LOS ANGELES -- The New York Islanders are looking to push their win streak to five games when they battle the Anaheim Ducks at Honda Center on Wednesday night.
A win would be monumental for the Islanders in the standings, given what transpired on Tuesday night.
With the Pittsburgh Penguins falling 2-1 to the Boston Bruins in regulation, an Islanders' win would have them ahead of Pittsburgh for sole posession of second place in the Metropolitan Division.
Not only that, but a win would also widen the gap between New York and the Washington Capitals to seven points. The Capitals fell 3-2 to the Utah Mammoth on Tuesday.
The Islanders will have a game in hand on Washington after Wednesday's contest.
The team to watch is the Columbus Blue Jackets, who, after beating the New York Rangers 5-4 in overtime and the Nashville Predators on Tuesday night, find themselves just five points back of the Islanders with a game in hand before Wednesday.
The Islanders are looking to bolster their top-six ahead of Friday's 2026 NHL Trade deadline. They have had serious talks with the Vancouver Canucks regarding right winger Conor Garland.
They are also believed to still be in talks with the St. Louis Blues regarding Jordan Kyrou and Robert Thomas.
EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Leon Draisaitl had two goals and three assists, Evan Bouchard scored on a power play at 1:50 of overtime and the Edmonton Oilers rallied to beat the Ottawa Senators 5-4 on Tuesday night.
With Brady Tkachuk in the penalty box for tackling Connor McDavid in overtime, Edmonton got it back to Bouchard and he blasted in his 18th of the season.
Zach Hyman tied it for the Oilers with 1:25 remaining in the third period with goalie Connor Ingram of for an extra attacker. Hyman tipped Draisaitl's pass under Linus Ullmark for his 25th goal of the season.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins also scored and Ingram made 17 saves for the Oilers in their first home game in a month. They had lost five of their previous six.
Drake Batherson had two goals for the second consecutive game and Dylan Cozens and Michael Amadio also scored for Ottawa. The Senators are 6-1-2 in their last nine games.
The Ottawa Senators looked like they had a W in the bank on Tuesday night but the Edmonton Oilers had other ideas. Down 4-2 in the third, the Oilers blew past the Senators for a 5-4 overtime win.
With Brady Tkachuk off for pretty much tackling Connor McDavid to prevent an odd man rush in overtime, Evan Bouchard's one-timer from the top of the circle gave Edmonton the win.
Leon Draisaitl was in all the scoring with five points, two goals and three assists. His countryman Tim Stutzle was the best player for the Sens with two assists. Drake Batherson scored twice for the Sens, who were outshot 37-21. Linus Ullmark made 32 saves.
The two clubs traded a pair of goals each in a fast-paced first period. Dylan Cozens opened the scoring 3:34 into the game with a fierce wrist shot. But less than 90 seconds later, after Ullmark coughed up a puck that looked like he had smothered, Leon Draisaitl capitalized to tie the game.
Just over 90 seconds after that, Batherson restored Ottawa’s lead with a perfect wrist shot high to the glove side. However, the Oilers tied it again at the 16:48 mark on a bizarre play. Batherson tried to clear a loose puck out of harm’s way, but his attempt bounced off teammate Nick Jensen and into the Ottawa net. Draisaitl was credited with the goal.
Batherson quickly atoned early in the second period, scoring his second of the night on another excellent wrist shot at the 4:30 mark. Just 41 seconds later, after a wild goalmouth scramble, the puck squirted out to Jensen, who made a clever pass to Michael Amadio. His quick snapshot made it 4–2 Senators.
From there, as the Oilers pushed to get back into the game, the Senators seemed to sit back and not stick with what had made them successful.
In the first minute of the third period, Shane Pinto gift-wrapped an opportunity for the Oilers to climb back into the game when, completely unforced, he lobbed the puck over the glass for a delay-of-game penalty. The Oilers made them pay, cutting the lead to 4–3.
It initially appeared that Leon Draisaitl had deposited his hat-trick goal into an open net, but the puck actually caromed off the skate blade of Ryan Nugent-Hopkins.
In the dying moments, with the Oilers’ goalie pulled, Edmonton benefited from a very suspect icing call that should have been waved off. The faceoff came back into the Ottawa zone with tired Senators on the ice, and Zach Hyman scored the tying goal right in his office battling near the crease.
In three-on-three overtime, Tim Stützle and Brady Tkachuk failed to capitalize on a 2-on-1 rush and both were caught up ice. The Oilers broke out the other way and Tkachuk was called for holding on Connor McDavid. On the ensuing four-on-three power play, Evan Bouchard’s point shot beat Ullmark, who was caught deep in his net.
Losing the extra point was big because the Boston Bruins and Columbus Blue Jackets both won their games on Tuesday night, leaving the Senators six points out of a wild card spot.
The Senators continue their road trip Thursday night when they visit the Calgary Flames.
After a dominant effort against the Vegas Golden Knights on Sunday, the Pittsburgh Penguins travelled to Boston to take on the Bruins Tuesday night, a team they had lost three straight games to.
Unfortunately, they walked away with the same result.
The Penguins struggled in the first period, and despite finding their game in the latter two periods, the Bruins bested them, 2-1. All three goals were scored in the first period of play, with Erik Karlsson opening the scoring for Pittsburgh just 42 seconds into the game and Marat Khusnutdinov and Casey Mittelstadt scoring both of Boston's goals by the six-minute mark of regulation.
The rest of the game was a tight-checking goaltending battle, and Penguins' netminder Stuart Skinner was solid early on and throughout, stopping 26 of 29 Bruins' shots. However, Boston's Jeremy Swayman put on a stellar performance - especially in the third period, when the Penguins were piling on an onslaught - allowing just one goal on 35 shots.
Even though they were completely out of sorts in the first period and were lucky to be down by only one, the Penguins really found their game in the second and third periods. It just wasn't enough, and they earned their fourth-straight loss against a Boston team that always seems to give them finishing fits.
- Swayman was brilliant in this game. He made some ridiculous saves in the final frame to preserve his team's lead, and he never lost his composure, even as the Penguins were very heavily pressuring.
Skinner was good, too, especially on an opening sequence in which he was forced to make a few nice stops prior to Karlsson's goal. The two goals against were primarily a result of the Penguins' defense breaking down in front of him.
Gotta love a good goaltending battle, even if that comes at the expense of scoring.
- There's no going around how sloppy the Penguins were early on, and I haven't seen them play that way since the holiday break. Their forwards were completely losing track of guys in the high-danger areas. The defensemen were caught puck-watching and with feet of stone.
After Boston's second goal - which was just 50 seconds after the first - head coach Dan Muse used the Penguins' sole timeout. Whatever he said must have worked because the Penguins were buzzing for most of the rest of the game.
But those first six minutes killed them. And I'm sure they'd want both plays back.
- On a positive note, Karlsson, the lone goal-scorer, was on a whole other level Tuesday.
He finished with a team-high six shots and 16 shot attempts. He was generating offense at will, continuing his excellent work on the penalty kill, running a smooth power play, aiding the team in transition, and making a few key defensive plays throughout.
Against pretty much any other team, Karlsson probably has about four goals. But he, like his teammates, simply couldn't crack Swayman as the game progressed and got better for him.
Without Crosby, the Penguins will be relying on Karlsson to generate a lot of offense. I thought he was the game's best player, and it wasn't particularly close.
- I continue to be a bit baffled by the Penguins' refusal to use Ben Kindel and/or Egor Chinakhov on their first power play unit and in six-on-five situations.
Kindel was very good again on Tuesday, and he has, arguably, been their best player for the better part of this post-holiday run. If he hasn't been their very best player, he's certainly been their most consistent on a night-in, night-out basis. His vision and puck distribution skills - especially from down low - could be weapons in either situation.
And then there's Chinakhov. Here's a guy who has 10 goals in his last 21 games - and, indisputably, the best shot on the team - and he's not out there with the game on the line? Given Chinakhov's defensive play and puck skills with the Penguins, too, there's really no reason to exclude him in situations where the team needs to score a goal.
Rickard Rakell is a good player. So is Anthony Mantha. So is Bryan Rust. But I'd swap out two of those three for the other two without hesitation on the power play and at least one of them during six-on-five.
- Faceoffs are a legitimate problem for the Penguins right now, and it's especially hurting them on key offensive zone draws that require possession to be established.
The Penguins were just 16 of 48 (33 percent) on faceoffs Tuesday, and they've gone 68 of 207 for an abysmal faceoff win percentage of 32.9 percent. And, according to Penguins' historian Bob Grove, Sidney Crosby had taken a whopping 38.6 percent of all Penguins' faceoffs (1,171 of 3,030 this season before his injury.
The next closest player? Kindel, who had taken 428 going into Tuesday's game.
Before being hurt, Sid had taken 38.6% of all Pens' faceoffs this season (1,171 of 3,030).
- The NHL trade deadline is Friday, Mar. 6 at 3:00 p.m. ET. Crosby is injured, Blake Lizotte is day-to-day, and the injury statuses of Tristan Broz and Filip Hallander remian unclear at this point.
The Penguins badly need a center, and the reality is that this season, they may have to seek options externally. This will definitely be a storyline to monitor this week.
The Chicago Blackhawks closed out their four-game road trip with a visit to Jonathan Toews and the Winnipeg Jets. With a chance to make it a .500 trip, they knew they had an opportunity to win against a reeling Jets team.
Kyle Connor and Mark Scheifele made a brilliant play early to set up a goal scored by Dylan Samberg. His first of the season and 10th of his career was a snipe, but he was the beneficiary of the two superstars.
From there, the Blackhawks started to take over the game with their pace, speed, and tenacity. With under two minutes remaining in the first period, the Blackhawks tied the game.
Teuvo Teravainen stayed hot, as did the power play, as he scored his 13th of the season. It was a struggle to score power-play goals leading into the Olympic break, but they seem to have it worked out now.
Nobody scored in the middle frame, but the Blackhawks mostly controlled play. Connor Hellebucyk looked like the goalie everyone knows him to be, which kept his team alive.
Just 32 seconds into the third period, Ryan Greene scored to give the Blackhawks a 2-1 lead. Connor Bedard collected his second assist of the game on this goal. Leading up to the goal, Greene was having a sensational game, and he eventually was rewarded for his efforts. It's nice to play with Connor Bedard, too.
The Blackhawks played extremely well again to begin the third period. It looked like they'd add that third goal and skate out of Winnipeg with a win. Then, a switch flipped as the game came to a close.
For the final half of the third, the Blackhawks became a shell of themselves. Winnipeg started to possess the puck and control play in their attacking zone.
Eventually, and deservedly so, the Jets tied it up at 2. With Hellebucyk on the bench for the extra attacker, fresh off a timeout, Cole Perfetti scored with a perfect shot that beat Spencer Knight.
In overtime, Mark Scheifele continued his Blackhawk domination with the game-winning goal at 2:06. That's now 19 goals and 19 assists for 38 points in his career against the Blackhawks, including three points on Tuesday.
For the Hawks, they let a great road showing slip away in the final minutes of regulation and overtime. Coming out of the break, there was a lot of chatter about holding onto leads late, but that wasn't on display in this one.
Every year, a young team is going to have a handful of losses that hurt more than others. This is one of them for the Blackhawks. After dominating for 50 minutes and having a late lead on the road, it was all for naught because they couldn't hold on for one more minute.
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NEWARK, NEW JERSEY - MARCH 3 : Dougie Hamilton #7 of the New Jersey Devils celebrates after scoring a goal during the second period of the NHL regular season game against the Florida Panthers at the Prudential Center on March 3, 2026 in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Andrew Maclean/NHLI via Getty Images) | NHLI via Getty Images
The New Jersey Devils may indeed be pulling out of the three-month slump that sank their season. Or the Devils’ very modest two-game winning streak might just be what it appears to be on its surface – a couple of wins over two teams that are somehow even worse off than the Devils. And make no mistake, that’s exactly what the Blues and Panthers are.
How bad of a season has it been for the two-time defending Stanley Cup champs? Well, Florida was pretty stoked to get Tomas Nosek back in the lineup for the first time since last summer’s Cup-clincher. The Panthers were also thrilled to have Dmitry Kulikov in the lineup for just the fourth time this season.
Neither was much help against the Devils though.
New Jersey got goals from five different players and Jacob Markstrom stopped 20 of 21 Florida shots Tuesday night as the Devils put a major dent in Florida’s plans to defend its Cup with a 5-1 win over the Panthers at Prudential Center.
New Jersey went back over NHL .500 with the win. At 30-29-2 the Devils have 62 points and are 11 points back of the final wild card spot. Florida’s 63 points have them 10 back of Boston, which beat Pittsburgh Tuesday night, and the Panthers, or at least head coach Paul Maurice, seem to know that the end is near.
Down 3-1, Maurice was desperate enough he pulled goalie Sergei Bobrovsky with more than four minutes to play leading to empty netters by Dawson Mercer at 16 minutes, 23 seconds of the third and Simon Nemec at 19:20.
For just the third time in their last 10 games, the Devils scored the game’s first goal. Arseny Gritsyuk snapped a shot over Bobrovsky’s blocker at 12:10 of the opening period after Connor Brown sprung Gritsyuk and Jack Hughes on a two-on-one.
The Panthers evened it up on an Anton Lundell goal 2:27 later, but couldn’t make the Devils pay for a double minor taken by Brendan Dillon with less than a minute to play in the period. And when Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad was called for hooking early in the second, it was the Devils who took advantage of the extra ice, getting a Dougie Hamilton goal while the teams skated four aside.
Markstrom was solid for a second straight game, picking up second star honors in the win, and Mercer and Nemec buried the Panthers with empty netters in the game’s final minutes.
Up Next
No rest for the Devils, who take on the Toronto Maple Leafs at 7 p.m., Wednesday, at Prudential Center in another nationally televised game, this one on Hulu. The Leafs (27-24-10) are just a couple of points ahead of the Devils, who are looking to win three in a row for the first time since the western Canada road trip in late January. Toronto lost to the Flyers on Monday and is just 3-6-1 in its last 10 games.
Your Thoughts
So the Devils are whatever. … It’s hard to read anything into these games from a Devils’ perspective, but wow was that a terrible showing from the Panthers. Soft. Gutless. It was a dead ringer for the kind of non-effort the Devils have been putting out since December when the ugly reality of how many teams they had to leapfrog became clear and they completely tuned out Sheldon Keefe. They’ll get a Leafs team in very similar straits to the Panthers Wednesday night, so they might be looking at three in a row. Then again, it’s a back-to-back, and we all know how good the Devils are on short rest. But if they somehow get a win then there’s a terrible Rangers team up next on Saturday. … Does anyone think these games count and they have a chance at making a run?
The Nashville Predators front office is staying busy, making their second trade of the night to send Cole Smith to the Vegas Golden Knights for defenseman Christoffer Sedoff and a 2028 3rd round draft pick.
This is the second transaction the Predators have made on Tuesday night as they sent Michael McCarron to the Minnesota Wild for a 2028 2nd-round draft pick.
The Predators now have nine picks in the 2028 NHL Draft: two in the second and third rounds, one in the first round, and rounds four through seven.
"We're going to miss two great people," Predators head coach Andrew Brunette said on McCarron and Smith getting traded. "Two big parts of our culture and what they bring every day. They're wonderful people and kind of like family. It's sad to see them go, but I'm hoping for the best. They both have a good opportunity to go on a long run.
"We're going to miss them. It's a sad day here today."
Smith's trade was written on the walls as he played just three seconds in the Predators' 3-2 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets, likely due to the trading rule. Smith was originally scratched alongside McCarron.
The 30-year-old, 6-foot, 3-inch center signed with the Predators out of college in 2020 and has 271 games with the team. This season, Smith had 10 points (6G, 4A) in 41 games and 31 penalty minutes, skating on Nashville's fourth line.
He is in the final year of a 2-year, $2 millon contract and will become an unrestricted free agent at the end of this season.
Sedoff, a 24-year-old, 6-foot, 2-inch defenseman, was signed by the Golden Knights to a 3-year, entry-level contract in 2023, worth $2.61 million, which will expire at the end of this season.
Sedoff has yet to play an NHL game, spending three seasons with the Henderson Silver Knights. This season, in 38 games, Sedoff has no goals, four assists and 15 penalty minutes.
This is the third transaction the Predators have made with the Golden Knights since July 2024, after signing Jonathan Marchessault and trading for Nic Hauge.
The Predators have about $30 million in cap space at the deadline, with seven contracts expiring this offseason.
Michael Bunting, Erin Haula, Tyson Jost and Nick Blankenburg will all be unrestricted free agents.
Justin Barron and Zach L’Heureux will be restricted free agents.
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS - MARCH 3: Casey Mittelstadt #11 of the Boston Bruins scores against Stuart Skinner #74 of the Pittsburgh Penguins during the first period at the TD Garden on March 3, 2026 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Richard T Gagnon/Getty Images) | Getty Images
After getting partially goalie’d on Saturday afternoon, the Bruins responded with a partial goalie’ing of their own on Tuesday.
Jeremy Swayman made 34 saves, including going 28-for-28 in the second and third periods, to help lead the Bruins to a 2-1 win over Pittsburgh at TD Garden.
All three goals in this game were scored within the first six minutes of the first period, with the Penguins outplaying the Bruins for large stretches in the latter half of the game.
Marat Khusnutdinov and Casey Mittelstadt scored the Boston goals just 50 seconds apart in the first, turning what had been a 1-0 deficit less than a minute into the game into a 2-1 lead the B’s wouldn’t relinquish.
Erik Karlsson got the scoring started with a wrist shot through traffic to make it 1-0 Penguins.
After three goals in the first six minutes, you’d be forgiven for assuming this was going to be a 6-5 barn burner.
Instead, that was the last goal of the game, as the Bruins’ play tailed off a bit but Swayman stood tall to deny the Penguins.
2-1, Bruins win.
Game notes
Karlsson’s goal actually came on Pittsburgh’s first shot of the game, meaning Swayman started the game 0-for-1 and finished it 34-for-34. Feast, famine, etc.
Per the NESN broadcast, the Bruins are 6-0-2 in their last eight games following a loss. Tonight’s two points could prove to be big ones, as the Washington Capitals (four points behind the B’s) and Florida Panthers (ten points behind) both lost in regulation tonight.
Khusnutdinov will get the accolades for the wicked shot to beat Skinner, but he also deserves credit for forcing a turnover along the goal line prior to the goal. Eyssimont’s thread-the-needle pass to find Khusnutdinov in a small space was a thing of beauty as well.
Speaking of extra effort plays, Pavel Zacha deserves some credit as well. He earned a secondary assist on Mittelstadt’s goal, winning a one-on-one battle for the puck near the corner. Not exactly a “play that doesn’t show up on the scoresheet” since…well, the assist shows up on the scoresheet, but the extra effort to win the puck made the play possible.
Mittelstadt also made a great extra effort play in the last minute of the game, as he lost his stick but managed to kick the puck out of the defensive zone while Pittsburgh had the goalie pulled.
In his first appearance in nearly a month due to the Olympic break, Andrew Peeke played pretty well. The defenseman recorded 18:03 TOI, fourth-most among defensemen, and finished the night with two blocked shots and four hits.
The win was the Bruins’ 11th in a row at TD Garden, their longest streak in four years.
The Bruins will have one more game prior to the NHL trade deadline: in Nashville on Thursday night, in what is a weird, one-game road trip for the B’s.
After taking a one-goal lead at the end of the second period, the Columbus Blue Jackets scored twice in the third to hand the Nashville Predators a third straight loss, 3-2, on Tuesday in Columbus.
Nashville's front office was busy throughout the game as well, trading center Michael McCarron to the Minnesota Wild for a 2028 2nd-round pick.
Cole Smith, after originally being scratched, played just one shift for three seconds of ice time, signaling he may be traded next.
Adam Fantilli opened the scoring in the game, capping off a tic-tac-toe play to make it 1-0.
In the final 28 seconds of the period, Filip Forsberg scored on the power play, poking a Steven Stamkos shot from the far right goal line. It was Forsberg's sixth power-play goal of the season and third point in four games. Stamkos also has three points in four games.
Ryan O'Reilly was credited with a Blue Jackets own goal in the second period as Ivan Provorov tried to move the puck off the goal line but ended up knocking it into the net. The conversion game gave the Predators their first and only lead of the night.
On the penalty kill, Sean Monahan went on a 2-on-1 with Charlie Coyle and finished the play off on his own to tie the game up in the third period. This is the second straight game Nashville has given up a shorthanded goal on the rush.
With six minutes left in the game, a shot from Damon Severson was tipped in by Coyle to give the Blue Jackets the game-winning goal. The goal was challenged for goaltender interference, but the challenge was unsuccessful.
Since the end of January, the Predators have struggled, going 3-2-4 in their last nine games.
Justus Annunen made 24 saves on 27 shots in the result.
Erik Haula briefly left the game in the second period after getting hit in the leg with the puck before returning later in the period. Ryan O'Reilly also suffered an eye injury in the third period and did not return to the game.
Nashville falls to 27-26-8. It will face the Boston Bruins at home on Thursday at 7 p.m. CST
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — U.S. Olympic golden goal-scorer Jack Hughes extended his points streak to four games since returning from Milan, and the New Jersey Devils dealt the Florida Panthers’ playoff hopes another blow by beating the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions 5-1 on Tuesday night.
Hughes’ shot that went wide banked right to Dougie Hamilton for his goal. Hughes has four assists — one in each game — since the NHL season resumed.
Hamilton, whose name has been involved in trade buzz for several months, also had an assist. It’s unclear if the Devils will be able to move the defenseman before the deadline Friday, given that Hamilton has two years remaining on his contract beyond this season at a $9 million salary cap hit and is owed a $7.4 million roster bonus on July 1.
If New Jersey, which looks out of the race, sells elsewhere, depth forward Cody Glass may have boosted his value by scoring his 14th goal of the season. Arseny Gritsyuk also scored, looking off Hughes on a 2 on 1 before beating Sergei Bobrovsky, who was excellent early and finished with 28 saves on 31 shots.
Florida is in danger of becoming the first Cup-winning team to miss the playoffs the following season since the Los Angeles Kings in 2014-15. The Panthers have lost three of four games since the Olympics ended, all of those coming in regulation.
Combined with Boston’s victory against Pittsburgh, Florida is 10 points back of the second and final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference with just 21 games left to play. Coach Paul Maurice said captain Aleksander Barkov, who’s recovering from tearing the ACL and medial collateral ligament in his right knee during training camp, is not expected back until at least late March.
By now, Gabe Perreault agrees, the game has started to slow down for him.
He has skated in 27 games with the Rangers this season. He has collected 11 points, including a career-best three during their overtime loss to the Blue Jackets on Monday, and flashed the dynamic offensive skill set that defined the former first-round pick’s game with Boston College and AHL Hartford.
That latest sample — which fueled a four-goal comeback in the third period — served as the most recent glimpse of Perreault’s potential in his first extended NHL stint. Head coach Mike Sullivan said he bumped Perreault up to skate with Vincent Trocheck in overtime because of his performance, too.
And all of a sudden, in the middle of a lost season filled with constant shuffling, the Rangers finally have a prospect seemingly positioned to end their development woes.
Gabe Perreault (left) celebrates after scoring a third period goal in the Rangers’ overtime loss to the Blue Jackets on March 2, 2026. Robert Sabo for New York Post
“I wouldn’t say he’s the fastest or the strongest or the biggest, but he’s really quick to pucks and has a great stick and his hockey brain really helps him a lot — and he’s obviously got elite skill,” Rangers forward J.T. Miller, who skated alongside Perreault on the first line recently before landing on injured reserve Tuesday, said postgame Monday.
The lack of production from top Blueshirts draft picks — from Alexis Lafrenière and Brennan Othmann to the since-traded Kaapo Kakko and Filip Chytil — has spanned coaching staffs.
There have been spurts, with Lafrenière’s 2024 postseason being the most recent example before Perreault, but all, at some point, faded.
Gabe Perreault celebrates with teammates after scoring a third period goal in the Rangers’ overtime loss to the Blue Jackets on March 2, 2026. Brad Penner-Imagn Images
There was always a chance for Perreault to snap the drought. The last two months have only solidified that.
Perreault ripped a shot from the slot Monday to make it 4-2, and then he tied the game later in the third period by skating toward the right side of the net and lifting a shot past Blue Jackets goaltender Elvis Merzlikins.
Both instances captured Perreault hanging onto pucks longer or taking shots himself, and he finished with a career-best six shots on goal against Columbus, according to Hockey Reference.
He also became the first Rangers rookie 20 years old or younger to have a three-point period since Alex Kovalev in December 1993, according to the team, and Perreault became the ninth rookie in the NHL this season to have at least two multigoal games.
That, in the short-term, meant the Rangers had a top line capable of producing like one with the addition of Perreault, though shuffling will follow after Miller’s upper-body injury.
And, in the long-term, Perreault has kept delivering reminders that he has as good of a chance as anyone to become the prospect that sticks.
“I feel like I’ve been getting a lot of chances these last couple games,” Perreault said Monday, “and it feels good to get a couple go in.”
The Rangers recalled forwards Jaroslav Chmelar and Juuso Parssinen from Hartford, while forward Brendan Brisson and defenseman Scott Morrow were assigned to the Wolf Pack.
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS - MARCH 3: Bryan Rust #17 of the Pittsburgh Penguins skates with the puck against Nikita Zadorov #91 and Sean Kuraly #52 of the Boston Bruins at the TD Garden on March 3, 2026 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Steve Babineau/NHLI via Getty Images) | NHLI via Getty Images
Pregame
Blake Lizotte is out with an injury, Kevin Hayes is back. Rickard Rakell’s stint as a center is over, at least for now, so say hello to first line Ben Kindel. Stuart Skinner starts in net.
Exciting first minute, hope everyone got to their seats on time. Boston starts out with two really good chances, forcing big saves from Skinner. Play goes the other way and Erik Karlsson’s point shot finds the back of the net for his fourth goal of the season.
The Bruins decide to challenge for Kindel interfering with the goalie, there isn’t much to see so the officials don’t agree, penalty to Boston for delay of the game. All this in the first 42 seconds!
Can’t hope for much better for the Penguins, however at this point the game turns against them in a major way. The aggressive Boston penalty holds the puck for a while, enough to where Anthony Mantha can slip behind the defense and get sprung on a breakaway by Egor Chinakhov. Jeremy Swayman is there to stop it, and it’s all Boston from here on out.
A few minutes after that, the Pens can’t get out of the zone and the bouncing puck gets to Marat Khusnutdinov who has the time and space to unleash a very nice shot to the far side. 1-1 game.
Fifty seconds later, the Bruins strike again. Another play that starts in the right corner ends up with the Penguins overskating and chasing the puck towards Nikita Zadorov once they had overcommitted down to the corner. Zadorov puts a low and hard shot that’s destined to be a rebound and becomes just that. It’s Casey Mittlestadt there to put it away, with no one around him since the pack shifted back to the open ice. 2-1 game at exactly the 6:00 mark.
Dan Muse has seen enough after five of the last six minutes of the game was so sloppy, he utilizes his timeout and shows a lot of emotion yelling to his team to try and shake them out of the funk.
The results are iffy at best, though at least it stopped the momentum. Connor Clifton took a penalty for holding, the Pens’ PK was able to answer.
Pittsburgh gets a power play late in the period but don’t get much out of it. 2-1 BOS after 20, shots are 12-7 in favor of the home team.
Second period
The second looks again like the first with Boston carrying a lot of zone time and hemming the Pens in for long stretches. Pittsburgh gets a few chances here and there, but mostly one and dones like another Karlsson shot hitting the post.
The team trade penalties, Chinakhov is off for a high-stick but then the Bruins get caught with too many men on the ice during their power play.
Anthony Mantha gets rung up for a modest cross-checking penalty but Boston can’t score on the power play and the period ends as Bryan Rust disgustedly smacks the puck away in frustration. It’s been a frustrating go for him and his teammates so far.
Shots-wise, the Pens actually did well with a 15-11 advantage in the second period. Didn’t feel that way for large stretches of the period. Boston up 2-1 with 20 to go.
Third period
Karlsson’s strong night continues when he draws a penalty. No goal comes of it but the Pens look about as they have all night building some pressure and carrying the play more. Tommy Novak glanced a shot off the crossbar, Ben Kindel followed that up a shift later by creating a nice chance.
The Bruins have folded, purposely or not, into a strong defensive shell and focus – only generating a shot or two over the first 10-12 minutes of the period.
The Pens get basic and try to get pucks and bodies to the net to smash one over the line but aren’t able to do so.
Skinner gets pulled for an extra attacker, the game is kept alive when the Bruins hit a post. Time runs out before either team can score and the Bruins skate off with a 2-1 victory.
Some thoughts
Mantha scored on a breakaway about a month ago against Chicago on the same little fake shot to backhand move, didn’t work out this time early in the first period. Shame about that, gotta wonder if he converts there to make it 2-0 Pittsburgh about two minutes into the game how that might have changed the course of the game.
Then again, if Boston has to be given a lot of credit for this one. They were quicker to plays, and as Colby Armstrong said on the broadcast the Bruins were picking off Penguin breakouts left and right, as if their prescouting gave them all the keys and the execution was very sharp.
This was only the fourth regulation loss for the Pens in the last 24 games and only their second regulation loss since falling in a similar 1-0 tough loss in Boston back on January 11th. Sometimes loses happen, on the road, things are just not quite in sync on the evening. The opponent has something to do with that to pin them in, cut off the walls and pick off pucks up the middle, get solid goaltending. If anything it stands out how rarely these kind of games have happened to the Pens in this great stretch of play they’ve had since Christmas.
Kris Letang left the game in the second period, which perhaps would have been worse than the loss of the game, but was able to return to the game partway through the third period. That could develop into a big story depending on the severity there, if any. Given all the games in the near future and the upcoming trade deadline on Friday, that blueline position might be standing out more even with a close call.
Great game from Karlsson, the early goal had him in a shooting mood all night long. A whopping 15 shot attempts (six on goal), one goal, one post. For a while more often than not it seemed like about the only time a white jersey was shooting the puck it was coming from No. 65.
Evgeni Malkin took eight faceoffs, his most in a single game since 12/1. Didn’t go well (only won two of them) though it’s notable that he’s getting more into the groove after taking 0, 1 or 2 faceoffs for 15 straight games recently, he’s now up to 16 draws over the most recent three games. At this rate, and given the Pens’ center situation, Malkin might be working his way back to his natural center position which is a good sign about his health and the stability of the shoulder getting back to normal or at least good enough to be in his typical spot.
Overall the faceoff situation was about as dreadful as it’s consistently come to be in the last four Crosby-less games. The team only won 34% of their draws, including lineup addition Kevin Hayes going 0-for-5. Hayes is big, strong and a veteran which usually corresponds to the skills associated with being good at that area, but Hayes isn’t really adept at that skill in general (winning only 37.6% of his 101 faceoffs on the season entering this game). Kinda a bummer there, would have been nice if he at least could provide a little bit of value with that skill but it isn’t an area he excels.
Another Crosby effect: Pittsburgh forwards have scored four total 5v5 goals over these last four games (Chinakhov vs NJ; Kindel, Chinakhov and Brazeau against Vegas). In two of the games, including tonight, there were no 5v5 goals from a forward to be found. That’s tough sledding, in some respects carrying a 2-1-1 record without Crosby so far still is fairly impressive to find ways to generate enough production. They just couldn’t find that goal they needed — either with the 0/4 power play or at even strength in this game —which ultimately served as a major reason why they came up short.
It doesn’t get much easier from here, next game coming up against mighty (!) Buffalo on Thursday.
The Senators begin a four-game swing out West on Tuesday night, facing the news-making Edmonton Oilers. The Oilers were NHL trade deadline early birds yesterday, acquiring defenseman Connor Murphy from the Chicago Blackhawks. However, Murphy will not make his Oilers debut this evening.
Andrew Mangiapane, who scored 35 goals in 2022, cleared waivers on Monday, and the Oilers sent him to the AHL. Mangiapane has been mentioned in NHL trade rumours involving several teams, including Ottawa.
Here's how the chess pieces line up for the two clubs in game number two of the Sens five game road trip.
Senators Projected Lineup
Drake Batherson -- Tim Stutzle -- Claude Giroux
Brady Tkachuk -- Dylan Cozens -- Ridly Greig
Nick Cousins -- Shane Pinto -- Michael Amadio
Stephen Halliday -- Lars Eller -- Fabian Zetterlund
Jake Sanderson -- Artem Zub
Thomas Chabot -- Nick Jensen
Tyler Kleven -- Jordan Spence
Linus Ullmark
James Reimer
Oilers projected lineup (NHL.com)
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins -- Connor McDavid -- Zach Hyman
Vasily Podkolzin -- Leon Draisaitl -- Kasperi Kapanen
With the St. Louis Blues hitting a rough patch this season, it seems like half their roster is out there in trade rumours before Friday's NHL trade deadline.
One of their biggest names said to be on the trade block is their star goalie, Jordan Binnington.
"The Blues appear ready to move on from Jordan Binnington," player agent and former NHLer Brian Lawton posted on X on Tuesday. "His 16-team no-trade list is in play, but it feels like a move is a forgone conclusion at this stage with where the Blues are heading in the near term."
Just like his team's record, Binnington's seasonal performance in St. Louis (3.60/.867) isn't much to get excited about. But he's regarded by most as a big-game goalie, recently starring for Team Canada in their 4 Nations Face-off win last year, and their silver medal at the Olympics this year.
Meanwhile, it's no secret that the Ottawa Senators would like better goaltending. With it, they would be well above the playoff cut line instead of five points beneath it.
By acquiring Linus Ullmark from the Boston Bruins in 2024, GM Steve Staios thought the goalie-starved Senators finally had a "set it and forget it" situation in goal. Ullmark would provide the Vezina-level goaltending, and backup Leevi Merilainen would be just as good as last season when he was thrust into action for 12 games.
You'd like to think that's happening somewhere in a parallel universe, but it didn't happen in this one.
Merilainen is now back in Belleville, while Ullmark is in year one of a four-year contract and hasn't performed anywhere close to meeting the expectations of an $8.25 million a year NHL goalie (2.80/.855).
The trouble is, when discussing available NHL goalies, very few teams want to part with impactful goalies, especially at this time of the year, so those that do will be overcharging. If the Sens are keen on Binnington between now and Friday, that's one of several things that should give them pause.
For one, Binnington wouldn't necessarily be a sure thing for Ottawa.
It's one thing for a goalie to look good behind one of the greatest teams Canada has ever assembled in a short tournament where no one cuts corners. It's another for him to look good for his club team in the long, nightly grind of the NHL.
Winning the 2019 Stanley Cup with the Blues as a 25-year-old rookie is a long time ago now. In the past five years, Binnington's average seasonal save percentage checks in at .895.
And what would the Blues want in return? There are likely multiple teams kicking the tires on him, so he would certainly command a premium after playing so well again for Canada at the Olympics.
To satisfy the Blues, the Sens would probably have to move a good young player, one who's hard to replace, especially in Ottawa, where the prospect pool of replacement options is so thin.
To satisfy the cap, that player might also need to be making enough money to squeeze in Binnington's $6 million hit for the rest of this season and next.
And what of Ullmark's $8.25 million a year contract? That's not really a movable contract anymore, which complicates things as well. They'd really like him to pan out here.
If the Senators are going to address their goaltending and give up key assets, it has to be for a sure thing. There are no guarantees with Binnington, just as there are none with Ullmark. In both cases, the Sens would be taking a leap of faith, hoping they can find their A games.
They're both capable of it, but at least rolling with the status quo doesn't cost you anything extra.
Steve Warne The Hockey News
This article was first published by The Hockey News. More headlines here:
IRVINE, Calif. — As Mat Barzal creeps up on 600 games in the NHL, he’s thought more and more about his own maturity as a hockey player.
His rookie season still feels like yesterday, but Barzal, as analytical and willing to examine himself as any player in the league, knows well just how different a player he is now.
It’s at the heart of his recent hot streak, with 14 points in the last 10 games on either side of the Olympic break.
“I feel like as I’ve gotten older in this league, I used to get frustrated in the first period when we didn’t score, I miss a chance,” Barzal told The Post after the Islanders practiced Tuesday. “And now, just let the game come to me. I like to go after the game early on, but [recognize] what the night is gonna be.
“Sometimes the night is gonna be stingy, there’s not gonna be much offense created, so I know that I’m locking in on a chance or two that I have. Making sure that if I only get two chances a night, I’m putting something in. I think I’ve come a long way that way.”
This time of year, that description applies in part, and often in whole, to most games. The Islanders have started slow in all three of their games since the break, and road games in the dog days of the season tend to take on a stingy feel.
Finding your way into production on nights like those is simply a requirement for a player with the sort of minutes burden and expectation that Barzal carries.
Mathew Barzal of the New York Islanders reacts after he scores a goal during the first period when the New York Islanders played the Nashville Predators Saturday, January 31, 2026 at UBS Arena in Elmont, NY. Robert Sabo for NY Post
That’s just what he’s been doing this year. Take Sunday night as an example. The Islanders, especially early in the game, struggled to generate much momentum.
Barzal and linemates Bo Horvat and Ondrej Palat, seemed to be the only trio that could create on the forecheck or hold the puck in the zone.
Lo and behold, they were on the ice for three of the Islanders’ four goals at 5-on-5. On the second night of a back-to-back, that’s exactly what the Isles needed from their top line.
New York Islanders center Mathew Barzal, center, celebrates after his goal with center Bo Horvat (14) and left wing Ondrej Palat (81) during the first period of an NHL hockey game against the Washington Capitals, Monday, Feb. 2, 2026, in Washington. AP
“I love the energy they have,” coach Patrick Roy said. “The speed, how fast they were playing. For some reason when your top line plays that way, you do believe you’re going to come back in that way. … They were buzzing, they were controlling.”
It’s been talked about plenty over the years that Barzal seems to click with Horvat on a higher level than most. Palat, a terrific player on the walls and retrieving pucks down low with a high hockey IQ, might be the third guy who can unlock the top line further.
It’s a small sample, but in eight games together, the trio has a 6-3 scoring margin with a 55.36 expected goals rate, driving a five-game winning streak the Isles will look to defend Wednesday night in Anaheim.
“He doesn’t have to go out there and try to be that guy,” Barzal said of Palat. “He is that guy who forechecks and strips pucks, wins battles down low. There’s no faking it with him. He’s been that guy for a long time. He’s been great at it.
“He knows where to go. He knows how to get open. He knows for him to be effective, it requires him forechecking and stripping pucks. It comes natural to him. He’s been playing like that since I’ve known him, at least, in the league.”
For the time being at least, it’s helped unlock Barzal. And his own evolution hasn’t hurt either.
“I think a lot of it comes from maturing,” he said. “Understanding my emotions. I’ve played in 600 games. Knowing the ups and downs. Knowing that, hey, something didn’t go in the first, I’m gonna get another look in the second. Just bear down. A lot of it comes from emotional maturity.”
