Category: Ice Hockey

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“The Hockey Hall of Fame said it will not give Jack Hughes the puck from his gold-medal-winning goal for Team USA in the Milan Cortina Olympics. ‘Unfortunately, in the easiest words, it was never Jack’s puck to own,’ Philip Pritchard, vice president of the resource center and curator for the Hockey Hall of Fame, told ESPN on Wednesday.” [ESPN]

Jack Hughes tallied a goal and two assists and helped to push the Devils to a glorious 6-3 win over the Rangers on Wednesday. [Devils NHL]

“Dougie Hamilton is still the closest thing (the Devils) have to a true No. 1, but he is not the player he was in his prime. That’s why the Devils need Luke Hughes to take a step forward in his development. He has not had the best season, but these final 15 games offer him a chance to build some momentum heading into the offseason.” [Devils on the Rush ($)]

FWIW: “Teams that showed serious interest in Matthew Knies included Anaheim, Chicago, Montreal, New Jersey and Utah. Everyone has denied that the Canadiens went far down the road, but … we’ll see. There were some teams who didn’t believe the Maple Leafs were serious about it, but now recognize the possibility.” [Sportsnet]

Hockey Links

“As if we needed more proof that Matthew Schaefer is well on his way to becoming a generational talent, he just etched his name in the NHL history books. With his game-opening goal against the Ottawa Senators on Thursday, the New York Islanders blue-liner became the youngest defenceman in NHL history to record 50 points at 18 years, 195 days.” [Sportsnet]

“NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, the league’s chief decision maker when it comes to, well, everything, has long been the most vocal proponent of the current playoff system, which doesn’t seed teams 1 through 8 in each conference. After this week’s three-day general manager meetings wrapped up on Wednesday, Bettman maintained his satisfaction with the current format.” [The Athletic ($)]

“Eric Tulsky declined comment, but it was Carolina’s general manager who had an exchange with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman about head contact during this week’s GMs meetings. (Bettman wouldn’t comment, either.) It happened Tuesday. According to several sources, Bettman raised the topic, saying there is an owner who feels strongly the league needs stronger enforcement on this issue. He asked the GMs if they agree with the current standard/interpretation of Rule 48: Illegal Check to the Head. There was a second or two of silence before Tulsky said he supported the owner’s position, leading the commissioner to say something along the lines of, ‘Well, I guess we know which owner this was.’” [Sportsnet]

Ryan Johansen heads to retirement: [Daily Faceoff]

Feel free to discuss these and any other hockey-related stories in the comments below.

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He wanted to play for the Detroit Red Wings, and he's delivering.

Forward Alex Debrincat scored the game-winning goal late in regulation of Detroit's 3-1 victory over the Montreal Canadiens at Little Caesars Arena, which was his 34th tally of the season. 

Detroit badly needed a regulation victory over Montreal, who entered the contest with a two-point lead in the tightly-packed divisional standings. 

DeBrincat, who has become one of the most clutch goal scorers for the Red Wings, took advantage of a fortuitous bounce when Canadiens defenseman Mike Matheson misplayed the puck in the waning moments of the third period. 

DeBrincat then took the puck, deked goaltender Jakub Dobes, and roofed a backhander for his 34th goal of the season.

Having grown up in the nearby Detroit suburb of Farmington Hills, DeBrincat knows all too well the history of the Red Wings, and he's doing his part to ensure that postseason hockey returns to Detroit for the first time since before his NHL career began. 

Bookmark The Hockey News Detroit Red Wings team site to stay connected to the latest news, game-day coverage, and player features. 

As far as his game-winning goal is concerned, he'll chalk it up to being in the right place at the right time. 

“I was just trying to pressure the D, I think he (Mike Matheson) caught an edge or something, and it came right to me, so after the breakaway, I think I was coming from the right side," DeBrincat said in the dressing room after his game-winning goal. "I was trying to get it to my backhand."

"A lot of times, goalies overextend that blocker, so you can go right under it,' he continued. "I’m lucky it went in, and it was kind of a lucky bounce to get that puck anyway.”

Thanks to Detroit's win, they won their three-game series against the Canadiens and also exacted some revenge for Montreal's 5-1 win on Oct. 9. 

The work continues for the Red Wings, who will host the Boston Bruins on Saturday evening. 

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Here are your Pens Points for this Friday morning…

Kris Letang’s declining performance has become a hot-button topic for Pittsburgh Penguins fans, and for good reason. Despite the workout/exercise regimen and career accomplishments, he is not the player he was five or 10 years ago. Poor decision-making and defensive struggles have made him a liability at even strength and are contributing to some of the Penguins’ worst on-ice results. But is there any solution in sight? [PensBurgh]

The NHL, if nothing else, is a copycat league, as opposing teams look for the best ways for long-term success, on and off the ice. The Penguins’ surprising turnaround under Kyle Dubas has come from a series of moves that have revitalized the roster. However, other rebuilding teams like the New York Rangers may have trouble replicating the Penguins’ model because the “blueprint” isn’t easily repeatable; success relies on multiple moves all working out at once. [PensBurgh]

The Penguins made a few roster transactions on Thursday. First, the team reassigned rookie forward Avery Hayes to the AHL’s Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. [Trib Live]

They followed that up by recalling defenseman Ryan Graves to the NHL club following the completion of a conditioning assignment with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. [Trib Live]

After being acquired via trade from the Nashville Predators in March 2025, forward Tommy Novak has carved out a valuable, versatile role for the Penguins, contributing offensively and fitting on multiple lines. [Trib Live]

News and notes from around the NHL…

Toronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews underwent MCL surgery in New York on Thursday. [ESPN]

The New York Islanders plan to relocate their AHL affiliate from Bridgeport, Connecticut, to Hamilton, Ontario, bringing pro hockey back to the city for the first time in years. [TSN]

Ryan Johansen has officially retired after 13 NHL seasons, he announced on Thursday. The former fourth overall pick finishes his NHL career with 110 goals and 252 assists for 362 points in 533 games. [Sportsnet]

New York Islanders (39-25-5, in the Metropolitan Division) vs. Montreal Canadiens (37-21-10, in the Atlantic Division)

Montreal, Quebec; Saturday, 7 p.m. EDT

BOTTOM LINE: The Montreal Canadiens and the New York Islanders face off in Eastern Conference play.

Montreal has a 19-13-2 record in home games and a 37-21-10 record overall. The Canadiens have a 15-5-1 record when scoring a power-play goal.

New York has a 21-14-3 record on the road and a 39-25-5 record overall. The Islanders have a +eight scoring differential, with 198 total goals scored and 190 allowed.

Saturday's game is the second meeting between these teams this season. The Islanders won 4-3 in overtime in the previous meeting. Matthew Schaefer led the Islanders with two goals.

TOP PERFORMERS: Nicholas Suzuki has scored 24 goals with 57 assists for the Canadiens. Cole Caufield has seven goals and four assists over the last 10 games.

Schaefer has 21 goals and 29 assists for the Islanders. Mathew Barzal has one goal and 10 assists over the past 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Canadiens: 5-4-1, averaging 3.5 goals, 6.1 assists, 3.4 penalties and 7.3 penalty minutes while giving up three goals per game.

Islanders: 6-4-0, averaging 2.9 goals, 4.6 assists, 2.8 penalties and 6.5 penalty minutes while giving up 2.9 goals per game.

INJURIES: Canadiens: Josh Anderson: day to day (upper body), Patrik Laine: out (lower-body), Kirby Dach: out (upper body).

Islanders: Alexander Romanov: out (shoulder), Pierre Engvall: out for season (ankle), Semyon Varlamov: out for season (knee), Kyle Palmieri: out (knee), Max Shabanov: day to day (lower-body).

___

The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

The Vancouver Canucks picked up their 39th loss of the season as they fell 6-2 to the Tampa Bay Lightning. Vancouver received goals from two of their Swedish forwards as Liam Öhgren and Linus Karlsson found the back of the net. As for Kevin Lankinen, he stopped 24 of the 30 shots he faced in the loss. 

Thursday night was a good example of how far away the Canucks currently are from some of the league's best. The Lightning controlled the game all night and demonstrated why they are a favourite in the Eastern Conference. While it was only a one-goal game after the first, it was no surprise that Tampa Bay skated away with a victory. 

"A team that we inspire to be, said Jake DeBrusk post-game when asked about the Lightning. "They play together always. I remember playing against them, even playing playoffs against them, but obviously got some different guys now. But yeah, they play as a group. And, you know, they have the results for a reason. And you know, like I said, that's something that we need to get to." 

One of Vancouver's main issues in this game was protecting the front of the net. Tampa generated plenty of traffic in front of Lankinen, resulting in three goals scored from just outside the crease. Post-game, Head Coach Adam Foote spoke about the defensive issues that plagued his team on Thursday. 

"Yeah. I mean, if he gets there, you can't be double-screen," said Foote. "We talked about that every day. And sometimes you lose your positioning, or where you are. I mean, you know, the one screen, the guy gets there, it could be from out of the corner. We talked about extending coverage. We didn't extend. They move the puck, you get beat to the net. So it's a fly-by screen, so things like that. It's just they take advantage of that. That's what NHL players do. They take advantage of little things like that. And, you know, we've got to learn from that quickly and hold our ground. And you know, these mistakes have to stop. You know, I call it extended coverage. One, two, three, you're not getting easy ice. We called the timeout because it looked like we kind of got a little bit rattled. I think the one where Kucherov called the reverse, and we got hemmed in our end instead of moving it forward. You don't want to bring it back against a savvy team like that, a veteran team. But also with Kucherov on the ice, you want to make sure you're playing North."

In the end, Thursday's loss goes into the learn and move category. The only real takeaway was that the Canucks have a long way to go before they are competitive again. Thursday was also a reminder of how good Nikita Kucherov is, as his three-point night puts him at 114 points on the season. 

Stats and Facts:

- Brock Boeser ties Tony Tanti for ninth all-time in franchise history for points

- Jake DeBrusk led the team with five shots on goal

- Filip Hronek led all players in ice time at 23:55

- Aatu Räty led all players in hits with six

Scoring Summary:

1st Period: 

17:37- TBL: Jake Guentzel (30) from Charle-Edouard D'Astous and Ryan McDonagh

2nd Period:

00:49- TBL: Darren Raddysh (18) from Nikita Kucherov and Anthony Cirelli
4:16- TBL: Yanni Gourde (9) from Darren Raddysh and Pontus Holmberg
5:31- TBL: Nikita Kucherov (38) from Erik Cernak and Anthony Cirelli
12:06- VAN: Liam Öhgren (7) from Brock Boeser and Marco Rossi

3rd Period:

7:04- VAN: Linus Karlsson (13) from Marco Rossi 
7:35- TBL: Anthony Cirelli (17) from Brandon Hagel and Erik Cernak

Up Next: 

The Canucks continue their homestand on Saturday when the St. Louis Blues visit Rogers Arena. These two teams have already played twice this year, with each picking up a road win. Game time is scheduled for 4:00 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: 

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After ending their five-game road trip 3-1-1, the Los Angeles Kings (28-24-16) returned home tonight to host the Philadelphia Flyers (33-23-12), but their loss today once again showed why they can't be trusted at Crypto.com Arena. 

The Kings are now 10-15-8 at home this season with their loss today to the Flyers, and even though they had a good road trip, losing against a shorthanded team that was playing a back-to-back tonight is not a good sign. 

Los Angeles had a great first period, once again showing good defense early on, holding Philly to three shots, and scoring the first goal to lead 1-0 after 20 minutes. The Flyers looked like a team playing on a back-to-back early, barely generating anything while the Kings dominated possession, but they picked up steam as the game progressed.  

But the second period, which has been a struggle for Los Angeles all season, continued tonight, giving up three goals in the period, only the fourth time in 12 games that the Flyers have scored more than two goals in regulation time since coming out of the Olympic break. 

The sloppy play, which allowed too many rush chances and led to errors, cost the Kings tonight against a shorthanded team. 

A very winnable game for the Kings after a bad second period, they came back and forced overtime, but couldn't win the shootout, resulting in a heartbreaking loss in their return home. 

The opening period was a quiet one until the final minute, when, off a Flyers turnover, Alex Laferriere found Quinton Byfield, who created space to score for Los Angeles, giving them a 1-0 lead to end the first. 

Once again, LA outshot its opponent in the first period 6-3, played with great energy, defense, and forechecking, and looked poised to win after two days of rest.

However, the second period was something else. Both teams traded goals within the first 40 seconds of the period. Philadelphia got things started just 23 seconds into the second, tying the game 1-1 after converting on the slot with traffic in the middle. 

The Kings, however, countered the Flyers. 21 seconds later, Anze Kopitar buried the rebound after Brandt Clarke missed the shot. Kopitar converted and gave the Kings back their lead. 

The Flyers didn't go away, though, once again putting pressure on the Kings. Philly tied the score after a scramble in the crease. Darcy Kuemper attempted to cover it but failed. 

The replays showed that it was a loose puck, and LA decided not to challenge the call and played on. 

The Flyers pulled ahead a few minutes later to take their first lead of the night after Travis Sanheim scored from the center point through traffic. Kuemper was without his stick on the play, allowing Sanheim to pull the Flyers ahead with a shot. 

Los Angeles had trouble protecting the puck in the second period and made too many errors, giving the Flyers rush chances to convert. Despite it being an even shooting period, with both teams taking 11 shots, Philly was the much better team. 

LA made a push in the final period, and it was Breadman, Artemi Panarin, who scored the first power-play goal for the Kings at the 9:32 mark to keep the Kings alive.  

It was a quiet third period for the Flyers. Los Angeles did a good job bringing back the energy they were playing with earlier in the game, and outshot the Flyers 6-4, allowing zero goals. 

Los Angeles forced overtime, where neither team could get a shot up. Despite LA controlling the puck for much of the possession, they struggled to generate offense, forcing a shootout. 

In the shootout, the Kings would lose both rounds, while the Flyers converted both times, defeating LA to split the season series 1-1. 

Key Notes

Despite the Kings getting a point tonight, it's a heartbreaking loss because the Edmonton Oilers, Seattle Kraken, and San Jose Sharks all lost tonight, which would've created more separation for the Kings in the standings. But now they have a small lead over the Sharks, Seattle, and Nashville for the final playoff spot. 

Overall, this was a very inconsistent game for the Kings. They played a great first period, an ugly second period, and came back in the third, but couldn't close out the game when it mattered most. 

Artemi Panarin finished with one goal, one assist, and two points, scoring that clutch goal in the third period to force overtime. Anze Kopitar got a standing ovation from the home crowd after his historic achivement a few nights ago on the road, finishing with one goal tonight. 

The Kings will continue their two-game home stand on Saturday against the Buffalo Sabres at 1:00 PM PT. 

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.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Nikita Kucherov and Anthony Cirelli each had a goal and two assists and the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the NHL-worst Vancouver Canucks 6-2 on Thursday night.

Kucherov moved into sole possession of second place in the NHL scoring race with 114 points, one behind Edmonton’s Connor McDavid. Tampa Bay is second in the Atlantic Division, four points behind Buffalo.

Jake Guentzel, Darren Raddysh, Yanni Gourde and Brandon Hagel also scored for the Lightning, and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 19 saves for his NHL-leading 32nd victory.

Liam Ohgren and Linus Karlsson scored for Vancouver, and Kevin Lankinen stopped 24 shots.

Guentzel opened the scoring late in the first period to become the third Lightning player to reach 30 goals this season, after Kucherov and Hagel.

After establishing position at the net front, Guentzel tipped a shot from the top of the zone by Charle-Edouard D’Astous over the glove of the screened Lankinen.

Less than a minute into the second, Raddysh made it 2-0 with a big one-timer. Gourde followed with a tip of Raddysh's shot at 4:16, and Kucherov deflected the puck off the leg off a Canucks defenseman and into the net for his 38th of the season at 5:31.

Ohgren scored for Vancouver with 7:54 remaining in the second, putting in a low shot,

In the third, Karlsson batted the puck over Valisevskiy. Twenty-two seconds later, Cirelli restored the Lightning’s three-goal edge, then Hagel capped the scoring with his 32nd.

Up next

Lightning: At Edmonton on Saturday night.

Canucks: Host St. Louis on Saturday.

___

AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Karel Vejmelka stopped all 28 shots he faced for Utah, while Vegas counterpart Adin Hill was chased after allowing three goals without making a save in the Mammoth's 4-0 victory over the Golden Knights on Thursday night.

Vejmelka had his second shutout of the season and eighth in five NHL seasons to help Utah move six points ahead of Los Angeles for the first wild-card spot in the Western Conference. The Mammoth built on a 6-3 home victory over Dallas on Monday night that snapped a four-game losing streak.

Third in the Pacific Division, the Golden Knights lost their second straight to finish a homestand 2-2. It fell apart quicky for Hill.

Clayton Keller scored from close range on Utah’s first two shots on goal and Jack McBain followed on the third. Barrett Hayton scored into an empty net with 48 seconds to go to cap the scoring.

Keller pushed his season goals total to 22. The U.S. Olympian took a feed from John Marino and knocked one in off Hill from the left side at 2:52, then got the puck on a rebound off the boards and put it in from the right side at 6:05.

McBain connected at 8:12 to end Hill’s night, taking Barrett Hayton’s pass on a break and scoring on a wrist shot from the high slot.

Akira Schmid took over in goal for Vegas, stopping all 14 shots he faced.

Lawson Crouse assisted on Keller’s second goal and fought Vegas’ Jeremy Lauzon in the second period.

Up next

Mammoth: At Anaheim on Friday night.

Golden Knights: At Nashville on Saturday.

___

AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

The San Jose Sharks were back in action on Thursday night as they hosted the red-hot Buffalo Sabres in the two teams’ final meeting of the regular season. The Sabres had a dominant victory during their last meeting with the Sharks, winning 6-3. As a result, the Sharks were looking to avenge their previous performance. 

The Sharks were buzzing early on, maintaining quite a bit of offensive pressure and limiting dangerous chances on the rush. Kiefer Sherwood nearly gave the Sharks an early lead five minutes into the game when his shot from the slot forced Buffalo’s goaltender, Alex Lyon, to stretch across the crease to make the save. The game started off very fast paced, going all the way to the first TV timeout before there was a stoppage of play. 

Roughly nine minutes into the game, Alex Nedeljkovic got his first major test of the night when Jack Quinn and Jason Zucker each had a chance. Nedeljkovic denied Quinn’s shot, before Macklin Celebrini blocked Zucker’s follow-up chance. 

Alex Wennberg took the Sharks’ first penalty of the night 11 minutes into the first period, when he high-sticked Tage Thompson. The Sharks killed off the penalty.

Macklin Celebrini got a breakaway chance with roughly six minutes remaining in the first, but was hauled down by the Buffalo defense. To the dismay of the SAP Center crowd, no penalty was called on the play. 

A couple of minutes later though, the Sharks would get their first power play of the net when Zucker was called for high-sticking. Celebrini danced through the weakened defense to generate the Sharks’ best scoring opportunity of the power play, but Lyon was able to stonewall him, keeping the puck out of the net. 

After 20 minutes, the game remained deadlocked at 0-0. When the second period started, the Sharks were without a key player, as Tyler Toffoli was ruled doubtful to return.

The Sharks got their second man advantage of the night when Owen Power took down Pavol Regenda in the corner, almost a quarter of the way through the middle frame. Nothing came of the man advantage, as the Sabres killed it off fairly easily. 

Will Smith nearly gave the Sharks the lead around the halfway point of the game, as with 12 minutes remaining in the second period, he hit the crossbar. Sherwood had a solid scoring chance moments later, but was denied by Lyon.

Noah Ostlund gave the Sabres the lead with 10:55 remaining in the second, scoring off a rebound. The initial shot was taken by Josh Doan, the puck then hit the boards behind Nedeljkovic and bounced right to Ostlund. Sam Carrick added a second Sabres goal just 36 seconds later.

The Sabres’ captain, Dahlin, joined the goal-scoring party to make it 3-0 just over a minute later. 

As the second period neared its end, the Sharks caused a major net-front scramble. While it seemed like the Sharks couldn’t be denied, Lyon and the Buffalo defense found a way to shut the door. 

The Sabres’ three goals in the second period came on just three shots, showing that the Sharks were suppressing shots fairly well, but the ones that they did give up were quality chances. Buffalo carried their three-goal lead into the second intermission. 

On the Sabres’ first shot of the third period, Tage Thompson would score a five-hole goal to make it 4-0. As a result, the Sabres had scored a goal on four straight shots. 

As time ticked away, the game started getting a bit more chippy. Around the halfway point of the period, Vincent Desharnais and Sam Carrick started going at each other, with Carrick eventually knocking off the giant Sharks defenseman's helmet. 

Barclay Goodrow was called for slashing with 6:20 remaining in the game, giving the Sabres an opportunity to extend their lead even further. The Sharks penalty kill remained perfect though, killing off the penalty with little cause for concern.

Sam Carrick would score one final goal for the Sabres, making it 5-0 late in the third. 

The Sabres would ultimately walk away victorious with a 5-0 victory over the Sharks. The Sharks will be back in action on Saturday, as they’ll host the Philadelphia Flyers in a matinee game with a 1 P.M. puck drop.

Filip Forsberg recorded his 30th goal of the season as the Nashville Predators picked up a critical playoff race win over the Seattle Kraken, 3-1, on Thursday at Bridgestone Arena. 

It's the first time Nashville has won back-to-back games since Feb. 2, tying them with Seattle for the final Wild Card spot. The Kraken have the tiebreaker with more regulation wins. 

Ryan Ufko opened the scoring, netting his second goal of the season off a one-timer feed from Brady Skjei to make it 1-0 Nashville in the first period. It was Ufko's fourth point in five games.  

Seattle responded in the final two minutes of the opening period as Frederick Gaudreau tipped in a cross-ice feed from Chandler Stephenson to tie the game. 

In the second period, Jamie Oleksiak was called for interference on Steven Stamkos, putting the Predators on the power play. Ryan O'Reilly scored the game-winning goal, putting away a Forsberg rebound to make it 2-1 Nashville. 

Forsberg iced the game on an empty net goal with a little over a minute left in the game to record his sixth 30-plus goal season and the third straight season he's put up that tally. 

Justus Annunen picked up the win, making 25 saves on 26 shots. His start was unexpected as Juuse Saros was ruled out due to a day-to-day, upper-body injury, which was sustained in the morning skate. 

Milwaukee Admirals goalie Matt Murray was called up at the last minute and arrived in the middle of the game to back up Annunen. 

If the Los Angeles Kings and San Jose Sharks both lose in regulation tonight, the Predators will be in a three-way tie for the final Wild Card spot. A win over the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday would push them over the threshold. 

EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Sergei Bobrovsky made 21 saves to earn his fourth shutout of the season as the Florida Panthers continued to plague Edmonton, emerging with a 4-0 victory over the Oilers on Thursday in a rematch of the last two Stanley Cup finals.

Cole Reinhardt, A.J. Greer, Anton Lundell and Carter Verhaeghe scored for the injury-riddled Panthers, who snapped a two-game losing skid.

Sam Bennett, Evan Rodrigues and Mike Benning all had two assist games. The Panthers are almost certain to miss the playoffs and a chance to defend their back-to-back titles.

Connor Ingram made 19 stops in the loss for Edmonton.

The Oilers had a two-game winning streak halted and missed out on an opportunity to move ahead of idle Anaheim into first in the Pacific Division.

Edmonton remained without star forward Leon Draisaitl, out for the rest of the regular season with a lower-body injury.

Florida has been hit hard by injuries all season. Among those out of the lineup on Thursday were Aleksander Barkov, Sam Reinhart and Brad Marchand. Only defenseman Gustav Forsling has managed to appear in all 68 games this season. Conversely, six Oilers have played in every game: Connor McDavid, Matt Savoie, Vasily Podkolzin, Evan Bouchard, Mattias Ekholm and Darnell Nurse.

Up next

Panthers: Visit the Calgary Flames on Friday.

Oilers: Host the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday.

___

AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

Flyers dazzle in shootout to beat Kings, sweep back-to-back set originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

The Flyers went the distance Thursday night for a gutsy, 4-3 shootout win over the Kings at Crypto.com Arena.

Trevor Zegras and Matvei Michkov delivered in the skills competition. Zegras is a scorching 20 for 33 lifetime.

Samuel Ersson picked up his 13th career shootout victory in 18 opportunities.

This was the Flyers’ fourth straight overtime game and their 25th of the season. They lead the NHL with 15 shootout wins over the last two seasons.

Travis Konecny, Noah Cates and Travis Sanheim provided the team’s goals in regulation.

Michkov and Rasmus Ristolainen each had two assists. Cates also had a helper.

The Flyers (33-23-12) improved to 2-0-0 on this three-game California road trip. They beat the Ducks, 3-2, in overtime Wednesday night.

Rick Tocchet’s club is a commendable 5-5-1 in the second game of back-to-back sets. Last season, the Flyers were a dreadful 1-10-2.

They really gutted this one out. They had to roll with just 11 forwards and an extra defenseman.

The Flyers were without Sean Couturier, who missed the game because of an upper-body injury. It’s unknown if the injury is related at all to Couturier’s back, which has plagued the Flyers’ captain in the past.

Denver Barkey (upper body) and Luke Glendening (lower body) were also out. Both have been considered day to day.

The Flyers have gone 8-2-1 over their last 11 games. The problem, though, is they received little help Thursday night in the playoff race (more on that below).

The Flyers went 1-0-1 in their regular-season series with the Kings (28-24-16). They suffered a 3-2 overtime loss in Philadelphia at the end of January.

• Ersson converted 22 saves on 25 shots. He turned away Adrian Kempe and Artemi Panarin in the shootout.

The Flyers relinquished a 3-2 third-period lead when they gave up a power play goal to Panarin.

But Ersson was solid all night and the Flyers rewarded him with three second-period goals.

The 26-year-old has been a reliable guy since the Olympic break. In four appearances (three starts), he has recorded three wins, a 1.74 goals-against average and .920 save percentage.

Los Angeles netminder Darcy Kuemper stopped 17 of the Flyers’ 20 shots.

• With 14 games left, the Flyers have matched their win total from last season, when they went 33-39-10.

They already have two more points than last season.

The Flyers have made progress and they would actually hold a playoff spot rather comfortably if they were in the Western Conference. In fact, the Ducks are in first place of the Pacific Division and the Flyers have the same number of points.

But in the Eastern Conference, the Flyers are trying to chase down multiple teams. The Blue Jackets, Bruins and Red Wings all won Thursday night. The Flyers are within five points of third place in the Metropolitan Division and six points back of both the East’s first and second wild-card spots.

• The Flyers dodged an injury scare in the third period when Michkov was hammered into the boards by Drew Doughty.

The 21-year-old winger was shaken up but didn’t need to leave the game. He had a strong and active night in 17:04 minutes.

• With how undermanned the Flyers were up front, Emil Andrae was deployed mostly as a forward.

Garrett Wilson played his first NHL game in almost seven years. The 35-year-old winger has been a part of AHL affiliate Lehigh Valley’s leadership group over the last six seasons.

• The Flyers wrap up their trip Saturday when they visit the Sharks (4 p.m. ET/NBCSP).

The Florida Panthers were back in a familiar building on Thursday night despite being extremely far from home.

Playing at Rogers Place for the first time since Game 5 of last year’s Stanley Cup Final, the Panthers picked up right where they left off, skating to a resounding 4-0 victory over the Oilers.

It was Florida who got on the scoreboard first, and the goal came off the stick of one of the newest Panthers players.

Cole Reinhardt picked up the puck in the neutral zone behind Edmonton’s defenders and went in all alone on Connor Ingram and made an abrupt backhand forehand move, sending the goaltender the wrong way while depositing the puck in the back of the net at the 11:12 mark of the first period.

The Cats weren’t done there.

A.J. Greer picked up his 12th goal of the season, deflecting a long shot by rookie defenseman Mike Benning past Ingram with 57.7 seconds left in the period, sending Florida into the intermission up 2-0 on the Oilers.

For Benning, the rookie picked up the primary assist on both Panthers goals, giving him his first multi-point game in the NHL while playing for the first time in his hometown of Edmonton.

Florida stretched their lead to 3-0 after Vasily Podkolzin took a delay of game penalty at the 13:49 mark of the middle frame.

A loose puck came out of the slot and right to Anton Lundell, who fired the puck into a yawning cage for his 18th tally of the season.

The Panthers would hold their lead until late in the third period, when Carter Verhaeghe sealed the deal with a snipe of a shot from the slot that came directly off a faceoff win.

Standing tall between the pipes for Florida was Sergei Bobrovsky.

Bob finished with 21 saves, including all nine of Edmonton’s high-danger shots, according to Natural Stat Trick.

It’s the fourth shutout of the season for Bobrovsky, and first since mid-December.

The win was also his 454th, moving him into a tie for seventh on the NHL’s all-time wins list with Curtis Joseph. Bob trails sixth-place Henrik Lundqvist by only five wins.

On to Calgary.

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Photo caption: Mar 19, 2026; Edmonton, Alberta, CAN; Edmonton Oilers forward Matt Savoie (22) looks for a loose puck in front of Florida Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky (72) during the first period at Rogers Place. (Perry Nelson-Imagn Images)

The Chicago Blackhawks took on the Minnesota Wild for the second time in a week on Thursday night. This was the fourth and final meeting between the two, and the first three were all 4-3 wins past regulation in favor of the Wild. 

The Blackhawks came in looking like a team that was desperate for a win over their Central Division rival. They broke through at 16:22 of the first period, when Andrew Mangiapane made a great play to find Ilya Mikheyev at the net-mouth for a 1-0 lead. 

That would be the end of the scoring in the opening frame. In the second, Connor Bedard made a beautiful play to make it 2-0 for the Blackhawks. After stealing the puck and creating a breakaway for himself, he held off the defender to create space and made a sensational move to score. 

Bedard's goal was his 28th of the season, which ties him with Tyler Bertuzzi for the team lead. For all of the time that he's missed due to his mid-season injury, it's impressive to see him reach these goal-scoring heights. 

Watching where he takes his totals over the final 14 games will be a storyline to follow as the season comes to a close. 

The Wild got themselves on the board when Nico Sturm scored at 15:47. The Blackhawks still skated into the third period with a 2-1 lead. 

Although the Wild came very close to scoring with less than a second remaining in regulation, Spencer Knight made one final save (with help from Alex Vlasic) to preserve the 2-1 victory for the Blackhawks. Knight made 28 saves on 29 shots. 

This is Chicago's first win in regulation over Minnesota since December of 2019. That ends a 19-game point streak (18-0-1) in the head-to-head matchup for the Wild. They also haven't won in Minnesota since November of 2017. 

March has been a decent month for the Blackhawks. They are 4-2-2 during the month, which is a win for a young team beginning to improve. Most of those games have come post-trade deadline, meaning it is an even younger team, making it an even more impressive stretch. 

Watch Every Chicago Goal

What’s Next For The Blackhawks?

The Blackhawks will be back in action again on Friday night. The Colorado Avalanche, who have been the top team in the NHL all season, will be at the United Center. 

Visit The Hockey News Chicago Blackhawks team site to stay updated on the latest news, game-day coverage, player features, and more.

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