi, and Carolina made them pay. Taylor Hall received a pass from Seth Jarvis, entered the zone with speed and buried the puck down low on the backhand for a highlight-reel goal to cut the Hurricanes' deficit to 2-1 at 6:02 of the second period.
Hall's goal was his third power-play tally in his last four games with the Hurricanes.
The Predators were fortunate to come out of the second period with a one-goal lead after being outshot, 27-9, through the first 40 minutes of play. The Hurricanes held Nashville to just two shots in the second period alone as the Predators failed to take care of the puck and struggled to keep up with Carolina's speed.
The St. Louis Blues and Montreal Canadiens face off Tuesday with two of the NHL’s most valuable players since the 4 Nations Face-Off break.
Blues center Robert Thomas and Canadiens center Nick Suzuki are largely responsible for their teams' rise in the standings to a wild-card spot in the past month. Both players are among the NHL’s top 10 scorers since the 4 Nations tournament, but their contributions, in particular, have led to some massive results.
While it’s unfair to the team to say only Thomas carried them to where they are today, he has done much of the heavy lifting. Since Feb. 20, Thomas posted 14 assists and 19 points in 16 games. He got at least one point in 13 of those games, and he posted two or more points in four of them. The 25-year-old now has 42 assists and 60 points in 60 games this season.
A Blues team that’s 16th in the league in goals-for per game (2.97) would be well out of a playoff spot were it not for Thomas’ contributions on offense. His point-per-game average is well above any other Blues player, considering he missed some time due to an injury this season.
While he’s still somewhat of a hidden gem outside of St. Louis, Thomas is doing everything asked of him. He’s a high-value performer at an average salary of $8.125 million per season.
In the Eastern Conference, the eighth-place Canadiens also are getting terrific contributions from captain Suzuki. Since Feb. 20, he has six goals and 14 assists for 20 points in 13 games. The 25-year-old has also put up at least one point in 10 of those games, and six of them are multi-point nights.
The Habs are 13th in goals-for per game, so Suzuki’s point production is necessary to where they are today. And his salary of $7.875 million also makes him a great bang-for-his-bucks type of player.
The Blues and the Canadiens aren’t anywhere close to locking up a playoff spot. That means they’re almost certainly going to need more out of Thomas and Suzuki. But the good news for Montreal and St. Louis fans is that both players are ready, willing and able to drive offensive production and take the heat off the rest of the lineup.
After blowing a two-goal lead to the Florida Panthers en route to a 4-3 shootout loss Sunday, the Pittsburgh Penguins will look to rebound against the other team residing in the sunshine state.
On Tuesday, the Penguins will take on ex-Penguin Jake Guentzel and the Tampa Bay Lightning, who took the first two games of their season series. And Pittsburgh's captain has a chance to make NHL history.
"It's so impressive to be doing it for, what, 20 times?" forward Rickard Rakell said. "He's one of the best to have ever played this game, so... he shows why. I mean, it's such a hard game, and for him to do it every year, it's pretty nuts."
While Crosby chases the NHL record books, the Penguins will be chasing two points, as they are now in desperation mode in terms of the NHL playoff picture. They currently sit six points behind the Montreal Canadiens for the second wild card spot in the Eastern Conference, and Montreal has three games in hand.
They are aware of the hill that they would need to climb, as they only have 10 games remaining. But they're going to fight for every inch of ice they can get.
And that's always tough against a goaltender like Andrei Vasilevskiy, who has been one of the best goaltenders in hockey for the last decade.
"He's been, obviously, one of the elite goaltenders in the league ever since [2016]," head coach Mike Sullivan said. "He's one of the premiere goaltenders in the league. The workload that he's been able to endure season-in and season-out... these guys have played a lot of hockey. They've gone deep into the playoffs, they've had a number of playoff runs, and he's played hard hockey. In a lot of ways, there aren't a lot of goaltenders that carry the workload he carries in today's game."
Vasilevskiy will be opposed by Tristan Jarry, who is red-hot for the Penguins. Jarry has a .924 save percentage in his six starts since returning to the Penguins from the AHL on Mar. 3, and - including Tuesday's game - will have started seven of the last eight for Pittsburgh.
As for the lineup, forward Evgeni Malkin will miss Tuesday's game with an upper-body injury. Forward Emil Bemstrom will slot back in.
Here are the lines and pairings for the game, which features Erik Karlsson on the left side next to Conor Timmins on the second defensive pairing:
Kraken @ Flames Preview: Two Rookies Set To Hit Milestones As Calgary Faces Playoff PushCalgary, AB - The Seattle Kraken close out their road trip Tuesday night and face the Flames at Calgary’s Scotiabank Saddledome, aiming to finish the regular season series on a high note. Seattle has claimed two of the first three matchups this season, with a 3-2 win in Calgary on Feb. 8 and a 2-1 overtime victory in Seattle on Oct. 19. Calgary took a 3-2 win at Climate Pledge Arena on Feb. 4. Historically, Seattle is 5-8-1 against the Flames but boasts a strong 4-2-0 record on the road. The Kraken have also won four straight at the Saddledome, dating back to Nov. 1, 2022.
